The Viura grapes used for our barrel-fermented Viña Real come from 20-year-old vineyards located in different parts of Rioja Alavesa, Elciego and Laguardia, grown on head-trained and trellis vines in cool, calcareous soils. Hand-harvested at optimal ripeness.
In the winery, grapes are kept at 10ºC and macerated with their skins for 12 hours for greater aromatic expression in the finished wine. After this time, a small pneumatic press separates the various fractions and qualities of the must. The drained must is then used to produce the wine, fermented in Hungarian oak barrels of varying capacities and ages (1-3 years old).
Once alcoholic fermentation is complete, the wine remains in the barrel with the fine lees, which are put in suspension through batonnage. The wine is sampled on a weekly basis to assess its development and determine the right moment to end the lees ageing process. At this point, the wine is racked, clarified and filtered prior to bottling.