OUR TERROIR
1. VINEYARD
Our vineyard covers 400 hectares around the winery at an altitude between 450 and 590 above sea level.
Located at the heart of Rioja Alta, in the Najerilla valley; it is surrounded by mountains both to the north by the Sierra Cantabria and to the south by the Sierra de la Demanda. Moreover, Ebro river to the north and its tributaries, the Najerilla river to the west and the Yalde to the south, have a strong influence on the characteristics of our vineyards.
2. CLIMATE
We enjoy the typical climate of Rioja Alta: a climate predominantly Mediterranean with important Atlantic influences. Rainfall is around 430 l/m2, and the harvest season is preceded by a few weeks of dry weather, hot days and cold nights, which greatly favor ripening. Tempranillo has, in this zone, appropriate and complete ripening of 40 days between veraison and the picking which is why it reaches optimum alcoholic and phenolic maturity every year.
In relation to the land orography, we find successive terraces linked to their corresponding slopes with a predominant west-northeast orientation.
ZINIO BODEGAS
3. SOILS
According to their altitude, land topology and the wine produced from our soils, they are divided in three areas:
Area 1
Between 450 y 490 meters above sea level; it is a meseta formed by alluvial soils suitable for young red and rosé wines. They are soils with abundant gravel and light texture.
Area 2
Between 490 and 550 meters of altitude; formed by two mesetas (plateaus) joined by a slope and with 40% of alluvial soils in flat areas and 60% of clay on the slopes. The soil is suitable for white and medium-term consumption Crianza wines (five years).
Area 3
Between 550 and 590 meters of altitude; formed by a slope and a meseta on clay, limestone soils and suitable for the production of long-term Crianza and Reserva red wines. It includes the plots that make up our Vendimia Seleccionada project.
4. TYPOLOGY OF WINES BASED ON THE TYPES OF SOIL
AREA 1
YOUNG RED WINES AND ROSÉ
Young red wines: They are produced from vineyards planted between 450 and 490 meters of altitude at the lower terrace from our vineyard, in alluvial soil which allows us to produce light, really fruity wines with the typical characteristics of a pure Tempranillo from Rioja. They are suitable wines for early consumption due to their balance between fruitness, medium body and freshness. Early harvest.
Rosé: This wine is made from red grapes planted on alluvial soils at an altitude between 450 and 490 meters. This type of soil retains a lot of heat and speeds up the ripening process of grapes, maintaining very appropriate acidity levels to achieve the necessary freshness in this type of wine.
Moreover, the skin of grapes from vines planted in this type of soils is finer and therefore, it accumulates less color, which is suitable for the production of rosé.
AREA 2
MEDIUM-TERM CONSUMPTION
CRIANZA RED WINES (5 YEARS)
This area, located between 490 and 550 meters of altitude, is formed by alluvial and clay-based soils mainly on the surface. This soil heterogeneity provides us a great fruit complexity and significantly characterizes the area. However, it should be noted that alluvium provides us with lighter-bodied wines, but with more finesse and, above all, wines which are prepared for their early consumption.
White wines: They come from vines of more than 30 years old planted between 490 and 550 meters o altitude on meseta and slope. Their soils, 60% clay and 40% limestone, provide the accurate acidity to achieve really fresh wines with great expressivity and medium body.
AREA 3
LONG CRIANZA AND RESERVA RED WINES
They come from vineyards planted between 550 and 590 meters on slope and meseta.
Their soils are made of argyle-limestone which ensures, on the one hand, the obtaining of grapes with a great concentration of polyphenols (calcium soils) and, on the other hand, that the plant will have the necessary humidity during the whole summer in a very progressive way for its optimum ripening and that the acidity levels will be maintained in optimum parameters when picking up (clay-based soils), which will guarantee the suitability for a good aging.
Selected plots: The plot selection project by ZINIO Bodegas includes a series of plots located at between 550 y 590 meters of altitude, planted on very poor argyle-limestone soils. These vineyards are characterized by being very old, having a production of less than 4000 kg per hectare, producing grapes of great polyphenolic concentration (aroma and color) and by extraordinarily reaching phenolic and alcoholic maturity every year.
The contribution of calcium as a main factor in the accumulation of color and aromas of the grape, along with clay which will let the plant receive the necessary humidity to complete the ripening of Tempranillo wine (more than 40 days between veraison and the harvest), make these soils ideal for cultivation with bush vines system, maximum defender of the long Crianza wines from Rioja.
