Overlooking the village of Ollauri on the hillside, ventilation chimneys, some of which date back to the Middle Ages, rise from the numerous underground wine cellars: This is Bodegas Marqués de Terán.

The winery was built in 2005 with vision to become a reference producer of red wines in Rioja Alta and is the first in the world to implement a geothermal energy system.

Bureau Veritas has certified a resulting carbon footprint reduction of 82 percent, making Bodegas Marqués de Terán an outstanding example of environmentally friendly winemaking.

The winery was built in 2005 with vision to become a reference producer of red wines in Rioja Alta. It is located on a hill in the upper part of the village of Ollauri, overlooking the Ebro river valley and Sierra de Cantabria, Sierra de La Demanda, Ollauri itself and the surrounding vineyards.

The building is integrated into the landscape in line with the traditional architecture of the winery district that presides over the upper part of Ollauri, a mound where the locals have traditionally used the hillsides to excavate their characteristic cellar caves.

The design of the winery has been conceived for a Bodega whose production system is the most avant-garde in La Rioja and one of the most advanced in the world. For this purpose, 80% of its surface is under the hill to make the most use of gravity for the reception, transport and processing of the grapes.

Grapes are instantly chilled on arrival to preserve fruit flavour

This technique used in the winemaking process achieves an outstanding presence of the original fruit flavours in the resulting wines. Through the adding of CO2, grapes are cooled down to 5°C. The stainless-steel fermentation tanks are equipped with an innovative ‘pissage’ system that guarantees a smooth and gentle movement of the mass inside which enables the temperature throughout the deposit to stay between 5°C and 8°C during a period from 3 to 8 days to extract the maximum of colour, aroma and essence of the fruit.

Marqués de Terán controls 80 hectares of vineyards, most of which are located in this municipality of Rioja Alta, which features an exceptional quality of its soil that favours low yields of high quality fruit. The site climate is exceptional due to, on one hand, the unique geography and orientation of the vines and on the other hand, the Mediterranean and Atlantic climates which combined create a harmonious site for growing grapes.

The vines are quite old and produce low yields, thereby providing top-quality grapes. Marqués de Terán uses the typical grape varieties from the Rioja wine region in order to produce the best wines. These are: Tempranillo, Garnacha, and Mazuelo, but the Tempranillo grape is always the predominant variety.

The Grapes arrive at the winery in less than 3 hours after the harvest. In this way, the fruit comes to Marqués de Terán in the best condition, avoiding crushing or premature fermentation.

The oak ageing cellar is 90 percent underground for the natural control of temperature and humidity. Barrels are 70 percent French and 30 percent American oak.

Marqués de Terán has its own research and development department that works in close collaboration with official organisations such as the Government of La Rioja or the Centre for Industrial Technological Development (CDTI). In recognition for this research commitment, the winery received the Government of La Rioja 2007 Innovation Award for “successfully integrating tradition, innovation and sustainable development“.

You can visit Bodegas Marqués de Terán
Crta. Najera Km.1, 26220 Ollauri, La Rioja,  Spain
Tel +34 941 338 373
info@marquesdeteran.com