Javier Fernández de Bobadilla trained and worked as a journalist, but wine has always been part of his life. His father, also named Javier, was a winegrower and agronomist. He was a key figure in the Faustino group during the establishment of Bodegas Campillo in Laguardia in the early 1990s. His sudden passing in 2005-aged 56, he suffered a heart attack while working at the winer-y left Javier, then 29 and the eldest of three siblings, in charge of the family vineyards.
For years, Fernández de Bobadilla has juggled his job as marketing and communications director at a large winery in Rioja with weekends spent pruning, thinning vines and ploughing. As a child, he spent many Saturdays and Sundays helping his father in the vineyards, growing to resent the vines for stealing his free time. He walked away from wine, only to return with a renewed passion. His journey is chronicled (in Spanish) on his website blog, where he also describes himself as the smallest winery in Rioja. It may not be the smallest in terms of wine production, given the recent surge of microprojects, but there is something remarkable about making wine in just 21 m2.
It's a different story in the vineyard, where he grows 22 hectares. Most of the grapes are sold to a large local winery, but he keeps the finest for his project.
Putting Cenicero on the map
There is a strong desire to highlight the unique terroirs of Cenicero. Even the name La City Wines is a nod to the town’s official status as a 'city', a title granted by Alfonso XII in 1904 in recognition of the exemplary actions of its residents during the "Torremontalbo disaster", when a tragic train derailment in the Najerilla gorge left 43 dead and 80 injured.
With 2,000 hectares under vine, Fernádez de Bobadilla is keen to highlight Cenicero's historic importance within the DOCa. Its railway station once transported wines from Rioja Oriental, Nájera and Elciego, and it was among the first places in Spain to sell copper sulphate for mildew prevention.
La City Wines is built on a deep knowledge of local terroirs, where ripening times can vary by up to two weeks, but it also brings a modern perspective. In Agudillo, east of the village, Tempranillo ripens beautifully, but its limestone soils make the vines vulnerable to drought if winter rains are scarce. To adapt, Fernández de Bobadilla has begun planting red and white Garnacha and some Mazuelo. Of his 4.5 hectares here , only two are now planted with Tempranillo.
His approach is to blend the late-ripening varieties from Agudillo with Tempranillo from more elevated, cooler soils in the southern part of the village, in sites like El Carril or Carbonera which are rich in iron and lie on petrocalcic horizons. At 580 m elevation, the Carbonera slope is considered a grand cru. Here, Fernández de Bobadilla grows six ha, all certified organic since 2020.
After 15 years making wine privately for family and friends, 2021 marks the official debut of La City (€22). Conceived as a village red wine, the first release totals almost 4,500 bottles. Tempranillo makes up 65%, with Garnacha and Graciano playing an almost equal role, plus smaller amounts of Mazuelo and Garnacha Blanca. The wine was fermented and aged by plots in 500- and 225- litre barrels, except for a batch of Tempranillo from stony soils, which was kept in fibre vats. The result is a wine with full ripeness and an enveloping, finely textured palate with the minty, herbal lift from the Garnacha and Graciano.
Since 2022 the winery has been working with a very old Garnacha grown on sandy soils, which has led to Santa Ana, its first single-vineyard wine. Production is tiny –fewer than 300 bottles– but will gradually increase as the vineyard is recovered.