Telmo Rodriguez is one of Spains hardest working winemakers with winery operations in most corners of Spain from Rioja in the North to Alicante and Malaga in the South. All his projects are based on rescuing plots of very old bush vine vineyards often with less well known grapes
"The strength of Tinto Fino brought us to La Ribera. We wanted to explore and understand this land in our own way. Rather than following the river, we travelled from north to south, from Sotillo de la Ribera to Pardilla. We were struck by the enormous diversity of the soils and the landscape. We decided to plant vineyards, goblet trained vines, grafting many different Tintos Finos and co-planting with other rare varieties that always grew in Ribera. We wanted to have 20 hectares of exceptional vines; we’ve produced 20 vintages and are beginning to know what we want and what we have to offer this exceptional area. We also decided to put down roots and settle in what we consider one of the most emblematic towns of the region: Sotillo de la Ribera. It is here we work to create our definitive wine."
Since 1998, we have come to appreciate the wine region of the Ribera del Duero in a different way. It is our belief that the roots of authentic Ribera del Duero’s hark back to the past, and for that reason we are fully committed to the recuperation of villages with great viticultural traditions by planting on their best parcels of land. From the northern area of Sotillo de la Ribera with its calcareous slopes to the reddish mountains of Pardilla in the south, we chose five villages with different soils and landscapes. We believe that by combining their best elements we can create a unique Ribera del Duero wine. Our vineyards are a true reflection of the forgotten traditions of the Ribera del Duero. We have introduced the age-old way of planting densities; grafted all the rare varieties from our old vineyards and farmed the vines as bush vines as was always done in the past. The result is a diverse collection of smallholdings which offer the opportunity to create a Ribera del Duero wine of distinction with all its authentic characteristics. Today, Matallana has eleven vineyards totalling 21.5 ha distributed across five villages (Sotillo de la Ribera, Roa, Fuentecén, Fuentemolinos and Pardilla). These vineyards are the guarantee of the integrity of our wines.
