Spain: Vinos Sanz and Lerma

Vinos Sanz, Bodega

VinosSanz is the  oldest winery in Rueda and was founded in 1870. Their vineyards are located in the prestigious wine growing area of La Seca (Rueda) adjacent to the Duero river.

Their wine making process is carefully controlled from the picking of the fruit and the fermentation right through to the botting and packaging and their care in vinification is reflected by the superb quality of the wines produced. After more than 140 years working in the Rueda region they sought new challenges and so chose the area around Madrid to start production of a new range of wines and in 2015 launched two new wines under the D.O Vinos de Madrid, the Sanz La Capital and Sanz La capital Roble.

Lerma

Lerma is listed as one of the most beautiful villages in Spain. It has a population of less than 15,000 inhabitants and a certified architectural heritage. Lerma is not just a town but rather a ducal village with origins dating back to the pre-Roman era, when its strategic location – a crossroads located on top of a hill – made it the object of desire of Romans, Swabians, Visigoths, Arabs and Christian kingdoms. Lerma lived its time of splendor in the seventeenth century, converted into a ducal villa at the service of the Habsburgs. Its historical baroque center is the great inheritance from those years in which the town was sculpted and designed by the best Herrerian architects, authors of wonders such as its Ducal Palace – current Parador de Turismo.

The winery of Bodegas Lerma is located in the village with modern facilities including a barrel hall of French and American oak. It was one of the wineries involved in creating the D.O. Arlanza in 2007.

Bodegas Lerma owns 6 hectares of vineyards and controls another 24 ha of century-old vines near to the winery.

Arlanza is a small geographical demarcation adjacent to Ribera del Duero. It was created as a Denomination of Origin in 2007, on the banks of the Arlanza river, tributary of the Pisuerga and this one of the most important and well known Duero. D.O. Arlanza in mainly located on the Burgos province and also extends to the southeast of Palencia. It reflects the historical legacy of winemaking from the 10th Century, when vines were already being grown around the monasteries, and has 450 hectares of registered vineyards, divided into small plots owned mainly by family owned wineries

It has continental climate, characterized by being one of the harshest and most extreme in Castile and Leon. The extreme conditions – with important thermal contrasts – favour the optimum ripening of the grapes. Another of the differentiating factors is an orography marked by high altitude, with vineyards located between 850 and 1,200 m, producing mainly Tempranillo reds that share features with those of Ribera del Duero, but differentiated by their high aromatic intensity and freshness Arlanza is a small geographical demarcation adjacent to Ribera del Duero. It was created as a Denomination of Origin in 2007, on the banks of the Arlanza river, tributary of the Pisuerga and this one of the most important and well known Duero. D.O. Arlanza in mainly located on the Burgos province and also extends to the southeast of Palencia. It reflects the historical legacy of winemaking from the 10th Century, when vines were already being grown around the monasteries, and has 450 hectares of registered vineyards, divided into small plots owned mainly by family owned wineries. Deep soils with soft rock subsoil. The relief is very varied in undulations and slopes, in which the vineyard is cultivated. There is an abundance of sandy, siliceous, granite and limestone marl soils. With a production of around one million liters, 300 winegrowers and only 23 wineries, it is one of the smallest D.O.’s among the more than 70 existing in Spain.