Granja Nuestra Señora de Remelluri

The Remelluri site has been planted to vines since at least the 14th century, when Hieronymite monks established a granja (a working monastic farm) on the Sierra de Toloño slopes above the village of Labastida. The granary buildings have stood for over 600 years and now form the core of the modern winery. Jaime Rodríguez Salís, a Madrid lawyer and wine enthusiast, purchased the abandoned property in 1967 and began the multi-decade work of restoring the buildings and replanting the estate's high-altitude terraces. He pioneered the single-estate approach in Rioja, working only with fruit from his own vineyards at a time when nearly every Rioja bodega blended grapes purchased from multiple growers. The estate's first commercial vintage came in the 1970s, and Remelluri established itself across the 1980s and 1990s as one of Rioja's most respected serious-quality producers alongside Contino (founded 1973 by CVNE).

• 14th-century Hieronymite granja (working monastic farm) on the Sierra de Toloño slopes above Labastida; granary buildings still standing and forming the core of the winery
• Jaime Rodríguez Salís purchased the abandoned property in 1967; restored buildings and replanted high-altitude terraces over multiple decades
• Pioneer of single-estate Rioja: worked exclusively with fruit from his own vineyards decades before the 2017 reform recognized single-estate classifications
• Established alongside Contino (founded 1973 by CVNE) as one of the first generation of single-estate Rioja producers

Remelluri's roughly 105 hectares of estate vineyards climb the south-facing Sierra de Toloño slopes from approximately 500 metres at the lower terraces near the Ebro basin to 950 metres at the highest plots, with most production from 600 to 800 metres. The Sierra de Toloño is the northern range that shields Rioja Alavesa from the wettest Atlantic air, while gaps in the range allow oceanic influence to keep the climate cool and slow-ripening. Soils across the estate are calcareous clay-limestone with limestone outcrops, supporting structured Tempranillo with bright acidity and concentrated aromatics. The estate's whites come from a single high-elevation parcel at 800 metres on white-limestone soils, where an old-vine field blend of approximately nine white varieties (predominantly Viura, Garnacha Blanca, Malvasía, Chardonnay, with smaller percentages of Sauvignon Blanc, Roussanne, Marsanne, Petit Manseng, and Moscatel) produces what is now considered one of Rioja's most singular whites. Some vines on the estate trace back to plantings as old as 1918.

• Approximately 105 hectares of estate-owned vineyards on the south-facing Sierra de Toloño slopes from 500 to 950 metres
• Soils are calcareous clay-limestone with limestone outcrops; the Sierra de Toloño shields the estate from the wettest Atlantic air while allowing cool oceanic influence
• Whites from a single 800-metre parcel on white-limestone soils, a field blend of approximately nine varieties (Viura, Garnacha Blanca, Malvasía, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Roussanne, Marsanne, Petit Manseng, Moscatel)
• Some vines planted as far back as 1918; the estate's high-elevation vineyards consistently produce structured Tempranillo with bright acidity and concentrated aromatics

Jaime Rodríguez Salís's son Telmo Rodríguez and daughter Amaia Rodríguez gradually took over the family estate from the mid-2000s onward, following Telmo's nearly two-decade career running his own négociant project, Compañía de Vinos Telmo Rodríguez, founded in 1994. Telmo had built that project into Spain's leading terroir-focused village-wine venture with bottlings from Rioja, Toro, Galicia, Málaga, and Valdeorras (Spain's first sustained Vino de Pueblo-style branded series, predating the 2017 Rioja reform by more than a decade). On returning to Remelluri, he and Amaia introduced organic certification (2014), refined the winemaking to emphasize parcel selection and longer cellar aging, and launched the Lindes de Remelluri series with separate bottlings from Viñedos de Labastida and Viñedos de San Vicente. The Remelluri Blanco was reformulated to draw exclusively from the 800-metre field-blend parcel, raising its profile to cult status.

• Telmo Rodríguez founded Compañía de Vinos Telmo Rodríguez in 1994 (Spain's leading terroir-focused village-wine négociant); returned to Remelluri with sister Amaia in mid-2000s
• Organic certification on the estate from 2014; biodynamic practices applied selectively; native-yeast fermentation; reduced new oak in favor of foudres and used barrels
• Launched Lindes de Remelluri Viñedos de Labastida and Viñedos de San Vicente in the early 2010s, pioneering Vino de Pueblo-style village wines more than five years before the 2017 reform
• Remelluri Blanco reformulated to draw exclusively from the single 800-metre parcel, elevating it to cult status as one of Rioja's most singular and celebrated whites

The Remelluri Reserva is the flagship: a Tempranillo-dominant blend (typically around 90% Tempranillo with Garnacha, Graciano, and Mazuelo) from the estate's mid-elevation parcels, aged 21 months in foudres and used French oak followed by five years in bottle before release. The Gran Reserva (typically 58% Tempranillo, 28% Garnacha, with Graciano and Mazuelo from 70-year-old terraced vines) is released only in exceptional vintages, certified organic, unfiltered with minimal sulfur, and built for graceful decade-plus evolution. Remelluri Blanco draws exclusively from the 800-metre field-blend parcel and is one of Spain's most coveted whites in restricted-allocation distribution. The Lindes de Remelluri series (Viñedos de Labastida + Viñedos de San Vicente) draws on 11 growers across the two villages on either side of the Ebro, vinified and labeled at village granularity before the 2017 reform formally recognized the practice.

• Remelluri Reserva: approximately 90% Tempranillo with Garnacha, Graciano, Mazuelo; 21 months in foudres and used French oak + 5 years bottle aging; flagship release
• Remelluri Gran Reserva: approximately 58% Tempranillo, 28% Garnacha, plus Graciano and Mazuelo from 70-year-old terraced vines; certified organic, unfiltered, minimal sulfur
• Remelluri Blanco: single 800-metre parcel field-blend of ~9 white varieties; one of Rioja's most singular whites and a cult-status bottling in restricted allocation
• Lindes de Remelluri Viñedos de Labastida + Viñedos de San Vicente: pioneered Vino de Pueblo village wines in the early 2010s before the 2017 reform; 11 grower partners across two villages

Remelluri occupies a unique position in modern Rioja: a single-estate pioneer founded in 1967 by a passionate amateur, then transformed in the second generation by Telmo Rodríguez, who returned from running his own négociant after demonstrating that terroir-focused village-wine bottlings could succeed commercially in Rioja. The estate spans both halves of the modern movement, with the patient old-school approach of the Reserva and Gran Reserva sitting alongside the boundary-pushing Blanco and the Lindes de Remelluri village wines that preceded the 2017 reform by more than half a decade. The high-altitude Sierra de Toloño vineyards consistently produce some of Rioja's most structured Tempranillo and most aromatic whites, and the 14th-century granary buildings give visitors a tangible link to the centuries-deep viticulture of the Sonsierra slopes. Telmo Rodríguez's parallel work at Compañía de Vinos Telmo Rodríguez continues to anchor the Spanish village-wine movement from Rioja to Toro to Galicia to Málaga.

• Single-estate pioneer founded 1967 by Jaime Rodríguez Salís alongside Contino (1973) as the first generation of Rioja estate wineries
• Telmo Rodríguez bridges Remelluri's classical tradition with his négociant project Compañía de Vinos Telmo Rodríguez (founded 1994), which pioneered village wines from Rioja to Toro to Galicia
• Lindes de Remelluri village wines pioneered Vino de Pueblo-style labeling in the early 2010s, more than five years before the 2017 reform formally recognized the practice
• Estate vineyards at 500-950 metres on the Sierra de Toloño slopes produce some of Rioja's most structured Tempranillo and most aromatic whites; certified organic since 2014