The Cigales region is well known for its aromatic rosés, but there is one winery whose brand name has become synonymous with them – Bodegas Sinforiano.
So much so that in bars and restaurants around Mucientes, Valladolid, patrons sometimes just ask for a “Sinfo” when ordering a glass of rosé.
With 85% of production dedicated to pink wines, Bodegas Sinforiano is a genuine rosé specialist.
“At Sinforiano, rosé is not a by-product of red wine,” explains marketing and export manager, Ruth Sierra De La Gala. “It is a wine well thought, sophisticated and of indisputable quality.”
The three awards from this year’s Concours Mondial de Bruxelles provide proof of the excellence of the winery’s rosés. Along with two Gold Medals for the 2018 Sinfo and 2018 Raimun, Bodegas Sinforiano received the International Revelation Rosé Wine award for its 2018 Quelías Rosado.
“At Sinforiano, rosé is not a by-product of red wine. It is a wine well thought, sophisticated and of indisputable quality.”
This is not the first time Quelías has been successful. Its first vintage in 2016 won a Gold medal form the Brussels competition. Three years later, the improved 2018 vintage reached the next echelon, winning a Grand Gold medal.
“When we started “designing” the wine, we decided to follow some of the guidelines applied to top red wines: old vineyards, selected plots with certain characteristics, typical soils, low yields, some maturation to increase longevity of the wine and then we added a good percentage of Albillo grapes, which we consider to be the protagonists of Quelías”, recounts Ruth Sierra De La Gala.
The Revelation rosé is blended from 50% Albillo, 30% Garnacha, 10% Verdejo and 10% Tempranillo.
Over the past decade, the winemakers at Bodegas Sinforiano have turned production of rosé into an art form, creating a wide variety of pink wines showing different characteristics. “We have rosés with more layering and extraction to accompany meals; lighter rosés more suited to light-hearted conversation; rosés fermented in barrels, which display many of the qualities of red wines; and very complex, premium rosés for special occasions. In other words, we have a rosé for every taste and every occasion.”
The popularity of rosé in recent years has worked in favor of Bodegas Sinforiano but has also brought new challenges. The winery’s marketing and export manager has seen an increase in sales of pink wines in Spain and foreign markets: “Nowadays practically all wineries that only used to make reds or whites, also produce rosé wines. That is why competition is also stiffer.”
“Wines with a medal sell more than wines without, especially for brands that are not well known.”
One of the marketing tools that Bodegas Sinforiano uses to ward off increased competition is awards: “We have been taking part in Concours Mondial de Bruxelles for over 10 years now. An importer in Belgium drew our attention to it. He believed it was significant for image reasons and for its importance to sales: wines with a medal sell more than wines without, especially for brands that are not well known.”
Bodegas Sinforiano in Mucientes (Valladolid)
The International Revelation Award has had a noticeable impact on the winery’s popularity and on demand:
“Apart from being publicized in several traditional media, news about the award has spread across digital media where the scope is greater and we have received requests for purchases in several countries, both within Europe and outside. At national level it has helped us “push open the door” in areas where consumption of rosé is not very high. But people are beginning to understand that it is a type of wine that must be given a little more attention.”
“Apart from being publicized in several traditional media, news about the award has spread across digital media where the scope is greater and we have received requests for purchases in several countries, both within Europe and outside. ”
In Spain, the 2018 Quelías is available in wine shops, in various El Corte Inglés stores and on their website, as well as on Vinopremier.com.
Abroad, the rosé is sold in Italy, France, Holland, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Bulgaria, Venezuela, Mexico and Canada.