Why it matters
The producer
Bravo was born in Logroño, with family roots in Rioja and the Basque Country, and returned to Rioja in 2012 after work in Bordeaux, Chianti and Priorat. Sierra de Toloño began that same year, using Tempranillo and Garnacha as its red foundations while older white varieties such as Viura, Malvasía, Calagraño and Rojal keep the white wines tied to local plantings.
The operation remains small in physical terms: in 2024, Bravo owned seven hectares, rented three more and rented the winery. That scattered, compact holding helps explain a range built from village wines, five-parcel whites and individual vineyards rather than one uniform house style.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
Rioja Alavesa sits on Rioja’s northern side, where Sierra de Toloño follows vineyards through several villages instead of concentrating on one estate block. Rivas de Tereso supplies Tempranillo from bush vines around 650 metres for Sierra de Toloño Tinto, while Villabuena de Álava supplies Raposo and the five microparcels behind Nahikun Blanco; the place named on each wine points to a different scale of origin.
Higher ground matters particularly for Garnacha. La Dula combines old parcels described at roughly 650–700 metres, where slower ripening supports acidity alongside Garnacha’s red fruit; Tereseño narrows the focus further to a Garnacha vineyard planted in 1944 near Rivas de Tereso.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
Fruit is handled with vessel choices matched to the wine. Sierra de Toloño Tinto, a 100% Tempranillo, spends eight months in neutral French oak and is neither filtered nor fined, so the oak supports the fruit without turning vanilla or toast into the main aroma.
For La Dula, spontaneous fermentation proceeds slowly in small foudres at low temperature before ageing in 300-litre amphorae. Large wood and clay avoid a heavy oak imprint, leaving Garnacha’s cherry fruit, floral notes, savoury earth and supple tannin more exposed. Nahikun Blanco also ferments spontaneously, then spends eight months in barrel, gaining pastry-like lees notes around its green apple and citrus core.
Wines to know
The range in view
The range moves from regional and village expressions into parcel-specific bottles. Sierra de Toloño Tinto is the direct Tempranillo red: bush-vine fruit from Rivas de Tereso, medium body, red and dark fruit, and tannin shaped by neutral oak rather than sweet barrel spice. Raposo is a Villabuena wine based on Tempranillo with a small portion of Graciano, adding a firmer, more savoury edge to the fruit.
Garnacha carries the higher-site thread. La Dula blends several old parcels, with some Garnacha Gris harvested alongside Garnacha, and brings floral aromas, cherry fruit, acidity and fine-grained grip through amphora ageing. Tereseño takes Garnacha from its 1944 planting into a single-vineyard bottle, while Camino de Santa Cruz does the same site-specific work with 100% Tempranillo fermented in amphora and aged in barrel.
A useful way in
A bottle to begin with
Start with La Dula Garnacha de Altura. It gathers Sierra de Toloño’s old high-altitude parcels into one red, then takes a cellar path that is easy to taste: slow spontaneous fermentation in small foudres, followed by ageing in 300-litre amphorae. Expect floral notes, red cherry, savoury earth, fresh acidity and gentle tannin rather than dark fruit wrapped in new-oak spice. It shows how Bravo uses Garnacha from 650–700 metres to make a Rioja with dry lift and moderate body.