Abadía Retuerta

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Terroir

• The delimited geographical area comprises 560.49 hectares, forming a continuous stretch of land on the river-terrace of a meander of the Duero.
• The area's natural boundaries are the Duero river to the north and the Monte de «El Carrascal» to the south, both protected sites and designated as areas of community interest.
• The zone is set between two calcareous-marly plateaus (páramos) at a higher elevation (880 m) and in close proximity to one another, which define the valley on both its northern and southern flanks.
• Absolute maximum temperatures of 42 °C and absolute minimum temperatures of −20 °C have been recorded in the zone, reflecting a significant thermal range.
• There is a great diversity of rock types (conglomerates, sands, marls with and without gypsum, clays, and limestones), together with a sandy surface layer of variable thickness that conceals soils of enormous diversity.

• The lands of the zone originated as donations to monasteries by the nobility and royalty, with such donations recorded from 1143 in the case of Abadía Retuerta.
• The vineyards are trained predominantly on trellis systems, with the exception of the plot facing the Abbey, which is trained as a bush vine for aesthetic reasons; Guyot pruning is used for Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon, and Royat cordon pruning for all remaining varieties.
• Grape handling and vinification are carried out by gravity flow, avoiding the use of pumps in order to favour natural processes and a more careful, respectful approach to winemaking.
• The suitability of the red wines for ageing and maturation in barrel and in bottle has been confirmed since the first vintages made in 1996.
• At Abadía Retuerta, a portfolio of up to nine red varieties and five white varieties has been established, in contrast to the monoculture of Tempranillo predominant in the PDO Ribera del Duero and its surrounding areas.

• The white wines display a bright straw colour with golden highlights, a complex and intense nose of stone fruit, pineapple, and grapefruit with light toasty notes, fullness and unctuousness on the palate, and, following barrel ageing, a fresh, citrus-driven, smoky, and lightly spiced flavour.

• The extreme climate and the pronounced diurnal temperature range allow for slow, precise ripening of the grapes, yielding wines of high colour intensity and firm structure, rich in anthocyanins.
• The greater diurnal temperature swing results in thicker grape skins, increasing colour extraction and anthocyanin accumulation, which gives the wines a colour intensity and total polyphenol index (TPI) higher than those of the surrounding area.

Facts drawn from the specification's terroir-link section by automatic interpretation — see the specification (pliego de condiciones).

All appellations in Spain

Sources

• Specification (EUR-Lex, single document)
• eAmbrosia register (EU) — File number PDO-ES-02481
• Official trade body site — Abadía Retuerta