Montecillo Crianza

The classic Rioja par excellence. Montecillo Crianza is a red coupage of the Tempranillo and Garnacha Tinta varieties. The classic wine of old, made by the Montecillo winery in the D.O. Ca. Rioja, but with a new edge.

Montecillo Crianza comes from the Rioja Alta, in northern Spain, specifically from Fuenmayor, a village of 3,000 inhabitants very close to the Ebro River. There, 145 years ago, Celestino Navajas Matute laid the foundations of Montecillo in 1870, becoming the first winery in the village and the third oldest in La Rioja. Now, without a family heir to take over, (Luis Navajas, Celestino’s grandson, had no children), the facilities were acquired by the Osborne group from Porto. This acquisition in 1973 was followed by improvements and renovations, like the construction of a new processing plant in Navarrete.

Today Montecillo has become one of the great names that can be seen on bottle labels around the world and, despite their large production, the founding quality, essence and purity are still there. This is the case with Montecillo Crianza. After a first controlled fermentation at a temperature of 24ºC, Montecillo Crianza spends 2-3 days cold-macerating in contact with the skins. From there, Montecillo Crianza is transferred to underground tanks for malolactic fermentation. The final touch is given by the semi-new American oak barrels, where Montecillo Crianza undergoes an oxidative aging of 18 months. Finally, the 6 months in bottle is crucial to Montecillo Crianza developing properly and tasting right. The Rioja of old with the quality of today.