RVA18

BODEGA MIGUEL MERINO

Since the beginning of my exporting career I have long dreamt of having my own small "bodega", where I could make a few bottles of wine of the best quality possible. Briones, in the heart of the Rioja Alta, gathered all the conditions I was looking for: old steep vineyards of Tempranillo vines, chalky soil and a climate showing a marked Atlantic influence. Declared a town of historic and artistic merit, Briones is where we decided to site our winery.

Now, as one of the smallest wineries in Rioja, our wines are among the most prestigious in the country, and we are exporting them to over twenty markets. With the recent incorporation of my son Miguel and his wife Erika we are encouraged to grow, not in quantity, but in improving our style. We want to continue to enjoy our wine-making.

All our vineyards are located in our town, Briones. They were planted between 1918 and 2001, in diverse types of soil and different sun exposures but mainly in slopes. All of them are harvested by hand and their grapes transported in small crates so that they arrive to the winery in the best conditions. Once there, all the bunches are checked again in the sorting table. The selected grapes are sent to the vats through a peristaltic system, where fermentation will take place at controlled temperature.

Our wine selection goes from wines where the vineyard and the varietal characteristics of the grapes are the main protagonists, to wines where their traditional winemaking and classic ageing makes them perfect representatives of Rioja.

www.miguelmerino.com