The Terroir
The winemaker
Ferratus' winemaker, Benigno Garrido, has become one of the great connoisseurs of the tempranillo grape in his long career throughout the Duero valley. After maturing as a professional making the most of local grapes in Toro, Zamora and Arribes, he has managed to get the best of Ribera del Duero from our land.
What is special about the Santa Cruz vineyard at La Horra?
Firstly, maturity both as vines and as a concept. Our vines are at the best age to produce the quality we need to create FERRATUS SENSACIONES. It also has two other elements: one of them is essential – its good southern orientation – and the other, which is something we particularly like – the fact that it lies on a slope. This vineyard also lies on well-drained clay with a slight touch of chalkiness. Finally, the tinto fino (tempranillo) clone on the plot is perfect (loose, well-formed bunches, grapes just the right size...).
And the other Ferratus vineyards?
They share the same features as our Santa Cruz vineyard.
What marks Ferratus out from other Duero tempranillos?
The target we have in mind is to make wines that are entirely modern, elegant and genuine and, in this search for perfection, the combination of the tempranillo variety, the age of the vineyard, the soil and the climate affecting the vines selected for Ferratus gives rise to wines with unique qualities.
There are also neighbouring competitors, other great Riberas…
As you might expect, we have our own style, and our wine shouts it from the rooftops: complexity, longevity, subtlety, finesse...
A slogan for Ferratus:
Wines as natural as the soil and climatic conditions, the cultivation of the vineyard, the care of the fruit and the winemaking and ageing processes.
How are these wines involved with the environment?
The vineyards and those of our grape producers are cared for in an environmentally friendly way and are sustainable in all senses. Some of our batches of grapes even come from producers who are in line with the biodynamic movement.
Golden Vineyards
Making the best wine in the county means selecting vineyards with good soil, orientation on slopes and very old vines – the oldest in the county – some of them with more than 50 years of life. It has not been an easy job. Some plots belong to devoted grape producers guarding the treasure of the best grapes in Sotillo, Quinta del Pidio, Gumiel de Izán or La Horra. In the end, our lands spread over 15 hectares of vineyards where chalky clay soils predominate. Most of them measure no more than one hectare: a mosaic of traditional wine-growing made up of amazingly sculptured, twisted vines. Our bunches of grapes are treated like true jewels: that is why we cannot bottle the same quantity of Ferratus wines every year; still less in the case of Ferratus Sensaciones, the wine that crowns our commitment to the exceptional. It is an unusual wine that we extract from the vineyard of Pago de Santa Cruz in La Horra, which gives wines of great acidity, subtlety and elegance thanks to the extraordinary conditions there due to its altitude and special protective barriers against the climate.
The grape: Tinta del país
What marks Ferratus wines out from other Ribera del Dueros is a local version of tinta del país highly adapted to these lands. It is one of the original clones linked to the first tempranillo vines spread by the early monks through the monastic lands of the Duero. This type of grape provides the wines with more colour and more intense fruit, a more pleasant taste that does not occur in other common wines made with this grape, which is also called tinto fino in the area.
The winemaker tells us his secrets
"We can sum it up by saying that it means treating the vines naturally, with respect; seeking balanced production and harvesting at the best time, with continuous visits to the vine and sampling in the right way at the right time to analyse and find out the best time for the plant, which needs to coincide with the best tasting sensations in the grapes (visual, tactile, taste sensations, etc.)."
FERRATUS - BODEGAS CUEVAS JIMÉNEZ S.L.
09370 Gumiel de Izán (Burgos)
Tels. +34 947 679 999 / +34 638 007 140 / Fax. +34 947 613 873
