This year, 2022, the Ribera del Duero Denomination of Origin celebrates its 40th anniversary and we take advantage of this event to give you a better understanding of the origin, history, processes and other characteristics of our favourite Denomination of Origin, through ten curiosities.

There are currently 99 designations of origin linked to wine in Spain. Thirteen of them are located in Castilla y León, one of them being the Ribera del Duero Designation of Origin, which is not exactly the oldest, but almost (the statutes of the Rueda Designation of Origin date from 1980), although it is the largest in terms of hectares of vineyards, and the one with the most municipalities and wineries.

The Regulating Council is the body that guarantees the seal of authenticity of the wines with the Ribera del Duero Designation of Origin, ensuring that they have passed rigorous controls. It is part of the Spanish Conference of Wine Regulatory Councils (CECRV) and is approved by the European Commission, being part of the e-Bacchus wine certification programme.

Now, let’s take a look at the ten curiosities related to the Ribera del Duero Designation of Origin:

1. ORIGEN
2. SEAL OR LOGO
3. THE REGULATORY COUNCIL AND ITS HEADQUARTERS
4. TERRITORY
5. WINEMAKING CELLARS
6. VINEYARDS AND EXTENSION
7. TYPES OF GRAPES AND TYPE OF WINE
8. HARVEST AND PRODUCTION
9. QUALIFICATION OF VINTAGES
10. HARVEST FESTIVAL

1. ORIGIN OF THE RIBERA DEL DUERO DESIGNATION OF ORIGIN

The history of Ribera del Duero runs parallel to the union of vines and wine: the Vaccean culture is the first reference we have as a wine-producing society in our region, thanks to the findings in the ancient city of Pintia (nowadays Padilla de Duero, very close to Peñafiel). Furthermore, in the municipality of Baños de Valdearados (Burgos) there is a Roman mosaic measuring 66 square metres, considered to be the largest piece with allegories of the god Bacchus in the Peninsula.

DATES: we highlight three important dates from the end of the 20th century, which are:

• 1978: it was in this year that the ownership of the Ribera del Duero Designation of Origin was formally requested.
• 1980: the first Board was constituted in July of that year, and the first regulations were drawn up to define the territorial scope of our D.O..
• Finally, on 21 July 1982, the signing took place in the El Retiro metro station (Madrid) in the presence of the Minister of Agriculture, at that time Carlos Romero. This is the official date of origin of the Ribera del Duero Designation of Origin, which means that in 2022 we will be 40 years old.

NAME: It is well known that it was PROTOS who originally registered the name RIBERA DEL DUERO for its wines and who, subsequently, ceded it to the Designation of Origin.

OWN NAMES: If, in addition, we name the main “culprits” of the Denomination of Origin, we mention the following:

• PABLO PEÑALBA (Bodegas Peñalba López / Torremilanos)
• ALEJANDRO FERNÁNDEZ (Bodegas Familia Fernández Rivera)
• BENJAMÍN, MANOLO and ADOLFO PÉREZ PASCUAS (Viña Pedrosa – Bodegas Hermanos PérezPascuas )
• ISMAEL ARROYO (ValSotillo Bodegas Ismael Arroyo)
• ANASTASIO GARCÍA (Bodegas García de Aranda)

Photo: 20minutos

If we talk about origin, we do not want to forget the Ordinances of Roa, dictated by Queen Doña Violante (1295), the oldest known in Spain. They were applied in Roa for almost seven centuries, until 22 September 1856, which gives an idea of their importance for all the people who lived in the Alfoz de Roa and dedicated themselves to shepherding and vine-growing, the livelihood of many of our past generations. You can access the history of these ordinances here.

2. SEAL OR LOGO OF THE DESIGNATION OF ORIGIN RIBERA DEL DUERO

In February 2016, the current image of the brand was presented, changing from a circular to a vertical rectangular format. This has been the evolution of the logos integrated in the back labels from 1982 to the present day:

3. THE RIBERA DEL DUERO DESIGNATION OF ORIGIN REGULATORY COUNCIL AND ITS HEADQUARTERS

The Control Board is the highest authority of our Designation of Origin. The Plenary is elected every 5 years and is made up of the President and eleven members. The current President is Enrique Pascual García (last election: December 2022). The General Manager is Miguel Sanz Cabrejas.

The headquarters of the Control Board is currently in Roa de Duero (Burgos) and was inaugurated in 2011 by King Emeritus Juan Carlos I (see photo below). Designed by the architects of Estudio Barozzi Veiga, the new building integrated the old headquarters of the Control Board. It has a surface area of 4,115 m2 distributed in two spaces and has, among other facilities, tasting rooms and an auditorium with capacity for 400 people. This project has been awarded THE EMIRATES GLASS LEAF AWARDS 2007.

► 4. THE RIBERA DEL DUERO TERRITORY

Ribera del Duero covers the partial territory of four Castilian provinces(Soria, Burgos, Valladolid and Segovia) over 110 km, covering a total of 118 localities (81 municipalities and 37 districts or minor local entities), with a population of approximately 60,000 inhabitants. In addition, towns such as Arandilla, Brazacorta and Coruña del Conde have recently applied for inclusion in the Designation of Origin.

This is the distribution of localities by province, as well as the population of the four riverside municipalities with the most inhabitants.

• Burgos (64 towns)
• Soria (25 towns)
• Valladolid (24 towns)
• Segovia (5 towns) Curiously, our great river Duero does not flow through the Ribera del Duero in Segovia, although its tributaries do.

►5. WINERIES MAKING UP THE DESIGNATION OF ORIGIN

There are currently 302 wineries under the seal of the Ribera del Duero Designation of Origin. It is common for many of these wineries to also make wine in other wine-growing areas of Spain and the world, and it can even happen that the same winery makes wine for two different designations of origin, as is curiously the case of Finca Torremilanos, which also makes CAVA at its winery in Aranda de Duero.

More than 60 (of these 302 wineries) belong to the consortium of our Wine Route, opening their doors and offering guided tours to wine tourists.

It is important to stress the importance of the wineries being located close to their vineyards, especially at harvest time, so that the grapes undergo the least possible alterations until they reach the vats. As a result, there is a population settlement in the region thanks to the world of wine.

► 6. RIPARIAN VINEYARDS AND EXTENT

We have a total of 23,353 hectares of vineyards along the Ribera del Duero, divided into 60,219 plots. It is the territory with the largest extension of vineyards in the Denomination of Origin of Castilla y León. Ribera del Duero Burgalesa is the most extensive (with 73.45% of the vineyard), followed by Vallisoletana (20.34%), Soriana (5.50%) and Segoviana (0.71%).

The 7,894 vine growers in Ribera del Duero do an intense pruning and thinning work in order to achieve a low vineyard yield, for the sake of a grape of excellent quality. In the last ten years we have been producing an average of 4,380 kilos of grapes per hectare, far below the 7,000 kilos allowed by our regulations.

9% of our vineyards are more than 80 years old, having been planted before 1940, some of them being centenary and dating back to the beginning of the last century.

7. TYPES OF GRAPES (VARIETALS) AND TYPES OF WINE FROM THE RIBERA DEL DUERO REGION

Each Designation of Origin has a characteristicgrape varietal or type of grape to make its type of wine. In Ribera del Duero, TEMPRANILLO (also known as TINTA FINA) is the most common, but be aware that it is not the only one! We have five other grape varieties permitted by the Regulatory Council: CABERNET-SAUVIGNON, MERLOT, MALBEC, GARNACHA TINTA and ALBILLO MAYOR (the only white variety). The latter has been used since 2019 for the production of the so-called“Ribera Blanca“, allowing white wines to be marketed with the Ribera del Duero seal, a milestone in our region.

In addition, we can group our wines, according to their production, in:

RED WINES:

• They contain a minimum of 95% of grapes of authorised red varieties. The share of Tempranillo or Tinto Fino or Tinta del País in these wines may not be less than 75%.
• Young Red Wines: without ageing or with ageing and/or fermentation in cask for a period of less than three months.
• Young Oak Red Wines: with ageing and/or fermentation in cask for more than three months.
• Crianza Reds: minimum ageing of 24 months and time in oak barrels of 12 months or more.
• Reserva red wines: minimum ageing of 36 months and time in oak barrels of 12 months or more.
• Gran Reserva red wines: minimum ageing of 60 months and time in oak barrels of 24 months or more.

ROSÉS:

• Rosé wines are made with a minimum of 50% of the authorised red grape varieties.
• Wines with 36 months of ageing between barrel and bottle, with a minimum of 12 months in barrel. They reach the market after 1st October of the third year after the harvest.

WHITES:

• They are made with at least 75% of the Albillo Mayor variety.
• White wines without ageing or fermentation in barrels.
• White wines with fermentation and/or ageing in barrels.

This typology of Ribera del Duero wines brings together 2,225 brands with the Ribera del Duero Denomination of Origin seal.

8. HARVEST AND PRODUCTION IN THE RIBERA DEL DUERO

HARVEST:

What are the characteristics of the ribera grape harvest? It usually starts at the beginning of autumn: at the end of September or, at the latest, at the beginning of October (it is one of the latest in Castilla y León). This is mainly due to the climatic characteristics of each region and the type of grape grown: in our case, the vineyards are subject to sharp contrasts in temperature between the summer days and nights.

We show you the grape harvest figures for the last few years in Ribera del Duero. As you can see in the table, in 2018 the record was set, with more than 125 million kg… Can you imagine so many millions of grapes together?

*In 2021 the harvest was more than 109 million kg. Data CRDO Ribera del Duero

PRODUCTION:

The Regulatory Council of the Ribera del Duero Designation of Origin gives wineries the corresponding back labels for the marketing of their wines inside and outside Spain. If we convert the millions of grapes harvested into bottles of wine, we get these figures(record number of back labels in 2021):

9. CLASSIFICATION OF THE RIBERA DEL DUERO VINTAGES

The Regulatory Council of the Ribera del Duero Designation of Origin carries out an annual “examination” of the vintage through an Exceptional Vintage Qualification Committee, with the aim of determining the quality of its wines. This is done through a tasting for sommeliers and communication professionals, together with the internal reports of the Board’s technicians. This is the summary of the ratings of the vintages from 1982 to 2020 (included):

• Excellent: 13
• Very good: 17
• Good: 7
• Fair: 2

10. THE GRAPE HARVEST FESTIVAL IN THE RIBERA DEL DUERO

The custom of celebrating the end of the hard work with the traditional treading of the grapes and tasting the first grape juice is universal. Many riverside towns celebrate the grape harvest with a festival, such as Peñafiel, which organises a lively parade (including animals) through the town centre, culminating in the Plaza del Coso with the treading of the grapes, with the majestic castle being the most faithful witness to this traditional event.

But since 2018, the Denominación de Origen Ribera del Duero has been organising the GRAN FIESTA DE LA VENDIMIA in style, which lasts a whole weekend and features top-level activities and concerts, both during the day and at night. Take note for the next one! This festival is held in the riverside town of Aranda de Duero.

Photos: Great Harvest Festival Ribera del Duero

So far, ten curiosities of our favourite Designation of Origin. What has caught your attention? Tell us, we’ll read you and, of course, we’ll be waiting for you in Ribera del Duero!

Everything about the Regulatory Council of the Ribera del Duero Denomination of Origin here: www.riberadelduero.es

If you need more information you can ask us here:

• info@riberate.com
• + 34 947 10 72 54

Did you know that there are thousands of underground cellars in La Ribera? Yes, thousands. We tell you about them here, very interesting!

To complete your stay in Ribera del Duero you can visit our WINERIES / WINERIES WITH RESTAURANT / RESTAURANTS / ENOTECAS or stay in one of our member ESTABLISHMENTS.

We are waiting for you!

[Date of edition: March 2021].