Bodegas de la Marquesa

Bodegas de la Marquesa dates back to the second half of the 19th century, when Francisco Javier Solano y Eulate, the 'Marquis de la Solana' and owner of a large area of vineyards in Villabuena, decided to begin making and ageing his wines according to methods imported from Médoc and to sell them under the label 'Marques de la Solana'. Following the enlargement of the bodega's underground "calados" or caves, the importation of the first wine-making machinery and the introduction of oak casks from Bordeaux, the wines started to win major awards such as the silver medal at the Logroño Exhibition in 1898 and the gold medal at the Universal Exhibition in Barcelona in 1929. On the death of the Marquis, his property was inherited by his daughters, Maria Teresa and Maria Solano (grandmother of the current owners), who changed the name of the estate to Bodegas de Crianza S.M.S. (the abbreviation of the family surnames).Nowadays, the bodega, which changed its name once again in 1996 to Viñedos y Bodegas de la Marquesa, continues to be a family firm and is owned by Juan Pablo de Simón and his brothers, while the next generation, Pablo and Jaime de Simón (Juan Pablo's sons) are preparing to take over the running of the company for the future. The estate grows approximately 400,000 kg of grapes per year on the family's 65 hectares of vineyards. All vineyards are located in the Municipality of Villabuena, and run from the sunny lower slopes of the Cantabrian Mountain Range, which protects them from the north, to the banks of the River Ebro to the south-southwest. The estate boasts a number of very old, low yielding vineyards and the average age of the vineyards is over 25 years.