Dominio de Atauta

The Dominio de Atauta vineyard is around a century and a half old with vines ranging from 120 to 180 years old. We are facing some of the oldest vineyards in Europe. Its age, the poor and shallow soils and the extremely careful work of the vineyard results in very small productions. Each strain produces a quantity of grapes to produce less than a 0.75 l bottle. The Atauta Valley is located at about 1,000 meters above sea level. This allows the grapes to ripen more slowly, harmoniously and balanced. In addition, the wind that constantly runs through the valley from west to east contributes to keeping the humidity of the vines low, helping to avoid diseases.The plantation framework is very narrow, so we have to do all the work by hand, in the traditional way. The soil treatments are completely natural, we only use compost of animal and vegetable origin. It is a very eroded valley so, even though it is small (4km long and 1 km wide), it has a great diversity of soils, both in composition and depth of soil available for the plant, depending on whether it is located in a valley, moor or hillside area. The common characteristic of all these soils is the calcareous rock that exists at depth and that provides minerality to the grapes and prevents the roots from delving into deeper layers. These orographic conditions of the valley together with the climatic conditions of the area: low precipitation, low average temperatures and wide thermal oscillations between day and night in the months of grape ripening, make them ideal factors for the cultivation of grapes, and the ripening of the grapes. The vineyard and the winery go hand in hand seeking the ultimate goal, which is to make wines that reflect the essence of this place. This magical place for wine.
Dominio de Atauta is built on rock on a slope of the valley, surrounded by vineyards. It slopes down on four levels towards the valley, which allows us to make our wines taking advantage of gravity without attacking the excellent raw material. The harvest is always done by hand and the grapes enter through the upper floor from where they fall by gravity to the tanks located on the next floor. On a third level is the barrel warehouse, where there are about 600 French oak barrels. The Atauta region has vestiges of a rich wine-growing past, where El Plantío stands out, a group of 141 wineries and 25 winepresses excavated in limestone rock. They were mostly built during the 19th century, although the first records of the existence of vineyards in the area date back to 1201.