Our Vineyards

Location

All the grapes used to make their wines come from vineyards property of Bodega Akutain. They are located in the Ebro Valley (all of them located in the Rioja Alta zone of the D. O. Rioja) under the Obarenes Mountains, surrounded by the Ebro and Tirón rivers. In this area, the combination of the Atlantic climate with Mediterranean influences and its characteristic soils, mostly clayey / calcareous, allow a longer and continuous maturation of the grape that helps to achieve the desired richness and subtlety. To these characteristics also contributes the considerable altitude (from almost 500m until 650m above the sea level) in which each of our vineyards is located.

This whole region has an ancient tradition in the production of wine, dating back to the times of Roman civilization: in the vicinity of our vineyards is an old Roman road and several bridges of the same antiquity (bridges of Sajazarra or Cihuri).

Bodega Akutain operates 4 vineyards with a moderate extension (between 1 hectare and 2.5 hectares each), which allows us to pay a special attention and a privileged care to the vines and to our small but precious production since the grapes begin to grow.

We work in the fields according to the principles of “lutte raisonée”: we try to carry out an integrated viticulture, where we minimize agrochemicals as much as possible (we do not use herbicides or aggressive chemicals) and where we try to continue working as our grandparents did, following their advice and the knowledge we have been acquiring with the experience after all these years.

The work is ongoing in the vineyards and each season involves a different activity to carry out: either pruning in winter, trimming in spring, tipping in the summer, taking samples and harvesting in autumn…

All tasks are done in Bodega Akutain by a small team continuously throughout the year, being reinforced eventually when it’s needed with the help of reliable companies from the region providing the desired service.

Vineyards

La Manzanera Vineyard

It’s the vineyard where everything started and the winery is located in its heart. For that reason, La Manzanera receives a special care on a day-to-day basis.

Planting year: 1.975.
Surface: 1,512 Ha.
Grape varieties: 80% Tempranillo; 17% Garnacha; 3% Viura.
Altitude: 490 m.
Exposure: North.
Soil: clay-calcareous

Cihuri Vineyard

Close to the town of Cihuri, this vineyard is located a few hundred meters from the winery and it’s also in the valley of the Tirón River.

Planting year: 1.982.
Surface: 1,014 Ha.
Grape varieties: 100% Tempranillo.
Altitude: 485 m.
Exposure: Northeast.
Soil: Clay-calcareous

Gembres Vineyard

Located near the town of Sajazarra and under the rocks of Gembres (a few kilometers away from the winery), this vineyard is located in a high altitude area for Rioja wines (650 m), thus providing its characteristics (good acidity and a special aging potential) to our wines.

Planting year: 1.986.
Surface: 2,148 Ha.
Grape varieties: 100% Tempranillo
Altitude: 650 m.
Exposure: North.
Soil: clay-calcareous

Ponzabala Vineyard

It is located halfway between our vineyards of Gembres and Cihuri. Amongst the vineyards currently in production, this has been the last to be planted. With vines over 25 years old now, this vineyard provides regularity to our wines, with its 100 % of Tempranillo variety grapes and being sheltered by a hill throughout.

Planting year: 1.990.
Surface: 1,680 Ha.
Grape varieties: 100% Tempranillo.
Altitude: 570 m.
Exposure: Northeast.
Soil: clay-calcareous

Grape Varieties

Tempranillo

Considered the autochthonous grape of Rioja and the most characteristic variety of the D.O. it’s the basis of its red wine’s identity and also one of the great noble varieties of the world. More than 75% of the cultivated area of La Rioja is occupied by this variety and it has an enormous winemaking versatility: it has the capacity to produce wines with a long aging potential, very balanced in alcoholic strength, color and acidity, and with a frank, smooth and fruity palate, which evolves in complexity and becomes velvety when it ages.

In Bodega Akutain tempranillo is the main grape variety that forms the core of our wines, being always present in percentages over 90%. It produces very different berries depending on which of our vineyards they come from, offering therefore many possibilities to give a different character to each wine when making the “coupage”.

Garnacha

It is the grape variety occupying the largest surface in the world. It is of Spanish origin and it becomes a great complement for Tempranillo in Rioja, due to its aromatic characteristics and its body. It has good alcohol content and is rich in extract. The wine obtained depends a lot on the environmental conditions (thermal integral) and of cultivation (production), give resulting therefore very different products (from wines with higher alcohol contents in warmer areas, for which this variety is more well known, to very interesting and balanced wines in cooler areas).

The Garnacha grapes are present in a small percentage of the composition of Bodega Akutain’s wines, but they are of great importance to provide fruity and floral aromas as well as some alcohol content, helping to complete the firm skeleton offered by our tempranillo grape.

Viura

The main variety of white grapes cultivated in La Rioja. More productive than red varieties, it gives rise to fruity wines, with a floral aroma and a remarkable degree of acidity. For this reason it is a very suitable grape for the production of young white wines and also a very interesting complement for aged red wines. The Viura grape is also known as Macabeo, Alcañón, Forcalla, Gredelin, Lardot, Macabeu, Queue de Renard and Rossan.

The presence of the Viura variety in the vineyards of Bodega Akutain is nearly accidental, as it results from small “mistakes” at the time of plantation in the 1970’s: at that time the techniques and tools for the control and the assurance of each plant’s grape variety didn’t were poor. It represents a minuscule percentage in the “coupage” of some of our wines and we appreciate it very much for what it contributes in terms of floral aromas and its brilliant behavior when it comes to barrel aging (due to its slow oxidation capacity).