Eco wine from Sierra Nevada
** LA ENCINA WINERY (La Encina, Alicante) **
José Maria Espí Sánchez wanted to produce again that wine that he made with his father in his childhood in the family winery, back in the 1950s. From there, Bodega La Encina was born in 2006 . And as was done in the past, José Maria began to make wine naturally, without added products. They are experts in organic farming and biodynamic practices. Their trips to organic wineries in France and Italy have helped them perfect their artisanal winemaking techniques.
The vineyards are in Almansa and Caudete in Castilla la Mancha and Villena in Alicante . They are lands without phylloxera and practically without fungal attacks, where they grow native varieties and apply biodynamic preparations. The objective: They look for bacterial activity to provide all the richness of natural nutrients for the field and the vineyards. They take advantage of rainwater and do not cut the grass that grows in the vineyards so that it provides oxygenation, hydration and balance to the vines. The result of all this dedication is excellent and very very healthy wines.
Albet i Noya vineyards
** ALBET I NOYA (Sant Pau d'Ordal, Barcelona) **
The cultivation of organic wine is not something that was born in this century. And if not tell it to the Albet i Noya wineries, the first to introduce this ecological product in the Peninsula . It was in the late 1970s when the fourth generation of the family started producing organic wines for the Danish market. Nowadays, one hundred percent of its wines are organically produced . They grow up to 15 varieties of grapes that represent the flavors and personality of Penedés. To do this, they use organic fertilizers without chemical residues and natural treatments that do not alter the aromatic components of the fruit. Just take a drink to realize.
** LAS CEPAS WINERY (Logroño, La Rioja) **
Las Cepas is another family winery dedicated to organic wines since 2003. Its Rioja vineyards are located in rocky and calcareous landscapes surrounded by a great biodiversity which contributes naturally to pest control. The Riojan farmer Alberto Ramírez knows very well that both production and processing require exhaustive control. For this reason, they control very well the temperature of the wines, the respiration, the time they spend in the barrel and the pressing, which they do gently in a vertical pneumatic press to avoid unwanted flavours. For wine fermentation, they use French oak barrels . And for bottling, the corks are natural and the boxes are made of recycled cardboard. They produce varieties of Tempranillo, Graciano and Garnacha.
Organic wines Las Cepas
** ANDRÉS MORATE (Belmonte de Tajo, Madrid) **
To discover the first winery with the ecological production certification of the Community of Madrid, we have to travel to Belmone de Tajo, to the southeast of the community. Here is the Andrés Morate winery, run by a family of winegrowers who feel true love for their land and their vines . Its vineyards are over 80 years old and produce five grape varieties, giving rise to delicious wines. ecological and biodynamic.
** BODEGAS LEZAUN (Lakar, Navarre) **
In the foothills of the Urbasa and Andia mountains and with a privileged climate for viticulture, the vineyards of Bodegas Lezaun grow, one of the most awarded in the production of wines from Biological or Ecological Agriculture . The quality of its wines is outstanding. Here they work painstakingly to maintain the natural cycle of each wine in the cellar . They use composted sheep manure as fertilizer and combat pests with simple salts (sulfur and copper) and plant-based preparations. Their tempranillo without sulfites is delicious. The winery, which also has a grill, organizes **tours of the vineyards by horse cart and Segway**, among other options.
Camino Alto Wineries
**WINERIES CAMINO ALTO (Villacañas, Toledo) **
In the area known as Camino Alto de El Romeral, in wobbly , grow some vineyards that are still cultivated as it was done before, in a traditional way. They are the vineyards of Camino Alto, some wineries that are firmly committed to organic farming without chemicals and respectful of the environment . The result is fantastic: natural and very healthy wines. Among its Castilian wines we find tempranillos, cabernet sauvignon and petit verdot. The winery organizes visits and shows how wine is made from the vineyard to the glass, with wine tasting included.
** PARRA JIMÉNEZ WINERY (Las Mesas, Cuenca) **
The Parra Jiménez brothers and their father have been dedicated to organic farming since the 1990s. Parra Family Organic are artisanal producers of different types of wines and other products such as garlic, biodynamic cereals and Manchego sheep cheese. Everything with the ecological label . This family has several farms and wineries between Cuenca and Toledo, although if we are looking for the origin of organic wine production, we must go to Bodega Parra Jiménez. Here they proudly pamper their 170 hectares dedicated to organic wine . They don't know what chemicals are (nor do they want to hear about them). The fertilizer they need is provided by the manure from their flocks of sheep. All one hundred percent natural.
Garmendia, a most natural wine
** GARMENDIA WINERY (Vizmalo, Burgos) **
Another winery that considers organic farming as a philosophy of life is Bodega Garmendia. As an anecdote, Patxi Garmendia He did not intend to dedicate himself to wine when he acquired the Rosalía estate in 1991. Everything changed when he came across an old winery. His curiosity led him to investigate the wine tradition of the land and since then he has dedicated himself to wine body and soul. . And not just any wine, but the one that is produced organically. Its vineyards produce Tempranillo, Merlot, Garnacha, Viura and Verdejo. The raw material is respected to the maximum, as well as the entire winemaking process in which traditional methods are recovered. The result of all this dedication is reflected in the taste and high quality of these wines.
** ECO WINERY CORTIJO EL CURA (Laujar de Andarax, Almería) **
At 1,000 meters above sea level, between Sierra Nevada and Sierra de Gádor, we find the Bodega Cortijo El Cura. This winery in the Alpujarras of Almeria has been producing organic wines for more than ten years on a 25 hectare farm. They cultivate native Laujar vine varieties such as Jaén Blanca or Jaén Negra, all rooted in good fertile land located in the Sierra Nevada Natural Park . The harvest is done manually, the wines do not incorporate yeast during their production, and in the aging room they rest in American oak barrels. In their last phase they do not clarify and they hardly filter to safeguard the natural nutrients of the grapes. Already inside the bottle, the natural sedimentation of these delicious Andalusian wines takes place.
Eco bottles from Cortijo El Cura
** BENGOETXEP FARMHOUSE (Olaberria, Guipúzcoa) **
The Basque wine par excellence is Txakoli . And in Guipúzcoa there is a winery where they produce it in an ecological way, without pesticides, chemical fertilizers or carbon dioxide. We are talking about Bengoetxep. Located on the balcony of Goierri, Iñaki Etxeberri makes this delicious Basque wine away from the sea breeze . All your production is governed by sustainable criteria : from the vine to the glass. In his vineyards a wine is produced with native varieties such as Hondarribi Zuri, Petit Corbu and Gros Manseng. Its fermentation is done on its own lees and the clarification of the broth is carried out by natural sedimentation in the tank itself. . The wine certainly does not disappoint.
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