Almost 1,000 underground cellars in just 7 municipalities along the river, 950 to be precise! In some cases this means more than one cellar per inhabitant or per dwelling. And that’s not counting the wine presses, which are just as many. But there are many more throughout the Ribera del Duero, a region with a deep-rooted winemaking tradition, made up of 118 towns and villages.

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Wine culture is our essence and this is demonstrated by these underground constructions whose original function was the storage and conservation of wine. Dug with picks and shovels, these underground cellars have held the wealth of many families for centuries. In some cases they were dug in the lower part of the houses to avoid the vibrations of the carriages (such as Aranda de Duero), in other cases they are located on hills nestled in the centre of the villages (such as Moradillo de Roa or Peñafiel) or on hills a little distant from them (such as Atauta or Vadocondes), pursuing a hillside orography to facilitate both their construction and their maintenance.

Generally, their structure is made up of a sloping gallery or canyon which, via steep stairs, leads to a room for storing the wine. One of the determining factors for storing the wine in these artificial caves was the temperature inside, as it is stable throughout the year, facilitating the preservation of the wine, our precious treasure. From the outside, the ventilation shafts are recognisable, fundamental elements for the stability of the underground cellars, communicating the interior with the exterior.

With the passage of time, the riverside underground cellars have lost their original function, but their state of conservation is quite acceptable, despite the abandonment of many of them. Nowadays, most of these cellars have been converted into picnic areas to gather friends around some delicious suckling lamb cutlets, or into a place for“peñas” (cultural groups, including a brass band), although there are still a few cases that still keep a bucket of wine. Ah! And they are usually given names (the cellars)…

Although most of these underground cellars are for private use, they have become a great tourist attraction, so much effort is being invested (inventorying and refurbishing them inside and out) to include them in the tours that we receive throughout the year in the Ribera del Duero.

We list a series of winery districts in our region that are worth visiting, two of which are “Bien de Interés Cultural” in the category of “Conjunto Etnológico” (Ethnological Ensemble):

• Moradillo de Roa (Burgos): 157 underground cellars.
• Atauta (Soria): 141 underground wine cellars (BIC Ethnological Ensemble)
• Aranda de Duero (Burgos): 120 underground wine cellars (BIC Ethnological Ensemble)
• Zazuar (Burgos): 50 underground wineries
• Gumiel de Mercado (Burgos): 106 underground wineries
• Vadocondes (Burgos): 78 underground wine cellars
• San Esteban de Gormaz: 298 underground wine cellars

◼︎ MORADILLO DE ROA (Burgos): 157 UNDERGROUND WINE CELLARS IN EL COTARRO

There are almost two hundred inhabitants in Moradillo de Roa, approximately the same number of wineries as there are in this riverside municipality in Burgos. “El Cotarro” is the name given to its ethnographic ensemble, and means (in old Castilian) high area or hill. This district of cellars occupies all sides of the hill of the Church of San Pedro and has a total surface area of 18,000^m2, housing an ethnological complex made up of 157 underground cellars (positioned on up to four levels) and 7 cave wine presses. In this small village in the Ribera del Duero all the families have or have had vineyards and there are currently about ten of them who are still professionally dedicated to wine. In 2015, the Town Council of Moradillo de Roa decided to recover and maintain this valuable heritage, launching an ambitious project that is now consolidated, which has been arousing the interest of the villagers themselves and the curiosity of visitors from all over Spain and the world. Wine tourism is one of the key elements that continues to finance this recovery project, which is a reference point for other towns that also have winery districts to implement similar ideas, having received a multitude of national and international awards.

• Official visits: Moradillo Town Council organises visits to the El Cotarro winery district, including a visit to the underground cellar “El bodegón (1861) or “El Lagar del Tío Santos (1744)”.
• Timetables: Saturdays and Sundays (visits from 10am to 4pm). Please consult for visits during the week.
• Contact: (+34) 680 635 933 / info@bodegasdemoradillo.com
• Official website: http://bodegasdemoradillo.com/

◼︎ ATAUTA (Soria): 141 UNDERGROUND WINE CELLARS ON THE PLANT

The “El Plantío” underground wine cellar complex is located in the Hondo area, at the foot of the village of Atauta, a district of San Esteban de Gormaz, in the Ribera del Duero region of Soria. This village is located on a rocky ledge some 970 metres above sea level, separated from the winery complex by the Arroyo de la Laguna or Golbán stream.

“El Plantío” is made up of a total of 141 wineries, as well as communal wine presses and other complementary constructions, occupying an area of approximately three hectares. According to the preserved inscriptions, the winery complex was built for the most part during the 19th century.

In 2017, it was declared an asset of cultural interest with the category of ETHNOLOGICAL CONJUNCT because of its extension and number of wineries, wine presses and related elements, its good state of conservation and, in particular, its unique layout and implantation in the territory.

• Official visits: there are currently noofficial visits , but it is worth enjoying the views from the viewpoint of the village of Atauta.
• Contact: San Esteban de Gormaz Tourist Office (+34) 975 350 292 / turismo@sanestebandegormaz.org
• Official website: https://www.sanestebandegormaz.org/atauta.html

Photo (San Esteban de Gormaz Tourist Office): View of El Plantío from Atauta.

Photo: Atauta, located on a ledge that affords spectacular views of the Duero River Bank in Soria.

► Find out about all the options you have on our Wine Route to enjoy a fantastic day on the river (restaurants, accommodation, wineries) in the village of ATAUTA.

◼︎ ARANDA DE DUERO (Burgos): 120 UNDERGROUND WINERIES IN THE URBAN CORE

Discovering Aranda de Duero through its underground wine cellars is a mouth-watering experience. The figures speak for themselves: no more and no less than 4.2 km of underground network, a network that runs through cellars with more than 8 centuries of tradition, more than 9 metres deep, excavated under the old houses to preserve the wine, as we said before. In Aranda, 136 cellars have been catalogued, many of them connected to each other, and almost all of them inside the old walled enclosure, in the subsoil of the historic centre of the town! They were declared an Asset of Cultural Interest with the category of Ethnological Ensemble in 2015. You can take a virtual tour of these cellars here.

As a curiosity… What was the significance of the poplar twig that was placed at the entrance of these cellars? When a vat was opened, it was a way of notifying neighbours, family and friends that the wine was already on sale.

How can you visit some of these underground cellars? Most of them are private and many belong to peñas arandinas (associations – such as El Alboroto, Tierra Aranda, El Chilindrón, El Jarro, La Amistad, etc. – made up of members who get together to promote and enhance the fiestas and other cultural events in Aranda). Aranda Town Council includes visits to two of these underground cellars (Las Ánimas and Las Caballerizas) in guided tours through the Tourist Office and, occasionally, fun dramatised visits are also organised. But you can also openly access those that some establishments have, such as the Asador Restaurante El Lagar de Isilla, or you can even book a tasting course at the Bodega Histórica Don Carlos s. XV or visit the Ribiértete Underground Wine Museum, the only underground museum in Europe. You’re sure to enjoy it!

• Official visits: through the Aranda de Duero Town Hall Tourist Office.
• Contact: 947 51 04 76 / oficinadeturismo@arandadeduero.es
• Official website: https://www.arandadeduero.es/concejalia-32-turismo.htm
• Promotional video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXkjg-e6eK8&feature=youtu.be

In brown, the network of underground cellars in Aranda.

► Find out about all the options you have on our Wine Route to enjoy a fantastic riverside stay (restaurants, accommodation, wineries) in ARANDA DE DUERO.

◼︎ ZAZUAR (Burgos): 50 UNDERGROUND WINE CELLARS IN “LAS BODEGAS”.

Zazuar has an important group of underground cellars in the centre of the village, many of them dating from the 17th century. Documents of inheritances and purchase and sale transactions from the end of the 18th century have been preserved, so it is quite possible that the cellars already existed in the 16th and 17th centuries. But be warned, there are about 50 of them: a lot if we compare it to the size of this small riverside village (the elders say that there may have been as many as a hundred underground cellars).

Almost all of those that remain today are located behind the church of San Andrés, in a “corro” that goes by the name of “Las Bodegas“. The exterior could certainly resemble a hobbit village from Lord of the Rings. Around the entrances to the cellars are stone tables and benches, where the villagers gather to picnic when the weather permits. The so-called “Paradise Trees” are responsible for providing shade in this fantastic group of underground cellars.

Some of the houses in the oldest part of the village also have their own cellars. There are also 10 wine presses scattered throughout the village, although there are very few preserved, most of them are in ruins, unfortunately.

• Visits: free visits are organised through the Ribera Voluntariis de Zazuar programme (organised by ADRI), visiting the “Martín Blanco” winery and the “Belén” wine press as part of the “Zazuar entre vino y agua” (Zazuar between wine and water) route.
• Timetables: weekends.
• Contact: Zazuar Town Council (947 55 30 32)/ ADRI (947 55 20 91)
• Bookings: http://riberadeldueroburgalesa.com/reservas/ (free visits)
• Official website of Zazuar: www.zazuar.es

► Find out about all the options you have on our Wine Route to enjoy a fantastic riverside stay (restaurants, accommodation, wineries) in ZAZUAR.

◼︎ GUMIEL DE MERCADO (Burgos): 106 UNDERGROUND WINE CELLARS IN THE CASTLE HILL

There is a popular local saying that goes “the Castle is like the heart of the village, to which it supplies the superior broth that it keeps in its bosom in enormous quantities”. Gumiel de Mercado was already a centre of wine production in the 16th century, as is attested by the fact that in around 1580 it was given the position of Corredor de Vinos (Wine Broker) in perpetuity. The Castle Hill (a castle of which there are no remains today) is the place where these wine buildings were concentrated in this riverside village. In 2018, an inventory was carried out (by Alfredo Sanz Sanza) resulting in 140 records, of which 31 are elements with a wine cellar and wine press, 34 only with a wine press and 75 only with a wine cellar. These cellars and wine presses are grouped together to form neighbourhoods with their own characteristics, which have been divided into 5 sectors, as detailed in the study. A myriad of figures that do nothing more than highlight a valuable cultural heritage whose perpetuity we continue to fight for.

• Official visits: at present there are no official visits, although those interested can call the Town Hall to arrange special visits to a particular winery.
• Contact Town Hall: (+34) 947 545 036 / gumieldemercado@diputaciondeburgos.net
• Official website: http://www.gumieldemercado.es/content/inventario-de-bodegas-y-lagares-tradicionales-gumiel-de-mercado

► Find out about all the options you have on our Wine Route to enjoy a fantastic stay on the river (restaurants, accommodation, wineries) in GUMIEL DE MERCADO.

◼︎ VADOCONDES (Burgos): 78 UNDERGROUND WINE CELLARS IN CUESTA DE SAN MILLÁN

The hill with the largest number of underground cellars in Vadocondes is located away from the centre, at the foot of the famous N-122 road, on the hill known as“Cuesta de San Millán“. This riverside municipality has also inventoried (in 2017) its wine heritage, which dates back to the 18th century and is roughly divided into “Bodegas de Abajo” and “Bodegas de Arriba”, grouping together a total of 78 wineries (2,528 metres) and 116 wine presses, which is nothing…

• Visits: There are no official visits. Private visits can be made to the “El Curato” winery (ask at the Town Hall).
• Town Hall contact: (+34) 947 528 061 / ayuntamiento@vadocondes.es
• Official website: www.vadocondes.es

► Here you have all the options you have in our Wine Route to enjoy a fantastic stay in VADOCONDES (restaurants, accommodation, wineries).

◼︎ SAN ESTEBAN DE GORMAZ (Soria): 298 UNDERGROUND CELLARS IN THE CASTLE HILL

One of the emblems of San Esteban de Gormaz is its castle and, at the foot of the hill on which it rests, is this district of underground cellars which totals no more and no less than 298. Imagine the amount of wine and chops that must have found their way into the stomachs of San Esteban! By our reckoning, it is the most numerous underground cellar district in Ribera del Duero.

The Association “Friends of the cellars and the castle” of San Esteban de Gormaz has published a book (2014) with an exhaustive census of owners, differentiating between the cellars on the western slope of the castle.

• Official visits: through the Tourist Office of the Town Hall of San Esteban de Gormaz. They include entrance to an underground cellar and the Lagar de San Miguel can also be visited.
• Timetables: Tuesday-Sunday.
• Contact: (+34) 975 35 02 92 / turismo@sanestebandegormaz.org
• Official website: https://www.sanestebandegormaz.org/recorrido-por-san-esteban-de-gormaz.html

Photos courtesy of San Esteban de Gormaz Tourist Office

Image: map of the cellars of the book – inventory of the “Association of friends of the cellars and the castle of San Esteban de Gormaz”.

► Here you have all the options you have in our Wine Route to enjoy a fantastic riverside stay (restaurants, accommodation, wineries) in SAN ESTEBAN DE GORMAZ.

So much for our first review of the majestic winery districts of the Ribera del Duero, we are waiting for you… Discover them for yourself!

Stay tuned, there will be a second and third part:

• Second part: Sotillo de la Ribera, Roa, Fuentespina, Alcubilla del Marqués, Aldea de San Esteban, Soto de San Esteban, Quintanilla de Onésimo.
• Third part (coming soon): Caleruega, Castrillo de la Vega, Guzmán, La Horra, La Sequera de Haza and Peñafiel.

To listen to the PODCAST: https://linktr.ee/riberate

Release date: August 2020

Header photo: Moradillo de Roa (Burgos)

You can easily organise your route with this simple map that will help you plan your stay in Ribera del Duero. And, if you prefer, you can hire the official tourist guides of our Route, as well as other tourist services such as bus rental, etc…

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