RIBERA ADOPTS THE NEW OLD WAYS

It’s not so much a new direction for winemakers in Ribera del Duero, but a growing recognition that traditional methods and wine styles set aside by the previous generation can now provide a way ahead to revitalise the region

- INES SALPICO

The motivation for this piece was, at the outset, to document the evolution of the exciting projects that, over the last 20 years, have been carving out an 'alternative' face of Ribera del Duero. It quickly became apparent that the real story concerned the efforts of the producers behind these projects to save the region from socio-economic decline.

Throughout the 1950s and '60s, Spanish people fled rural areas, creating what became known as España vacía (empty Spain'): large swathes of the country's interior suffering from continued depopulation, and a decline in access to public services and infrastructure as a result.

Old vineyards and wineries were left behind, and with them, a winemaking tradition yielding wines that were restrained, fresh and pleasantly rustic. The exodus created opportunities for cooperatives and other big players to consolidate their presence. In Castilla y León in the country's northwest, a bold new style of Ribera del Duero wines emerged, to great commercial success.

BACK TO THE SOIL

Pablo Arranz and Andrea Sanz (pictured, p92) of Magna Vides in La Aguilera, north of Madrid, explain that they wanted to return and 'fill the gap created by our parents' generation', while also preserving the heritage left by their grandparents: 'Not only the vineyards we inherited, but also the magical memories - images, smells - of how they made the wines.'

Similar feelings motivated Jorge Monzón (pictured with partner Isabel Rodero, p92) of nearby Dominio del Aguila to return to Ribera following education in Madrid, Bordeaux and (crucially) Burgundy: 'I wanted to drink from the source, before industrial winemaking became dominant.' For these small projects that emerged at the dawn of the 21st century, a stylistic departure from the modern, muscular style of Ribera del Duero was as much a choice as an inevitability.