Belondrade

The arrival of Didier Belondrade was a turning point in the history of the DO Rueda.

After working as communications director of Air France, Didier Belondrade, a Frenchman enamoured of Spain since his high school years, arrived in Rueda in 1994 to found the Belondrade winery. His arrival marked a milestone in the history of the region, for he was the first winemaker to produce a varietal Verdejo wine along the lines of the great white wines from Burgundy. For Mr. Belondrade, the Burgundian approach means two things: first, paying meticulous attention to the particular characteristics of the Rueda terroir; second, vinifiying and ageing the wine on lees in oak barrels, with the aim of producing an age-worthy Spanish white wine capable of developing complexity over the years.

Bodega Belondrade currently owns 40 hectares of vineyards divided into 23 parcels, which are farmed following environmentally-friendly techniques and are certified organic. Sitting at 750 metres above sea level, the soils of the Castilian plateau are composed of, broadly speaking, a first layer of pebble stones which goes 10 to 60 cm deep, a second layer of clay and a deep layer of limestone. The climate is continental, with bitterly cold winters and short, very hot summers, with great temperature differences between nighttine and daytime. Average yearly rainfall is 300-350 mm.

The flagship wine of the Belondrade winery is Belondrade y Lurton, produced from vines over 30 years of age. The entry-level wine, Belondrade Quinta Apolonia, also a varietal Verdejo, is produced from vines around 10 years of age. Besides the Verdejo wines, Didier Belondrade, in collaboration with vineyard manager Macario González Sánchez and oenologist Félix Crespo Álvarez, also produces a young rosé wine named after his daughter, Quinta Clarisa Belondrade, made from a small parcel of Tempranillo.

In 2023, Didier Belondrade expanded his wine portfolio by acquiring the famed Trio Infernal winery from Priorat.