Collection: Viñas Serranas

High in the Salamanca region, four friends craft improbably elegant wines from the Rufete grape, a long-forgotten local hero. Here, these four friends – Cézar Ruiz, Bosi Jiménez, Alberto Martin, and Miquel Udina – are working towards a new future for the region.

For Rufete Tinto, old vineyards planted between 1910 and 1930 have been used and restored. The Rufete Blanca — which Viñas Serrans is pioneering as a white wine — comes from young plantings (now 15 years old); this is also because it was always part of a field blend, not a single varietal.

The friends continually strive to highlight the differences between the vineyards and to position the Sierra de Francia as a complex area with diverse terroirs. For instance, many vineyards in the Ciclón line are planted on granite, but the Fuente Grulla vineyard, at an altitude of 900 meters, is planted on the unique rock type Corneana, also known in English as Hornfels. This rock is hard-compressed slate and granite, very dark in color, and extremely hard and compact. It results in a distinct ripeness and smokiness in the wine, while the structure remains very light-footed.

Work in the cellar is, of course, also focused on allowing the Rufete to express itself as much as possible. It is not an easy grape, as many precise choices must be made during the wine's technical maturation. A small proportion (10-15%) of stems is always used, as Rufete stems impart many spice aromas; the Canchoral itself is 100% whole bunches. Maturation takes place in wood, but never new, with barrels ranging between 300 and 500 liters, and also foudres of 2500l.