Founded in 1729 by Diego de Alvear y Escalera, Alvear is the oldest family winery in
Andalusia and the second-oldest in Spain. The estate has passed ownership from parent to child for eight generations, maintaining a consistent lineage across time. Farming the famed Montilla vineyard, Alvear is known for its mastery of the Pedro Ximénez grape, with some barrels on site aging over 200 years. With this legacy supporting it, Alvear’s ongoing ambition is to preserve this rich tradition while innovating for the years to come.
SINCE 2018
KEY FACTS CLIMATE: Semi-continental Mediterranean,
with warm, long, dry summers and mild winters; average growing season temperature 70°F (21°C)
VINE: 427 acres (173 ha) across 21 plots are GPE-approved
ELEVATION: 820 - 1,476 feet (up to 650 m)
KEY VARIETALS: Pedro Ximénez
SOILS: Albariza: chalky soil with high limestone
ECO: Integrated viticulture
content, mixed with sand and clay
INNOVATE: Searching for new CLASS: DO Montilla-Moriles
HISTORY Alvear was founded by Diego de Alvear y Escalera in 1729, and is the second-oldest Spanish winery still in operation. In the 19th century, Sabina Alvear Ward discovered the potential of the Pedro Ximénez grape, Alvear’s calling card to this day. Also early in 19th century, cellar master Capataz Billanueva began marking the best casks with his initials “C.B.”, which gave rise to the house style. The Fino C.B. label is the fifth-oldest in Spain still in use and is made from the best P.X. musts. Now in its eighth generation, Alvear continues to produce wines reflective of this long history.
expressions of the Pedro Ximénez grape, while exploring the roots and particularities of Montilla vineyards
SUSTAINABLE VALUES Alvear goes to great lengths to minimize waste in the vineyard and cellar. They have a recycling program on site, and, rather than letting byproducts of vinification go to waste, they sell off lees and skins. Alvear is also in the process of obtaining the “Wineries for Climate Protection” certificate, which is granted by a collaborative group of wineries committed to reducing carbon emissions across the wine industry. Alvear exclusively practices integrated viticulture, and commits to a minimum use of herbicides and pesticides, giving priority to only the most sustainable and ecological practices.
THE FAMILY & TEAM General Director Luis Giménez Alvear, representing the eighth generation of the Alvear family, leads the winery. They are backed by Bernardo Lucena, who has been the head winemaker for last 30 years and who is one of the foremost experts in biological aging in the region. Together they developed legendary wines like Palo Cortado Abuelo Diego, Amontillado Solera Fundación and PX Solera 1830. Since 2019, Alvear winery counts on a refreshing collaboration with Sanlucan Winemaker Ramiro Ibáñez. He is an expert in the terrain of Sierra de Montilla, and participates in the creation of 3 Miradas range of dry white wines.
TERROIR The core of Alvear’s terroir is the Montilla vineyard. Montilla features albariza soil, which is mainly chalky, high in limestone, porous and poor in organic material. While typically lower in yield, the grapes are subject to a longer and more balanced ripening process. Ruedos are patches of red earth with iron salts, where the grapes mature earlier. From the viticultural point of view, Montilla is classified among the warmest in the world during the vegetative cycle. There is little rainfall and high insolation, which affects the development of the vine and its phenological cycle. The Albariza soil’s capacity to retain moisture helps mitigate the lack of precipitation, giving the wines a refreshing mineral-saline character.
VITICULTURE & WINEMAKING MONTILLA VINEYARD The Montilla Vineyard is one of the factors that makes Alvear singular. The Pago de Benavente and Pago de Riofrío are at the highest elevations in the area (2,000 ft.; 610 m) and their parcels have many different orientations. They are planted with head-trained old-vine Pedro Ximénez and short-pruned with a traditional technique called a la ciega. This encourages low canopy growth to shade the ground around the vine. PEDRO XIMÉNEZ The calling-card of the estate, the Pedro Ximénez grape is used to produce Alvear’s wine. Styles range from dry still wines, finos, amontillados, olorosos and sweet wines. The grape has thin skins and high sugar content, permitting the vinification of rich sweet wines, and finos and amontillados without fortification. AGING UNDER A VELO DE FLOR For their fino and amontillado wines, Alvear ages the wine under velo de flor, literally “veil of yeast.” This is a natural biological process whereby a cream-colored cap of yeast indigenous to the region develops on the top of the wine. Alvear’s velo is made of native yeasts, S. Montuliensis and others, also considered an integral part of the terroir of their wines. The velo is even used in their dry white wine range, 3 Miradas, to impart light, yeasty aromas.
To make sweet P.X. wines, the fruit is exposed to the sun after harvest. Grape clusters are spread over plaited grass mats and slowly sun-dried until they become raisins. A dense must is then taken from the crushed raisins, and the subsequent winemaking and aging processes give rise to the region’s much-loved sweet wines.
Singularities of the Winery
How is the terroir reflected in the wines of Alvear? The wines that leave Alvear always evoke the identity of Montilla through: Pedro Ximénez: aromas of pear, apple, fennel, anise Expression of albariza soil: salinity/savoriness and "mineral" freshness, and finer, vertical wines Expression of the velo de flor (yeast veil): strains of native yeasts, S. Montuliensis and others, which are part of the terroir and provide very typical aromas, helping to create the winery style–elegant wines, without strong, pungent aromas, always striving for freshness, more anise and citrus aromas of the PX, and typical aromas of the yeast veil.
Alvear is the oldest winery in Andalusia, and the second-oldest still in operation in Spain. With almost 300 years of history, the winery has treasures such as a solera with an average age of 100 years. They were also the first to champion the versatility of the Pedro Ximénez grape, still a hallmark of the house.
Why is Alvear a Grandes Pagos de España winery? As pioneers of both the Montilla region and the Pedro Ximénez grape, Alvear aims for all of their wines to carry the imprint of their terroir. This and their passion for innovation led them to join other wineries in the pursuit of single-estate quality in GPE.
ALVEAR PORTFOLIO: 3 Miradas Range (Vino de Pueblo, Cerro Franco, Cerro Macho) P.X. de añada, Fino Capataz, Fino en Rama Carlos VII, Oloroso Asunción, Oloroso Catón, Palo Cortado Nº7, P.X. Solera 1927
3 Miradas Vino de Pueblo
P.X. de Añada
DO Montilla - Moriles
DO Montilla - Moriles
Varieties
Varieties
100% Pedro Ximénez
100% Pedro Ximénez
Vinification
Vinification
Fermented in concrete jars and rested up to 8 months with yeast veil
Good to Know Old-vine fruit from pagos Río Frío Alto and Benavente
Sun-dried grapes pressed in traditional vertical press, fortified and rested in concrete cones for at least a year
Good to Know Made with grapes from a single vintage
LEARN MORE ALVEAR Av. de María Auxiliadora, 1 14550 Montilla Córdoba
, ALVEAR.ES @BODEGAS_ALVEAR Contact: Alvaro Ruiz export@alvear.es