Winery Overview
Bodegas Bhilar is a boutique winery located in Elvillar, Rioja Alavesa, run by husband and wife team, David Sampedro and Melanie Hickman. Their goal is to make terroir-driven wines with soul, respect the land, work only with indigenous grapes, and to share their unique wines with good people with positive energy. In the year 1999, David started learning about the biodynamic philosophy and changed how he cared for his vineyards. First, he converted to organic farming and then began following tenants to recover the harmony between man, earth, vines, and cosmos. In 2014, tractors were eliminated and horses were brought back to farm the vineyards.
[shareonedrive mode="files" dir="01TZFRFPJNU5CUJNK3L5BZ5ME7GVMJXBOX" account="730caaf8-cea3-456f-b43d-015243cf45e9" drive="b!igTyrdiz6EuE1H1hIjZ0Yv0KAns562ZCnDriKjLglO1ttuEOKMjYSK4JoWwdFey7" viewrole="administrator|editor|author|contributor|subscriber|guest" onclick="download" downloadrole="administrator|editor|author|contributor|subscriber|employee" filelayout="list" previewrole="none" ]
Vineyard
A west-facing vineyard located in the village of Elvillar, Rioja Alavesa, perched atop a hill at 2,100 feet (646 meters). A 2.9 ha parcel of white chalky limestone soil planted in 1967. We farm the land by horse and follow Biodynamic tenets.
Vinification
Whole cluster grapes are placed in a concrete vat and sealed. The fermentation starts with native yeasts. After the fermentation is 80% finished, the wine is then pressed and placed in 2000-liter French foudresto finish the fermentation and age for one year. A small amount of sulphur was added prior to bottling but at no other point during production.