Gold of old

When you think of Spanish wine, you quickly think of Rioja, the main wine region of this lovely warm country. One of the oldest wineries in Rioja is Bodegas Montecillo. Montecillo's history is intertwined with two families: Navajas and Osborne.
Text: Charlotte van Zummeren | Image: Bodegas Montecillo

The Rioja is Spain's most famous and important wine-growing region; it is a splendid region of hills and vineyards as far as vineyards go.
you can see. Driving through the vineyards there is a delight. Rioja has about 70,000 hectares and the vineyards are located along the banks of the Ebro River. Ninety per cent of the wines are red, the remaining 10 per cent are white and rosé, and the grape
which you see everywhere is tempranillo.

GOOD SINCE 1870

Bodegas Montecillo is one of the oldest wineries in Spain and part of Osborne. If you occasionally visit Spain, Osborne is well known. They advertise with big black bulls in the Spanish landscape, which is not to be missed. Osborne makes spirits as well as sherry. And that Osborne bull now also seems to be in Mexico, gracing the pampas as an advertisement for spirits, just so you know. The name Montecillo is less well known, by the way, and this article will now hopefully change that. Because Montecillo makes very good wines and the bodega has been doing so since 1870.

STATUS

Rioja lies 100 kilometres south of Bay of Biscay. To the north, a wide row of mountains protects the area from cold winds from the Atlantic and rain showers. Rioja is about 1.5 hours' drive from Bilbao, the city made even more famous by its unique and beautifully designed Guggenheim museum. The wine region starts at the town of Haro on the Ebro river. A little further south is Logron˜o, the beating heart of the Rioja wine region. Rioja was the first ever in Spain to get DO status in 1926. In 1991, it was also the first to get even stricter DOCa status because of the exceptional quality of Rioja wine. Only two wine regions in Spain have this status, namely Rioja and Priorat.