DOCa RIOJA
BODEGAS BILBAINAS

www.Bodegasbilbainas.com
Estación, 3. 26200 Haro (La Rioja). España. Tel: +34 941310147

One of the oldest bottling company of the Denomination of Origin Qualified Rioja. Next to the winery it is the vineyard Viña Pomal that was bought and planted in 1908. From these vines they make the wine Viña Pomal since 1911. They have over 1000 m. of caves made in stone. The visit is one of the nicest in Rioja.

History:

In 1859 Savignon Frères et Cie established itself in Haro after fleeing phylloxera that was ravaging French vineyards. Unlike other French wine companies that established a steady trade in wine from Rioja to France, Savignon Frères elected to stay on in Spain so as to control the production process on the spot. Although most of their wines were destined for the French market, Savignon Frères built a winery and produced wine in Haro.

Four decades after its foundation, when phylloxera had been practically eliminated in France, Savignon Frères decided to give up their business in Rioja and sell their plant in Haro. At that moment a group of Bilbao businessmen purchased the winery and Bodegas Bilbaínas was established in 1901. The winery continued its task of setting new targets for wine production. One of these was development of its sparkling wines that had been made since the end of the 19th century. In a few years Bodegas Bilbaínas consolidated its position as the leading brand of Rioja red wine, a fact reflected by crianza Ederra being chosen for daily consumption at King Alfonso XIII’s palace. In 1925 Bodegas Bilbaínas was honoured with the appointment of Purveyor to the Royal Family.

In 1997 the Codorníu Group acquired Bodegas Bilbaínas and undertook substantial modernization of the winery, in the field of both wine production and architecture. The first investment was in the vineyards where the bush-shaped vines were transformed into trellises so as to improve the varieties. The winery installations were also extended and renovated.

The Codorníu Group’s purchase of Bodegas Bilbaínas signified an important change of image for the Rioja winery. The modernization of the area housing Bodegas Bilbaínas began with the construction of a section for fruit reception, pressing and fermentation. Several months later a cellar was built for the process of ageing in barrels. At the beginning of 2000 the architect Domingo Triay started the conversion work on the old winery. After knocking down an old building located at the entrance, an underground passage with reinforced concrete walls was built leading to the old French winery, called Savignon.

Vineyards:

Bodegas Bilbaínas has 250 hectares of its own vineyards in the municipalities of Haro and Villalba de Rioja. This area supplies 70% of production and the remaining 30 % is bought from local growers. The vineyards are perfectly positioned on soil derived from the Tertiary geological period that contains elements of limestone, marl and sandstone unique to the northern part of Rioja Alta. In these vineyards Tempranillo, the basis of most of the Rioja wines, together with Garnacha, Graciano and Mazuelo are grown. The Viura and Malvasia white grape varieties are used in the production of Rioja cava

Winemaking:

At Bodegas Bilbaínas the grapes are harvested between the end of September and the end of October. The Codorníu Group’s Rioja winery has 25,000 Bordeaux barrels with sufficient capacity to hold 7.5 million liters of wine. At present Bodegas Bilbaínas produces 2.4 million bottles annually. Of this total, 45% is red Reserva, 3% red Gran Reserva, 42% red Crianza and 10% cava.