In partnership with CAMPO VIEJO
Wine articles regularly cite the factors that give a wine its personality: soil type, elevation, fermentation technique, oak usage... you will have read about these things dozens, even hundreds of times. But one factor is often missed: passion.
Pasión is the ability to see things differently and to take risks; to appreciate tradition, but not be enslaved by it; to go the extra mile as a matter of course. And this ability – this pasión – is at the heart of Campo Viejo.
It’s one of the reasons the producer has picked up more than 1000 awards in the last decade, and was rated by the International Wine and Spirits Record IWSR (2024) as both the number one brand in Rioja and the number one Spanish still wine brand. It is a label that proudly represents its country and its region all round the world.
Gianni Zucchetto, export manager at Ruggeri
To create its famous wines, Campo Viejo takes fruit from over 500 different growers – large and small – from one end of Rioja to the other. This is a range of wines that reflects the entire personality of the region, from the sun-filled plains of Rioja Oriental to the Atlantic-inflected vineyards of Rioja Alavesa. Using fruit from such a diversity of sites gives the Campo Viejo winemaking team a vast portfolio of styles to use in creating their wines. Whatever the vintage’s character – and challenges – they can carefully combine different elements to create wines of consistency and balance.
Campo Viejo also offers a range of different
tastings and guided tours at the winery
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Discover more at campoviejo.com
Published 10th February
Showcasing the flavours, heritage and unique character of Rioja, Campo Viejo’s Tempranillo, Reserva and Gran Reserva wines are wines for enjoyment, shaped by pasión
Deep knowledge of the region
Discovering Rioja’s secret ingredient
But there are other benefits to having access to a wide range of vineyard sites, too – particularly for those of a curious, adventurous disposition. For such a world-recognised brand, Campo Viejo is remarkable in its refusal to stand still. The creativity of its winemakers means that its range is constantly adapting, producing exactly the kinds of wines that drinkers are looking for – even if they don’t yet know it themselves!
This creativity takes many forms: from developing accessible and great value varietal Tempranillo and Garnacha wines, to introducing the premium Dominio wine, which is released only in the best vintages. Dominio is a classic Riojan blend, based mainly on Tempranillo, with finely judged additions of Graciano and Mazuelo. Grapes are sourced from all three sub-regions: Rioja Alta, Rioja Alavesa and Rioja Oriental. Availability of the small-production Dominio is understandably limited, but fans can see these three varieties working together in the Campo Viejo Reserva and Gran Reserva wines too.
Both are elegant expressions of premium Rioja. The Reserva is aged for three years and is perfect for day-to-day enjoyment, whilst the Gran Reserva, aged for five, is well-suited to special occasions and more complex dishes. The oak is carefully controlled, allowing the personality of the three grapes to express themselves with beauty and precision. Elegant and balanced, these wines are classics of their style. The winery also produces innovative cellar exclusives, including the Blanco Reserva and Dominio Blanco, as well as the Wine Experience Collection Garnacha and Tempranillo.
Innovative creations
Pasión at Campo Viejo isn’t just about creative energy and great winemaking, however. It’s also about deep and sincerely held beliefs – particularly when it comes to sustainability.
Take the winery: it is built into the hillside to keep it cool, reducing the need for energy-hungry temperature controls. It’s also entirely gravity-fed: grapes come in at the top floor, and winemaking and ageing occur below, to minimise the use of pumps. Remarkably, the whole process, from the moment the grapes arrive until the bottles leave for sale around the world, is powered by 100% renewable energy.
The fact that the winery was built over 25 years ago – when few other wine companies were even talking about sustainability, let alone acting on it – shows just how serious Campo Viejo is about the concept. Cover crops have been planted in the vineyards to capture nitrogen and encourage microfaunae, bottle weights have been reduced and oak is sourced from sustainable French forests before being crafted into barrels in Spain to reduce the transport emissions. Sustainability runs through Campo Viejo from top to bottom, and has led to it being the first certified member of the Wineries for Climate Protection group. So it’s clear that Campo Viejo takes the big things seriously – but also understands the importance of fun.
Campo Viejo also offers a range of tastings and guided tours, allowing visitors to discover the wines first-hand. Modern and fruity, yet respectful of their heritage, the wines of Campo Viejo can add a sense of occasion to even the most informal moment. They make simple moments special, good moments great and great moments unforgettable, by adding life, energy, joy – and pasión.
Passionate about principles
The striking sculpture at Campo Viejo created by street artists Okuda and Remed