This winery is a fine example of the small-scale producers found in the Sonsierra region of Rioja, whose roots lie in the area’s traditional cosechero wines. Until 1989, the family sold their wine in bulk to some of Rioja’s most reputable names, but the construction of a new winery that same year paved the way for a shift to bottling. Their first vintage under their own label was released in 1990.
Today, the heart of the business lies with siblings Pilar and Carmelo. Pilar oversees almost everything related to the winery and sales, which are mostly done directly to consumers, while Carmelo focuses on the vineyard and other administrative tasks.
The estate comprises 15 hectares of vineyards, including some small plots planted with very old vines of striking appearance. All are located in the mid-to-upper reaches of Ábalos (Rioja Alta), at elevations ranging from 580 to 600 metres.
The range that has brought them the most attention is La Cantarada: tiny-batch, often experimental wines that began in 2014. From the 2024 vintage, Alejandro Perfecto (Temerario) is in charge of all winemaking at Fernández Eguíluz.
The Cantarada whites carry the subtitle de Las Mozas, while the reds are named de los Mozos. A cantarada is a traditional measure equivalent to 16 litres, and de Las Mozas refers to a sort of “liquid tax” that young men were required to pay to the local lads if they wished to court a girl from another village.
Old-vine plots with distinctive soils —ranging from river pebbles to sandstone— are selected for this range. The wines are numbered according to the order in which they were created. The first is a Tempranillo red (Los Mozos, around 1,700 bottles, €21.50), and the second a broad, elegant Viura white that begins fermentation in stainless steel before finishing in barrel (Las Mozas, around 600 bottles, €32).
There is also a sharp, citrus-driven Turruntés (300 bottles, €38) made in 2016 and again in 2018, sourced from a century-old vineyard called Romalache. An experimental wine made from Calagraño —a high-yielding variety with good acidity— was vinified in demijohn for Bilbao restaurant Nerúa, and the winery is continuing to explore its potential.
The Garnacha (700 bottles, €24) comes from 20-year-old vines planted in the upper reaches of San Vicente and is aged for 12 months in a 600-litre French oak cask. The 2018 vintage saw the release of Cantarada de los Mozos San Prudencio (420 bottles, €35), from a vineyard planted by the siblings’ grandfather. With up to 30% white grapes in the mix, it is co-fermented and matured in a 340-litre French oak barrel.
The winery’s more traditional line is sold under the Peña La Rosa brand: honest, well-made wines offered at very reasonable prices. The flagship is the carbonic maceration red, of which 45,000 bottles are produced annually. There’s also a young white made from Viura and Malvasía (6,000 bottles), and two reds with some ageing that follow traditional whole-cluster fermentation: Vendimia Seleccionada (3,700 bottles), from old vines in Ábalos, aged 18 months in American oak; and Secreto del Abuelo (1,200 bottles), made from even more rigorously selected grapes and matured for a year in second-use French oak.
The top wine in the Peña La Rosa range is Grano a Grano, a selection that combines fruit from a 45-year-old high-elevation trellis-trained vineyard known for its freshness, with grapes from other plots chosen according to the style of the vintage.
The new flagship of Peña La Rosa —likely to launch in 2026— will be a single-vineyard, destemmed Tempranillo from the 2024 vintage. It hails from a site in San Vicente, on the road to Rivas de Tereso, in a spot known as Las Tasugueras.
Total production at the winery stands at around 90,000 bottles. Pilar, keen to link wine with local culture and regional products, regularly organises concerts, tastings and even theatre performances at the winery throughout the year.
Photo courtesy of larioja.com