Enologist: Jaime de Simón

D.O.C. Rioja       

Grapes: Tempranillo 95%,  Graciano & Garnacha

Ageing: “Finca Monteviejo” was harvested in the 2nd ten-day period in October, and yielded 21,000 kg of grapes with healthy racemes and fully ripe, selected "by hand" on the vine itself.  Alcoholic fermentation was done in stainless steel tanks at temperatures of 28º to 30º C, and the crushed grape skins were left to macerate in the juice for over 20 days to allow the extraction of tannins and color to take place. Both malolactic fermentation and ageing were carried out in new French oak casks from different forests for 18 months, until bottling, which took place after a very gentle filtering in March 2008.

Tasting Notes:
Medium-layer cherry red, with a gradual color change towards the edge. Intense, open and long-lasting. Without swirling, the wine gives off aromas of ginger, sun-dried hay, sun-dried apricots and peaches, and black-skinned berries. Swirling brings out fresher hints of red berries, with dairy notes. On the attack the wine is fresh, with tasty tannins and cocoa and orange peel flavors. Complex, pleasant and fresh. Lingering, elegant aftertaste. Importers Notes

Additional Information

The Bodega dates back to the second half of the 19th century, when Francisco Javier Solano y Eulate, the 'Marquis de la Solana' and owner of a large area of vineyards in Villabuena, decided, on the advice of the famous oenologist from Bordeaux, Msr. Pineau, to begin making and aging his wines according to methods imported from Médoc and to start selling them in bottles, after aging, under the label 'Marqués de la Solana'.

Following the enlargement of the bodega’s underground ‘calados’ or caves, the importation of the first wine-making machinery and the introduction of oak casks from Bordeaux, the wines started to win major awards such as the silver medal at the Logroño Exhibition in 1898 and the gold medal at the Universal Exhibition in Barcelona in 1929.

On the death of the Marquis, his property was inherited by his daughters, Mª Teresa and María Solano (grandmother of the current owners), who changed the name of the bodega to Bodegas de Crianza S.M.S. (the abbreviation of the family surnames).

Nowadays, the bodega, which changed its name once again in 1996 to Viñedos y Bodegas de la Marquesa, continues to be a family firm and is owned by Juan Pablo de Simón and his brothers, while the next generation, Pablo and Jaime de Simón (Juan Pablo’s sons) are preparing to take over the running of the company in the future.