BODEGAS ISMAEL ARROYO-VALSOTILLO

Bodegas Ismael Arroyo is located in Sotillo de la Ribera, in the region of Burgos. It is a picturesque valley in the north east of the Denomination of Origin Ribera del Duero.   Our wine making tradition has been transmitted from one generation to another, 400 years ago. In fact, we have some documents proving that Elpidio Arroyo (father and grandfather of todays generation) won an award in 1948 in the “Gran Concurso de Vinos Tintos y Claretes de la Ribera del Duero”. This was a competition of Red and Rosé Wines of Ribera del Duero. Moreover, the cellar has some other important documents like a Diploma of 1st Class given to the wine in 1902. We can mention as well a kind of notebook where it is written the diezmos or taxes that people payed for the wine in 1787.   ISMAEL ARROYO has an underneath cellar from the XVI century, which takes about 2,000 square meters of galleries, carved into the rocky soil, where the temperature is around 12ºC the whole year, and where we have our bottle and barrel cellar.   The Bodega bottles the wine since 1979. We have been pioneers and founders of the Denomination of Origin Ribera del Duero back in 1982.   We owe 25 hectares of vineyards in the village of Sotillo de la Ribera, and we also buy grapes to wine growers from Sotillo the village (the same ones for many years), for our ellaboration of wines. Our vineyards are in the traditional bush system and are located in priviledged lands, on clay and chipping soils. These soils have an average of 40 years, some of them even 80.   When the grapes are on their optimal grade of ripeness, we follow to recolect it by hand.  Grapes are selected according to the grade of ripeness of the different vineyards. Harvest time is generally during the first 15 days of October. The grapes are taken to the cellar in perfect conditions to start the ellaboration process.   Our range of wines is the following:   -          MESONEROS DE CASTILLA young red and and rosé. -          MESONEROS DE CASTILLA red roble (6 months aged in oak barrels) -          VALSOTILLO FINCA BUENAVISTA red roble (6 months aged in oak barrels French and americain) -          VALSOTILLO red Crianza. -          VALSOTILLO red Reserva. -          VALSOTILLO VS red Reserva (special blend – selected vineyards) -          VALSOTILLO red Gran Reserva   The winery exports  65% of  the production to Europe (Germany, Switzerland, UK, The Holland, Austria, Sweden) EEUU, Puerto Rico, México, Brazil, Israel, China, Japan, Korea, Australia.