The town of Quel sits in the Cidacos river valley, between the Sierra Yerga and Sierra la Hez mountain ranges, at the heart of Rioja Oriental. Here in the Barrio de Bodegas, wineries have existed since the 18th century, with ancient winemaking caves at the base of the sheer sandstone cliffs, where grapes were gravity-fed from the vineyards above.

Quel has been the home of the Pérez Cuevas family (who established and own Bodegas Ontañón) for generations, and the new Queirón winery is the fulfilment of Gabriel's dream. It has been built around an existing cave, and the 4-level design replicates (in a very modern way) the traditional gravity-flow system that allows a gentle approach to the handling of the grapes at each step.

Established at the start of the new Rioja classification system allowing wines to be labelled according to their origin, their portfolio highlights the winery's heritage, and family's long relationship, with the town of Quel.

Predominantly Tempranillo sourced from several selected vineyard parcels in and around Quel, including: El Poeta, La Bartola and Hoyo Judio. All are at altitudes above 600m - low yielding vines which receive no artificial irrigation. Many are plots of old bush vines.

After three different stages of selection - in the vineyard, at the winery, and a final selection of the berries after de-stemming - there is a period of pre-fermentation maceration for 5 days, followed by a further 18 day maceration at 22-26ºC. Vinification takes place at a new, gravity-fed winery in the centre of Quel with the most up-to-date technology. The wine spends 18 months in new oak barrels (80% French and 20% American) with varying levels of toast. After a further 6 months in large (18,000L) French oak foudres, the wine is stored in the winery's calado (underground cellar) before release.

Keep it simple with a grilled steak or as Conrado suggests, roast lamb.