Miguel Merino

Miguel Merino spent many years exporting Spanish wine around the world before making it himself. In 1994 he fulfilled the wish of having a small bodega in Briones, in the Rioja Alta, and later handed the winemaking to his son, also Miguel.

There are thirteen hectares spread across many plots with different terroirs and microclimates, from which they pick an average of 55,000 kilos of fruit a year. The house is tiny on purpose.

La Quinta Cruz is 100% Mazuelo from the plot at the fifth cross on the path up Monte Calvario in Briones, which gives it its name, on poor alluvial soils with plenty of gravel. The 2018 vintage aged for 14 months in 500-litre casks and 225-litre barriques, and 3,200 bottles were made.