Viñedos de Páganos celebrates its twenty-fifth anniversary
Viñedos de Páganos celebrates its twenty-fifth anniversary
The history of the Eguren family dates back to 1870 with a project spanning five generations of winegrowers rooted in the Sonsierra region of La Rioja and dedicated for decades to discovering the character and identity of privileged vineyards so as to transfer them to unique wines – those that are only born out of the most exceptional terroirs. Wines that last over time, that combine fruit, strength, and structure with elegance, freshness, and subtlety. The group, called Viñedos y Bodegas Sierra Cantabria, is made up of several projects bearing the Rioja Qualified Denomination of Origin –Sierra Cantabria, Viñedos Sierra Cantabria, Señorío de San Vicente, and Viñedos de Páganos– to which we must add their presence in Toro with the Teso La Monja winery, as well as Dominio de Eguren for wines from vineyards in the main Spanish wine-growing areas.
One of the group’s most special projects is the Viñedos de Páganos winery, which has just celebrated its twenty-fifth birthday. Located in a privileged geographical environment –halfway between San Vicente and Logroño– with the imposing Sierra Cantabria Mountain Range providing a scenic backdrop, the winery is in a place with a clear wine-growing vocation, highly valued for centuries, and which can currently be considered a true “sea of vineyards.” The Eguren family displayed patience here for years as they bought land from numerous owners, planting vines between 1975 and 1985. In 1989 these lands were divided into two plots: El Puntido and La Nieta.
The soil at El Puntido is scarce and poor, barely 60-70 centimeters of calcareous clay soil, forcing the vines to make their way through the limestone rock there, practically peeking through to the surface. The roots of the plants seek out cracks amidst the warm sandstone rock making up the second layer of the soil, and from there they extract their meager nutrients and their unique personality: the mineral traits and the subtleties in terms of the fruits which are part of the essence of the Rioja Alavesa region.
La Nieta occupies a small terrace measuring just over one and a half hectares and located at a lower altitude. Consequently, the soil is even shallower and many plants drive their roots directly into the rock. The plant has to make a daily effort to survive and the owners consider this fight for survival to be the origin of the magic of the fruit and the wine that comes from here.
In 1998, excavation began in the rock for some wine cellars in the style of classic sixteenth-century winery spaces, but with different dimensions: large tunnels 10m high by 4.5m wide with a total length of 700m. Magnificent facilities for aging wines fashioned by a winery with a classic feel in terms of its stone construction, yet unconventional at the same time.
The result of that titanic effort? Four exceptional wines: El Puntido, Calados del Puntido, El Puntido Gran Reserva, and La Nieta.
Viñedos de Páganos
Navaridas Errepidea, unnumbered, Páganos.
