FAMILY WINERY
To talk about Ostatu is to talk about vineyard, family, and Rioja Alavesa. For us, the vineyard is what defines the style of each of our wines. The family is the guiding thread that leads our steps. And Rioja Alavesa, synonymous with authenticity, quality, and excellence, values that are reflected in our personality.
Our parents, Doroteo and Mª Asunción, were in the 60s. They opted for the marketing of their own wines and built the new winery in the current location.
This is how the new winery attached to the stately building built in the 18th century as a sales-inn was born in a strategic point such as the road between Laguardia and Vitoria-Gasteiz and which served as a family home until 2009. A place in the Matarredo of Samaniego neighborhood, where the Sáenz de Samaniego family has been making wine for generations. A heritage that we share with you so that you can live and feel our passion and love for the Rioja Alavesa vineyard and enjoy our winery and wines.
Its past as an inn-inn, in Basque Ostatu, has imbued us with that hospitable character in which everyone is welcome. A place where we make and preserve wine artisan way and in which you breathe the essence of tradition, in spaces such as the txoko, the wine bar, the patio or the spectacular memory room where the oldest vintages are valued and which was nominated for the Restaurant&Bar Design Awards 2018 in London.
Since the Sáenz de Samaniego family began its relationship with the vineyards in the 16th century, we have been very clear that the main element and the main protagonist are our vineyards.
36 hectares of its own vineyard, divided into 50 microplots located mainly in Samaniego at different heights and orientations, under the protection of the Cantabria-Toloño mountains. Calcareous clay soils and the confluence of two climates as different as the Atlantic and the Mediterranean are the ideal place for the development of a quality vineyard.
The weather
A unique microclimate, the result of the confluence of the Atlantic and Mediterranean climate. It has the ideal amount of rain per year, protection from the cold northern winds thanks to the mountains, in vineyards that are mainly oriented to the south.
The terroir
The lands on which our vineyards are located are the heritage of environmentally friendly viticulture that we have always carried out, something that we have strengthened over time until registering our lands as organic vineyards in ENEEK. A comprehensive vision that involves taking care of the land, the environment, our heritage and nature with the utmost respect. Clay-calcareous soils that give soul to our wines. Poor soils, without excess organic matter, loose and with old vines whose roots struggle to obtain the best characteristics. Only in this way, great wines are achieved.
The art of vintage
Between the months of September and October the grapes reach their optimal ripening point. It is at this time when the grapes are harvested manually, selecting the best clusters in the field itself to ensure the maximum quality of our wines.