Table Wine Bodegas: Finca Moncloa

Having successfully experimented with table wines using Syrah at the family owned viña Casa de Postas since 1972, González Byass took the plunge and bought the 45 hectare finca near Arcos de la Frontera in 2000. The climate is tempered by the Guadalcacín reservoir and sheltered from the Levante by the Sierra Valleja, and there is a long tradition of vine growing in the area, going back beyond the XIV century. Soils are chalky limestone and low in organic material, and excellent for making fine red wines. Careful studies were made of soil composition and microclimate and individual parcels established. Vine varieties were then selected for their suitability.

The intention was to recuperate the virtually lost tradition of red wine making and also recuperate the all but lost local grape variety, Tintilla de Rota which had given way to Palomino for Sherry and brandy production. The finca is now planted with 3 hectares of Tintilla, 2 hectares of Petit Verdot, 3 hectares of Merlot, 4 hectares Cabernet Franc, while the rest is Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Tempranillo.

Three wines are produced by oenologist José Manuel Pinedo: Finca Moncloa, Colección Barricas and a traditional sweet Tintilla de Rota which was launched in 2009, being the first time the bodega had produced this wine since the XIX century, though no longer in Rota. Grapes of the different varieties and parcels are vinified separately and a coupage is made after ageing, normally in 1^st or 2^nd year French oak. The bodega has a capacity for 20,000 cases but is only producing about half of that at the moment. Since 2014 Finca Moncloa has been a member of Grandes Pagos de España, an association of single vineyard wines with indisputable expression of their terroir.