El Arenero 2022 | Bruma Agrícola | Cebreros

Bruma Agrícola was born in 2017 when architect León Benacerraf and Begoña Díaz-Ugorri began recovering abandoned vineyards in Cebreros — one of Spain's newest appellations, which received its DOP status that same year — nestled in the foothills of the Sierra de Gredos in southeastern Ávila. Oenologist Bárbara Requejo joined as vineyard and cellar manager, completing a small team with a clear purpose: to act as custodians of a centuries-old viticultural heritage on the verge of disappearing.

Bruma's vines grow at around 950 metres altitude on poor, well-drained granite sand soils that force the vines to develop deep root systems. The main holding is the Valverde paraje, with around five hectares of Garnacha Tinta over 80 years old, dry-farmed and bush-trained; alongside it, 1.2 hectares of Albillo Real in the Cordel paraje. El Arenero is the most extreme sub-parcel in the project: 1.3 hectares of old Garnacha in particularly austere conditions, producing around 1,000 bottles per harvest.

Harvest is entirely manual, parcel by parcel, with rigorous selection in the field. The Garnacha wines ferment with a small percentage of whole clusters for freshness and structure, then age in second-use wooden foudres and concrete tanks. El Arenero spends ten months in second-use French oak (225L and 300L barrels) — just enough time to add nuance without masking the variety or the terroir. El Milagro is the Albillo Real from the old Cordel vines: fresh, floral and notably long. The Peñín Guide awarded El Arenero 2023 93 points.