Familia Castaño, `Solanera` Viñas Viejas

The grapes are grown on dry-farmed bush and trellis vines in the Las Gruesas and Pozuelo vineyards. Soils here are limestone with strips of clay and sandy soil.The altitude of both vineyards is 750 metres above sea level and the vines have a North-South orientation. The Monastrell and Garnacha Tinto has an average vine age of over 80 years while the Cabernet Sauvignon comes from 40 year old vines.

The 2021 vintage benefited from exceptional rainfall, well above the 10-year average, creating favourable conditions despite concerns about fungal disease pressure during the unusually wet spring. Preventive treatments on organic plots proved effective, maintaining excellent vine health throughout the season with no disease issues recorded. August heat waves exceeding 40°C accelerated maturity, with harvest occurring ten days earlier than 2020. The harvest extended from mid-September to October 22nd with the final Monastrell grapes from highland estates. Despite climatic challenges of excessive spring moisture and summer heat stress, the vintage delivered excellent grape health and quality, demonstrating how abundant early-season water reserves sustained vine performance through difficult summer conditions.

Each variety—Monastrell, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Tintorera—was harvested at optimal ripeness through manual selection in the vineyard, with grapes transported in 15-kilogram cases to preserve fruit integrity. Upon arrival at the winery, the finest bunches underwent rigorous selection on sorting tables before gentle destemming without pressing using a small-capacity destemmer. Fermentation took place in small 8,000 and 10,000-liter stainless steel vats with handmade pumping over techniques to ensure gentle extraction. Temperature-controlled fermentation at 24-28°C proceeded with indigenous yeasts, followed by 8 days of skin maceration to develop colour and tannin structure. The wine underwent soft pneumatic pressing before ageing in French and American oak barrels, combining traditional wine making methods with careful temperature control to preserve the distinct character of each varietal.