Bodegas Vatan

Bodegas Vatan is a prestigious winery founded in 2008 by Jorge Ordóñez, a visionary vintner and importer dedicated to resurrecting Spain's forgotten terroirs and ancient vineyards. After successfully revitalizing D.O. Toro with the establishment of Bodegas Numanthia, Jorge launched Vatan to focus exclusively on old, ungrafted bush vines, ensuring the region's most historic vineyards continue to produce world-class wines. Today, the estate farms only 50 hectares, crafting three exceptional wines that define the power and elegance of D.O. Toro.

The Toro region has been renowned for its wines since medieval times, praised by kings, poets, and explorers. Its unique sandy soils, deposited over millennia by the Duero River, protected the vines from the phylloxera plague, allowing Toro to preserve Spain's oldest clone of Tempranillo-Tinta de Toro. This indigenous variety produces some of Spain's most intense and complex reds. While many producers have shifted to modern trellised plantings, Bodegas Vatan remains committed to traditional, dry-farmed bush vines, some dating back to 1900. In Toro, Vatan produces three wines that showcase the extraordinary potential of these ancient vines. Triton Tinta de Toro is a youthful expression of the region's historic grape, sourced from ungifted vineyards planted between 1900 and 1962. This wine balances the richness of Toro with fresh acidity and fine tannins, making it one of the appellation's finest values. Vatan is the estate's purest expression of old-vine Tinta de Toro. Sourced from the region's most exceptional ungrafted vineyards, this wine exemplifies the depth, elegance, and power of the appellation. Vatan Arena, the flagship bottling, is crafted from a vine-by-vine selection of Finca los Quemados, a legendary vineyard planted in 1900 in the village of Villaester. Individual plants are hand-selected, harvested separately, and vinified in small 600L open-top barrels with pigeage. The final wine is selected from just eight barrels, resulting in only 2,200 numbered bottles. Arena is one of the few Duero Valley Tempranillos that masterfully balances immense power with refined elegance.

Bodegas Vatan's commitment to preserving Spain's historic vineyards extends to D.O. Rueda, where the estate produces Verdejo from some of the country's oldest, ungrafted vines. Sourcing from the sandy, river stone-laden soils of Santiuste de San Juan Bautista, Vatan focuses on traditional, dry-farmed vineyards resistant to phylloxera. Unlike the bulk production that dominates modern Rueda, Vatan crafts wines with authenticity and age-worthy complexity through sur lie aging and barrel fermentation. Nisia showcases the pure expression of Verdejo from ungrafted vines, offering vibrant acidity, minerality, and depth. Nisia Las Suertes, from the Finca las Suertes vineyard, planted in 1885, is a richer, more structured expression, aged in large-format French oak to enhance its complexity and longevity.

Bodegas Vatan represents Jorge Ordóñez's lifelong passion for Spain's oldest vineyards. By championing ungrafted, dry-farmed bush vines in both Toro and Rueda, the estate produces wines of unparalleled character and depth. From the bold and structured Tinta de Toro wines to the refined, age-worthy Verdejos, Bodegas Vatan stands as a beacon of tradition and innovation in Spanish winemaking.