Bodegas Cuevas Jiménez, commonly known in Spain as Ferratus, is the brainchild of María Luisa Cuevas, a strong, energetic entrepreneur without previous experience in wine. Her family in fact is in the iron business, hence the name of the winery.
A former lawyer, she began her professional career in Madrid, but did not start to work with wine until after she returned to Aranda de Duero, her hometown, when her husband joined her family's company. A course on wine internationalisation sparked María Luisa’s interest and led her to visit local producers and attend wine tastings until she finally decided to establish her own winery. It was the 2003 vintage, the height of the region's boom, "when wines were quickly sold", she recalls, and many growers leapt into winemaking.
Her first big setback turned out to be a great opportunity. During the first harvest at Ferratus, one of the suppliers did not honour their grape sale agreement and, in a desperate search for high quality fruit, the opportunity arose to acquire just under three hectares in Pago de Santa Cruz, one of the top sites in the reputed village of La Horra, in Burgos. These grapes tasted so differently that, instead of making just one wine as planned, María Luisa decided to launch two: Ferratus and the top Ferratus Sensaciones.
At present, production stands at around 150,000 bottles with the aim of reaching 250,000 in the future. In 2018 María Luisa acquired a 17-hectare vineyard in San Juan del Monte, a little-known village west of Aranda, located midway between Zauzar and Peñaranda de Duero. This is a late-budding site (hence spring frosts are avoided) located at an elevation of 920 metres above sea level.
The rest of the grapes are sourced from local purveyors. María Luisa takes care of the vineyards herself, monitors growers and collects all the harvest samplings. To feel the land, she says, you really need to work the vines. "If you don't feel the vineyard, you can't make good wine."
As the range of wines grew, her portfolio was rearranged. In 2011 she started producing AØ (“acero” is “stainless steel” in Spanish, 80,000 to 100,000 bottles, €10 in Spain, 12 months in French oak). On the 2016 vintage the flagship Tempranillo Ferratus was renamed as Ferratus Origen (around 20,000 bottles, €22 in Spain, 14 months in French oak) and went on to include the “old vines” mention on the label. Grapes for this wine are sourced from purveyors in the villages of Quintana del Pidio, Gumiel de Izán, Gumiel de Mercado or Montejo de la Vega. In the vintages when Ferratus Sensaciones is not produced (it happened in 2013 and 2016), its grapes go to Origen.
The premium range includes Ferratus Sensaciones (just over 6,000 bottles, €30 in Spain), a terroir-driven, powerful, yet finely textured Tempranillo sourced from her own vineyards in Pago de Santa Cruz and Ferratus Fusión (2,200 bottles, €28). Behind the sophisticated screen-printed bottle, María Luisa seeks to ferment in barrel the right type of grapes to make a voluptuous red.
There is also a full-bodied rosé briefly aged in barrel. It’s a genuine expression of Ribera del Duero and it is the perfect substitute for a red wine in the hottest months of the year.
All the wines are 100% Tempranillo. Emmanuel Ivars, a French winemaker and consultant based in Ribera del Duero, has been overseeing the wines in recent years with the goal of making the style of wines María Luisa Cuevas was looking for: elegant reds with restrained oak.
In the 2022 vintage a Ferratus white (around €18 in Spain) was released. It offers a good introduction to the local variety Albillo, with rather neutral aromas of moderate intensity, but quite fond of ageing, The wine is partly aged in barrels and stainless steel tanks
Ferratus’ new strategy to entice distributors with a broader portfolio includes importing a grower champagne, which will soon be followed by a white Burgundy.
Wine tours are available from Monday to Saturday but reservations in advance are required. On the first Saturday of each month a wine and chocolate tasting is held.
