🍷 Casajús

Casajús (Bodegas J.A. Calvo Casajús) is a family winery with its own vineyards in Quintana del Pidio, in the province of Burgos, in the Ribera del Duero appellation. According to the house, the project was born in 1993 out of José Alberto Calvo Casajús's passion for viticulture, together with his wife Leonor and their daughter Catalina; Wikidata gives the same year and village.

According to the house, its wines include the reds Casajús Barrica 9 meses, Crianza, Reserva and Selección Finca Doña Len, the rosé Splendore, NIC and a white Casajús Blanco. The house says its wines are sold in Spain and in several other countries in Europe and the Americas, as well as in China.

According to the house, Casajús Reserva is 100% Tinta del País (Tempranillo) from vines the family planted in 1920; the destemmed grapes ferment in 5,000-litre stainless steel tanks, and the wine ages 14 months in American and French oak barrels and at least 24 months in bottle. Finca Doña Len, also 100% Tinta del País, comes from a vineyard more than 30 years old planted by José Alberto in his youth, and ages 12 months in second-year 500-litre barrels of American and French oak.

The house describes Splendore as a rosé made from Tempranillo in the family vineyards of Quintana del Pidio, on sandy loam soils sheltered by pine and scrub hills to the north, from the first grapes of the harvest, by direct pressing and low-temperature fermentation in stainless steel. Casajús Blanco sobre lías is 95% Albillo Mayor and 5% other white varieties from old family vines planted in the early twentieth century, aged 12 months in wooden barrels; the 2019 vintage was limited to 400 numbered bottles. The house lists export markets including Canada, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway and China.

Ribera del Duero is a protected designation of origin (PDO) in Castilla y León, along the Duero upstream from Valladolid. Its wines are almost all red, based mainly on Tinto Fino, the local name for Tempranillo; the appellation was founded in 1982.

Why it matters to you. Crianza and Reserva on the label are ageing categories set by the rules, while names such as “Splendore” are the house's own. The WHO reminds: there is no safe level of alcohol.