Bodegas y Viñedos Nieva is located in the small village of Nieve (=Snow), in the province of Segovia, Castilla y León. The location of the vineyard’s dates back to the 12th century when the commercialization of its wines began with the rise of the Los Cartujos Monastery in the 12th century, reaching its maximum grape production in the 19th century. Blanco Nieva was founded in 1989 as a project trying to revive the vine growing tradition that existed in this region for centuries. After 20 years working step by step, in 2009, Bodegas MARTÚE, led by Fausto González, joined this project to continue and reinforce this philosophy. Fausto brought in Ignacio de Miguel, a well-known oenologist, who together with winemaker Victor Osorio who is a native of Chile and worked all around the world, oversee the elaboration of the wines using their mutual passion for Verdejo.
The wines are part of the Rueda Denomination of Origin and are made exclusively with the two grape varieties allowed by the D.O., Verdejo and Sauvignon Blanc. The vineyards are some of the highest, and most valued, in D.O. Rueda at an altitude of around 900m ASL. As the name suggests, snow covers the vineyards for most of the cold months due to the high elevation, and the winds from the Guadarrama mountain range to its south-east. The warm months bring dry, plenty of sunny days, with cool nights. It creates optimal conditions for the development of fully ripen berries but packed with freshness & acidity. The Verdejo grape, which dominates the area’s vineyards, lends these characteristics to wines with recognizable minerality, dryness, and floral notes. The soils are sandy with round pebbles, which prevents the phylloxera aphids from spreading and infecting the grapevines. Blanco Nieve has 12 hectares of pre-phylloxera Verdejo vines, some are more then 100yo., which makes for 20% of their total production under the “Pie Franco” label. The resulting wine is less aromatic but with greater complexity. The average age of the remaining vines is 35yo.
In the cellar, their main objective is to preserve the identity of the grape varietals, with minimal interference. Grapes are picked at the peak of their maturity, always at night in order to protect the berries from the harsh, hot sun. The bunches are then placed in temperature controlled stainless steel vats for cold maceration. The alcoholic fermentation last for about 23 days at 13°C, then the wine is left to “rest” on its lees before it’s being clarified and stabilized (at between -4°C - -6°C) in order to avoid future crystallizations. The finished wine is then filtered and bottled.