Grapes growing in Alto Najerilla Valley in the foothills of the Sierra de la Demanda in Rioja, Spain as part of the Viñedos El Pacto project
Richi Arambarri and Raúl Acha are the dynamic young duo behind Vintae, the forward-thinking Spanish winemaking company behind such ground-breaking projects as Hacienda López de Haro in Rioja Alta, Matsu in Toro and the multi-region Proyecto Garnachas. Viñedos El Pacto, Vintae’s most ambitious project to date, sees Richi and Raúl take inspiration from their ancestral roots in Rioja and return to the villages, vineyards and styles of viticulture that made Rioja what it is today.
This project is a world away from the Rioja of the Industrial Revolution, with its large warehouses in Haro that stored wine purchased from growers like Richi and Raúl’s families. Embracing small-scale farming, natural viticulture and connection to the land that has otherwise been lost in the region, Viñedos El Pacto is their pact: a pledge to fight against the disappearance of genuine village wines of Rioja.
Raúl Acha, technical director and winemaker (left) and Richi Arambarri, CEO (right), owners of Viñedos El Pacto in Rioja.
The traditional rural areas of old Rioja
The first El Pacto wine, Sonsierra, was released in 2009, and represents the cornerstone of a project that is now reaching maturity with the release of a collection of wines emotionally rooted in the vineyards of Sonsierra and Alto Najerilla. With its old-vine
