Cruz de Piedra Macabeo, Calatayud 2025

Formed in 1954, Bodega Virgen de la Sierra was one of the first co-operatives in the Aragón region, situated towards the north-east of Spain. The co-op is located within the Calatayud appellation, around 100km south-east of Rioja, on the outskirts of the village of Villaroya de la Sierra.

Many of the company’s vineyards can be found high in the hills above this village, at an altitude of between 700-1100m. The bodega’s name is a nod to its location in the Sierra de la Virgen mountain range, which in turn gets its name from a shrine to the Virgin Mary that can be found around 22km north of the village. The path of pilgrimage to this shrine runs through the vineyards, and is marked with stone crosses. It is for this region the bodega named its main wine range Cruz de Piedra: this phrase means ‘stone crosses’ in Spanish.

The soils in this area are stony, loose and very poor in nutrients, so the vine roots must dig deep to find the water and nutrients they desire during the hot, dry summers. Most of the bodega’s vines are grown on red clay with a high iron content, giving wines that are full of flavour.

These conditions have proven ideal for garnacha. One of the main reasons this bodega creates such excellent-value wines is because of the age of their vines: 80% of its garnacha is between 50 and 100 years old, whereas the other main grape variety they cultivate, macabeo, is grown on vines with an average age of 60 years. After experimentation with various varieties, the co-op now also grows small amounts of tempranillo and syrah, which also work well in these conditions.

Once harvested, the grapes are transported to the cellars, which have been managed by winemaker Manuel Castro since 2004. These cellars can hold 3.9 million litres, but the co-op also has separate buildings for bottling and storage. The winery is kitted out with modern technology and concrete tanks, and the Cruz de Piedra wines are cool-fermented and don’t see any oak in order to preserve the grapes’ lip-smacking fruit character.