Starting with only three hectares of vine in 1999, David Sampedro, a Vine Grower from the village of Elvillar in Rioja Alavesa, blazed his own path and converted his vineyards to organic viticulture to reveal a different side of Rioja in bottle.

After many years of hard work and passion, David together with his wife, Melanie, now have over 16 hectares of vines all of which are certified organic and farmed following Biodynamic tenets exclusively by plow-horse. Much emphasis is placed on biodiversity in their land by planting over 2,000 native plants and trees throughout their vineyards and around the winery.

In addition to vines, they care for fruit and olive trees, bees, chickens, and horses. After many years as garagistes, in 2016 the couple built a new winery and home on a secluded property surrounded by vineyards just outside of their village.

Following their passion for sustainability, the entire property is powered by solar panels, a windmill, and is not connected to the electricity grid. Wines are meant to express the place therefore native yeast start the fermentation and there is no forced malolactic.

All fermentations and ageing take place in concrete or large oak tanks, no stainless steel. From inception they’ve maintained a vision of the future very different from the region. A push for regenerative farming combined with a vision for expressing limestone soils of their village, and a search for old vines in high-altitude locations.

In addition to rescuing small, old parcels and working to ensure the maintenance of their diversity, much energy is invested in restoring historic terraces and planting varieties that add freshness such as Graciano, Garnacha, and Maturana tinta. Reflecting on the past to illuminate a path for the future, they implement practices to leave the land in a better state than it was found for future generations.