For this special edition season we are teaming up with an organisation that is successfully showcasing how different terroir and wines can be throughout Spain; Grandes Pagos de Espana. In 6 episodes we will talk about the diversity of Spain, it’s history, present and future and we will guide you through 5 prominent and promising wine regions.
Each region will be represented by one of the local stars, and members of Grandes Pagos de Espana. In this second episode Maria Del Yerro from Alonso Del Yerro is our guest. They are a member of the association and an acclaimed winery from Spain’s northern plateau, active in the Ribera del Duero and Toro D.O.
We are anxious to learn more about the project and winery that Maria started with her husband Javier in back in 2002, when they followed their dream and started a complete new chapter in their life. Now almost 20 years later there is a successful winery in Santa Marta but they also branched out to the D.O. Toro. Here they now have additional vineyards that produce their own wine. The winery is even more a family project with different members playing their role and contributing to a prospering venture.
We will also learn what Grandes Pagos de Espana means for them, and what is so characteristic about the regions where they are active, the vineyards, climate, grapes and wines.
About Alonso Del Yerro
Viñedos Alonso del Yerro is the story of a dream. A dream shared by María del Yerro and Javier Alonso, who since 2002 and brandishing their children’s surname installed themselves in Santa Marta (Roa, Burgos) to work a group of plots thoroughly selected and planted with Tempranillo grapes, and to make wines of great quality. In 2011 their son Miguel joined the company, the first of the next generation.
Advised by Bordeaux’s French oenologist Stéphane Derenoncourt, and having an exhaustive soil study conducted over 4 years by Claude Bourguignon, it was not long until Alonso and del Yerro began to attire the experts and amateurs’ attraction with their two wines: Alonso del Yerro and María.
In 2007, the Alonso del Yerro family broadened their wine-producing horizons by acquiring the vineyard Finca Miguel, in the D.O. Toro, where they produced a new wine, Paydos, under the same qualitative premises than its “siblings” from the Ribera del Duero, but with the character that the Tinta de Toro variety gives to the best vineyards of Zamora. The first vintage of this wine, Paydos 2008, was presented in summer 2011.
Aware that the excellence in wine-making is born from the delicate balance between what natures imposes and the human ability to adapt to such commands, Viñedos Alonso del Yerro faces every working day wishing to achieve such excellence thanks to an extraordinarily rich vineyard and to the human team in charge of taking the most out of it.
About Maria Del Yerro
Maria and her husband were trapped by the world of wine 30 years ago, when they were living in Logroño, La Rioja. Javier spent near 25 years of his professional life working in the family business, a big company created by his grandfather about 90 years ago and focused on the pharmaceutical industry. Since his family is originally from La Rioja, they were also interested in making wine, so they have 2 wineries which Javier was running for a few years. That is when they moved to live in La Rioja.
Since then, they got to know a lot of wine producers and have fallen in love with the world of wine. Neither of the two are winemakers or agronomists: Javier is an economist and Maria is a French and English Interpreter & translator and a mother, because the latter is the job of which she is most proud. She have been lucky to be able to bring up five children while translating into her (very few) free hours.
In 2002 the moment came when the couple started the wonderful project that is Viñedos Alonso del Yerro, with the aim of leaving an important legacy to their children and grandchildren and to be able to enjoy together with their work for many years.
About the Tasting
In the show we will taste on of Alonso Del Yerro’s wines, the 2016 Alonso Del Yerro, that origins from the D.O. Ribera del Duero. This emblematic wine is the highest expression of the character and complexity offered by the Tempranillo grapes in the family’s privileged vineyards of Santa Marta. It shows the differential nuances of each vintage favoring the freshness and elegance of the fruit over the strength, so usual in the reds of this area.
It is made from a selection of Tempranillo grapes that grow on their own plots, with a great diversity of soils.
We are looking forward to talking to Maria and learning about Grandes Pagos de Espana, their winery and the great wine regions of Spain’s Northern plateau (in particular Ribera del Duero and Toro). Be sure to tune in on Instagram Live through our Dutch Wine Apprentice account on Friday the 12th of November, 19:30h CET.
All shows are recorded and can also be watched on our IGTV channel (also accessible through our instagram profile). If you did not have a chance to tune in for our previous seasons you can watch the recordings through this link. We are also converting all previous episodes into Podcasts, more information and links to that can be found here.
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You can find a link to the recording of the show here.
