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Amador Escudero

The Winery Bodegas Valsacro is born under the auspices of the Escudero Brothers who are linked to the wine world four generations ago and nowadays they are in front of Bodegas Escudero, which was founded by their father, Benito Escudero, and which at present has become small for all the projects that are planned to be developed. Valsacro is the answer of an ambitious project of wine and cellar in the boundaries of Pradejón, near Calahorra, in the heart of Rioja Baja where the wine cellar is planned to be built ( in no more than 2 years) over a land of 73 hectares. The plantation will be called "La Plana" and it will be made in the purest chateau style, with the vineyard surrounding the building. The vineyard has been the first thing to be taken into account when beginning the project. Amador has clear that it is in the vine the origin of a good wine. For that reason and after a precise study of the ground and possible locations in the three main Rioja areas (Alavesa, Alta and Baja), he decides to place the cellar in the boundaries of Pradejón, as indicated above, in a plantation of poor and rocky soils, where the growing of the vine has been settled long ago. The first 40 cm are lime-clay soils with lots of rocks over a lay of 30 cm of hard calcareous stony composition and a bottom of more than 3 meters of rolling stones and poor sands. Definitively a suitable soil for a high quality vine with a low production. A second stage to be considered could be the searching of varieties, grafts and clones with the propose of choosing the most suitable ones for the purposes of high quality. So, following the advice of technicians from the EVENA and IMA experimental fields, we have chosen the less productive ones. In the same way, and following the criterion of getting very small productions from each vine, 12 hectares has been planted with 4000 vines per hectare. Vines to be enlarged in the following years. Finally, some special facts were taken into account for the construction of the cellar. Above all the functionality and, by all means the enologist's criteria: Selection of grapes Exploitation of the unevenness to reduce the usage of machines, pumps and any other machinery that could damage the grapes or the wine Minimal energy consumption For its construction the natural surrounding has been in mind, choosing local vegetation from the semiarid areas, bushes like thyme, rosemary for the gardens and the areas for the covering of subterranean of the barrels and bottle containers. In the same way, the sewage will be recycled for the watering of the vineyard. Respecting the environment, local handmade bricks and natural stone have been used for the building and the whole cellar that will be distributed around a Castilian patio. Finally, We have to add that inside the project an experimental field of near 3 hectares will be included. Here new clones, different varieties and densities of plantation will be experimented, for this micro fermentation in small deposits will be made as well as a researching work with the University of La Rioja. The aim of this ambitious project is the elaboration of high level wines. Wines that have the support of the 80-acre vineyard, property of the Escudero Family, placed over the Yerga Mountain, one of the highest quality areas for the vineyards in La Rioja.

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