Ramón Bilbao highlights wonders of terroir-driven wines

Ramón Bilbao is highlighting the wonders of terroir-driven wines with its Lalomba range, which celebrates the tastes of individual parcels of land, showing off the purest expression of the grapes grown within them.

IN JUNE 2017, Rioja’s Consejo Regulador unveiled a new classification framework that caused a surge of excitement across Spain’s viticultural landscape. After much campaigning and debate, Spain’s engine room for global red wine export was to embrace terroir with the creation of a new ‘Viñedos Singulares’ (single vineyard) designation. Many of the region’s top wine producers have since taken the decision  to market a brand under the burgeoning classification.

Yet the foundations of Ramón Bilbao’s single-vineyard project predates the official sanction given in 2017. In July 2020, the producer launched three single-vineyard wines marketed under a new brand name – Lalomba. “The Lalomba project started 10 years ago, when our technical director, Rodolfo Bastida, had a visionary idea to create a single-vineyard winery in Rioja,” explains Lalomba’s project director, Alberto Saldon.

“Then, five years ago, Rosana Lisa – our director of innovation – and I picked up the project together, looking for the purest expression of the most enthralling Ramón Bilbao vineyards we could find. Over the years, we have developed an intimate understanding of our terroirs. We have worked hard to express our vineyards with respect, vision and determination. We have studied, observed and listened.”

THE REGION’S FUTURE

There is a fierce debate raging in wine-critic circles about the future of traditional blended styles in Rioja. Several high-profile winemakers have said that the region’s future must lie in terroir expression and single-vineyard wines. However, Ramón Bilbao rejects this as a hollow argument. As the firm effortlessly demonstrates, there is nothing mutually exclusive about championing blended styles and promoting the best of the appellation’s incredibly diverse terroir. “Lalomba is the natural evolution of Ramón Bilbao. A natural next step in looking to capture the identity of some charismatic plots,” says Saldon.

He adds: “But absolutely key here is that we created a new winery as we looked for a totally different concept. The vineyard is king. The viticulture, the winemaking, and concrete vats all have one common aim: to maintain the purity of the terroir.”

Although the project is still in its relative infancy, the initial three wines unveiled last year have already won high praise from journalists and critics such as Tim Atkin MW.

Finca Lalinde Rosé 2019, a blend of 90% old-vine Garnacha and 10% Virua from Rioja Oriental, has been an enormous success. Fermented and partially aged in concrete to preserve the wine’s freshness and purity, Saldon describes the rosé as being “refreshing and floral”.

He adds: “Lalomba Finca Lalinde was our very first wine in the range, and is a delicate, gastronomic rosé that has sold out year after year – in fact, it’s been the Best Rioja Rosé in Tim Atkin’s Rioja Report for the past three years in a row, and has often been voted best Spanish rosé in Spanish wine guides.”

Meanwhile, the Finca Valhonta and Ladero reds are a blend of exceptional terroir and 21st century winemaking. The fruit for Finca Valhonta is sourced from a high-altitude vineyard in Villalba de Rioja, grown on chalk-clay terraces at 650 metres above sea level. A 100% Tempranillo Rioja, the grapes are fermented with  indigenous yeasts in concrete then aged for 14 months in 500- litre barrels. The  wine then undergoes a second ageing in concrete for eight months to soften the tannins.

However, Finca Ladero is based on a blend of Tempranillo and Garnacha, the latter variety planted in Monte Yerga in Rioja Oriental in 1989 at an altitude of over 720m. Typically, the grapes are fermented and macerated in concrete then racked into 225-litre barrels for 16 months, after which the wine is rounded out in concrete for a further 22 months. Its annual production is 7,500 bottles. So why is there the  emphasis on concrete over Rioja’s traditional affiliation with oak vats?

“After much research, we decided that concrete was the best material to use for fermentation,” explains Saldon. “Concrete blends the best elements of fermentation in stainless steel and oak; it gives no flavour, but it is porous, which leads to better colour stability. We didn’t only look at the choice of materials: we also looked at the liner for the interior, the shape of the tank itself and even where we sourced the concrete from because all of these things have a great influence on the final wine. Indeed, we chose a ‘raw’ concrete (no epoxy) as it allows us to preserve the identity of the vineyard,” he adds.

TAKING A RISK

Produced in very small quantities, Ramón Bilbao took a risk by launching the Lalomba wines during a global pandemic. The range is custom-designed for Spanish enthusiasts in the on-trade – both sommeliers and consumers. Yet Saldon is confident that as European economies emerge from a succession of lockdowns, the brand will be a success.

“The pandemic and economic crisis have been a challenge, but we wanted to continue with bringing the wines to market because Lalomba is a long-term project and no pandemic or crisis is going to stop a project with soul,” says Saldon.

“The most prestigious Spanish sommeliers and haute cuisine restaurants are discovering the wines right now and the wine writers and critics – both local and international – have been very enthusiastic about the project. We are just starting to introduce Lalomba to export markets and the first signs are really encouraging.”

A Burgundian approach to terroir and marketing from the heartland of blended wines? Ramón Bilbao has proved that the terms ‘Rioja’ and ‘site specific’ are far from mutually exclusive.