Ribera Del Duero - History

History

Wine has been produced in the region for thousands of years, but viticulture as we know it probably arrived in the Ribera del Duero region with Benedictine monks from Cluny in the Burgundy region of France in the twelfth century. Ribera del Duero wine making goes back over 2,000 years as evidenced by the 66-meter mosaic of Bacchus, the god of wine that was unearthed relatively recently at Baños de Valdearados.

Vega Sicilia was established in the western part of Ribera del Duero in 1864, but although that bodega has been long established as Spain's perhaps most notable winery, up until the 1970s the rest of the region did not receive much attention. Most of the other wine production at that time consisted of simple rosé wines from Garnacha produced in the eastern parts of the region. This started to change when Alejandro Fernández founded his bodega Pesquera and started to make red wines from Tempranillo in a more concentrated, full-bodied and fruit-driven style than most Rioja wines of the day, which were then virtually the only Spanish red wines found on export markets. Pesquera was well-received both in Spain and by many international wine critics, and wine-making in the region expanded considerably in the 1980s and 1990s, with many new bodegas being founded.

The Denominación de Origen (D.O.) of Ribera del Duero was founded on July 21, 1982 by an organization of wine producers and growers who were determined to promote the quality of their wines and enforce regulatory standards. Reports that it was set to be upgraded to Denominación de Origen Calificada (DOCa) status in 2008 proved to be unfounded and, as at 2011, it remains a DO and has no plans to change.

Ribero del Duero wines are currently enjoying greater popularity, thanks largely to the considerable interest shown in the area by experienced growers from other regions.