The Sierra Salamanca to the west of Madrid near the Portuguese border has seen better days. In the days of the Roman Empire, a flourishing wine-growing landscape developed here, but over the centuries it was increasingly abandoned to decay. At the beginning of the 21st century, just 5 winegrowers were still trying their luck in this region. In addition, the region has an ideal granite terroir and unique autochthonous grape varieties such as Rufete or Calabres as a unique selling point. On the other hand, however, the hills are steep and the vineyards, which are planted on terraces, are a labourious task for the winegrower. Caesar Ruiz, a trained winemaker, wine merchant and operator of a wine bar in Madrid, was disgusted by the fact that this landscape was being left to languish and decided to set new accents in this region to make it blossom again. And then there is his passion for the granite soils that predominate here, which makes the Sierra Salamanca somewhat similar to the Beaujolais. In 2017, he took over a vineyard with friends and threw himself into production. Today, 12 hectares are cultivated biodynamically, all planted with the indigenous Calabres and Aragones grape varieties. The wines are fermented spontaneously and matured in large 500 litre barrels so that the wood does not obscure the terroir character. Production is small and the wines are (at least still) difficult to find. However, they are still characterised by an excellent price/performance ratio - in addition to their original and authentic character.
