Located on the lower part of San Vicente de la Sonsierra, next to the pharaonic bodega that the Eguren brothers are building, Castillo de Mendoza is one of the pioneers in organic grapegrowing in the region.
The 40 hectares of vineyards under their ownership have been gradually converted since 2001, when the first organic vineyards were planted on Alto de Mindiarte, an area with 15 hectares of vines surrounded by trees and with beautiful views of San Vicente and Sierra Cantabria to the north, Briones to the west and Davalillo Castle to the south. The rest of their land under vine is found in the vicinity of this Rioja village and is planted to Tempranillo, Graciano, Viura and Malvasía.
Castillo de Mendoza is owned by Eloy Antonio Mendoza, a graphite businessman based in San Sebastián. His ancestors made wine for their own consumption in a traditional cave within the village walls, but in 1994 Mendoza decided to restore an 18th century distillery and turn it into a winery. In 2001, space restrictions meant that they moved to their current location, a newly built winery whose cellar has been excavated in the rock, as it is traditional in the area.
The day to day at the winery is in the hands of women. Carolina Mendoza, the owner’s daughter, manages the place while Marta Besga is the winemaker and her sister María takes care of PR and visits. They make around 120,000 bottles and seven wines. They export 80% of their production, mostly to Scandinavia, Central Europe as well as the US and China. Their organic commitment encompasses their bottles (lighter in weight), corks (no whitening treatments or ink marks), labels (made from recycled paper and decorated with water ink), seals (with beeswax) and recycled cardboard boxes.
In terms of reds, their entry level wine is called Chirimendo (5,000 bottles, €5), a feet-trodden carbonic maceration style with Tempranillo and a small portion of Viura. A step up is Vitarán Crianza (50,000 bottles, €8), a 100% Tempranillo aged in used barrels for 12 months and Noralba Crianza (35,000 bottles, €12), a blend of Tempranillo (80%) and Graciano (20%) from their Mindiarte vineyard, with clay-limestone soils and rolling stones at 700 metres of altitude. It displays fresh red fruit, spicy notes and good acidity and the wine is aged for 18 months in new French and American oak barrels. Castillo de Mendoza Reserva (12,000 bottles, €15) is a classic style Tempranillo whereas Castillo de Mendoza Autor Ecológico (7,000 bottles, €20) is a selection of Tempranillo from the best plots and is only made in very good vintages with malolactic fermentation in new barrels and around 20 months of ageing. Evento (5,000 bottles, €35) is Castillo de Mendoza’s most special wine, a 100% Tempranillo with manually selected grapes and 30 months in French oak barrels.
Castillo de Mendoza also makes a white wine called Noralba (a word that mixes the names of Eloy Antonio Mendoza’s granddaughters, Nora and Alba). It is a blend of Viura and Malvasía and is aged for four months with its lees in Hungarian oak barrels. Citrus and white fruit notes on the nose and an unctuous palate with well integrated oak (3,000 bottles, €8). The labels feature a four-leaf clover, which became the logo of Castillo de Mendoza after these plants started to spring on the soils of Mindiarte after its conversion to organic agriculture.
The winery and the vineyard next door can be toured from Monday to Saturday with prior appointment. The wine tasting is accompanied by chorizo and bread from San Vicente and organic oil as well as a vegan alternative.