Bodegas Torres has launched IBÉRICOS onto the market, its first wine produced in the “quality appellation” or DOC of La Rioja, a crianza made 100% from theTempranillo variety. And they did so in the area of La Rioja Alavesa, where they found an exceptional location to build a modern winery.

Ibéricos is a crianza made 100% from the Tempranillo variety, undoubtedly the variety par excellence for red Rioja wines. The family have selected the best grapes from the area, producing a wine that is aged for 12 months in American and French oak casks and then a further 6 months in the bottle.

Why Ibéricos? The name is evocative of the Iberian mainland and, specifically, of the imposing mountain system that borders the region of La Rioja. It is also in homage to the Iberians, w ho had a rich culture, their own writing system and coinage and who worshipped various gods, among them the Bull.

The Torres winery in La Rioja is located in the heart of La Rioja Alavesa, in the municipality of Labastida (1,271 m above sea level), in a beautiful area called Alto Otero that had formerly been scrubland (52,158.23 m 2). The part of the complex built during this first phase covers 7,800 m 2, ranging from the pressing zone to the bottle ageing zone.

The final part of the project is currently underway, consisting of integrating the winery into its environment, for which several different options are being evaluated. In the medium term it is also planned to install a blanket of solar panels on the winery’s roof, which will help to waterproof the building and also provide solar energy with a peak capacity of 130 kW. 480,000 bottles have been produced from the 2006 harvest and production is expected to double over the next 2 years. The wine will go on sale in the spring.