Finca Allende: the bold Rioja project of teacher-turned-vigneron Miguel Ángel de Gregorio
Website: http://www.finca-allende.com/en/
Finca Allende is a top Rioja winery with a single-vineyard focus. Miguel Ángel de Gregorio was in town take us through a tasting of these wines. He’s the owner and winemaker here at the family property in Briones.
The story begins in 1986, when he was a teacher in Madrid University, and he went to Briones to study the way winegrowers were farming, with a view to encouraging the use of newer technology. Back then Spain had 3 mechanical harvesters, whereas France had 9000. The main issue was that most Spanish vineyards weren’t trellised, which made manual harvesting more or less compulsory.
‘I arrived in Briones and loved the singularity of this terroir,’ he says. So he moved and began working as a winemaker in the region, while buying small parcels of vines on the side.
‘Rioja is a Burgundy-style region with a Bordeaux history,’ says Miguel Ángel. After phylloxera, which hit Bordeaux in 1885, the Bordelaise needed wine to sell to the English, but across the border, Rioja was still making wine. ‘It’s just 200 miles away from Bordeaux, and the negociants came and started making imitations of Bordeaux wines. They mythical 1890 vintage of Bordeaux was made in Rioja!’
They brought small oak barrels, the art of blending and financial resources. This brought a lot of money into the Rioja region. Haro, especially, grew fast, because of the railway. The wines were shipped in barrel to Bordeaux. Today, 98% of Rioja is still made in the style of the French negociants, blended from many different vineyards.
In 1995 he had 9 hectares of vines and began Allende. Briones is in the middle of Rioja Alta. ‘For me, our important singularity is our terroir,’ he says. ‘Every small parcel. In 500 m the soil and orientation can change significantly. The different orientations make different maturations.’
‘A Cabernet is a Cabernet in every area in the world. It is similar in California, Australia and Spain. It is a constant variety. Petit Verdot is the same. But Tempranillo has an extraordinary capability in different soils. In calcareous, clay and gravel soils it is very different. We started our work principally with Tempranillo. And three years later we started working with Viura.’ He also works with Garnacha and Graciano for the reds, and Malvasia for the whites.
Most of the soils are red clays over deep gravels. The roots go down a long way and he says they extract a lot of minerals. They are on the south bank of the river, oriented north. They are the same distance from the Atlantic as St Emilion: 60 km from the sea.
They have 85 hectares of vines now, and they use no herbicides, and fertilisation is with organic material. 10 hectares of the vines are ploughed by mule. Horses can only work 2 h at a time and then need 4 h rest, whereas the mules can work for 6 h flat. All vines planted before 1999 are gobelet, those after are in cordon royat. It’s very hard to prune the bush vines: they need local people. But they can use imported labour for the cordon royat.
THE WINES
Finca Allende Rioja Branco 2020
98% Virua, 2% Malvasia (these are co-planted in the old vineyards). Malvasia is a good variety that has a certain oxidative character and isn’t good for ageing, he says. A blend of 4 parcels, pressed, cold-settled, fermented in French oak (Francois Freres), most new, some 500 litre (this is increasing each year). This is complex and spicy on the nose with some toasty, almost tarry oak notes as well as bright citrus fruit. The palate is powerful and bold with intense flavours of lime and spice and some woody notes (the oak here is very savoury and adds some structure). There’s a savoury, mineral twist, too. There’s a lot of wine here, with real intensity, and massive potential for ageing. Very serious, with intensity and good acidity. 94/100
Finca Allende Rioja Blanco Mártires 2022
In 2007 they bought 4 ha of Tempranillo and with this had to buy 1 ha of Viura, which is the plot called Mártires. These vines were planted in 1970. Barrel-fermented in 100% François Frères, battonnage twice a week, and 9 months in barrel (it had developed well by this stage, so less time was needed). This is complex, spicy and dynamic. There’s some spicy oak, but also lovely expressive pear, lemon and melon fruit, backed up by high acidity. Complex, vivid and already showing some prettiness to the fruit, but also with keen acidity and a bit of structure. Lovely directness to the fruit here. Expressive and open. 95/100
Finca Allende Rioja Tinto 2015
A very warm vintage. This is bold and textural with sweet cherry and plum fruit, as well as some strawberry. There’s a slight creaminess on the palate, but also some spicy mineral notes and good acidity, as well as some tannin. This is ripe and has some richness, but it’s also beautifully balanced with a slight savouriness as well as the sweet fruit. Beginning to develop but still with some tannin. 93/100
Finca Allende Rioja Tinto 2009
Complex, spicy, herby, sweetly fruited nose with ripe berry and cherry fruit, as well as some complex spicy, tarry savoury notes. The palate is developing very nicely: there’s some depth and structure here with nice tannins, and a savoury, structured character. It’s bold and intense, and this could age longer. 94/100
Finca Allende Rioja Tinto 2004
Some spicy, mature notes on the nose, with dried herbs and a hint of earth complementing the ripe berry and black fruits. The palate brings together ripe, almost lush fruit with some oak influence. Grippy structure, still. This is dense, burly and still a little unfurled. Ripe and dense, finishing firm. 92/100
Calvario is their oldest single vineyard, oriented east (which is unusual for their properties). It was planted in 1945, and is mostly Tempranillo with a bit of Graciano (2%) and Garnacha (8%), with all harvested together. For the region this is quite high density, at 4200 vines per hectare. Maceration is 14-21 days, with a week’s cold maceration but not post-ferment maceration. Fermentation is with wild yeasts. New oak barriques, 2 year elevage with racking every 4 months.
Finca Allende Finca Calvario 2012 Rioja
There’s a grainy, chalky edge to this, which shows sweet strawberry and red cherry fruit supported by good structure. This has grip and weight, but also some elegance, with a very appealing texture to the palate. Developing nicely. 93/100
Finca Allende Finca Calvario 2007 Rioja
Brisk aromatics here with sweet red cherries and some raspberry. The fruit is really direct and bright with nice focus and some good acidity. There’s a bit of tannin here, too. It’s ageing really well with some freshness and brightness. Assertive and focused. 95/100
Finca Allende Finca Calvario 2005 Rioja
This has evolved nicely, and is now close to maturity, although it still has plenty of fruit and tannin. Linear, juicy and focused with some earth and spice, some tannic grip. Dense, burly, but with some appealing freshness on the finish. 94/100
UK agent: Bancroft Wines
