Known as Agrícola Castellana until 2019, Cuatro Rayas is the largest cooperative in DO Rueda and in Castilla y León as a whole. With 2,770 hectares of vineyards and an annual wine production of 16 to 20 million bottles, it is the largest wine bottling operation in this Spanish autonomous region. The name Cuatro Rayas originates from a highly prized plot of land during the 1950s and 1960s, located at the confluence of the villages of La Seca, Rodilana, Medina del Campo and Rueda.
The cooperative was founded in La Seca (Valladolid) in 1935, although it did not begin operating until 1938 when the founding members brought in their first wines, instead of grapes. The cooperative's first famous brand was Fino 61, named after the tank from which everyone wanted their jugs filled. Early exports included a shipment to Switzerland that was intercepted in Nazi-occupied France. Counterfeits made from blends of grapes from La Mancha, Extremadura and Galicia prompted an attempt to create a protected designation of origin as early as 1946. A letter from that year bore the heading 'Bodega Cooperativa. Wine Growers and Exporters, owners of 1,484,053 vines.’ Until the late 1970s, production focused on fortified wines.
The role of the vineyard
Seventy-five per cent of Cuatro Rayas's 300 members make their living from winegrowing. The DO's development has transformed this activity, turning it from a sideline into the main source of income for many families. While most of the vines are concentrated in La Seca — the largest wine-growing village in Castilla y León —, Serrada and Villanueva de Duero, members’ vineyards extend across 30 villages in the provinces of Valladolid and Segovia.
Grapes are priced according to the age of the vineyards, which are categorised as under 35 years, 35 to 55 years, 55 to 70 years, and over 70 years. The cooperative manages around 200 hectares of vineyards over 30 years old, of which 26 hectares are over 70 years old. According to the winery's viticulture managers, this system has enabled them to raise their standards following “a period of decline due to the popularity of technological white wines.”
In recent years, careful plot selection has led to the development of premium wines. Instead of being paid by the kilo of grapes, these plots are remunerated by surface area at a rate of €6,000 per hectare.
Another priority is generational renewal. The Envero Commission aims to encourage members' children to become involved in the cooperative, helping them to take over the management of their family businesses. Cuatro Rayas also allows its employees to become members by purchasing a minimum of three hectares of land from a retiring member.
The facilities at La Seca are equipped to handle large volumes. They house six presses across two buildings and a separate area capable of processing grapes from around 250 hectares of organic vines. Following a restructuring in 2019, the cooperative can now work with smaller batches. Grapes destined for premium wines are selected on the sorting table, and a variety of vessels is used beyond stainless steel tanks, including large oak casks, foudres, concrete vats and cocciopesto amphorae.
It is common practice to sort batches according to soil type. For Elena Martín Oyagüe, a winemaker with 30 years' experience at Cuatro Rayas who took over all winemaking operations when Ángel Calleja retired in the late 2010s, stony soils produce tannic wines that are best refined in concrete vats. Premium wines are fermented with relatively high turbidity, but Martín Oyagüe does not favour skin-contact maceration because she believes it extracts elements that can shorten the wine's lifespan.
The wines
Although Cuatro Rayas was Rueda's leading producer of private-label wines [AC1.1]for a number of years, the cooperative now focuses almost entirely on producing around 80 of its own brands, including those made under exclusive distribution agreements. These include bag-in-box formats, frizzanti, non-alcoholic wines, organic wines, and every possible variation of white Verdejo. The most widely available wine is Cuatro Rayas Verdejo Vendimia Nocturna (€6.50), with around two million bottles produced each year.
The best value for money is Cuatro Rayas Viñedos Centenarios (80,000 bottles, €8.95), made from vines with an average age of 80 years and including a small addition of 10-15% of barrel fermented Verdejo. With its white fruit profile, the wine’s flavour and length are quite unusual at this price level.
The premium range, made from grapes sourced from selected vineyards that pass through the sorting table, starts with Long Verdejo (around 14,000 bottles, €16), which iblends one-third grapes from Segovia and two-thirds from stony soils in Valladolid. Fermented in barrels and concrete, it is then aged for six months in stainless steel. The wine shows citrus character, good weight on the palate and moderate bitterness. With slightly longer oak ageing, Cuarenta Vendimias Cuvée (€17), is produced in smaller quantities (just over 6,000 bottles). It comes from stony soils in Valladolid and is sold as Gran Vino de Rueda in the on-trade.
The top-of-the-range wine (fewer than 3,000 bottles, €50) is also labelled Gran Vino de Rueda and is a tribute to Amador Díez, one of the cooperative's most memorable presidents. It is made from pre-phylloxera Verdejo vines grown in sandy soils in Hornillos de Eresma and Villanueva de Duero. Ater being aged successively in new oak barrels, second-year barrels and foudres, it shows complexity and balance, with toasted notes and good acidity.
The new Pisuerga range (€25) explores new paths under the VT Castilla y León designation. It includes a white wine with extended lees contact (nuttiness and autolysis), aged in concrete vats. By blending fruit from sandy and stony soils, it seeks to prove the ageing potential of Verdejo. There is also an original, lively, fruit-driven Tempranillo with 10% Verdejo in the blend, which is aged in glass demijohns and oak barrels that previously held Verdejo.
Although the fortified Dorado wines have lost significant ground, their legacy lives on. After the discontinuation of glass demijohns in 2005, the wines are aged exclusively in sherry casks and large barrels filled to five-sixths of their capacity. This allows a layer of yeast (flor) to develop in the early stages of ageing, which eventually disappears and gives way to an oxidative phase. It is significant that the terms Fino and Amontillado often appeared on old labels.
Casks are marked according to ageing time. Three stages are used: 'A' for the oldest casks, which are refilled with the 'B' group, which in turn is refilled with the 'C' group. The latter are filled with second-year white wines aged in concrete tanks containing equal parts Verdejo and Palomino. The cooperative maintains a dozen hectares of old Palomino vines, over 60 years old, specifically destined for Dorados.
Two fortified wines are available: the affordable 61 Dorado (€9.95 per 75cl bottle, 2,000 bottles), drawn from B barrels; and the highly complex 61 Dorado en Rama (€40 per 50cl bottle), sourced from the oldest A casks, with only 500 litres bottled each year.
The winery also produces around 300,000 litres of Tempranillo red wine, sold under the VT Castilla y León designation.