In this beautiful little stone town named Cenicero, pop. 2081 (or, ashtray in English), my partner in wine Kristina Martinsen of Bodegas Zugober introduced me to Bodegas Tritium, a gorgeous winery you’d almost miss if not for the telltale ‘Rutas del Vino La Rioja Alta’ sign on the door.
Run by two childhood friends, Javier Fernández – banker turned winemaker, and Francisco Rubio, who has toiled in the fields since he was 12 and boasts 47 vintages worked (!!!), this winery appears modern at first glance. Once visitors spot the two amphorae full of fermenting must and stone coat of arms on the wall, they’ll realize this cellar is full of history and culture dating back to the 15th C.. The dangerously uneven stone steps lead to one of the coolest limestone wine caves I’ve been in, where we met their visiting German distributor reps, and were lucky enough to have Javi serve us some full-bodied Garnacha straight from the barrel.
Back upstairs in the winery and tasting room, we met Marshall, their smiley winemaking assistant, a well-known character in the area who was busy with the twice-daily process of ‘el remontado’, or pumping over, with the barrels, and manually punching down the Tempranillo Tinto in the amphorae. Francisco explained how they’re returning to the 2000 yr old Roman winemaking tradition of using amphorae for fermentation, along with their second round of skin contact/amber wine, but he also works with barrels, cement, and stainless steel. A local artist offered to design custom amphorae for sale, and they’re an attractive homage to ancient bottling practices. To top it off, they had a crate of ancient Roman ceramics uncovered during continued expansion of their vineyards. Very cool!
Most of their wines were open from a previous tour run by the spirited and knowledgeable Itzíar Calleja of Wine Trips Spain, so we were lucky enough to taste their top wines from 113 yr old vineyards, such as the powerful 100% Garnacha, claimed to be the first in Spain back in 2005, a smokey and funky 100% Mazuelo (or Cariñena/Carignan), and a savoury, pleasantly bitter Tempranillo Blanco (a new mutation) and Garnacha Blanca. Their spectacularly vegetal and piquant Extra Virgin Olive Oil made from their Arbequina olives begs to be mopped up by your favorite bread – don’t forget to grab a bottle on your next visit!
The fun continued with a stroll into downtown Cenicero as they showed us their favorite bars, where we enjoyed 0.80€ glasses of chilled tinto from the local Cooperativa Vinícola de Cenicero Santa Daría and Vermú Rojo Tirolés, made across the street from the bar.
Next time you’re in La Rioja, make sure to visit the crew and enjoy their incredible wines and Spanish hospitality.
https://lariojaturismo.com/bodega/bodegas-valentin-pascual/7f7cb82c-6ead-4038-b098-95bc9c0ba66c
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- Tasting with Javi and Kristina
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- Sexy Mazuelo
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- Marshal doing El Remontado
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- Amphorae with fermenting must
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- Custom-designed amphorae bottles
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- Roman pottery
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