Paco Rodero, the founder of the prestigious riverside winery Pago de los Capellanes with his wife Conchita Villa, had many dreams. The last one was high altitude, recovering and planting vines in Fuentenebro and in two nearby towns to obtain a different, very special, Tinto Fino variety wine. Paco firmly believed, like Walt Disney, that “all our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them.” And he pursued them and made them come true.
But the unexpected transfer just now a year ago of this man born in 1950 in Pedrosa de Duero cut short his hope of seeing on the market a wine from these Burgos lands that are close to 1,000 meters above sea level. It is a dream wine that they have ended up calling A Dream in the Heights. Now his daughter Estefanía, who runs the winery, has just presented it (last Thursday in Madrid) as “our expression of the old vineyard from the highlands of the extreme south of the Ribera.”
It will also be presented from February 5 to 7 within the framework of Barcelona Wine Week. They debut with the 2020 vintage. It is a red wine born from small plots of old Tempranillo vines planted in the Burgos towns of Fuentenebro and Pardilla, and also in Honrubia de la Cuesta (Segovia). Specifically, its grapes come from the plots of Montejo, Pardilla, Toboganes and Canteras. In this area they have 60 hectares, of which more than 50 are vineyards. Its landscape presides over the wine label.
It is a rugged terrain with high hills, reddish soils and a rich subsoil. Here, according to the winery, “our viticulture has the mission of reflecting the purity of the environment, the mineral presence and the rich forest biodiversity that comprises it.” It is added that it is an area “where families of winegrowers have managed to preserve the wonderful heritage of a mosaic of ancient vineyards.” It extends on the northern slope of the mountain formation known as La Serrezuela, a small foothill of the Central System. The vineyards are located in a high foothills, between 900 and 1,200 meters above sea level, formed by a network of valleys and hills with gentle profiles, which descend towards the north, towards the valley of the Riaza River, towards the wide depression of the Duero. . These slopes of the Serrezuela are made up of ancient formation materials, from different periods of the Paleozoic (from 250 to 480 million years ago). It is a geological island much older than the rest of the DO Ribera del Duero. The bedrock of the entire area is siliceous in composition, with abundant gneiss and autonomous quartz blocks. The presence of this mineral, along with veins of feldspar and muscovite-type mica, encouraged mining activity years ago, especially in Fuentenebro. On the surface, a soil with a clay composition and a reddish appearance emerges. They are poor soils with a loamy texture, and are also populated by aromatic lowland plants such as thyme or wild rose (rosehip); by junipers, junipers or holm oaks and by roe deer, wild boars and many partridges. From the winery it is stated that these high lands “offer a fresh, lively and subtle identity.” It is a place with “open skies, intense light and extreme climate.”
The cultivation of the vineyard is respectful of the environment and the balance of the soils. The work is limited. Delicate manual work is practiced to control spontaneous vegetation. Theirs is an agroforestry viticulture that coexists with native species to “enhance the health of the vineyard and its integration into the ecosystem.” The viticultural yield is 3,500 kilos per hectare. In these areas they work with fine red vines of various ages (between 50 and 60 years old), grown in glass with a 2 x 2 meter planting frame. From the winery they say that there are old vines, small junipers and resistant junipers. And precisely an old Sabine has become the iconic symbol of his new project. It is on the edge of the real canyon, between the towns of Pardilla and Honrubia, very close to some of its plots. Conchita Villa remembers that they have spent many afternoons under the shade of her glass with her husband, her children and her grandchildren, “contemplating the landscape, talking about life and dreaming of the future.” It has been a family meeting point and lunches with potato omelettes or Milagros torreznos and, of course, good wines sitting on the floor on a blanket, especially during the long days of confinement due to the pandemic.
After a mild winter, in 2020 a spring of rain of some intensity and higher than normal temperatures arrived. This caused sprouting to be brought forward a week. With almost total absence of the dreaded spring frosts in the area, the vegetative cycle developed normally. In June the thermometer moderated noticeably and there was some shifting of the flower, with the consequence of a slight decrease in the harvest and an increase in the quality of the grapes. August and September were key months for grape ripening. This period was generally hot and dry, with occasional storms that cooled the vineyards. Following the trend that began in spring, the harvest was brought forward a week, with the result of “high quality and great balance.”
Un Sueño en las Alturas 2020 was made, under the supervision of winemaker Julio Reyes, after three years of testing that was not marketed. A cold pre-fermentation maceration of the berries was carried out for three days (less than 10º C). Selected indigenous yeasts were sown. The alcoholic fermentation was carried out in stainless steel tanks at a controlled temperature, with pumping over and phenolic control of the must-wine in maceration. The malolactic fermentation was spontaneous, at low temperature and in French oak fouds, with periodic stirring of the lees. After aging for a year in the same foudres, the wine was bottled without any clarification or stabilization treatment. Therefore, it is possible that over time a natural sediment of coloring matter or tartrates may appear. The alcoholic strength of the wine is 15% Vol. Estefanía states that this wine “is the result of a deep knowledge of the mineral and clay highlands, the desire to preserve a unique heritage of ancient vineyards, and the dream to find “new horizons of purity and freshness in the southern end of the Ribera.” She also adds that it is a wine compendium of “geography, memory and emotion”, and a project in the heights where dreams come true.
It has a beautiful and bright color between ruby and cherry cherry, with a medium layer. The emphasis is placed on the expression of the fruit (red and black) on a bed of vanilla, licorice, spices and aromatic garrigue herbs. It flows elegantly with round but firm tannins. And it stands out especially for the liveliness that its great acidity gives it and for the remarkable minty sensation it leaves in the mouth. A little more time per bottle won't go amiss. It is a tasty, refreshing and modern Ribera that draws on the past. From the winery, its “vibrant finish, full of energy and with subtle aromas of great complexity” stands out. Estefanía especially likes to pair this red wine with two dishes based on small game: “a recipe from the great European culinary culture such as royal hare, and another rooted in the traditional cuisine of the fields of Castilla y León such as “It’s stewed pigeon.” As a third option, she opts for a monkfish suquet, with its traditional bite. And her mother, Conchita, likes it very much with the wild boar stew that she learned to cook from her grandmother, Trini. Under proper conservation conditions, it will evolve positively in the bottle over the next 15 years.
The adventure of Pago de los Capellanes began in a small town in the heart of Castilla, Pedrosa de Duero. Its founder, Paco Rodero, worked since her childhood on the small hawthorn of his father Doroteo. This fine red vineyard had belonged centuries ago (13th-14th) to the town's chaplains, hence the name of the winery. With the aim of preserving and continuing Doroteo's legacy, Paco and his wife Conchita recovered the family vineyard and expanded that work into nearby plots. They were one of the first winegrowers of the DO Ribera del Duero. In 1996 they founded the winery, in that same area known as 'de los Capellanes'. In this way, they were born “with the hope of maintaining the connection with the land and traditional knowledge.” Paco Rodero explained to La Vanguardia that “we began to produce the fruit of our vineyards step by step, since our objective was to obtain the best wine that our privileged soil could give us.” And he added that "there have been 25 years of effort, enthusiasm, creation and also of learning by overcoming the obstacles that get in the way, without which we would not be able to move forward."
Years later, the second generation, his little daughter Estefanía, joined the winery. In 2014, they made their dream come true by producing white wines in Galicia with the same philosophy as Pago de los Capellanes: “expressive, deep, intense and with the potential for long aging.” These virtues, they say, awaited them in the small, traditional area of Valdeorras, where they found the Godello variety “in its purest expression.” This is how O Luar do Sil was born, the second winery of a family owner with close ties to Catalonia. Currently its annual production rises to 900,000 bottles in Pago de los Capellanes. and 200,000 in O Luar do Sil. Of their total production they export around 20%. Its three main international markets are Switzerland, the United States and China. Today Estefanía leads the project with her mother “at the helm.” She says that Conchita Villa is “a tireless, strong and loving woman,” from whom she continues “learning day by day.”
