Pago de Carraovejas

José María Ruiz had run the José María restaurant in Segovia since 1982 and wanted a wine of his own for its dining room. In 1987, with a few partners, he bought land on the edge of Peñafiel, below the castle, at the site the village called Pago de Carraovejas, and gave the winery that name. A year later he hired Tomás Postigo as technical director, who made its wines for twenty years.

The first nine hectares were planted in 1988. The first wine came from the 1991 vintage and reached the market in 1993. Since 2007 the house has been run by his son Pedro Ruiz Aragoneses, and Carraovejas is now the hub of a group, Alma Carraovejas, that brings together wineries in other appellations.

Besides the estate red, the house makes two single-plot wines. Cuesta de las Liebres comes from steep slopes rising to 900 metres. El Anejón is made only in some vintages.

El Anejón comes from 9.43 hectares planted in 2001 on terraces above the Carraovejas valley, one of the first terraced plots in the DO, mostly west-facing: 93% Tinto Fino, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Merlot. The bunches go through a cold room and a double sorting table; it ferments spontaneously in small French oak vats and ages in new 600-litre barrels.