CH I / THE WINES
Los Curas
2024
Geografías
Rueda / verdejo / 2024
Rueda synonymous with wine ever since aniquity
Intimate praise of finesse
This exceptional site, Los Curas, enchants with the sheer
complexity of its bouquet and the unmistakable saline
thread that courses through its texture and finish
The most iconic wines from Rippa Dorii are labelled under the Geografías collection: single-vineyard wines that gaze upon and celebrate the most distinctive parcels of the project, capturing their unique character in each vintage.
Los Curas represents Ontañón Familia’s most intimate and personal endeavour in the Rueda region. A vineyard that captivates with the extraordinary complexity and richness of its aromatic expression, paired with a pronounced saline profile on the palate.
Los Curas is an exceptional, historic vineyard located in Rueda, standing out as one of the purest expressions of stripped-back, profound Verdejo—thanks to the remarkable complexity of its terroir: a layer of rounded pebbles over Quaternary calcareous sands. With delicate precision, Los Curas weaves together an extreme climate and this variety to sketch a surprising memory of this emblematic site. A portion of the wine ferments on its finest lees in stainless steel tanks, while another matures in French oak barrels—both for six months. The final blend of Los Curas combines the two components (80% from tank and 20% from barrel).
Geografías is our deepest journey into the very essence of what the primal, ancient wines of Castilla truly mean. Each wine in the Geografías collection from Rippa Dorii divisa a territory—meaning it surveys and maps a specific, exceptional vineyard, interpreted through a singular wine whose guiding philosophy is to describe and portray the soul of each plot, each precise place. As the etymology of the word “geography” reveals the key to these wines: “the description of the earth from the perspective of its soil,” explains Rubén Pérez Cuevas, the winery’s winemaker. ‘Geo’ means earth, and ‘-graphy’ means description. And this is the great challenge: “To describe, to draw, and to fall in love with unique landscapes. And then to share them with the world, so that we can all be a little happier.”
A carpet of smooth stones
Our vineyard known as Los Curas sits in a privileged space. At the centre of gravity of the historic white wines of Castile on an amazingly strange and heterogeneous soil located on a diluvial and alluvial terrace, formed by two edaphological units that correspond to the quaternary sandbanks and to different layers of sandstone. A soil which is very poor in organic matter, rich in calcium and magnesium; a true carpet of smooth stones that make drainage possible. At the bottom substrates of whitish-coloured sand appear due to the almost total absence of clay and iron oxide
Los curas is a delicate, fragile saline wine
The most authentic temperament of the verdejo in its most emblematic place which helps to endow the wine with perfect acidity and the noble unctuosity which then on the palate evokes the unique profile of a land, its distinctive acidity, even the oiliness and tears which showcase its structure as a wine for laying down.
These white lands of Castile have been transported to the popular soul in such a way that the popular fame of the inhabitants of Rueda is that of lime traders, due to the lime in this town, founded in Roman times around 380-420, and where from time immemorial is rooted a wise, honest viticulture.
The semi-desert
nature
of the district
Los Curas sits on a very gentle slope and is near Rueda, at an altitude of 750 metres, with the nearby murmur of the gentle flow of the river Zapardiel, a tributary of the Duero which is cited by Cervantes in his Journey to Parnassus as being famous for its fishing.
Los Curas shapes a classic scarp of a quaternary terrace formed by the patient erosion over the years by the Duero and ends up in a pine grove of great biological value which has always been known as La Nava, the cork tree forest of Foncastín and its dense reed beds.
This zone is rich in birdlife, such as the bustard, which sometimes walks clumsily between the rows of our vineyard watching the elegant flight of the red kite or the scattering larks which take refuge there in the freezing winters.
Los Curas is a wine which carves a territory. The spot defines the character of the wine. Short, very hot summers. Long, dry winters, little and uneven rainfall. And when it rains, as happens in these high lands of the interior of the plateau, it does so in at specific times: from April to May and from October to November. And only six months free of frosts.
Really, really harsh conditions, in which only a variety like verdejo is able to offer unique levels of quality. Its origin is uncertain. Some say it came from a hybridisation of a variety from the region of Algaida in North Africa – perhaps brought to castile before it was castile by the Moors – with indigenous plant material from the Duero valley at the time of the expansion of vine planting promoted by the Cantabrians and the Castilians.
Harvest 2024
Balance between acidity and alcohol
The 2024 vintage was exceptionally rainy and humid, further characterized by high temperatures and several spring frosts. Grape ripening was unusually slow, turning this into a decisive factor for the optimal development of the berries’ organoleptic parameters—ultimately achieving a perfect equilibrium between alcohol degree and acidity.
Intermittent late-cycle rains led to a very extended harvest that continued until October 2, where rigorous selection proved essential to secure the quality that enabled us to deepen our customary cold macerations in press and refine our work with the finest lees in tank.
Fermentations were gentle, slow, and remarkably uniform, and the aromatic value of the wines will define the distinctive footprint of this vintage.
Harvest date: September 24
Grape health status: Optimal
Dense, potent palate
FINENESS, ELEGANCE AND DENSITY
Many details identify it: its fineness, its elegance on the palate, which fills and envelops it. Also its persistence, its length, its aromatic capacity—often valued as essential, and it is, but far from the only one. The keys to Verdejo are that it offers two wonderful sensations: structure, with a dense, special, powerful palate…
THE BEAUTIFUL BITTERNESS OF VERDEJO
Then that exciting final bitterness that makes it unforgettable. We are dealing with a historic variety from this area, tracing its presence back several centuries, which has achieved identification with our soils, our geography, and an extremely harsh climate.
THE SALINITY OF LOS CURAS
One of the most singular characteristics of Los Curas is its salinity. The mineral perception that contributes to its complexity and balance. In the subsoil of this very special vineyard appear whitish sand sediments due to the near-total absence of clay and iron oxides.
How it´s made
The elaboration process for Los Curas begins in the vineyard itself during harvest. It is nocturnal and manual. We do this to take advantage of the coolness of darkness and ensure the grapes arrive at the winery in the best conditions. Los Curas is less than five kilometers from the Rippa Dorii winery, which greatly facilitates the work. The grapes arrive fresh, but it is important to chill them several more degrees. This way, extraction during pressing is as rich as possible, transferring the maximum aromas to the must.
Natural débourbage and fermentation
NATURAL SETTLING
By keeping the must at temperatures below 14-16 degrees, fermentation does not begin, and thus its cleaning and stabilization occur by decantation. That is, a natural settling that brings richness and complexity to the wine.
VERY CLEAN FERMENTATION
In this way, we achieve the fermentation to be as clean and natural as possible, without unwanted aromatic contaminations, gentle and without temperature spikes that affect the elegance and fineness of Los Curas to remain as faithful as possible to the texture of the soil in such a privileged site.
TWELVE HOURS OF MACERATION
Maceration extends for more than twelve hours. A portion of the wine ferments on its finest lees in stainless steel tanks, and another in French oak barrels, both for six months.
FINAL BLEND
The final blend of Los Curas comes from mixing both wines, with 80 percent from tank fermentation and 20 percent from barrel.
80 % Stainless steel tank/
20% cask/
Vintages
Tasting
Colour.
A very bright, greenish-yellow colour with golden glints.
Aroma.
Very inviting on the nose with complex aromas of aniseed and fennel over a creamy base which shapes the overall impression. Reminders of lemon fruit gums, slight honeyed notes of orange blossom and purple hearts sweets. Tropical fruit such as passion fruit coming through. An endless palette of aromas.
Taste.
Alcohol.
13,5 % Alc. by Vol.