100% Verdejo wine.
Certified organic natural viticulture, specially managed to seek lower yields and achieve greater ripeness.
"Giving back to nature what mankind has taken from it” THE VINEYARD
Technical Sheet
Winery: Estate vineyards at Bodega Menade, Rueda (Valladolid)
D.O. Rueda
Alcohol: 13.5%
Variety: 100% Verdejo
Serving temperature: 8-10ºC
Tasting notes: Menade Verdejo is a white wine whose nose offers aromas reminiscent of white fruit, accompanied by herbaceous notes of fennel, bay leaf and thyme. On the palate it is flavorful, fresh and balanced, with a subtly bitter finish that is highly varietal. A Verdejo with clear typicity and a long, elegant finish.
Winemaking:
The average age of the vines is between 20 and 25 years. The soil is clay-limestone and stony, with abundant pebbles.
The climate: Continental climate, characterized by very cold winters and very hot summers, with large day/night temperature swings.
There are three distinct types of harvest: green harvesting (daytime and manual), night harvesting and mechanized harvesting. Inerting with carbonic snow (-80°C) from the moment the grapes are picked until pressing, allowing the wine to be made without any addition of sulfur dioxide.
Vinification: carried out in stainless steel tanks with wild yeasts. Controlled temperature between 18 and 22ºC. The tanks have different capacities, making it possible to separate the different plots/estates according to the differences in soil structures and compositions. The wine is then matured on its lees for a controlled period.
Bottling: clarification with bentonite, natural cold stabilization and filtration before bottling.
Pairing: at Made in Spain Gourmet we recommend it with white fish, fresh cheeses and mild aged cheeses, seafood pasta and fish rice dishes.
The Vineyard
The key is to combine tradition and technology to pamper the vines. The aim is to seek an alliance with the environment, making use of the resources it offers and caring for it through traditional cultural practices. At Menade, chemical treatments are replaced by other natural techniques, such as plant infusions (nettles, cinnamon…) or whey, which are more respectful of the soil, the vine and the yeasts. Far from being enemies, the insects that inhabit Menade’s vineyard are faithful allies in pest prevention. First, they are attracted with aromatic extracts so they can act as predators and then rest in their “hotels,” pollination gardens full of aromatic plants where insects and reptiles live in harmony. The ecosystem of the estates is completed by a series of mobile shrubs and trees designed to improve the biodiversity that inhabits the vineyard. A multi-species garden with more than 40 species from Castilla y León, alive all year round, welcomes visitors to the winery. All these practices have an impact on the final result of the wines, because they not only taste good, they feel good too. They make wines free from allergens and histamines. Through all these mechanisms, Menade has gone one step beyond the organic label. They are no longer green; they are natural.
WHERE 40 SPECIES LIVE
Also known as the Pollination Garden of Bodegas Menade, it is a large multi-species garden with native species from Castilla y León that is alive all year round. For this reason, perennial and deciduous species have been used to develop a large floral circuit for all kinds of insects, seeking great entomological variety.
The large Insect Hotel contains 40 species representative of the different layers of the ecosystem. On the lower level, at ground level, small-stemmed aromatic species have been planted, such as lavender, sage and various types of rosemary.
On the middle level, the focus has been on wild roses, red lavender, blackthorn, elderberry and wild brambles, among others.
The plants and trees installed at Bodegas Menade come from open-air crops with pruned roots, that is, a reinforced root system. This is a carefully studied environmental restoration procedure in an area marked by progressive desertification, due to the climatic characteristics of the area and cultural practices that show little respect for the environment.
Although Menade’s largest Pollination Garden is located near the winery facilities in Rueda, there are also other small hotels on the various plots of the estate.
The creation of these micro-ecosystems provides a habitat for insects and birds that prey on other insects harmful to the grape clusters. In other words, the flowering species become “hiding places,” improve environmental richness and allow a balance between flora and fauna.
A carefully studied environmental restoration procedure in an area marked by progressive desertification, due to the climate and to cultural practices that show little respect for the environment.
GRANJA MENADE
Menade is full of life; we want to give back to our surroundings what mankind once stripped away.
Every morning they are greeted by a pair of Zamorano-Leonés donkeys, an endangered breed, named Zamo and Rana. Two beautiful long-haired donkeys that bring plenty of joy and help them keep the small ecosystem we are creating even more alive, attracting insects and allowing us to use their organic manure.
The donkeys’ companions are hens and geese, part of Granja Menade, which will continue to grow to promote a habitat where fauna and flora live in harmony. A vital cycle.
D.O. RUEDA
The Rueda Designation of Origin was recognized on January 12, 1980 by order of the Ministry of Agriculture, becoming the first Designation of Origin recognized in the Autonomous Community of Castilla y León, after several years of work to obtain recognition and protection for its native variety: Verdejo.
“The area protected by the D.O. Rueda specializes in the production of white wines.”
The Rueda Designation of Origin has natural conditions that are highly favorable for producing high-quality wines, and is an area specializing in the production of white wines with broad international recognition. Likewise, since August 5, 2008, red and rosé wines have also been covered by the Rueda Designation of Origin.
The production area covered by the D.O. Rueda is located in the Community of Castilla y León and comprises 74 municipalities, of which 53 are in the south of the province of Valladolid, 17 in the west of Segovia and 4 in the north of Ávila.
The different grape varieties grown are distributed irregularly across the various municipalities that make up the D.O. Rueda. However, the vineyard reaches its greatest concentration and intensity in the municipalities of La Seca, Rueda and Serrada. It is the Verdejo variety that occupies the largest vineyard area.
The Verdejo grape has lived in the Rueda Designation of Origin for more than ten centuries . Its character is defined by its aroma and flavor, with nuances of scrubland herbs, fruity touches and excellent acidity.
Extract, a personality factor in great white wines, is perceptible through its volume and characteristic bitter note, which projects a flash of originality on the palate, accompanied by great fruit expression.
These are wines of great harmony, whose aftertaste invites you to continue tasting.
Continental Climate
The D.O. Rueda rises between 700 and 870 meters above sea level, with flat but high-lying lands that endure cold, very long winters, short springs with late frosts and hot, dry summers, interrupted only by untimely storms. This factor forces the vines to seek their water resources deep in the subsoil, more so than in other parts of Europe.
Budbreak is usually late, and pruning work may continue until March or early April. Rainfall is scarce, reaching annual minimums of 300 liters and maximums of 500 liters.
In the past, at the end of winter, a hollow was dug around the vine to concentrate the spring water.
At the beginning of summer, a “shelter” was made by piling the soil back around the vine and often burying it halfway to protect it from summer evaporation. Today, improved cultivation and the introduction of drip irrigation compensate for these tasks, which are now impossible to carry out.
On the other hand, the temperature difference between day and night is the secret behind the balance between the sugar the grape gains from the sun and the acidity it does not lose during the cool night. Sunshine reaches 2,600 hours per year, which would be excessive were it not for the late ripening of the grape.
Due to its latitude, the Rueda area lies within the Mediterranean sphere. However, due to its altitude, it is considered to have continental influence.
Gravelly SoilThe D.O. Rueda is located in the central sector of the depression formed by the Duero River, creating a high plateau with gentle reliefs and slopes exposed to Atlantic winds. Wide alluvial and diluvial terraces line the banks of the Duero and its tributaries, the Trabancos, Zapardiel and Adaja.
Brown soils, rich in calcium and magnesium, easy to work and stony, with good aeration and drainage, and limestone outcrops at the highest points of the undulations. Permeable and healthy, their texture ranges from sandy-loam to loam.
The pH of these soils ranges between 7 and 8. This geological substrate has evolved on the surface into brown soils over stony allochthonous deposits, giving rise to the typical “cascajosos” gravelly terrains where the best vineyards of the D.O. Rueda are located.
White Grape Varieties
The D.O. Rueda is one of the few European wine regions specialized in making white wine and in protecting and developing its native variety, Verdejo.
The strong personality of Verdejo (the main variety), the addition of other varieties and a vineyard that has learned to survive the harshness of its almost hostile environment in order to give the best of itself to the wine all define the profile of Rueda white wines.
The varieties have appeared throughout the history of the D.O. Rueda. In the 1930s, the Palomino Fino variety began to be planted in the area, the origin of flor-aged fortified wines, with higher yields than other varieties and capable of producing wines similar to those of Jerez, which were in great demand at the time. It thus became the majority variety in the Medina region during that period (the C.R.D.O. Rueda does not allow new plantings of this variety). It is a variety that produces light wines with low acidity, very suitable for making wines with biological aging.
The Viura variety, with its Rioja reputation, began to be cultivated in the 1950s, a time when the classic model for white wine involved wooden barrels. This variety added an aristocratic touch to Castilian table wine, since at that time the virtues of Verdejo had yet to be discovered and it was cultivated at both ends of the spectrum, from fortified to everyday wines. It is used in white wines, bringing greater lightness and a touch of acidity.
Sauvignon Blanc (main variety) made its appearance in the 1970s. Originally from the French Loire, it adds a floral component with aromas of grapefruit and passion fruit, compared with the flinty note of Loire Sauvignon; these differences are mainly due to the greater number of sunshine hours when compared with the Loire and Bordeaux. However, they share a short growing season, which in the French region is due to its northern latitude and in Castilla to its altitude. The D.O. Rueda was a pioneer in adopting this French variety, bringing a modern and international character to the region.
Viognier, authorized in 2019, is a variety that contributes aromas of stone fruit and honey with Muscat-like hints.
Chardonnay, authorized in 2019, is a variety of medium-low aromatic intensity that brings notes of ripe fruit to wines and, over time, can express aromas of butter and walnut.