Producer >
David Sampedro and his wife, Melanie Hickman own and run this 9.5 ha biodynamic estate around the village of Elvillar in the Rioja Alavesa where limestone soils meander through three valleys that run between the Sierra Cantabria mountains and the River Ebro. 3.5 ha of their property is made up of single vineyard sites, elaborated under the banner ‘Struggling Vines’. They also exploit some small plots of Rufete on the granite and slate soils of the Sierra Francia in the province of Salamanca as well as another project in Navarra. Their mission is to rescue plots of old vines, work them manually and with all the soil work being done with the use of a horse. Their winery is solar powered and is partly built underground with cement fermentation tanks to help control temperatures. Ageing takes place for the top wines in French oak 500 and 600 litre casks.
Winemaking >
"V I N E Y A R D Grapes are sourced from the IGP Sierra de Salamanca in the
mountainous region of Sierra de Quilamas with its granitic soils and the
slate soils of Sierra de Francia.
H A R V E S T A N D P R O D U C T I O N Hand harvested. Full-clusters are placed in 500 Liter open top barrels
and then foot crushed to extract the juice. Fermentation starts with native
yeast. After fermentation is finished, the wine is placed in 500L French
oak barrels for 2.5 years."
Rufete
14.5
SPAIN
12
Cork
Bodegas Bhilar
Vegan
Vegetarian 
Fact Sheet
