Baron de Rothschild

One branch of the famous Rothschild family has now expanded past their prestigious Bordeaux reputation to discover another classic European wine region, Rioja. At the turn of the century, Benjamin de Rothschild, chairman of Edmond de Rothschild partnered up with Vega Sicilia, Spain’s most esteemed estate owned by the Álvarez family. Built on their shared desire to uncover Rioja’s true potential, they finally created the joint company in 2009 after years of debate. They rented winemaking facilities, and began buying older vineyards, and today they own over 80 hectares of vines scattered among Rioja’s finest sub-regions: Rioja Alta and Rioja Alavesa. Bodegas Rothschild and Vega Sicilia, in the traditional Bordeaux manner, craft two wines lead by vintner, Gonzalo Iturriaga, their Gran Vin called Macán, and their Second Wine named Macán Clásico. Both of these labels are pure Tempranillo wines, and are aged in predominately new barriques for 16-17 months. The riper, deeper, more dark-fruited vats make it into the top wine, as the other more red-fruited ones go into the Macán Clásico. Nonetheless, the bodega produces a modern Vega-Sicilia styled wine, with a more elegantly fashioned Burgundian oaked Tempranillo.