Bernabeleva "Arroyo del Tórtolas" Tinto, Vinos de Madrid '22

The origins of the family Domaine began with Vicente Alvarez-Villamil in 1923. Vicente was a successful doctor in Madrid and in 1923 purchased land outside the village of San Martin de Valdeinglesias to build his estate.  

Here he planted Garnacha because he believed in this area the variety could produce wines of profound elegance and character.  The area was an ancient Celtic hunting ground with the countryside dotted with stone carvings that were believed to be bears.  Because of this, he named the estate Bernabeleva or “bears forest”.  With the Spanish Civil War erupting in 1936, his plans for the estate did not materialize.  Successive generations of the family held onto the land and maintained the vines selling the fruit to the local co-op.   Until 2006 when Juan Diez Bulnes and Santiago Matallana Bulnes (the great-grandchildren of Vicente), inherited the vineyards and they decided to finally create the estate of Bernabeleva.

The 2023 Arroyo del Tórtolas is a single-vineyard Garnacha from a north-facing, 80-year-old plot that achieves high ripeness. It is fermented 80% whole cluster with indigenous yeasts then matured in four 500-liter used barrels.