|
Viña Eizaga is a small, family-owned winery located
in Laguardia, the capital of Rioja Alavesa, a privileged terrain
famous for its high quality wines within the Rioja region,
bonded and protected by the Cantabrian mountains to the north
with gently sloping vineyards that lead down to the left bank
of the River Ebro, its southern boundary. Viña Eizaga
owns 90 hectares of vineyards, most positoned 500-600m above
sea level, a high proportion of which are old vines, which
gives their wines very special, high quality characteristics.
The emphasis on quality is also attributable to its dedicated
winemaker, Javier San Pedro, and his family, now in their
third generation, with deep wine roots in Laguardia. Laguardia
is different from other parts of the Alavesa region in that
it undergoes very high temperature variations owing to the
height of its location, and also to its proximity to the mountains.
Very cold winters are typical here with temperatures that
reach below -10 degrees celsius; on the contrary, summers
are very hot, often reaching more than 30 degrees celsius.
Spring and autumn are often mild and pleasant. Increased care
in the vineyards, especially in maintaining stricter control
of yields, averaging 5000 kgs/ha., and the age of the vines
ensure an excellent quality base material. Production at the
winery is monitored at all stages in their modern installations
with the latest technology, a heavy investment in new 225 litre French
(60% used mainly for the Viña Eizaga Crianza and Reserva) and Amercian
oak (40%) barrels. Their total annual production
is kept low at approximately 520,000 litres.
|
