Dominio del Pidio - Ribera del Duero 2021

1073, thanks to the donations of knights like El Cid Campeador (The Lord Champion), who hands over lands and vineyards in exchange for prayers, Domingo de Silos makes the monastery become more and more important. After his death and canonization, he is buried in the cloister of the abbey, which is renamed Monastery of Santo Domingo de Silos.

1080, the Castilian Muño Sánchez de Finojosa dies together with seventy knights battling the Muslims in the fields of Almenara. That same day, the Patriarch of Jerusalem testifies that Don Muño and his knights’ souls have appeared in the Holy Sepulchre. According to legend, in this way they fulfilled the promised pilgrimage which they did not manage to make while alive.

Don Muño is buried in the cloister, becoming the only layperson known so far buried next to a saint in such a significant monastery. The ceremony and burial were paid by a Muslim called Albadil, whose life Don Muño had spared.

In the 12th century, the Castilian King Alfonso VIII hands over a quintana (group of country houses), in La Ribera located eight leagues away from the monastery, to the Silos monks in exchange of their property in Tordesillas. This place turns out to be valuable for only one reason: its vineyards. Then, it becomes the monks’ winery. At the beginning, it is known as Arpidio, name of its ancient owner, but with time, the village is renamed Quintana del Pidio.

By the 16th centruy, the demand for wine from Quintana del Pidio is continuously increasing. Therefore, a whole area of the village is formed for winemaking. Its inhabitants dig into the land and build a lot of lagares (underground wine presses), creating a real village underground. On the surface, there are as many as 60,000 vines.

In the 19th century, the Mendizabal’s disentailment forces the monks to abandon the monastery and most of their artistic and documentary riches are plundered. For the first time in nine centuries, the monastery is dissociated from Quintana del Pidio and its cellars. Five decades later, a new community of Benedictine monks coming from the abbey of Ligugé, settles in the monastery, which prevents it from disappearing. Since the beginning of the second life of the monastery, Silos is constantly growing in importance as historic and cultural heritage. During one visit, the poet Gerardo Diego writes what is considered by many people as the best sonnet of the Spanish literature: ‘The Cypress of Silos.’ The number of visitors keeps increasing, attracted by the cloister, one of the universal Romanesque gems, and the Gregorian chants of its monks, which make the monastery famous worldwide. The bond with Quintana del Pidio is also recovered, a village which becomes more important thanks to the opening of new wineries like Cillar de Silos.

Aware of all the ups and downs of the history, the Aragon brothers felt they should be loyal to their legacy and therefore decided to restore the ancient cellar’s neighbourhood of Quintana del Pidio dated from the 16th century. By restoring the oldest winemaking underground complex in Spain, they have tried to recover the essence of what it was, for a thousand years, a cellar that supplied wine to all kinds of historic figures. A wine that has accompanied legends and immortal experiences. Its name: Dominio del Pidio.

Alcoholic fermentation in cement and ageing in 228 and 500 litres French oak barrels for 16 months.

Producer: Dominio del Pidio

Country: Spain

Region: Castilla y León

Varietal: Tempranillo

Appellation: Ribera del Duero

Vintage: 2021

Size: 750ml