From the first harvest in 1970 to the leading brand in Rioja
The history of El Coto de Rioja begins with the first harvest in 1970 — at a time when the DOCa Rioja was still far from the international reputation it enjoys today. Six years later, in 1976, the winery opened its production facilities in the small town of Oyón in the Basque Country, in the heart of the Rioja Alavesa. In the 1980s, the house expanded its distribution network, laying the foundation for rapid growth. Demand grew so quickly that the winery had to be expanded several times in the 1990s. By the turn of the millennium, El Coto de Rioja had achieved market leadership in Spain in the Crianza and Reserva categories. In 2004, Finca Los Almendros, with 450 hectares, became the largest single vineyard in the entire Denominación de Origen Rioja.
Vineyard as a source of quality — twelve cellars, one philosophy
El Coto de Rioja is now the largest vineyard owner in the DOCa Rioja: more than 730 hectares of its own vineyards are spread across eight individual sites in all three sub-zones — Rioja Alta, Rioja Alavesa, and Rioja Oriental. One of the most famous sites is Finca Carbonera, the highest vineyard in the entire denomination, which is reserved exclusively for white grape varieties. The grapes are harvested by hand in 350-kilogram crates; a vinification facility was built directly in the vineyard at Finca Carbonera to be able to process the fruit within minutes of harvest.
In the winery itself, El Coto follows an unusual concept: the facility in Oyón is divided into twelve functionally separate units — separate buildings for vinification, blending, barrel aging, bottle aging, and shipping, each with optimized conditions for its step in the process. Vinification takes place in small tanks of a maximum of 50,000 liters; all red wine barrels are renewed annually. Since 2023, El Coto de Rioja has held the "Winery for Climate Protection" (SWfCP) certificate — recognized for measures such as a solar power system, reduction of bottle weight, and more sustainable packaging.
Classic Rioja style, consistently aged in barrels
The stylistic guiding principle of El Coto de Rioja remains the classic Rioja tradition: all red wines are aged in oak barrels; for Crianza, the house goes beyond the prescribed minimum — at least twelve months in wood, followed by another six months of bottle aging before release. The base is almost always Tempranillo, supplemented by Garnacha and other traditional varieties. In the premium segment, the cuvées of the Coto de Imaz line — Reserva and Gran Reserva — stand for longer-aged wines with more barrel depth and structure. For the white wines, El Coto relies on Viura from high altitudes such as Finca Carbonera as well as internationally influenced varieties such as Sauvignon Blanc; a separate winery dedicated exclusively to white wine production was built in Oyón for this purpose. The range extends from fresh Rosado and mineral-lively Blanco to aged Gran Reserva — a broad spectrum that bundles the diversity of the three Rioja sub-zones into one signature style.
