Vivanco and the January Vintage in Rioja

Rafael Vivanco, at Bodegas Dinastia Vivanco, aims to rediscover Rioja’s sweet “Raisined Wines”, a traditional speciality now largely lost . The harvest of the Tempranillo, Graciano, Garnacha and Mazuelo grapes for this experimental wine, which will be made with the approval of the Rioja DOCa, took place in January 2011

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Dried grapes left on the vine until January

Briones (PRWeb UK) January 25, 2011

Wine Culture has always been the thread that strings together developments at Dinastia Vivanco. On this occasion, Rafael Vivanco, winemaker at Dinastia Vivanco, is proposing to rediscover an ancient, deep-rooted Rioja tradition now sadly forgotten; the sweet wines known locally as “Vinos Supurados” or “Raisined Wines”.

The winery harvested the grapes for the Raisined Wine in Briones on Wednesday 19th January 2011. These grapes were the Tempranillo, Garnacha, Graciano and Mazuelo grapes from the El Cantillo vineyard that surrounds the winery in Briones. One of Rafael Vivanco’s experimental projects, this research project is driven by his passion to recover and promote the diversity and richness of Rioja’s winemaking heritage. This will be the second vintage of this wine as a tiny quantity was made in 2009 to provide technical experience and parameters for future vintages.

The Rioja “Raisined Wine” tradition is part of an ancient, local grape growers’ custom of storing grapes at home to eat, dried, until Christmas. They usually selected the most mature fruit and loose bunches (often Garnacha) that would be desiccated after a few months – hence the translation as “Raisined”, or even “Shrivelled” and “Rotten”. At Christmas the remaining bunches would be pressed and fermented in demijohns or other receptacles. The result, once fermentation had stopped after a few months, was a wine with very high residual sugar. This wine, sweet but fresh thanks to the remaining acidity, was used both as a dessert wine and medicinally, for its ‘restorative’ properties.

The Dinastia Vivanco grapes used for this vinification of Raisined Wine have remained on the vine in search of the benefits of noble rot (botrytis). As the agent of some of the world’s most prestigious wines, such as Sauternes, this noble rot, encouraged by the early morning vineyard mists rising from the nearby River Ebro, will add complexity and longevity to the resulting wine. Rafael Vivanco has experience of making these unique wines from his own winemaking education in Bordeaux in 1999.

About Dinastia Vivanco
Dinastía Vivanco is the result of Pedro Vivanco’s passion for wine. Bodegas Dinastia Vivanco has become a major exponent of ‘new Rioja’ – modern, elegant and balanced wines that are a result of the great efforts made in the family vineyards in Rioja’s best areas by Rafael Vivanco and his team. The Dinastia Vivanco project also includes a Foundation to promote the Culture of Wine and a Museum of Wine Culture, under the directorship of Santiago Vivanco.

Visit us at: http://www.dinastiavivanco.com

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