Vinas Serranas Ciclon Rufete Sierra Francia 2021

Vinas Serranas is a small but mighty Spanish boutique winery that is doing pretty special things with the local variety, Rufete. They make pure, fresh and expressive wines that have similarities to Beaujolais in terms of being light, fresh and fruity with a low alcohol content, and are made with very low intervention from the winemaking team.

The Sierra de Salamanca region has a long history of wine production dating back to Roman times, and used to be one of the many regions in Spain, the area was dominated by large co-ops who sought to make large quantities of industrial wines, not only from indigenous varietals, the big intl’ varietals like Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot for the purpose of selling in bulk.

Unfortunately, because many of the vineyards of the region are planted on steep, hillside, terraced vineyards which are hard to work, these co-ops were not able to compete with cheaper wines made in other Spanish regions. This fact, along with the general move of the younger generation from work in the country to better-paying jobs in cities, meant that much of this wine production fell by the wayside. So much so that as of 2010 there were only five wineries left producing wines in the DO. Nonetheless, the silver lining of this contraction in production in the area is that there are still some old, well-placed vineyards that can be had at semi-reasonable prices. Though probably not for long.