ALMA DE ARIZCUREN
The best way to absorb the essence of a terroir is to visit it. This tour will delight those who are looking to delve into the culture of wine and the wine-growing tradition of such a special enclave as the Sierra de Yerga.
We will start the day with an impressive panoramic view of the vineyards offered by the Castle of Quel, built in the 15th century. We will then climb to the top of the Sierra de Yerga on a tour of our different vineyards, learning about the characteristics of the soils, climate, grape varieties and sustainable and ecological cultivation techniques. We will finish the ascent at Barran co del Prado, a pre-phylloxera vineyard certified as a Singular Vineyard by the Rioja Control Board, at no less than 780m, an authentic living museum of the DOCa Rioja. On the way to the village we will have a glass of wine in another of our vineyards, to enjoy the experience of drinking a wine in the same place where the grapes from which it is made were grown.
We will finish our tour with a tasting of some of our most special wines in our cellar in the traditional winery district of Quel, enjoying them now with a deep knowledge of the landscapes and soils we have just visited. We will accompany our tour with a traditional Riojan lunch.
Wine bar Sobre la bodega
Micro winery where the vineyards of Sierra de Yerga are made. Small productions of old vineyard and minority varieties of Rioja.
Javier Arizcuren comes from a family of grape growers from Quel, in the Rioja Oriental.
As an architect, his projects include the Marqués de Terán and Finca Los Arandinos wineries and, more recently, the recovery of historic buildings (16th century) and the building complex (19th century) of the Paternina winery in Ollauri.
After studying viticulture and enology at the University of La Rioja and making several trips to national and international wine regions, in 2009 he began to make a small amount of wine in the basement of the family home.
In 2011 he took over the family farm of 16 hectares located in the municipality of Quel and, in 2012, his small production obtained for the first time the status of "qualified" from the DOCa Rioja.