Viñedos Lacalle y Laorden
In 2015 the two families of Zapiain and Lopez de Lacalle launched the Izar-Leku Mahastiak project (today Grupo Artadi) in Zarautz/Basque Country, with the aim of producing a table wine as well as a sparkling wine with Txakoli as the base wine. Today this sparkling wine is part of the "Viñedos Lacalle y Laorden" company - just like the premium single-vineyard wine "Viña El Pisón", though this wine comes from the Álava/Rioja region.
Txakoli is a traditional white wine from Spain's Basque Country, made from the native grape varieties of Hondarribi Zuri (white grape, proportion approx. 90%) and Hondarribi Beltza (red grape, proportion approx. 10%), which has developed from a wine that was traditionally enjoyed in local taverns or at home in the family circle into a wine with its own "DO" and strong reputation.
Sparkling wines from Viñedos Lacalle y Laorden
Red wines from Viñedos Lacalle y Laorden
from Viñedos Lacalle y Laorden
The results of the first productions were so impressive that the two families - united by a long-standing friendship - decided to focus all of Izar-Leku Mahastiak's production activities on making sparkling wine using traditional methods. With the help and experience of winemaker Inaxio Manterola, Hondarribi Zuri and Hondarribi Beltza grapes are grown on 3.75 hectares in Zarautz in the province of Gipuzkoa in the northern Basque Country. The vineyard is only a few kilometres from the Bay of Biscay (Atlantic Ocean). These grapes grow naturally on multi-layered soils consisting of clay, slate and basalt with overlying sandstone. The terroir gives this exceptional sparkling wine an incomparable freshness and a distinctive maritime character. Incidentally, Izar-Leku translates from Basque as "place of the stars". In the world of sparkling wines this "vino espumoso" is definitely a discovery full of character!
Also under the name of Viñedos Lacalle y Laorden (Grupo Artadi), the legendary El Pisón - the first Rioja wine to be awarded more than 100 Parker points - is produced in the Basque province of Álava in Rioja. The single vineyard of El Pisón is located north of the river Ebro in the medieval town of Laguardia, and enjoys a continental climate with a Mediterranean influence. The nearby Cantabrian Mountains protect the area from major climatic fluctuations. El Pisón is an amphitheatre location with sparse clay, limestone and sandstone soils and lies at an altitude of over 480 metres. The tempranillo vines of this site were planted in 1945 and are now cultivated organically. The climatic characteristics as well as the properties of the soil give Viña El Pisón its unique terroir character and produce a complex, exceptional wine with distinctive minerality, lots of dark fruit and a velvety texture. This wine has enormous ageing potential and is considered by many to be one of the finest wines produced in Spain!
Producer
Bodegas Antídoto
The wines of Bodegas Antídoto from the rugged province of Soria offer a stylistic contrast to the classic, often opulent Ribera del Duero wines. This region, an almost forgotten gem, stood in the shadow of big names for decades – but today it is experiencing an impressive renaissance with wines full of finesse and character.
Duckhorn Vineyards
Co-founded by Dan and Margaret Duckhorn in 1976, Duckhorn Vineyards has spent nearly fifty years establishing itself as one of North America’s premier producers of Napa Valley wines.
Roland und Karin Lenz
In 1994, while Roland Lenz was still studying oenology, he and his wife Karin were able to acquire eight hectares of vines on the Iselisberg. It was a unique opportunity that they seized, even though they were toying with the idea of setting up their own business abroad, far from Switzerland. They actually did so later, but that's another story…