This month at BACO, we're focusing on a project that lives up to its name: Temerario.
A young, brave project unafraid to do things differently. In a wine world often defined by rules, labels, and established paths, Temerario champions personality, the vineyard, and a freer, more direct way of understanding wine.
Behind their wines is a clear idea: minimal intervention, letting the vineyard speak, and crafting wines that convey identity without artifice.
We spoke with them to learn about how the project began, the philosophy behind it, and the direction one of the most interesting proposals on the current scene is heading.
How did the Temerario project come about, and what's behind the name?
The idea of starting to make wines from our own plots had been in the air for a long time. In fact, Temerario was registered with the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office in 2016. But it required a major life change, leaving a stable job that provided a lot of security for the family to take this leap of faith, a somewhat daring one. It's understandable that we thought about it for so long.
The name Temerario comes from my father's nickname in the village, and we also felt it had enough power to represent us and that multiple meaning often sought in these kinds of things.
How would you define your winemaking style?
We're defining our winemaking style as time goes on and as we discover what we're more or less comfortable with. We are a very young project (only 3 vintages) and still have many details to fine-tune.
Although it's true that for now we're on a very specific path: lots of fruit, seeking personality more than power in our wines, and highlighting the varietal, the terroir, and the climatic conditions of each vintage.
I like to think that we make wine in a brave way, in the sense that we don't like to hide anything, just guide what we find towards something pleasant.
What do you look for in the vineyard, and how do you work both in the field and in the winery?
The vines we cultivate are the ones we've always liked the most among those we have at home. Luckily, we have an atypical farm, with many bush vines, where some plots of Garnacha, our Viura vine, and Mazuelo have been maintained.
I'm grateful to my father because, if he had converted everything to Tempranillo on trellises, it would be much harder for me to do something remarkable. My brother, who runs the family estate, was very involved in the vineyard work.
We have completely eliminated herbicides, replacing them with under-vine cultivation. We don't use any insecticides or mineral fertilizers, and we'll see how we can deepen this in the future.
In the winery, we know that we are heavily conditioned by what we bring from the vineyard, and coming from the warmest area of Rioja, the goal is to harvest slightly earlier to maintain acidity and achieve fairly direct and fresh wines. We look for very whole and turgid fruit so that the wines convey that same sensation.
In the winery, we just need to treat what we harvest carefully, but details like aging in large barrels or minimal use of sulfur dioxide are crucial for maintaining the fruit and varietal expression we seek.
If someone doesn't know Temerario, which wine would you recommend they start with and why?
I love starting tastings with our Rosado. At fairs, I usually do it that way because it's the only wine that doesn't spend time in wood; from there, I move to the white and then to the reds.
But I spend a lot of time explaining our Rosado and why it is the way it is and not otherwise. I believe it perfectly defines the project, in the sense that rosés like this are not made, and therefore, they don't have a clear market or niche.
It's fine. We communicate it and slowly create that market and that niche, just as we have to do as a project. Little by little, more restaurants, points of sale, and distributors will trust us.
The approach is risky and different, and above all, it defines us very well. In the end, that's what's important and what's allowing us to connect very well with the public.
Temerario is, above all, a way of understanding wine without filters.
A project that champions authenticity, the vineyard, and making wines that don't seek to please everyone, but rather to connect with those who drink them.
🍷 You can find their wines in our physical store and on the website.
🎧 And if you want to hear their story firsthand, listen to the new episode of Momentos DiVinos on Spotify.
See you at BACO. With wines that say something.
