Elias Mora
The bodega was founded in 2000 by Victoria Benavides and the name of the winery honours the former owner of the vineyards: Elías Mora. The oenologist is one of Spain's undisputed winegrowers.
The Toro region is located west of the DO Rueda and the DO Ribera del Duero at about 800 meters above sea level, about 100 kilometres from the north-eastern border of Portugal. The main grape variety, Tinta de Toro, synonymous with Tempranillo, has been producing here unique wines for 2000 years. Their characteristics are clearly different from those of the wines from Ribera del Duero. The vines are traditionally grown "en vaso" in an extremely dry and harsh climate on stony, sandy soils, so that the leaves protect the fruit from the scorching sun. Less than 400 millimetres of rain fall per year, the summers are hot and the winters are extremely cold.
Red wines from Elias Mora
from Elias Mora
The 15 hectares of vines of the Elías Mora winery have never been affected by the devastating phylloxera plague, thanks to the nature of the soil. All plants are so-called direct carriers or root-true vines, i.e. not grafted onto American rootstock vines. The oldest ones are about 80 years old. Each plot is individually worked according to the age of the vines, orientation and soil type and, if necessary, vinified separately. All work is done by hand, from winter pruning to careful harvesting. The winery also obtains selected grapes from selected grape growers in the region.
Producer
Bodegas Ribas
We could talk about our winery of the year, Bodega Ribas on Mallorca, all day long. But it's best to see and read for yourself! We sent wine journalist Britta Wiegelmann and cameraman Felix Groteloh to experience the winery and the family at first hand. Araceli and Javier Servera Ribas, the brother and sister team behind the wines, tell us how the oldest existing winery on the island survived phylloxera, why they love their local grape, the Mantonegro, so much and what the sea has to do with it all.
Viñedos Lacalle y Laorden
In 2015 the two families of Zapiain and Lopez de Lacalle launched the Izar-Leku Mahastiak project (today Grupo Artadi) in Zarautz/Basque Country, with the aim of producing a table wine as well as a sparkling wine with Txakoli as the base wine. Today this sparkling wine is part of the "Viñedos Lacalle y Laorden" company - just like the premium single-vineyard wine "Viña El Pisón", though this wine comes from the Álava/Rioja region.
Zehnthof Luckert Winery
The winery is located in the Zehnthof prince-bishop's residence built in Sulzfeld am Main, Lower Franconia in 1558, and is known for wines with a distinctive and mineral character. The vineyards covering 17 hectares belonging to the winery are cultivated by Ulrich Luckert, his brother Wolfgang and the latter's son Philipp.