Natura

The search for ever more balanced and healthy wines is one of the keys of Ontañón Natura, a tempranillo varietal wine which springs from three of our most emblematic vineyards in the Sierra de Yerga and for which we have  completely eliminated the use of sulphites both in the viticulture and during its winemaking process. As Rubén Pérez Cuevas, Ontañón oenologist explains, the idea of this wine comes from the concern to offer healthier wines and with minimal intervention.

“It does not contain sulphites, but it is full of emotions”, he adds. Rubén stresses the origin of the grapes for making Ontañón Natura: “We looked for the most intimate nature of the wine and we go in search of the most remote vines in Rioja. We climb to a height of eight hundred metres in Yerga, where we can find absolutely unique spaces for tempranillo and extreme for the more rational, natural viticulture, that is why we have called it Ontañón Natura, because it is pure nature”.

Sulphur dioxide has been the most widely used preservative in winemaking for decades because it acts as a powerful antioxidant which helps to reduce the effects of dissolved oxygen and to inhibit oxidative enzymes. Moreover, it has a high antimicrobial capacity against yeasts and lactic bacteria. However, new trends multiply the need for processes aimed at the progressive reduction of the legal limits of this compound in foodstuffs.

Louis Pasteur explained this in the relationship between oxygen and wine in his study ‘Études sur le vin: de l’influence de l’oxygène de l’air dans vinification’: young wines must be protected from the air because it has a negative effect on the sensory characteristics. In Ontañón, sulphur dioxide is substituted by using other techniques that ensure the oxidative and microbial protection while remaining totally respectful of the wine’s organoleptic properties.

Rubén Pérez Cuevas, winemaker at Ontañón Familia.

Rubén Pérez Cuevas explains that Ontañón Natura also comes from the idea of the first Ensayos Capitales of Queirón, the most intimate bodega of the Ontañón Family, located in the historic bodega quarter of Quel: “The philosophy of the Ensayos Capitales is precisely that, to look for new techniques, untried formulas which open up different paths. It was the first trial, carried out with a minority grape, graciano, with no sulphites and it was a real success. Now we are putting into practice all this baggage in the wines of the Ontañón Insólitos Collection”.

Natura is associated with the territory of the Sierra de Yerga.

Rubén Pérez Cuevas maintains that here we have a very special wine, in which “we have to take our knowledge and our experience as growers and winemakers to the limit. A wine which requires maximum precision in all the tasks, from the vine to the careful work in the cellar, both for the characteristics of the wine itself and everything that avoiding the use of sulphur dioxide entails”.

In this sense, the health of the vines is crucial. For this reason “we can only make it in specific vintages which guarantee us total health. Thinning the canopy is also a fundamental factor for improving ripeness parameters. We want the morning breeze to dry the night dew from the berries and avoid diseases such as powdery mildew. We seek a necessary equation: healthy grapes and the ideal moment to harvest”.