Bodegas Félix Callejo

The four siblings of the house trained far from home before returning to Sotillo. José Félix went through Pétrus, in Pomerol, and Miguel Torres in Curicó, Chile; Noelia through Viña Cobos, in Mendoza, and Araujo, in the Napa Valley. Today José Félix and Noelia handle production, and Cristina and Beatriz the commercial side.

The winery was founded by their parents, Félix and Pilar, in 1989 in Sotillo de la Ribera. Since 2000 José Félix has been the house winemaker, and since that same year the vineyards have been farmed organically.

There are twenty-seven vineyards spread along the profile of Sotillo de la Ribera, 54.8 hectares in all, between 830 and 930 metres, with tinto fino, garnacha, albillo mayor and merlot.

Majuelos de Callejo is 100% tinto fino from clay-limestone soils with rolled pebbles. It ferments with native yeasts at low temperature and finishes around thirty degrees, with a further fifteen days of maceration on the skins; it goes through malolactic in new and one-year French oak and ages eighteen months in new barrels, with rackings.

Parajes de Callejo is 87% tinto fino, 9% garnacha and 4% albillo mayor, from vineyards at 850 metres on sandy-loam soils over limestone. It is picked by hand into crates, with a double sorting table, ferments with native yeast and ages eighteen months in French oak.