It is fair to say that Javier San Pedro Ortega carries wine in his blood. He belongs to the fifth generation of a saga of vinegrowers and winemakers in Laguardia (Rioja Alavesa). By the age of five, he could be seen helping to clean his grandfather’s cellar; aged 17, he made his first wine at his father’s winery (Vallobera). He has also enjoyed the support of his uncle Carlos San Pedro from Bodegas Pujanza, a renowned winemaker in Rioja.
Javier set up on his own in the 2012 vintage. He has seven hectares under vine but he also sources grapes from 46 hectares owned by one of his cousins and other suppliers, up to a total of 100 hectares. Most of them are located in the vicinity of Laguardia but he also farms a couple of hectares owned by his wife’s family in Lanciego.
Having grown up in a family with a reputation for great value wines, he seems to have found a sweet spot with a couple of increasingly popular styles which give him the necessary financial muscle to develop a single-vineyard range. Anahí (a tribute to his mother Ana Isabel, €7-8, 150,000 bottles) is a blend of Malvasia, Sauvignon Blanc and Tempranillo Blanco with 40g of sugar which is a hugely popular choice for tapas in Logroño. His Cueva de Lobos range comes from young vines and includes a carbonic maceration wine (less than €5), a Crianza (€7.5) and a white wine.
His efforts are primarily focused on the Viuda Negra (Black Widow) range. Named after the poisonous spider, the logo also bears the keys of Saint Peter (San Pedro in Spanish, which is Javier’s surname).
The range starts with a nicely structured, slightly mineral Viuda Negra Crianza (86,000 bottles, €8.50) based on 30+-year-old vines from his cousin’s vineyards. Single-vineyard wines, usually fermented in open casks, include Viuda Negra La Taconera (under 3,000 bottles, €14 in Spain, under the category of Viñedo Singular since the 2017 vinatge), made with 32-year old Tempranillo vines owned by Javier’s mother and displaying Laguardia’s vibrant red fruit; and Viuda Negra Villahuercos (around €17), arguably San Pedro’s most unusual wine and the result of his passion for White Tempranillo. Convinced of its potential, San Pedro has succeeded at making a round, fairly structured and expressive white from very young vines. Viuda Negra Nunca Jamás (around €18) sources grapes from the highest, poorest areas; the wine is aged for just a few months to emphasize fruit and youth; it is less structured, but has good acidity and a vivid fruit expression.
Rather anecdotal are the Tempranillo rosé Viuda Negra Prado de las Almas (€16.5, 1,000 bottles), made from the first third of pressed grapes, fermented and aged for six months in barrels; and Viuda Negra Vendimia Tardía (Late Harvest, around €25, just a few hundred bottles), made form Viura harvested as late as December.
