The brand Viñedos Sierra Cantabria incorporates all the Eguren family labels originating form vineyards or specific plots of land that used to be part of Sierra Cantabria. This group includes some of its most iconic labels such as Amancio, El Bosque and Sierra Cantabria Colección Privada, along with Organza white and Sierra Cantabria Cuvée red; plus Mágico and CVC, the new top reds trying to break into the luxury market.
This new concept follows an ambitious project to build a hilltop winery in the style of the XIX Rioja constructions, with cellars cut into the rock and the remaining stone used to build the premises on the surface. Despite the use of modern technology to carry out the works, the process is extremely slow and is planned on different stages of development.
Back on the wine front, the Organza barrel aged white (€23) is one of the great unknowns in the Eguren family. Made from a high percentage of Malvasia (25%) and Garnacha Blanca (30%), along with the customary Viura, it shows good evolution in the bottle. Winemaker Marcos Eguren likes to uncork old vintages to surprise his guests.
For the reds,Tempranillo is the only variety they work with. Sierra Cantabria Colección Privada (€42) is partly produced (50%) following the carbonic maceration method of fermenting whole bunches. El Bosque and Amancio (each about €100 in Spain) undergo laborious manual destemming and traditional foot treading. The second wine is riper and enveloping, and it is aged up to 24 months in oak. With 18 months, El Bosque is sourced from a vineyard of barely one and a half hectares. It usually displays a marked mineral expression, with concentrated fruit (essence) but fresh and vibrant.
The most exclusive reds produced by the Eguren family at Viñedos Sierra Cantabria are Mágico and CVC. Mágico (2,000 bottles, 800 €) comes from a plot planted at the beginning of the 20th century in the site of El Bardallo, an elevated area of San Vicente de la Sonsierra. It is a field blend of 65% Tempranillo, 20% Garnacha and small amounts of other grapes (Calagraño, Turruntés,Viura, Graciano, Petit Bouschet, Garnacha Tintorera; Moristel). All these grapes are fermented together except for Garnacha, which needs four or five more days to reach full ripeness. Presented in a Burgundy-shaped bottle, Mágico is the most subtle of the Eguren wines, with an evocative character, marked by red fruit, forest nuances and aromatic herbs -the oak is subtle or almost imperceptible.
Sourcing grapes from a single vineyard is Marcos Eguren’s contribution to multi-vintage blends. The chosen one is Finca San Pelayo, a 1.49Ha Tempranillo plot planted in 1960 in San Vicente de la Sonsierra. His CVC (€700) tries to captures the essence of a vineyard by blurring the vintage print and achieving a balance between more or less tannic vintages and fresher or warmer years. The first Sierra Cantabria CVC was bottled in 2015 and blended 2008 (a cold vintage), 2009 (a warm year) and the excellent, well-balanced 2010.
The Eguren group also includes the wineries Sierra Cantabria, Señorío de San Vicente and Viñedos de Páganos in Rioja; Teso La Monja in Toro; and Dominio de Eguren, which produces wine under the VT Castilla category.
