Vineyard
Love and respect for the land
Bodegas Faustino owns about 650 hectares of vineyards in the best areas of the DOCa Rioja, in the municipalities of Laguardia and Oyon, and it is one of the largest owners of vineyards in Rioja.
The land of Rioja Alavesa offers exceptional qualities, a chalky-clay soil and an optimum microclimate confer unbeatable quality to the grape varieties that grow in our vineyards. Tempranillo, Graciano, Mazuelo and Viura
Love and respect for nature are two of the pillars on which the philosophy of the winery is based.
In recent years, we have incorporated new, environmentally-friendly grape growing practices to make our vineyards increasingly sustainable. Among others, we employ precision viticulture to monitor canopy development in different areas within the same plot.
GRAPE VARIETIES
Red grape varieties
Tempranillo
Considered native to Rioja, it is the wine region’s most typical grape. It is the origin of the identity of its wines and one of the great grape varieties in the world. It occupies more than 75% of the region’s vineyards and it is very versatile from an oenological viewpoint. It is capable of producing wines that can withstand long ageing periods, with a good balance of alcoholic strength, colour and acidity, and an honest, smooth, fruity mouthfeel that turns velvety as it ages.
Mazuelo
There is evidence that this grape variety has been grown in Rioja for several centuries, but today it barely covers 3% of the wine region’s vineyards. Although short on flavours, it produces wines with abundant tannins, high acidity and stable colour, all of which makes it a good complement to Tempranillo for wines to be aged for long periods. In the rest of the world it is mainly known as Carignan Noir, given its French origin.
Graciano
Graciano is a native grape variety and its cultivation is very limited in other areas. Shown to be an excellent complement to Tempranillo in the ageing process, this grape has a promising future in Rioja, where its planted surface area has increased significantly in the last few years. It offers wines with a marked acidity and polyphenolic content, ideal for ageing, with a unique aroma that is much more intense than those of other varieties in Rioja.
Garnacha tinta
This grape variety native to Spain is the most extensively grown variety in the world. In Rioja, it complements the Tempranillo with its aromas and freshness. With good extract and alcoholic strength, its wines vary depending on environmental conditions (temperature) and tending practices (production). In warm areas, it produces the kind of wine that has given it its reputation as a rugged grape but in cool areas it produces very interesting, well-balanced wines, particularly rosés.
White grape varieties:
Viura
The main white grape variety grown in Rioja, it is more productive than the red varieties and offers fruity wines with floral aromas and a remarkable acidity, making ideal for both young and aged whites. Oak-aged whites are traditional in Rioja, a practice that has been expanded in the last few years to include the fermentation of the must in barrels on the lees. Better known in Spain as Macabeo.
Chardonnay
It is the world’s most popular variety, equivalent to Cabernet for red wines, the most widely-grown grape for quality white wines across the world. The vine is not very productive, with small- to medium-sized clusters, which produce yellow wines with green hues of outstanding finesse and aromatic intensity. Significant dry extract and low oxidation levels make this an ideal variety for barrel ageing.
Garnacha blanca
It is the variety that occupies the least surface area among authorised Rioja grapes. It may well come from a mutation of the red Garnacha Tinta. It has very similar characteristics to Garnacha Tinta (alcoholic wines with significant extract but little aroma and acidity). Grown in cool areas, it produces pleasant wines with good acidity.
