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The timeless charm behind Rioja’s Monte Real

17 December 2025 By Michael Huband

Monte Real’s focus on small plots dates back nearly a century, but the Bodegas Riojanas-owned brand still keeps that ethos in its most modern work.

Bodegas Riojanas was born in 1890, when the Frias-Artacho family founded the winery in Cenicero, a Rioja Alta municipality perched above a bend in the River Ebro. As Rioja went through its late 19th-century boom, the family company established itself as a key player on the burgeoning wine scene.

In the 135 years since, Bodegas Riojanas has expanded significantly. It now owns wineries in Toro, Rías Baixas and Rueda to complement its Rioja operations. Yet Cenicero is still the very heart of the operation, where one estate in particular expresses Bodegas Riojanas’ balance of continuity and change.

Monte Real is quintessentially Spanish, but it has a French connection. Frenchman Gabriel Larrendant selected its name in 1933 during his tenure as winemaker at Bodegas Riojanas. Although the wines relied on long-admired Rioja plots, he brought his homeland’s focus on terroir to the estate.

Firmly believing that great sites yield great wines, he chose vineyards in ‘El Monte’ that balanced the region’s character against a single vineyard’s unique attributes. That approach, rooted in small, high-quality vineyards, has defined the Monte Real brand ever since.

An enduring focus

Larrendant’s focus on great vineyards has proved beneficial. More than half of Monte Real’s plots have endured to become exemplary old vine selections, planted more than 40 years ago. These sites, located between 430 and 530 metres above sea level on clayey-calcareous soil with rounded pebbles, grow vines with low yields and consequently higher concentration.

Some of the vines are older still – there are viticultural jewels dating back well over a century – and these have been the backbone of the Vanguardia range. That selection is inspired by those oldest sub-plots, taking Larrendant’s vision of vineyard precision to new heights.

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Meanwhile, Colección Larrendant, launched in 2024, extends his principles of vineyard selection to the modern day. Its recently released El Bagazo red, for instance, shows the intensity possible in small berries harvested from low-yielding old vines.

Innovation is not limited to vineyard selection, however. Bodegas Riojanas has driven sustainable development in Rioja Alta. For instance, it has written sustainability criteria into purchasing agreements with growers and now generates 45% of the power for its headquarters from solar panels. These, among other initiatives, have earned it the Sustainable Wineries for Climate Protection certificate.

Vinification has also moved with the times, most notably at La Galería. This is Bodegas Riojanas’ facility for small-batch, site-specific winemaking, opened in 2023. It has a raft of winemaking options, including amphorae, stainless steel vats and wooden barrels, all of various sizes.

With its curved ceilings and chandeliers, the facility is reassuringly old-fashioned at first glance, but make no mistake – the winemaking tech is state-of-the-art.

As with Monte Real’s historic vineyards, the best traditions are being brought bang up to date.