How to create the best wine cellar

Bodegas Santalba wants to give you some pieces of advice about how to create the best wine cellar. You just have to follow some simple rules and the wine will develop in the best way to increase the qualilty during its ageing in bottle. 

- Temperature: Between 11ºC and 16ºC is the best temperature to give the wine a correct evolution. In case were bellow 11º the evolution will be very slowly and above 16º very fast..

- Humidity: Between 60% and 70%. In case were higher fungus will appear in the cork and bellow 60% the wine could be evaporated through the cork.

- Light: Keep the wine in a place with light enough to read the labels, as less as possible.

- Smell and air circulation: Keep the wine in a place with no strong smell like the kitchen or in contact with chemical products. Air circulation is a must to prevent fungus.

We hope you find it interesting and we will continue giving you recomendations and facts to use in your home and enjoy our family wines as better as possible! 

Rioja, a Designation with a long history and tradition

Rioja, our region, is a Denominación de Origen Calificada (D.O.C. Qualified designation of origin) with a huge variety of climates and relief, so that is why it is divided into three different subregions called:

-         Rioja Alta

-         Rioja Baja

-         Rioja Alavesa

Where winelovers will find different varieties and wine styles. Bodegas Santalba is located in Gimileo, heart of Rioja Alta.

Rioja Wine from the D.O.C. is identify because of its special labels which are numbered and each winery will have a limited number of them, depends on the grapes its harvest. Here you have some history about Rioja:

1787: The Real Economic Society of Cosecheros de Rioja is created to increase the wine market and vines cultivation.

1790: The first assembly is celebrated by the Real Economic Society of Cosecheros de Rioja.

1878: The first commission against the phylloxera is celebrated.

1892: The “Estación de Viticultura y Enología” in Haro is founded to control the wine quality.

1902: A new law to define the origin of Rioja wines is created.

1926: The Consejo Regulador is created to control as a supreme organism.

1991: The Designation of Origin starts to be Qualified "Rioja".

The best choice is if you visit us in Rioja and Bodegas Santalba, where we will show you the most beautiful landscapes, curiosities and rules we must follow to elaborate our specials Rioja wines, and you will have the marvelous possibility to taste some wine.

Peñin Guide points to Bodegas Santalba Rioja Wines

Year by year, after a huge effort it is fantastic to have a good feedback and get these fantastic points from Peñin Guide whom always gives to our wines wonderful positions in its classification:

Nabot Single Vineyard 2005

ERMITA DE SAN FELICES RESERVA 2008 - 88 POINTS

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NABOT SINGLE VINEYARD 2005 - 89  POINTS

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OGGA RESERVA 2008 - 90 POINTS

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Santalba Limited Edition 2008

SANTALBA ECOLÓGICO RESVERATROL 2011 - 90 POINTS

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SANTALBA LIMITED EDITION 2008 - 89 POINTS

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VIÑA HERMOSA RESERVA 2008 - 88 POINTS

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Thanks everybody to make this posible and please continue following our day by day!

Wine process - Part III

After this alcoholic fermentation and as we have been talking about, wine should have another fermentation called Malolactic fermentation. This point of fermentations is really important and a decisive aspect for the final result.

This process is done when the malic acid turn into lactic acid because of the lactic bacteria. During the process there is a very important emission of carbonic gas, and that is why the winery and the elaboration area has a very modern and sophisticated alarm system to detect the carbonic level and, just in case, get it out from the winery.

This fermentation is also called Secundary fermentation.

Temperature control panel

The malolactic fermentation effects are the depletion of the total acidity because part of it turned it into carbonic gas. This gas is lost and detached during the process.

The acid malic fermentation is caused because of the development of the lactic bacteria located in the ripe grape skin.

In Bodegas Santalba, fermentations are controlled and supervised by a very modern and innovative temperature control system where a panel tell us how is working each tank and if necessary send cold or hot in each moment.

When this stage is concluded we have different options to continue the wine process until the wine will be in our cups... keep and eye and we will continue soon

Wine process - Part I

After to show this grafic on our Social Networks, some friends have been asking about it and that is why we want to explain you our "know how" of Rioja Wine Process. We hope you will enjoy it and please, if you have any question, ask us

As you know, all the process starts in the vineyards, after the hard work done during the year around the 10th of October, the HARVEST starts in Bodegas Santalba. Depends on the year, the climate for example will be an important factor to get different quality. The Consejo Regulador from D.O.Ca. Rioja will calificate the harvest after some tests and facts as Excellent, Very Good, Good, Satisfactory and Average.

All the grapes are not from the same vine and vineyard, so they will have different features. For example, if they come from very old vineyards, like the grapes we use for our Santalba Single Vineyard (http://www.santalba.com/vinos/?acc=vinos&fam=8&idv=17&idc=8 ) they will have "special" characteristis to survive a long ageing process into the barrels and bottles. That is why not every year we have these special wines. 

 In the picture above the text, you can see the grape process falling down into the machine,  where the grapes will be separated the fruit from the "green" part by the destemmer. The green part will be rejected and the grape, quite broken goes to the tanks where the grape juice in touch with the grapes will do the maceration.
After this, we send the grapes to the press. This process now is done by very modern machines but the traditional way to press the grapes were like the picture, done by people in half barrels, just walking above them. 

Now starts a very important moment in the wine process the FERMENTATION. We have two different the ALCHOLIC and the MALOLACTIC and we will explain the differences between them soon.