Ribera del Duero

A tunnel in Roa de Duero

Raíz de Guzmán has a tunnel almost a kilometre long, holding around 500 barriques, 80 percent French and 20 percent American oak. The bodega was founded in 1998 as a follow-on from the Páramo de Guzmán cheese business, which dates from 1985. Both belong to Cayetana Santos; the wines are made by oenologist Mapi Melado.

The bodega farms 25 hectares of its own vines, 25 to 55 years old, plus selected plots in Pardilla and Moradillo. Picking is by hand and only during the day, into 15-kilo crates, and in the cellar first the bunches and then the single berries are sorted. Yields stay below 4,000 kilos per hectare.

The wines by time in barrel

Every wine is pure Tempranillo, known here as Tinto Fino, and the differences come from site and time in wood. If you want to get to know the Ribera, start with the Rosado rather than a red, because it shows the fruit of the plateau without oak. What sets Ribera Tempranillo apart from Rioja is covered on our Tempranillo page.

• Rosado de Lágrima 2025, no wood. Only the juice that runs off by itself after a short maceration goes into the tank, hence Lágrima, tear.
• Crianza 2022, 12 to 14 months. Before that, the malolactic fermentation takes place in large 150-hectolitre wooden vats.
• Reserva 2019, 18 to 20 months. The vines grow around Roa on iron-rich clay.
• Profunda 2019, 24 to 26 months. Vines over 50 years old on the Moradillo plateau, in clay with a layer of gravel on top.
• Cayetana 2017, 36 months in two French barriques. The wine then spent several years in bottle in an underground cave.

820 to 970 metres

The Rosado comes from vines at about 820 metres, the Crianza and Reserva from 920 metres, the Profunda from the Moradillo plateau at 970 metres. Above 900 metres the soil turns to clay loam full of pebbles. The climate is continental, with hot summers, cold winters and a wide gap between day and night temperatures. During the cool nights ripening slows down, and the grapes keep their acidity despite the summer heat.