Dominio de Tares
The winery that put El Bierzo on the map.
Founded in 2000 by a group of Spanish investors, bodega Dominio de Tares has been one of the main
forces behind the rediscovery of El Bierzo, a region in the northern Spain province of León that, in less
than two decades, has gone from being almost totally unknown to becoming famous worldwide.
Located around the village of Bembibre, in the area known as Bierzo Alto, at an average altitude of 600
metres, Bodega Dominio de Tares has around 30 hectares of sloped vineyards with slate and gravel soils,
planted mainly with old vines 40 to 90 years of age. The winery sources the rest of the grapes from a
group of trusted local grapegrowers, who own 30 hectares of vineyards in the Bierzo Bajo region, near the
villages of Valtuille de Abajo and Villadecanes.
As regards grape varieties, Dominio de Tares winery was instrumental in recovering the Mencía variety -
currenly one of Spain's most prestigious indigenous grapes - for quality wine production. The main white
variety from El Bierzo is Godello, which has shown the potential to become one of Spain's signature
white grapes.
Made by winemaker Rafael Somonte, the wines of Dominio de Tares are typically vinified in stainless
steel tanks and matured in French and American oak barrels. The company's flagship product is the red
wine Dominio de Tares Cepas Viejas, which almost single-handedly put the Mencía variety and the
Bierzo region on the world map of quality wine in the early XXIth century. Speaking of Mencía, the red
wine Bembibre, sourced from the oldest estate vineyards, is an imposing, mighty expression of El
Bierzo's flaghip variety.
Besides the Bierzo project, the Dominio de Tares winery makes wines from Prieto Picudo in the Los
Oteros region, VT Castilla y León. Native to the León region, the strong personality of the Prieto Picudo
variety is best exemplified by the powerful red wine Cumal. The range was previously sold under the
Dominio Dostares brand.
The yearly production of Bodega Dominio de Tares is around 400,000 bottles.
- Year of foundation: 2000
- Address: Los Barredos, 4
- City: San Román de Bembibre
- Province: León
- Zip code: 24318
- Country: Spain
- Phone number: +34 983 870 037
- Dominio de Tares
- Guided visits? Yes
- Wine tourism services? No
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