Sierra Cantabria: The Eguren Family Bodega in the Sonsierra

The Eguren family dates its winegrowing to 1870, when, in the family history, Amancio Eguren began a tradition devoted to vine growing and the production of its own wines. In 1957 Guillermo Eguren established Bodegas Sierra Cantabria, the family bodega in San Vicente de la Sonsierra, and began acquiring vineyard parcels. The family describes Sierra Cantabria as the beginning of its journey as winemakers. Today the group, Viñedos y Bodegas Sierra Cantabria, presents itself as a collection of six individual projects across Rioja, Toro and Castilla; its wineries pages cover Sierra Cantabria, Viñedos Sierra Cantabria, Viñedos de Páganos, Señorío de San Vicente and Teso La Monja.

• 1870: Amancio Eguren begins the family tradition of vine growing and making its own wines
• 1957: Guillermo Eguren establishes Bodegas Sierra Cantabria in San Vicente de la Sonsierra
• 1991: Señorío de San Vicente, a single-vineyard wine
• 1996: Viñedos Sierra Cantabria, a project built around selected parcels
• 1998: Viñedos de Páganos, an underground winery in Laguardia; 2007: Teso La Monja in Toro

As of September 2026, the producer's site credits Marcos Eguren as winemaker, and the current technical sheets carry his name as enólogo. The site's history names Marcos and Miguel Eguren as the creators of the new Viñedos Sierra Cantabria facilities in 2023. Wine Spectator, in its October 15, 2018 issue, described brothers Marcos and Miguel as running the company.

• Marcos Eguren: winemaker (enólogo)
• Miguel Eguren: runs the company with his brother Marcos, per Wine Spectator (2018)

Sierra Cantabria's vineyards are located primarily in San Vicente de la Sonsierra, Labastida and Laguardia, within the Sonsierra. The Consejo Regulador DOCa Rioja lists San Vicente de la Sonsierra among the municipalities of Rioja Alta and places Labastida and Laguardia in Rioja Alavesa. The producer describes south- and south-west-facing vineyards on clay-limestone soils, rounded pebbles and fractured bedrock, planted to Tempranillo, Garnacha, Viura and Tempranillo Peludo, some more than seventy years old. The Viñedos Sierra Cantabria winery, built above historic underground limestone cellars in the San Pedro area, is surrounded by the 16-hectare San Pelayo-Las Canteras estate; San Pelayo was planted in 1960 on limestone bedrock. The Crianza, Reserva, Gran Reserva, Amancio and Reserva Única technical sheets each describe their fruit as coming from the family's own vineyards.

• Finca El Bosque: 1.482 hectares in San Vicente de la Sonsierra, planted 1973
• La Veguilla: the family vineyard in San Vicente de la Sonsierra that gives Amancio
• El Vardallo (also known as Las Sepulturas): 1.18 hectares in San Vicente de la Sonsierra; red varieties 65% Tempranillo, 20% Garnacha, 2.5% Graciano, 1% Petit Bouschet and 1.1% others; white varieties 4.4% Calagraño, 3.2% Turruntés and 2.8% Viura
• Los Terreros and Jararte: 4 hectares in San Vicente de la Sonsierra, the source of Colección Privada
• San Pelayo: planted 1960, north-facing, the source of CVC Primera Edición

The Sierra Cantabria range comprises Murmurón, Gran Reserva, Reserva, XF, Garnacha, Crianza, Blanco and Rosado. The Viñedos Sierra Cantabria range, where every wine comes from a single vineyard, comprises Cuvée, CVC Primera Edición, CVC Segunda Edición, CVC 88, CVC 150, Mágico, Amancio, Finca El Bosque, Colección Privada, Organza and Reserva Única. Per the current technical sheets, the Crianza 2022 is 100% Tempranillo from the family's vineyards in San Vicente de la Sonsierra and Labastida, aged 14 months in French and American oak. The Reserva 2018 is 100% Tempranillo aged 18 months in 225-litre barrels, half French and half American oak, 20% new, and bottled unfiltered. The Gran Reserva 2017 is 98% Tempranillo and 2% Graciano from vines over 30 years old, aged 26 months in American oak and then 15 months in cement tank. Amancio, made only in exceptional vintages, is 100% Tempranillo from La Veguilla; the 2022 was fermented in 500-litre French oak barrels and French oak vats and is planned for 24 months in new French oak. Finca El Bosque 2023 is 100% Tempranillo fermented in a French oak vat and aged an estimated 16 months in new French oak. Mágico 2022 was destemmed by hand, berry by berry, with the field blend fermented in two wooden vats and the Garnacha in a separate one. Colección Privada 2023 is 100% Tempranillo, half destemmed and half whole bunches, aged 16 months in new 225-litre barrels, half French and half American oak. Reserva Única 2022 is 97% Tempranillo and 3% Graciano from vines over 30 years old, aged 24 months in 60% French and 40% American oak, 15% new.

• CVC Primera Edición: an assemblage of the 2008, 2009 and 2010 vintages from the San Pelayo vineyard
• XF: a blend of Garnacha and Tempranillo from vineyards across the Sonsierra
• Organza: the white of Viñedos Sierra Cantabria, a blend of traditional varieties with extended ageing on the lees
• Reserva Única: from the family's historic vineyards in San Vicente de la Sonsierra, some planted as early as 1927
• Wine Spectator rated Finca El Bosque 2015 at 95 points in its October 15, 2018 issue

Of Viñedos Sierra Cantabria, the producer's site says: "Rather than imposing a house style, the winery exists in service of the vineyard." In the Crianza 2022 technical sheet, Marcos Eguren describes the wine as "El clasicismo frutal del Tempranillo de la Sonsierra", the fruity classicism of Sonsierra Tempranillo, fruity and aromatic, elegant and fresh, with sweet, velvety tannin. His notes on the Reserva 2018 describe red fruit with present but ripe tannins and good acidity and structure, and on Finca El Bosque 2023 ripe fruit, balsamic notes, structure and complexity. The producer's site calls Reserva Única "poised, silky and persistent" and Colección Privada "the perfect union of tradition and modernity". Wine Spectator, in 2018, called Finca El Bosque 2015 "powerful yet graceful, with an alluring balance of savory and fruity character" and described the Eguren brothers as leaders in a movement toward more powerful reds.

The producer's site quotes Marcos Eguren: "Respectful, organic and biodynamic: a return to the viticulture practised by our great-grandfather." The site says the lunar cycle determines the timing of each vineyard task and that the family uses its own compost. The technical sheets describe integrated viticulture with minimal intervention, no herbicides or systemic products, and organic fertilisation, and fermentation with native yeast selected from the family's own vineyards.

• Vineyard work timed by the lunar cycle, per the producer
• Own compost, per the producer's site; no herbicides or systemic products, per the technical sheets
• Native yeast selected from the family's own vineyards

The family history records a run of recent milestones: the El Puntido restaurant in 2021, twenty years after the first vintage of El Puntido; a new Viñedos Sierra Cantabria winery in 2023 at the family's original winery in San Vicente; a dedicated malolactic fermentation cellar at Viñedos Sierra Cantabria in 2024; and an expansion of the Señorío de San Vicente winery in 2026. Visits are arranged individually, with the group preparing a tailored proposal on request.

• 2021: El Puntido restaurant
• 2023: new Viñedos Sierra Cantabria winery
• 2024: malolactic fermentation cellar at Viñedos Sierra Cantabria
• 2026: Señorío de San Vicente winery expansion

Primary sources (producer's own site, sierracantabria.com, including its technical sheets): https://sierracantabria.com/en/, https://sierracantabria.com/en/history/, https://sierracantabria.com/en/philosophy/, https://sierracantabria.com/en/wineries/, https://sierracantabria.com/en/wineries/sierra-cantabria/, https://sierracantabria.com/en/wineries/vinedos-sierra-cantabria/, https://sierracantabria.com/en/wines/, https://sierracantabria.com/en/experiences/, https://sierracantabria.com/en/wineries/sierra-cantabria/murmuron/, https://sierracantabria.com/en/wineries/sierra-cantabria/gran-reserva/, https://sierracantabria.com/en/wineries/sierra-cantabria/reserva/, https://sierracantabria.com/en/wineries/sierra-cantabria/xf/, https://sierracantabria.com/en/wineries/sierra-cantabria/garnacha/, https://sierracantabria.com/en/wineries/sierra-cantabria/crianza/, https://sierracantabria.com/en/wineries/sierra-cantabria/blanco/, https://sierracantabria.com/en/wineries/sierra-cantabria/rosado/, https://sierracantabria.com/en/wineries/vinedos-sierra-cantabria/cuvee/, https://sierracantabria.com/en/wineries/vinedos-sierra-cantabria/cvc-primera-edicion/, https://sierracantabria.com/en/wineries/vinedos-sierra-cantabria/magico/, https://sierracantabria.com/bodegas/vinedos-sierra-cantabria/amancio/, https://sierracantabria.com/bodegas/vinedos-sierra-cantabria/finca-el-bosque/, https://sierracantabria.com/en/wineries/vinedos-sierra-cantabria/coleccion-privada/, https://sierracantabria.com/en/wineries/vinedos-sierra-cantabria/organza/, https://sierracantabria.com/en/wineries/vinedos-sierra-cantabria/reserva-unica/, https://sierracantabria.com/ficha-tecnica/amancio-2022-es.pdf, https://sierracantabria.com/ficha-tecnica/finca-el-bosque-2023-es.pdf, https://sierracantabria.com/ficha-tecnica/magico-2022-es.pdf, https://sierracantabria.com/ficha-tecnica/coleccion-privada-2023-es.pdf, https://sierracantabria.com/ficha-tecnica/reserva-unica-2022-es.pdf, https://sierracantabria.com/ficha-tecnica/sierra-cantabria-crianza-2022-es.pdf, https://sierracantabria.com/ficha-tecnica/sierra-cantabria-reserva-2028-es.pdf, https://sierracantabria.com/ficha-tecnica/sierra-cantabria-gran-reserva-2017-es.pdf. Secondary sources: https://riojawine.com/en-gb/visita-rioja/municipios/san-vicente-de-la-sonsierra/, https://top100.winespectator.com/2018/article/extreme-virtues/, https://riojawine.com/en-gb/production-areas/rioja-alavesa/. Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs. Last verified 2026-09-23