RIBERA DEL DUERO
SPAIN
HISTORY
The winery was built in 1979, several years before the introduction of the "Ribera del Duero" appellation. The first vineyards planted at "Finca El Pinar" estate, where the winery is located, were planted as early as 1946.
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In September 2002, the O. Fournier Group purchased the property with the objective in advancing the developing of both the winery and vineyards, in order to become one of the leading wineries in Ribera del Duero.
OUR MICROCLIMATE
The Ribera del Duero region, where the estate is located, is at an approximate altitude of 700 to 800 masl. This altitude produces an extreme climate change between day and night (an approximate difference of 18º to 20º C) helping to produce wines with an excellent color, structure, acidity and suitable for aging in barrels.
The climate is continental with an Atlanti influence. The rainfall is moderate, from 400 to 600 mm per year, mainly is Spring and Autumn, with sporadic precipitations is form of storms during Summer. The average insolation is approximatey 2,200 hours of clear sunny days, allowing excellent grape ripeness.
The rigors of the climate, with the aforementioned temperature differences and low precipitations, determine low but high quality grape yields.
In general, the soils of our Rivera del Duero vineyards vary significantly but the predominant type is rocky, calcareous, sandy and clay. Most of the soils have very low organic material component, making it easier to obtain quality grapes.
OUR ESTATE
O Fournier Winery and Vineyards owns a property of 105 ha. in the municipality of Berlangas de Roa y Roa de Duero, within the Burgos province. Sixty of these hectares correspond to the vineyard plantations of El Pinar Estate.
The beginning of the vineyard plantation at El Pinar Estate dates back to 1946 with the first two hectares. From that date onwards, the development continued until reaching the existing 60 ha. It is worth mentioning that half of this development took place in 1980 and the rest between 1991 and 1998.
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Half of the plantation uses a head-pruned system with a frame that goes from 1100 to 2900 plants per hectare. The other half is plan ted using a trellis system with a frame of 2300 plants per hectare. The entire estate has been planted with the variety of Tinta del Pais, which predominates in Ribera del Duero given its quality and excellent adaptation throughout the years.
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Amongst the variety of soils we can find at El Pinar Estate, the pebble is the predominant one; it comes from the floods from Duero River, since 4 km of this property are located in the riverbank. We can also find sandy areas especially in the western area. At the same time, a clayey layer that allows for humidity retention can be identified 60 - 100cm deep. Generally speaking, the soil is very poor in terms of organic matter a nd possesses excellent drainage. The pebble contributes to the ripening of the grape through the refraction of solar heat that it receives during the day and unleashes during the night.
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Given the soil's weakness, the vineyard's age and the plantation frames, the pruning and the watering carried out by selective dripping when the plant n eeds it, their producti vity never exceeds 4000 Kg per ha. Our goal is to keep it under those numbers. This performance ensures a very interesting quality potential for our grapes.
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Nowadays, a big effort is being done to recuperate certain areas of the vin eyard. In addition, we are currently in the middle of studying the vineyard to divide it. The analysis is carried out in the winery through microvinifications , taking into consideration the characteristics of every piece of land: soil, orientation, plantation frame, vineyard's age and used clones. This study will allow us to gain deeper knowledge of the vineyards in order to conduct a more specific elaboration taking into account the previously mentioned characteristics.
The mid-term goal is to control our entire grape production, whether by having our own estates (we hope to continue acquiring high quality vineyards) or by signing long-term contracts with local producers. The total territory of 105 ha that the property has is com pleted with various irrigated estates and a pine forest with local trees over 180 years old.
