[NEW] PAGO DEL CIELO 2019
Familia Torres’s Flagship Ribera del Duero Wine
Pago del Cielo, the Ribera del Duero winery owned by Familia Torres, presents its icon wine, a very limited-production, elegant Tinto Fino varietal that originates from two exceptional vineyards whose uniqueness resides in their soils, age, and location. Named after the winery, Pago del Cielo 2019 is the tangible and essential expression of these old vines that, when combined, elevate one another, endowing the wine with exuberant complexity, freshness, and elegance.
“Over the past decade, we have focused on the land, identifying the best areas, vineyards, and parcels, and learning about the soils. Pago del Cielo is the outcome of the knowledge we acquired during those years and the ultimate expression of our two most prized vineyards, El Obispo and Las Tenadas, located in the finest areas of Ribera del Duero, each with different soils that complement one another very well.”
Juan Ramón García, winemaker at Pago del Cielo
Juan Ramón García, winemaker at Pago del Cielo
A Brief Look at Ribera del Duero
The appellation of origin is located in Castilla y León and is known for producing exceptional red wines. The region extends for about 100 km along the course of the upper Duero River. It includes 19 municipalities in Valladolid, 5 in Segovia, 6 in Soria, and 59 in Burgos. Romans most likely introduced winegrowing to the region and set up stone presses to supply their legions with wine. However, it was the monastic orders that spread winegrowing across the Iberian meseta or high plateau. By the 12th century, the monks of Cluny were already making wine in Valbuena.
Ribera del Duero landscape with Familia Torres vineyards
“The Duero probably produced the best wines, because its consumers were the residents of the most important cities in Castilla: Burgos, Salamanca, and the capital, Valladolid.”
Hugh Johnson
The Vineyards: An Astral Conjunction on Earth
The El Obispo vineyard, located in Piñel, in Pesquera, is characterized by predominantly limestone soils that give the wines elegance, minerality, and great ageing potential.
By contrast, Las Tenadas, in La Horra, is a small parcel with deep soils composed of clay and sand, producing wines with more structure, aromatic intensity, and good acidity. What makes this vineyard particularly unusual is that scattered among the Tinto Fino are some Albillo Blanco vines, which are harvested and fermented with the red grapes, giving the wine its brightness and freshness. A conjunction of sorts between the heavens and earth that, like a mosaic, fits the pieces together to reveal a wine that is unique in this region.
The two vineyards, situated at an average of 840 metres, are 32 and 70 years old, respectively, and are cultivated using regenerative viticultural techniques. This includes sowing cover crops and taking a low-intervention approach to vineyard work as a way of contributing to the fight against climate change.
Pago del Cielo 2019, DO Ribera del Duero, a Familia Torres property
In the Winery: Care and Oenological Craftmanship
Pago del Cielo 2019 is made with utmost care at the winery located in Fompedraza.
To bring out the soil’s expression in the wine, the winery uses amphorae with a capacity of 1600 litres, made from the soil of each vineyard, to vinify and then age part of the wine for 14 months. The remaining wine spends 15 months in 300-litre French oak barrels.
Pago del Cielo: The Vineyard, the Project
Pago del Cielo is a Familia Torres vinicultural project that bridges two exceptional winegrowing regions – Ribera del Duero and Rueda – and brings together tradition, commitment to quality, and passion for winegrowing.
Pago del Cielo 2019, DO Ribera del Duero, a Familia Torres propert
Helmed by winemaker Juan Ramón García, this vinicultural endeavour began in 2004 with the purchase of a small winery in Fompedraza, in the county of Campo de Peñafiel (Valladolid), and now includes 45 hectares of winery-owned vineyards. In 2014, the project expanded to Rueda, where Familia Torres now has a winery in Villafranca del Duero, along with its 20 hectares under vine, on the left bank of the river. Here the Duero River flows wide and abundant, making its way into the first foothills of the valley, where rolling hills and beautiful meanders create an enclave that invites one to settle and stay.