The century old Group, Bodegas Riojanas, strengthens its strategic commitment to white wines and to being present in major wine regions
Bodegas Viore S.L. celebrated the opening of its new facilities in the town of Rueda, in the province of Valladolid, with a spectacularly festive day. The Saturday event was preceded on Friday, 1 July by an official opening ceremony attended by authorities, media and friends of the Bodegas Riojanas Group. The new winery, which cost more than four million euros, stands on a two-hectare plot on the outskirts of Rueda. With a total floor area of 2,500 square meters, the facilities boast modern grape vinification equipment. The winery will process mainly Verdejo grapes and aims to produce some 700,000 bottles of white wine. The facilities have also been built with the purpose of becoming a wine tourism landmark in the area.
The inauguration of this new winery is a major step for Bodegas Riojanas, which seeks a presence in the main Spanish wine designations of origin, particularly in the region of Castile Leon, where it has been running Bodegas Torreduero in D.O. Toro for more than fifteen years. Bodegas Riojanas president, Luis Zapatero, said that “the very positive trend in sales of white wines in Viore (D.O. Rueda) and Veiga Naúm (D.O. Rías Baixas) has been a determining factor in the decision to build the new winery in Rueda and the purchase of a stake in the Rías Baixas winery. They are key strategic investments for the future of the Group, providing a complement for its traditional specialisation in barrel-aged red wines.” The launch of the Viore brand with the 2007 vintage marked the beginning of its presence in the D.O. Rueda, a wine region which has experienced significant growth in the past few years.
Bodegas Viore brings a new way of understanding the world of wine, an innovative concept endorsed by Bodegas Riojanas’ more than one hundred years experience. This was highlighted by Santiago Frías, CEO, Bodegas Viore S.L., who explained that this brand reflects “a taste for the joy of living» and means to “convey the notion of a fresh, dynamic, fun product, a style of wine made for a new generation of consumers who love life, travel, sports, culture, music and nature, a generation that joins the culture of wine in search of experiences.”
Investments in an expanding wine region
At the opening ceremony, the Castile and Leon Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Milagros Marcos, underscored her Government’s support of the wine sector, “which generates 850 million euros and 19,000 jobs in rural areas.” She gave as an example the Bodegas Riojanas Group involvement in the region, with its investment in Rueda, a wine region “with a great potential for growth, given that 70% of the new 2,500 hectares of vineyards requested are in this D.O.” Milagros Marcos said it was essential for the regions of “La Rioja and Castile and Leon to join efforts to promote the country’s industrialisation,” an idea which is fully shared by her counterpart in La Rioja, Íñigo Nagore, for whom investments by wineries in other regions «is not an incompatible choice, as it is important to continue contributing to the improvement of competitiveness of the wine industry in Spain.”
