Abadía Retuerta

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Terroir

• Duero meander in a narrow basin: riverside terrace vineyards at 725 m, flanked by calcareous-marly páramos at ~880 m.
• Mesoclimatic valley-floor zone: nocturnal thermal inversion accumulates cold air and humidity; maximum temperatures 42 °C, minima -20 °C.
• A sand cover of variable thickness (centimetres to several metres) overlies a diverse substrate of conglomerates, marls, clays, and limestones.
• Soils of weakly alkaline pH, sandy to sandy-clay loam texture, low in organic matter and carbonates; clay content increases on the slopes.
• Mean annual rainfall 490 mm, the highest in the surrounding area, yet with a marked summer water deficit due to high potential evapotranspiration.

• The abbey's lands have documented viticultural ties dating to 1143, linked to noble donations to monasteries of the Duero valley.
• The estate uses its own indigenous Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast and Oenococcus oeni bacteria native to the vineyard, incorporated at each harvest, with gravity-fed winemaking.

• Reds: high colour intensity, elevated anthocyanins, fine tannic structure; whites: straw-coloured with golden highlights, fruity nose showing pineapple and grapefruit.
• Fruity-floral aromatic profile with scrubland notes (thyme, lavender, cistus); broad, fresh palate with balanced acidity and persistence.

• The diurnal temperature range produces thicker skins, greater anthocyanin accumulation, and high colour intensity (CI) and total polyphenol index (TPI) in the reds.

Facts drawn from the cahier's terroir-link section (Lien au terroir) by automatic interpretation — see the the specification.

Sources

• eAmbrosia register (EU) — File number PDO-ES-02481
• Official trade body site — Abadía Retuerta