Santalba winery produces high quality wines through tradition, modern facilities and organic viticulture. The productions are limited, focusing on quality. As result of an R&D project in one vineyard, release an organic wine high in natural antioxidants (resveratrol) that make it unique. Specific work in the vineyard, winemaking and excellent personalized service are the clues for Santalba wines.

1. SANTALBA, the bodega´s name, is a
B O D E G A S
fusion of the first name and surname of its
owner and founder: SANTIAGO IJALBA
MISSION, VISION AND VALUES
Through its daily chores in the vineyards
and the Bodega, SANTALBA sets out to
make wines whose quality is the highest
and which have an individual character.
Honesty, the best quality grapes,
experience, knowledge and passion,
passed down from previous generations,
allow us to offer the finest wines to our
S A N T A L B A
clients.
Ecological grape-growing, continuous
development through R&D&I, a
sustainable system and the desire to hold
onto the most genuine Riojan wine-
making customs are what characterize
and define Bodegas SANTALBA.
LOCATION
Bodegas SANTALBA is in Gimileo, near to
Haro, in the middle of Rioja Alta and
around 40 kilometers (25 miles) from
Logroño
Its geographical location, climate and soil
have given the uniqueness of this region,
its land and its wines, giving it a
distinctive character.

2. Viticulture, grape-growing, is daily
V I T I C U L T U R E
detailed work in the vineyard. It is the key
to obtaining quality grapes. The starting
point of our wine-making is rigorous
selection of grapes from Rioja Alta
vineyards. These either belong to the
bodega or to grape-growers on permanent
contracts who undertake to carry out the
production methods which our experts
define and describe. Tempranillo, the local
variety, is the star of our red wines,
without forgetting the other Riojan
varieties, Garnacha, Graciano and
Mazuelo. As far as white grapes are
concerned, the only one we use is Viura,
another local variety.
Bodegas SANTALBA has an ongoing
project for research, development and
innovation in order to produce more
healthy wines, by raising the level of
healthy antioxidants ( resveratrol) through
natural and ecological means.
As a result, we have managed to produce
a wine with the highest content in natural
resveratrol in the world to date:
SANTALBA ECOLOGICO.
Briefly, resveratrol benefits human health
by:
• Its direct anti-oxidant action
• Boosting all types of anti-cancer
related biological activity
• Its anti-inflammatory effect
• Causing biological activity that may
prevent cardiovascular disease

3. After a rigorous selection process,
HARVEST
checking variety, quality and vineyard
health, the grapes are picked by hand and
brought to the SANTALBA bodega in 12 kg
crates or on small trailers.
Inside the bodega, our equipment is
designed for high quality wine production
in the most hygienic conditions.
AND Bodegas SANTALBA
temperature-controlled
possess modern
stainless-steel
tanks of our own design. Their oversized
entrances optimize the maceration
process and all the processes are
automated to ensure the strictest of
WINE-MAKING
controls under the most exact parameters.
The grapes from the different vineyards
are placed in tubs separately in
accordance with their intrinsic
characteristics and parameters obtained
on their arrival to the Bodega.
Temperature-controlled fermentation
takes place naturally; the naturally
occurring wild yeasts from the grapes
themselves carry out this process at
Bodegas SANTALBA.
This stage, when grape sugars are
converted into alcohol, is one of the most
critical steps in wine-making.

4. BODEGAS SANTALBA has installations
B A R R E L
adapted to high quality wines productions
with 1.550 French, American and
European oak barrels. The strict
conditions for this process required the
construction of an ageing room
maintained as stable as possible against
exterior variations in temperature and
humidity. That is why the barrel rooms,
the true operational and physical centre of
SANTALBA, were designed from the start
as an underground building with earth
A G E I N G
containment walls up to 6 metres high,
with ventilation doors facing north to allow
for the circulation of fresh air if necessary.
The time a wine spends in the barrel
varies as a function of its quality category.
This is where oxidation and polymerization
occur, phenomena which define wine´s
character, giving it body and ageing
potential.
At Bodegas SANTALBA, this time-period is
from 14 to 30 months. The wine is racked
traditionally from barrel to barrel by hand
and using gravity, every six months. Our
stocks of barrels are renewed at intervals
and consist of oak-barrels of different
types (French, American and European)
and various toasting levels, in order to
make each wine subtly different.
All the barrels are supported on the
traditional and natural wooden chocks
with no industrial metal frames
whatsoever.

5. Before its release for sale, wine must
B O T T L E
spend the period of time in bottle
necessary for it to mellow and refine until
it has reached its maximum potential, as
defined by the Bodegas specialists. In the
strictest conditions of humidity and
temperature, reductive processes take
place inside each bottle. These will define
the wines aroma and taste in the future.
In addition, light conditions must also be
A G E I N G controlled, because after years of
experience in the vinification of numerous
wines, SANTALBA has checked that
certain types of light (ultraviolet) can
damage the organoleptic qualities of the
wine.
Depending on whether the wine is in the
category of Crianza, Reserva or Gran
Reserva, it spends more or less time in
the bottle-ageing hall. Together with
barrel-ageing and the grape quality of
each harvest, this process is all that is
needed for the wines ageing potential and
maturation during its life.
In the bottle-ageing hall at Bodegas
SANTALBA the bottles lie on their sides in
large wooden cages, so that the wine in
the bottle is always in contact with the
natural cork closure in order to preserve
the wine during this time.

6. After four years of experiments in vines,
R & D
using natural techniques such as creating
situations of induced hydric stress,
SANTALBA has been able to stimulate the
vineyard into developing its maximum
antioxidant potential. As a result, this is,
without doubt, an innovative project in
comparison to other methods which add
P R O J E C T
resveratrol artificially.
The end result of the tests carried out has
produced a wine with a high natural
resveratrol content; 24,5 milligrams per
litre, verified by oficial laboratories in La
Rioja and the University of Barcelona
(Department of Nutrition and Food
Science in the Pharmacy Faculty), which
increases the health benefits of this
antioxidant found in conventional wine,
sixfold.
The resulting higher level of resveratrol in
SANTALBA´s wines will enhance (through
moderate consumption) effects on human
health as an antioxidant, as a reducer of
bad LDL cholesterol values, as a protector
against some kinds of cancer, improving
blood sugar levels and blood flow and
having anti-inflammatory properties.
Bodegas SANTALBA has developed this
ongoing R&D Project with the aim of
making a wine with even greater health
properties, which sprang from out interest
in organic viticulture.