Remírez de Ganuza: the essential wine label for Michelin-starred restaurants
Remírez de Ganuza: the essential wine label for Michelin-starred restaurants
From the small town of Samaniego –which has only 300 inhabitants– come some of the most desirable wines for collectors, sommeliers, and wine lovers from all over the planet. Out of thousands of wines tasted, Remírez de Ganuza Reserva 2009 was chosen in 2022 as one of the 10 best wines in the world by The Drinks Business Magazine. Also well known are the 100 Parker Points that the famous publication awarded to this winery’s Gran Reserva 2004. Iraila is the winery’s first wine based 100% on the Garnacha grape, and it received the highest recognition –Platinum– at the 2023 Decanter World Wine Awards. The panel of judges described it in this way: “Intensely perfumed aromas of cedar and French oak glide over delicate red berries and soft floral nuances. Packed with delicious cherries and fragrant herbs, so soft and caressing on the palate, burning and mellowing until the long finish. One and only.”
The three-starred The Inn at Little Washington, Per Se, and Saison of America, as well as Hof van Cleve and Zilte of Belgium and El Celler de Can Roca, Martín Berasategui, Arzak, Akelaŕe, DiverXO, Azurmendi, Asador Etxebarri, and Mugaritz of Spain (holding some of the top spots on the “World’s 50 Best Restaurants” list) are just some of the restaurants that include labels from the Remírez de Ganuza winery on their wine list, sometimes featuring a full array of selections from this winemaker which are true collector’s items.
But how has this small winery from Álava achieved this level of international recognition and success? It has partly been due to the numerous technological innovations implemented. Remírez de Ganuza’s team has revolutionized some of the traditional methods used in the Rioja Alavesa region, introducing improvements in both the vineyard and the winemaking process. An example of this is the system developed and patented by the winery with which, by means of a large “balloon” filled with water that is put into the fermentation tank when only the skins from the Remírez de Ganuza Reserva production process are left, they manage to extract some 7,000 bottles of Trasnocho without oxidation or friction. The name of this wine, which can be loosely translated as “overnight,” comes from the ancient Riojan tradition of letting the wine that had been stomped during the day gently drain, drop by drop, throughout the night, without pressure and without rubbing the marc or seeds.
Another key factor in the quality of this producer is its vineyards. Currently, the winery has 70 estates (with more than 200 plots of vineyards) distributed over nine municipalities in the foothills of the Sierra de Cantabria Mountain Range: Labastida, San Vicente de la Sonsierra, Ábalos, Samaniego, Leza, Elciego, Navaridas, Laguardia, and Elvillar. These 80 hectares of vineyards, with an average age of 60 years and low yields, are always harvested by hand. The first selection of grapes takes place in the field, as each harvester works with two containers: a basket where they put the bunches that are later sold to other wineries and a box where they put 12 kg of the best grapes, destined for Remírez de Ganuza wines.
Once at the winery, the bunches are left to rest for 24 hours at a controlled temperature before passing over the selection belt – one of the first in Spain. There, the best fruits are once again meticulously chosen.
Another of Remírez de Ganuza’s most notable systems is the one they introduced for separating Tempranillo clusters into two: the shoulders, with perfect phenolic properties, are used for wines that are aged longer and have greater potential for being kept over time under conditions of quality (Reserva, Gran Reserva, María Reserva Especial, and Trasnocho), while the tips are used for young wines produced with carbonic maceration (Erre Punto Tinto).
Forbes magazine, in an article published last September, summarized the achievements of Remírez de Ganuza in this way: “José Ramón Urtasun has done it: his winery sold more than 50,000 bottles last year for over €50.” An achievement that, according to the Master of Wine Pedro Ballesteros, had only been reached before by the mythical Vega Sicilia – and something that represents a boost in prestige for the entire region.
No bottle of Remírez de Ganuza is released onto the market without first having been kept for an extensive period in the wine cellar: only time allows the wine to develop the characteristics and style that this producer is looking for. The result? Complex, elegant, balanced wines with excellent keeping qualities which increase in value year after year and that are greatly appreciated by sommeliers and diners at the best restaurants in the world.
Remírez de Ganuza
Calle Constitución 1, Samaniego.
Tel.: +34 945 609 022
