Ramón Bilbao: Producer profile plus 18 wines tasted and rated

Ramón Bilbao is an increasingly influential bodega in Rioja; its ascendance in the hierarchy fired by a combination of corporate backing, oenological expertise and marketing flair. That’s not a bad combination and one that puts the estate in a very good place as it launches into its 2024 centenary celebrations.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for 18 Ramón Bilbao wines to try

The bodega traces its roots back to Ramón Bilbao Murga, an entrepreneur from a Basque fishing port, who arrived in Haro in 1899. He began to sell and market wines in the Barrio de las Cuevas in the centre of town. According to current head winemaker, Rodolfo Bastida, this was the traditional neighbourhood for local wineries, and was less under the French influence that marked out the cluster of bodegas situated over the River Ebro in the Barrio de la Estación.

Ramón bought land, planted vines and started to make his own wines. The 2024 centenary celebration marks the anniversary of the moment when his brand Ramón Bilbao was officially registered with the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office.

The entrepreneurial spirit of the founder, who died in 1929, was continued by his sons and grandsons, who steadily acquired more vineyards. Ramón’s son, Enrique Bilbao, studied winemaking at the Haro Oenological Station, adding a degree of technical expertise to the operation.

A new era

There followed a couple of decades in the wilderness, when, according to global communications and PR manager, Cristina Rodriguez Cabrero, the bodega was ‘passed between several Basque families’. Redemption eventually came in 1999, with the acquisition of the bodega by the Murcian drinks conglomerate Zamora. It has been conspicuously generous in terms of investment and marketing support ever since.

Ramón Bilbao now produces over four million bottles a year. In addition to a broad range of traditional aged styles, the winery has also initiated the creation of a French-oaked premium brand, Mirto. It has also developed the Lalomba single-vineyard project, which currently focuses on four high-altitude sites from both ends of the Rioja region.

Today’s winery was built in 1979. In 2016 a new building was added to house the Lalomba project, much of which is located underground and all of which adheres to the strictest environmental standards. Ramón Bilbao farms organically and has the prestigious Wineries for Climate Protection accreditation. This certifies that all energy comes from non-polluting sources, with a mission statement to reduce both water consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

Innovation and new releases

Director of innovation, Rosana Lisa, is focused on all things environmental, in addition to specific projects focused on oxygen management during ageing, the optimum selection of yeasts and the reduction in the use of sulphur. ‘Future projects will address climate change even more specifically, with focus on vineyard orientation and canopy management and maybe some varietal experimentation,’ she explains.

The winery is playing the long game with its Lalomba project, with only three wines released so far. There is Lalinde Rosé, the first vintage of which was launched in 2015. While two single vineyard reds – Finca Valhonta and Finca Ladero – were both introduced with the 2020 vintage.

The Lalomba project, both stylistically and architecturally, complements the core Ramón Bilbao range. ‘We have updated tradition,’ jokes charismatic head winemaker Bastida, who has been in post since 1999. Riojan by birth, Bastida is gifted with a passion for his wines which he communicates with flair in several languages, not to mention the esprit de corps of a strong team, with both Lisa and technical director Sara Bañuelos contributing significantly across the estate.

In the vineyard

Overall Ramón Bilbao owns and manages 250ha of vines and works on long-term contracts with growers who own another 900ha. It also owns Finca las Amedias, a vineyard and winery in Rueda, which was opened in 2016 and produces Verdejo and Sauvignon Blanc.

In Rioja the focus on vineyards is two-fold. First in the Rioja Alta sub-region, with Villalba, Cuzcurrita, Valpierre and Abalos. Second in Rioja Oriental, where vineyards in both Tudelilla and Monte Yerga are farmed at altitudes of up to 700m. ‘Location is key for us’ says Bastida, ‘and altitude is even more key, especially in the Mediterranean sector.’ By this he means Rioja Oriental, the reputation of which has come on in leaps and bounds since it changed its name from the somewhat uninspiring Rioja Baja.

Indeed, the contrast between soils, aspects and elevations prompted Bastida’s fertile imagination to create a new duo of wines in 2020: Limite Norte and Limite Sur. The first is from Alta, the second from Oriental, demonstrating how, respectively, a white and a red can be cultivated at the extremities of the elongated and heterogeneous Rioja DO. The inaugural vintage for both was 2017.

Wines with altitude

I tell Bastida that he is clearly the high priest of high-altitude vines in Rioja. He seems happy enough with the compliment, and being Bastida, fluently articulates his passion: ‘I wish for today’s wines to be fresher and to exhibit the parameters which we last encountered a decade ago; they should be lighter in alcohol and more acidic, and the result of slower ripening periods and fewer seasonal imbalances. This can only be achieved by small-sized plots located at altitude, by terraced farming on poorer soils and by increasing microbial matter.’

Back to the future, then, with eyes firmly focused higher up the hillsides. That’s quite a challenge, of course, all the more so when Bastida reveals that the temperatures in 2022 in his 700m Yerga vineyard varied from -4.3℃ in February to a scorching 41.5℃ degrees in August.

Limite Norte and Limite Sur were part of a large tasting at my recent visit to the winery. A generic exploration of the whole range was followed by two verticals of Gran Reserva and Mirto – showcasing the two faces of Ramón Bilbao and running the gamut of creative impetus. Finally, I had a fascinating tour of the Lalomba installation – its environmentally friendly inspiration evident all around – plus a tasting of the extant Lalomba range.

There was even a sneaky preview of some of the winery’s more esoteric experiments, including a sparkling Lalinde and even an Amontillado from 2018. It’s incredible to see where such pioneering work on yeasts and maturation has taken the team; the spirit of oenological self-confidence is hard to miss.

Such a lot to take on board, but such a pleasure. Attention to detail and seriousness of intent are evident all around. Ramón Bilbao is definitely in a good place as it enters its anniversary year. ‘I know that there are much older wineries,’ concludes Bastida. ‘But emerging from humble origins, it is thanks to the work of a visionary entrepreneur that we have come to this significant 100-year landmark, which brings us a deep satisfaction’. He was referring to the winery’s founder, Ramón Bilbao, but the term fits Bastida just as well, possibly even better.

Ramón Bilbao wines to try

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