Vega Sicilia to release Rioja in 2013

Grupo Vega Sicilia will be releasing its first Rioja in 2013 from 100 hectares of vineyards which it has been acquiring in secret over the last six years in the north of the region.

Speaking at the company’s UK launch of Vega Sicilia Unico 2000, technical director Xavier Ausàs López de Castro told the drinks business that the new project was a joint venture with Benjamin de Rothschild and that each partner had a 50% share of the operation.

He also said that while “the wine exists, it doesn’t have a name,” and that the Rioja wouldn’t be marketed along the typical lines of the region.

“There won’t be a Crianza, Reserva and Gran Reserva,” he began, “but it will be like a Bordeaux, with a first wine that will account for 60-65% of the total production and then a second wine for the rest.”

He noted that the land bought by the partners was based around San Vicente de la Sonsierra and included the oldest vineyard in the region, with vines around 80 years old. He also admitted that the Rioja would be made with just the Tempranillo grape.

Further, although the partners have acquired 100ha of vineyards, 30ha of this area were not planted, he said. “We are planning for the future,” he explained, “and in total we want to have 100 to 110ha of vineyards for the production of 300,000 bottles.”

Meanwhile, he told db that Vega Sicilia had completed the construction of a new fermentation facility in time for the 2010 vintage. This allows Xavier to separately vinify up to 84 different parcels of wine from Vega Sicilia’s 200ha of vineyards in Ribero del Duero.

The improved cellar has cost the group €15 million and means Xavier is able “to reflect the complexity of the terroir at Vega Sicilia,” which encompasses as many as 19 different soil types.

“We have made it even more complicated,” he joked, referring to the separate vinification of 40 different parcels of wine in 2010, “and we are very satisfied with the result.”

The Grupo Vega Sicilia portfolio includes Vega Sicilia and Bodegas Alión in Ribera del Duero; Bodegas Pintia in Toro, and Tokay Oremus in Hungary.

Patrick Schmitt, 03.03.2011