Bodegas Castillo de Sajazarra
Sazajarra is located around 10 kilometres to the west of Haro, in the most northern part of La Rioja Alta.
At the end of the 1960s, the Líbano family bought the castle in order to rebuild it and make its home there. In its dungeons there were several very ancient parts related to wine, such as wooden tanks and casks, presses etc.
As only they could have done, they started making their own wine inside the castle, first for their own consumption and later as a company, continuing the castle’s centuries-old tradition of winemaking.
The new winery was created in 1973 in the gardens of the castle and in a singularly beautiful setting. The castle, gardens, winery and vineyards form one unit, making what reporters call a “true chateau”, completed by the wall and the Roman bridge.
The philosophy of Bodegas Castillo de Sajazarra is based on four fundamental principles.
1. We are professional vine-growers. We know that the quality of a wine begins in the country, and that is why we are 100% self-sufficient, both in Rioja and in Alella. All of the vineyards are owned by the winery and are cultivated by ourselves. We do not buy grapes or wine. Our maxim is “less technology, more tradition”.
2. The greatest respect for the environment and our product, both inside and outside of the winery. A part of our vineyards is for environmentally friendly cultivation and the rest is managed in an overall production system that keeps the ecosystem balanced and alive. Inside the winery we take the very highest care of our wine. We do not filter, clarify or refrigerate our red wines.
3. We only produce wine of the very highest quality that we are capable of, with the long-term objective of preparing the best wine in the world.
4. We prepare wine with the consumers’ enjoyment in mind, “long draught” wines as we say here, that are easy to drink but also complex and elegant.