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Valenciso Winery Guide

Cellar Tours Insight — Since 2003, Cellar Tours has planned private wine journeys through the world’s leading wine regions, pairing tailor-made itineraries with VIP winery visits, fine dining, and expert regional guidance.

Winery Overview

Valenciso is one of Rioja’s rising stars, a newcomer to the Rioja stable that has quickly risen to join the highest ranks of wines produced in the Rioja Alta region today. Despite being officially founded in 1998, this exciting project has benefited from the unrivaled expertise of Luis Valentin and Carmen Enciso, who worked for a top Rioja estate for over 15 years. Their base in the small village of Ollauri produces small quantities of exceptional (and fantastic value) Reserva wines. However, the wines’ quality and finesse betray the property’s recent origins – Bodegas Valenciso is barely 12 years old!

Luis and Carmen’s story is familiar to the wine world; after working many years at Bodegas Palacio, they embarked upon a dream of running their property. Bravely leaving their comfortable and successful careers at Palacio, in 1998, they struck out on their own. This new exciting venture started from extremely humble beginnings; in 1998, Luis and Carmen rented a small warehouse with barely enough space to produce just 24,000 bottles. Encouraged by their early results, they continued to buy grapes from local growers and, in 2002, decided to build their winery. Finally, in 2008 the cellar doors opened, and that dream was fully realized; since then, Valenciso has gone from strength to strength.

Visitors to the impressive and chic winery outside medieval Ollauri today would scarcely believe that Valenciso started its journey in a rented warehouse with only a two-person crew! Nevertheless, it is remarkable what the dynamic duo have achieved in over 12 years – Valenciso now employs six full-time employees and produces around 100,000 bottles. The modern winery is about 15 minutes from the wine town of Haro, which dates back to the 10th century and has been the center of viticultural activity in Rioja for centuries. “It combines traditional materials and line simplicity with modern and spacious forms,” – says Luis Valentin. However, like all great wines, Valenciso begins and ends in the vineyard. This is what distinguishes this estate from its competitors, the utmost care taken in the vineyards.

Valenciso works with 27 hectares of land divided into 17 plots in Ollauri, Briones, Rodezno, Zarratón, Haro, and Villalba, all within a 10km radius of their winery. One notable aspect of Valenciso’s winemaking process is using concrete vats, which allows for a gentler extraction than stainless steel. This method helps to prevent color loss during malolactic fermentation. The aging process occurs in French oak barrels, with a 10% inclusion of Caucasian oak introduced into the blend in 2011. According to Luis Valentín and Carmen Enciso, this approach results in a fresher and livelier wine with less noticeable oak influence and a more modern style.

As you might imagine, the wine seldom disappoints; a rich, elegant wine of great finesse and breeding. There was never any doubt in our minds; Valenciso has taken its rightful place amongst Rioja’s finest.

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Further Reading

Author

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James Lawrence

With a passion for food & drink that verges on the obsessive, wine writer James Lawrence has traveled the world in search of the perfect tipple. To date, nothing has surpassed the 1952 R. Lopez de Heredia Vina Tondonia Rioja Reserva, tasted in the cobweb-filled cellars with owner María José. Meanwhile, James has been writing for a wide variety of publications for over 12 years, including Telegraph, Decanter, Harpers, The Drinks Business, and Wine Business International. He lives in South Wales and returns to his former university city, Bilbao, as much as possible.

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