Summary
Pagos del Rey is the northern Spanish wine group of the Solís family, which with Félix Solís Avantis ranks among Spain's largest wine producers. Launched in 2002 with a winery in Olmedillo de Roa in Ribera del Duero, Pagos del Rey today has its own wineries in four of the country's most renowned appellations: Ribera del Duero, Rueda, Toro and Rioja. The focus is on Tempranillo in its regional guises and fresh Verdejo. Wines such as Condado de Oriza, Blume, Analivia, Bajoz and Castillo de Albai are widely available in Spain and abroad – approachable, varietally typical wines at fair prices.
History
Behind Pagos del Rey stands the Solís family, whose company Félix Solís Avantis has its roots in Valdepeñas in La Mancha, where it grew into one of Spain's largest wine houses. In the early 2000s the family decided to make its own wines in the prestigious appellations of northern Spain as well – with the aim of producing quality wines with a personality of their own.
The first step came in 2002 in Olmedillo de Roa in Ribera del Duero. The choice of location was a family matter: the wife of Félix Solís Yáñez comes from the area, and her family owned vineyards there. In 2005 the group entered Rueda by buying the Castillo Mudéjar winery, then just one year old. In Rioja, a large winery was built in Fuenmayor around 2006. Finally, in 2008 the group took over the long-established Viña Bajoz winery in Toro, founded in 1952 as Nuestra Señora de las Viñas, and renamed it Pagos del Rey Toro.
Location & Terroir
The home winery is in Olmedillo de Roa in the province of Burgos, right in the core of Ribera del Duero. The modern building with concrete walls and a sweeping cantilevered roof shields the interior from the summer heat of the plateau. At around 800 metres above sea level the climate is extremely continental: hot days, cold nights and short growing seasons that give Tempranillo – known here as Tinto Fino or Tinta del País – colour, structure and freshness.
The Rueda winery is built of brick in Mudéjar style and surrounded by an olive garden; the region's poor, stony soils are ideal for aromatic Verdejo. In Toro, the winery lies about six kilometres from the town near Morales de Toro in the province of Zamora, where Tinta de Toro – a powerful form of Tempranillo – ripens on hot, sandy soils. Finally, the Rioja winery stands in Fuenmayor in Rioja Alta, close to the Ebro, with views of the mountains of Rioja Alavesa.
Style & Philosophy
Pagos del Rey focuses on regionally typical, approachable wines with a clear varietal profile. The principle: each winery works with the grapes and traditions of its appellation. In Ribera del Duero, Tempranillo reds are made in all the classic ageing categories – from unoaked Joven through Roble and Crianza to Reserva and Gran Reserva. In Rueda everything revolves around fresh, fruit-driven Verdejo, in Toro around dense, powerful reds, and in Rioja around Tempranillo blends with Garnacha, Graciano and Mazuelo, plus white wines from Viura.
Besides its own vineyards, the group works with numerous contract growers in Ribera del Duero who together farm a much larger vineyard area. This allows large volumes with a consistent style – Pagos del Rey sees itself less as a boutique estate than as a reliable producer of typical wines of origin.
Notable Sites & Wines
Rather than individual vineyards, the brands of the four wineries take centre stage at Pagos del Rey:
- Condado de Oriza – the Ribera del Duero range made from Tempranillo, from Joven and Roble to Reserva and Gran Reserva
- Altos de Tamarón – the second major Ribera brand, also varietal Tempranillo in several ageing categories
- Blume and Analivia – fresh Verdejo whites from Rueda; Blume is one of the leading Rueda brands in Spanish food retail
- Bajoz – powerful red wines from Tinta de Toro
- Castillo de Albai, Arnegui and Marqués de Altillo – Rioja wines from the Fuenmayor winery
Awards
According to the company, the Ribera brands Altos de Tamarón and Condado de Oriza alone have won more than 100 medals at national and international competitions; the Castillo de Albai Reserva from Rioja received a Grand Gold Medal. Beyond medals, Pagos del Rey has made a name for itself above all as a wine-tourism destination: the Museo del Vino Pagos del Rey in Morales de Toro, opened in February 2014 in the premises of the old winery, is one of the attractions of wine culture in the Toro region.
