In the world of wine, outstanding terroirs emerge only when the human mind discovers, explores and understands them. Tucked away in the province of León, the Jamuz Valley has never quite reached the importance or the surface under vine of neighbouring regions such as Valdevimbre or Bierzo. But seen through the eyes of the 21st century, it has a lot going for it: distinctive soils, high elevation and an interesting mix of grape varieties. Most importantly, these neglected old vineyards have found someone willing to invest, unlock their potential and proudly showcase their wines to the world.
The Jamuz river, a tributary of the Órbigo and part of the Duero basin, flows down from the Torneros mountains and carves out a small valley sheltered by mount Teleno. As the highest peak in the Montes de León mountain range, it acts as a natural barrier against storms, fostering a unique microclimate. "We have similar hours of sunshine to Seville," explains winemaker Marta Ramas, highlighting a distinguishing feature not shared by neighbouring valleys formed by the Duerna river to the north and the Eria river to the south.
Only a handful of villages from these three valleys fall within the designated area of the DO León. In the case of the Jamuz valley, it only includes Quintana y Congosto at its heart, along with Santa Elena de Jamuz and Quintana del Marco to the south. The residual presence of vineyards in the area when the DO was established may explain this.
Grape growing was never a significant crop in the area. As Alain Huetz de Lemps describes in Viñedos y vinos del noroeste de España (Vineyards and wines of north-western Spain), viticulture was poor in the 16th century, with most of the wine coming from outside the valley. Though vineyards saw a modest expansion in the 18th century, they remained insufficient to meet the demands of Astorga and La Bañeza, which primarily sourced their wines from Toro and Rueda, with Bierzo playing a marginal role. The most significant increase in vine cultivation took place around 1889.
Fast forward to the 1960s, when Huetz de Lemps writes about wines of "medium quality, with 10 to 12% alc" that were "the resut of blending different varieties: Prieto Picudo has lost ground since phylloxera and is mainly used as the base grape to make red wine; there are also Mencía, Gran Negro, Jerez, Valenciano [Bobal] and Alicante, known as Tintorera, as this variety has often replaced Prieto Picudo to add colour to the wine'. Huetz de Lemps also notes the low planting density (1,300 vines per hectare), which results in very low yields.
What Miguel Ángel Alonso found at the beginning of the 2010s was not much different. The last member of his family to be born in Herreros de Jamuz was his grandmother, Laura Santamaría. His father and grandfather, both lawyers, practised their professions far from the village, as did he, a doctor who focused on research and worked in the pharmaceutical industry. However, they all continued the tradition of spending their summer holidays in León, making Herreros de Jamuz a family meeting place.
Perhaps because half the family is of French origin and they could not help but compare the French vineyards with the neglected state of the remaining plots in the Jamuz valley, they decided to recover some of them and make wine. "We were told that we wouldn't be able to make good wine," Miguel Ángel recalls, but that didn't bother them too much. Their emotional attachment to the land and their desire to add value and create local jobs were much stronger. It all started as a humble garage wine pursuit with the 2013 and 2014 vintages, but it soon became clear that they needed professional advice.
The chance to work under the guidance of Bierzo's star producer, Raúl Pérez, for a year and a half opened their eyes to the true potential of the area and, following the arrival of winemaker Marta Ramas, inspired further exploration and research. While samples sent to Swiss geneticist José Vouillamoz proved the varietal diversity of the area, the soil study carried out by Biome Makers revealed the untapped value of the Jamuz Valley. In addition to the diversity of yeasts found by this Biome Makers, a start-up company specialised in soil characterisation through microbiological studies (and coincidentally founded by two experts from La Bañeza), the most important discovery was the presence of gold sediments linked to the old Roman gold mines. The story was getting more and more interesting.
A small bodega was built in Herreros de Jamuz in 2017. It also houses the wines of José Gordón, the owner of El Capricho, a world-famous beef restaurant in the neighbouring village of Jiménez de Jamuz, very close to La Bañeza.
"We mainly grow Mencía and other varieties typically found in Galicia, such as Dona Blanca or Gran Negro; this is likely because Herreros del Jamuz is on the route to Bierzo and Galicia," explains Miguel Ángel. Among the less common varieties, they tried to reintroduce Bruñal, but the severe frost of 2017 destroyed all the plants - in fact, 90% of the entire crop was lost. As well as frost, other threats include birds, deer and wild boars, which can be particularly damaging in the isolated, elevated areas.
Marta Ramas finds that Mencía here tends to have more acidity than that its Bierzo counterpart. She treads the whole bunches, seeking an infusion effect rather than extraction. Fermentation takes place in wooden vats, except for the Garnacha Tintorera, which is fermented in concrete.
It is estimated that there are around one hundred hectares under vine in the valley. Fuentes del Silencio owns 24 of them, all organic. "We didn't anticipate having so many, but people approached us and offered their vineyards," recalls Miguel Ángel. Many of these are old or very old vineyards still in the process of recovery. This, together with the climatic conditions and the pressure from wildlife, means that yields rarely exceed 1,000 kg/ha.
Think of a patchwork of small plots starting at the valley floor, marked by the presence of groundwater feeding numerous springs (fuente in Spanish - hence the name of the winery), and gradually ascending mount Tileno slope towards the moorland (high plateau). Elevations range from around 800 metres in Herreros de Jamuz to 950 metres in Quintanilla Flórez and Torneros, with vineyards also dotting the villages of Quintana y Congosto and Palacios de Jamuz.
Minor varieties include Prieto Picudo in the lower part of the valley. There is also Garnacha Tintorera, and in the higher areas Gran Negro and Godello replace Dona Blanca and Palomino, where stones are more prevalent. "The heat-retaining properties of stones are particularly beneficial, shielding plants from frost and helping to complete the ripening process," explains Marta Ramas.
The dispersed nature of the vineyard and its condition (each plot is a world of its own) bestow a special merit to this project, driven more by emotional ties rather than profit. At La Gándara vineyard in Herreros de Jamuz, where our visit began, the vines have been nicknamed "the zombies" for their stump-like appearance and the area's characteristic crawling nature. "Pruning here is not about production, but about survival," says Marta Ramas. Despite the challenges, La Gándara is considered their most distinctive site and the only one to date to produce a single-vineyard red of just over 1,000 bottles. In this reddish sandy-loam soil (rich in iron oxide), Biome Makers identified a yeast that is not saccharomyces and produces more polysaccharides. "The wine always has a lower alcohol content and the fermentation goes its own way," explains Ramas.
The wine has its own character, with slightly earthier, mineral tones over a strawberry fruit profile in the 2019 vintage, but I can recall a 2016 with notes reminiscent of seaweed.
With around 15,000 bottles, Las Jaras is Fuentes del Silencio's most widely available wine. The grapes are sourced from vines in the lower part of the valley, yielding sweeter fruit notes due to dominant clay soils. Some Prieto Picudo and Garnacha are usually included in the blend to complement Mencía. The wine is fermented and aged in wood and concrete vats.
Las Quintas (about 3,800 bottles, €32 in Spain) comes from higher vineyards on the northern plateau in the villages of Palacios de Jamuz and Quintanilla Flórez. Aged for 12 months in large French oak barrels, it has a herbal, scrubland character with a fresher mouthfeel and firmer tannins. The 2019, considered a very good vintage in the area, is particularly expressive. As vineyard yields improve, Marta does not rule out the possibility of exploring the character of these two villages separately in the future.
An original Dona Blanca white approaching 2,000 bottles, Mataperezosa stands out for its moderate alcohol (12% vol.) and ageing potential, evolving beautifully in the bottle with each vintage (the 2018 was our wine of the week a few months ago). The 2021 I tasted in the cellar had honeyed notes, white fruit, herbs and a dry stone character. From 2022, the barrels will be replaced by a cocciopesto amphora (a material that mimics the ancient Roman formula of mixing ground bricks with stone fragments, sand, binder and water) and an Austrian foudre.
There is also a limited production of single-varietal Prieto Picudo (light in colour, slightly herbal and leaner than Mencía) and Garnacha Tintorera (which has the strong, firm style of the variety and good acidity).
With plenty of room to grow and develop, Miguel Ángel Alonso is very proud of the renaissance he has brought to the valley's forgotten vineyards. He has also dispelled any doubts by proving that good wine can be made in a place that was previously thought to offer poor quality. "No more saying that we have nothing of value or that we underestimate our heritage," he says.
Faced with isolation and a lack of common features with DO Léon, which does not comprise the entire valley, Fuentes del Silencio joined Grandes Pagos a few years ago. "This is an interesting group of wineries, it strengthens our status and gives us a seal of quality," says Miguel Ángel.
As for the future, he has clear ideas: "We have to make this project work, given the huge investment, the fact that all the work is done by hand and that we have gone organic. As long as Fuentes del Silencio is self-sustaining and provides a margin for reinvestment, we will be satisfied. The most important thing is that the area moves forward. Ideally, we would like to see more wineries," he muses. "What if there were 10 instead of three? The challenge is laid down for anyone willing to seize it.
