Sínodo's wines are bold, fruit-driven and some might say, modern. But behind this fresh, vibrant style lies a deeper story: a story of friendship and of historic vineyards revived with passion, meticulous care and fierce devotion to every vine.
This very special First Release of their single-vineyard plots is exclusive to The Wine Society based on the miniscule production from three plots ranging from 0.16 – 0.54ha in size. I’m so chuffed to be offering the 2023 vintage.
Order by midday on Wednesday 24th June
The story begins with three friends who met at the University of La Rioja – Roberto Monforte, Juan Antonio Blanco and Gorka Echevarría. Each pursued their own path in winemaking, making a pact that they would one day work together, and in 2014 they reunited to start their small-scale project, combining their family vineyards and shared philosophy: let the vineyard speak, handle it with care and produce expressive, authentic wines that are ultimately delicious to drink.
Each Sínodo wine comes from carefully tended, historic family vineyards in Villamediana and Uruñuela, lovingly revived with patience and passion. Production is deliberately small, just a few thousand bottles, made in the co-operative’s barrel room using artisanal methods, hand-filled barrels and even a manual destemmer. They joked that they probably have the highest ratio of winemakers to number of bottles of any winery. I think they may be right!
I first came across these wines in 2024 and, having returned twice since, I'm all the more pleased to have secured them before the rest of the world caught on. From the thrillingly tense and powerful single-parcel Raposeras, and the pure, deep, silky-smooth Centales and the red-fruited, herbaceous Los Tollos, these are focused, fruit-driven Riojas not to be missed. Drink these now, or wait a few years if you can…
