Villota

After spending several years in Chile, Ricardo Perez Perez decided to return to his native Rioja in 1930 and settled in the San Rafael Estate in the village of Laserna on the Ebro River. While not a winemaker himself, his son Ricardo Perez Calvert, an experienced agricultural engineer, joined him in 1945 to revive their old vineyards and started to make wine to enjoy at home. They soon began to sell their grapes to local producers, and caught the eye of Rioja giants CVNE, with whom Ricardo joned forces along with his son Ricardo Perez Vilotta to create Vinedos del Contino. After CVNE took full control of Cotonio in 2013, including 62 hectares of his grandfather's original estate, Ricardo and his daughter Carmen decided to create their own wines with the property's remaining 100ha, and Villota was born. With vineyards hugging the River Ebro for 3 kilometres, their soils range from sandy areas next to the river bed, with pebbles and clay as you travel up the valley, to calcareous areas at the top of the hill. Most of their vineyards are over 35 years old, with their top cuvee, Vina Gena (a single vineyard named after Carmen's grandmother) is made from Tempranillo planted in 1930. Their red and whites all come from local varieties, made with minimum intervention and meticulous grape selection during harvest, showing the rich, yet polished character of Rioja's northern Alavesa region.