Stalls, boxes, balcony – anyone mapping the vineyard parcels at Valdemonjas finds themselves in a theatre. The winery in Ribera del Duero brings together music and wine: Charo's violin shapes the quality control, while the Moyano family tends the vines. On the Golden Mile, between Vega Sicilia and Pingus, pure Tempranillo is created – organically certified, in an award-winning bodega, completely self-sufficient from the power grid.
≈ Food: Tapas
In all wines: 124 Wines
More about Valdemonjas
Where music shapes the wine
For over three decades, Charo Agüera played the violin in the Spanish National Orchestra. Today she sits with her eyes closed in front of the barrels, judging whether a wine has found the right balance. Her husband Alejandro Moyano discovered these nine hectares in Quintanilla de Arriba in 1997 – back then, sugar beet grew here. He had just left Abadía Retuerta, where he had spent five years as director building up more than 200 hectares. What he was looking for: his own project, manageable and uncompromising.
The plots bear names such as Palco, Anfiteatro and Platea – a tribute to Charo’s world. Each is harvested and fermented separately, because clay, limestone, marl and chalk alternate here within the tightest of spaces. On the north-facing slope, at 700 to 750 metres, the nights cool the Tempranillo grapes and preserve their acidity. The result: wines with tension and freshness that stand apart from the often opulent style of the region.
Architecture as a statement
In 2014, the Moyanos commissioned two young female architects who had begun their careers at Foster + Partners: Ana Agag and Silvia Paredes. Their design won two Architizer A+ Awards in New York in 2016 – as Jury Winner and Popular Choice. The building emerges from the slope like a sculpture, its slanted roof collecting rainwater for the winery. Photovoltaic panels supply 90 to 95 per cent of the electricity. The bodega is connected neither to the public power grid nor to the water supply.
Inside, gravity guides the grapes from station to station – no pumps, no mechanical stress. The oval cement tanks allow gentle micro-oxygenation. Beneath them lies the vaulted cellar, built using a 2,000-year-old technique: Arabic brick and porous lime mortar keep temperature and humidity constant without air conditioning. A mural by the artist Julio Sendino adorns the end wall.
Luca d'Attoma and the second generation
Luca d'Attoma has been advising the estate since 2011. The Italian oenologist, known for his own project Duemani in Tuscany, has helped shape the style of Valdemonjas: less extraction, shorter maceration times, more precise use of wood. The El Primer Beso matures in steel and concrete, showing open fruit without an oak mask. Entre Palabras spends 14 months in wood and gains depth, while Los Tres Dones is composed from the best vineyard sites of the three vineyards.
Alexis Moyano took over the management in 2018. The son, trained in supply chain management, is driving forward direct sales and opening the bodega to visitors. His son Hugo is already waiting in the wings – the third generation.
El Nogal de la Valera: the essence
The top site is not located in Quintanilla, but further south in La Horra, at 800 metres. Vines over 80 years old are rooted here in sand and clay. Yields are minimal, concentration extreme. The Abrí Las Alas – “I opened my wings” – comes exclusively from this plot. Master of Wine Pedro Ballesteros counts it among the ten best wines of Ribera del Duero. Anyone who drinks it understands why the Moyanos do not simply make wine, but compose it.