The Eguren family, at home in Spanish viticulture for over 100 years, has made a significant contribution to the development of Rioja wines in the Rioja region with its "Senoro de San Vicente" and "Sierra Cantabria" wineries, particularly with regard to the immense increase in quality over the last 40 - 50 years. But it has also set benchmarks in the up-and-coming Toro region in Castillo Y Leon, first with "Numanthia" and since 2007 with the "Teso La Monja" winery, which has already been named the best winery in Spain by the renowned Spanish wine magazine "Penin". The family had already acquired small parcels with very old vines with outstanding foresight, some of which are ungrafted and date back to before the phylloxera catastrophe. These are old, gnarled vines, still cultivated in the traditional bush vine method, which produce extremely low yields, but a brilliant, unique wine. The winery was built in 2007. The wines are produced exclusively from the Tinta di Toro grape variety, the common variety of Tempranillo in Toro. Pesticides, herbicides and fungicides have no place in the parcels, and organic fertilizers are used. Everything is done by hand here, including and above all the harvest, and the few grapes are subjected to a strict selection process at the winery. Even "entry-level wines" such as the "Victorino" or the "Almirez" can boast dream scores among experts and critics, which far more expensive top wines from other regions can often only look at with envy. The rare "Alabaster", which easily scratches the 100-point mark, is one of the best red wines on the Iberian peninsula, which the Tempranillo "Teso La Monja" easily cracks. This wine, made from those very same over 100-year-old Temprnillo vines, is very rare and limited, certainly not a "bargain", but is downright stunning and also blessed with incredible ageing potential.
