One of the most advanced wineries in the world is to be found in the D.O. Ca. Rioja: the new Beronia winery. Here, architecture and engineering are 100% sustainable, whilst the building has been designed to be environmentally friendly and blend in with the surrounding landscape and vineyards. This cutting-edge winery is the first in Europe to have gained LEED pre-certification. LEED (Leader in Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Design) accreditation for sustainability is recognised worldwide. It is granted by the US Green Building Council and acknowledges buildings whose design and construction are sustainable and that cause low levels of environmental impact.
Designed to accommodate signature wines, reservas and gran reservas destined for long-term ageing, Beronia’s new winery building blends into the landscape and exemplifies the sustainable approach that has been Beronia’s calling card since its inception. The winery is thus largely buried, making the best use of differences in altitude between the estate’s upper and lower plots. Because the winery will be making use of the force of gravity and the earth’s thermal inertia, it will create less of an impact on the environment whilst saving energy at the same time.
In addition, it will use a geothermically driven structural thermo-activation system that will make use of the natural temperature below ground to regulate the temperature inside the facility and heat or cool water as required at different times of year. This will keep energy consumption down. The technology provides a resilient temperature control system and, because it delivers a stable temperature, affords the best conditions for winery workers and wine tourists and also for making and keeping the wine.
With this project, Beronia has taken a holistic approach to designing a winery, where all its constituent elements affect the development of the wines made there. Machinery, fermentation tanks and barrels plus, of course, the building itself, its location and orientation, the materials used in its construction and the systems it employs are all geared to achieving a single objective: making unique wines that are a faithful expression of this wine-growing region’s terroir.
“Viñedo singular”
Bodegas Beronia has also been classified as a “Viñedo Singular”. Meaning Unique or Unusual Vineyard, this is a new classification granted by the D.O. Ca. Rioja. One of the first to be awarded this title, which recognises small wine-growing estates within the D.O. that have agro-geological and weather-related features that make them different from the others in their immediate area, is Ollauri.
The “Viñedos Singulares” classification constitutes a new designation for wines that display unique features and are made from grapes grown in these vineyards. The wines need to fulfil very strict criteria in order to be granted the classification.
