Why it matters
The producer
Bodegas Viña Ane sits at the gate of its own history. Eduardo Monge and Lorena Garbati founded the winery in 2004 in San Vicente de la Sonsierra, a hilltop village in Rioja Alta on the northern edge of the Ebro valley, beneath the Sierra de Cantabria. The winery operates under the DOCa Rioja classification and produces four red wines and two whites, all sold under the Viña Ane label.
The estate's most important fact is also its most visible one: a 125-year-old vineyard occupies the entrance to the property, planted with heritage white varieties, Viura, Malvasía, Calagraño, and Teta de Vaca, that most Rioja houses had already grafted over or blended into anonymity long before Monge and Garbati arrived. They kept the vines and built around them. The white wine Centenaria is assembled from that old vineyard. The flagship red, Viña Ane Autor, is a Tempranillo from five parcels on clay-limestone soils, aged 11 months in oak and built for cellaring.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
San Vicente de la Sonsierra sits on a limestone ridge above the Ebro, on the northern boundary of Rioja Alta where the Sierra de Cantabria deflects Atlantic weather inland. The foothills of Mount Toloño rise behind the village, and the soils here are predominantly clay over limestone, a combination that drains cold air downward and retains just enough moisture in dry years to support slow, even ripening in Tempranillo.
The altitude and northern orientation keep temperatures lower than the flatter central Rioja floor, and the limestone influence shows directly in the mineral register of wines from this address. In Viña Ane Autor, that limestone hum appears across every documented vintage, not as a marketing claim but as a consistent aromatic and structural signature in the glass.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
The Autor parcels are farmed on clay-limestone soils across five sites around San Vicente de la Sonsierra. No single vineyard dominates; the wine is a village-level assembly, which allows the winemaking to chase a consistent mineral and structural profile rather than the character of one parcel. After fermentation, the wine rests in oak for 11 months: predominantly French barrels, supplemented by 5% Hungarian and 5% American oak. French oak at this ratio supplies vanilla and spice without the more pronounced coconut and dill character of American barrels at higher percentages. The small proportions of Hungarian and American wood add aromatic complexity without shifting the wine's overall profile away from French oak character.
The result across vintages is a wine with firm tannins, enough acidity for extended cellaring, and a mineral finish anchored by the limestone in the soil. The 2021 is expected suitable for cellaring through 2030.
Wines to know
The range in view
Viña Ane Autor is the red that carries most of the documented range character. A purple-black Tempranillo with weight and viscosity on entry, it shows a different face in each vintage while maintaining consistent mineral architecture. The 2016 led with red currant, black raspberry, and anise, then moved to a nutmeg-scented, spicy finish with a limestone hum underneath. The 2019 opened with perfumed raspberry and black cherry, seasoned by baking spice and peppercorns, and finished with firm, fine tannins and an easy lift of acidity. The 2021 showed minerality and toasted notes on the nose, with firm red fruit, plums, and dark cherries driving the palate.
Beyond Autor, the range includes additional reds and the white wine assembled from the estate's 125-year-old heritage vineyard planted with Viura, Malvasía, Calagraño, and Teta de Vaca. Centenaria is not a conventional Rioja white; the grape mix predates the modern DOCa era, and the wine carries varieties rarely seen together in a single bottling in the region today. Individual names for the remaining reds are not confirmed.
A useful way in
A bottle to begin with
Viña Ane Autor is the first bottle to choose. It is a Tempranillo assembled from five clay-limestone parcels around San Vicente de la Sonsierra, aged 11 months in predominantly French oak, with the weight and tannin depth to develop over several years in bottle. In the glass it gives perfumed red and black fruit, firm acidity, fine tannins, and a finish that carries both spice from the oak and a limestone mineral note from the soil. Buy a current vintage and set it aside for three to five years, or open the 2019 now for the fuller aromatic picture.