Bodegas La Candelaria

The origin of wine development in Casas de los Pinos dates back to the 17th Century. The wine, made in small, home wineries ( bodegas), was intended for the family's own consumption. This continued until the end of the 19th Century, when the grape surpluses switched to the Girón Ruíz family. At the end of the 19th Century, they found the old winery and supply for Casa de los Pinos and its neighboring villages. Later on, in the 20th Century, nine other farming and livestock breeder families joined together to create an agricultural society which, in 1977, would evolve towards a company formed by the whole town, known today as La Candelaria winery and vineyards.

In the beginning, the wine was sold in bulk or in decanters, until 2003, when the first bottle became available to the market. Only four years later, they began to export the wines to different countries in America, Asia, and Europe.

VINEYARD

The soil, the microclimate, and human activity are the three pillars of Casas de los Pinos quality. The unique wines of Candelaria are achieved by balancing these three factors:

Soil: At 725 meters above seawater level, covered in a mixture of limestone, clay and sand, by a layer of boulder.

Microclimate: Small amounts of rain, hot in the Summer and cold in the Winter. During the ripening period there is a wide range in temperature.

Human activity: Knowledge, tradition and adjustment of the cultivating systems to the natural environment to ensure the best grape production.

La Candelaria owns 450 hectares of Vineyards where the following red varieties are cultivated: Tempranillo, Bobal, Monastrell, Garnacha, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. Also, white varieties as Viura or Macabeo, Sauvignon Blanc and Airén.

WINERY

The main building and grape receiving area construction began in 1948 above the old family vineyard. Subsequently, the facilities have been expanded with a focus on achieving the highest quality wines. Candelaria harmoniously combines tradition, technology and innovation. The current winery consists of a processing room, storage room, breeding room, bottling room, and warehouse.

The processing room is more modern and is made up of 12 self-emptying tanks made from stainless steel, a flotation system for white wines, and a pneumatic press. The fermentations are made in the cold at a controlled temperature. The storage room is for storing the cement jars and tanks, built in 1965 for their contribution in creating the personality of our wines. The underground aging cellar holds more than 200 barrels, mostly made from American oak.

It also consists of a bottling room, which ends the production process from cultivation to bottling in a controlled manner, guaranteeing this process.