Born from a love of good food and fine wine, Bodegas Beronia has become a well-loved brand in the UK. Founded in 1973 by a group of friends from San Sebastián, Beronia was established to produce wines to pair with their gastronomic creations, making approachable wines at affordable prices. The main winery is based in Ollauri in Rioja Alta, with a second winery in Rueda producing solely white wines from Verdejo.
In October 2024, renowned winemaker Matías Calleja stood down after 42 years at the helm of Bodegas Beronia. After working alongside Calleja for over a year, Alejandro López is now winemaker and technical manager in Rioja, while Marian Santamaría continues as winemaker in Rueda, where she has been in charge since the winery opened in 2017.
New team new era: Marian Santamaría and Alejandro López, London, February 2025
During a recent visit to London, the two winemakers shared with me how they have ensured a smooth transition for the brand after Calleja’s long leadership and showed me the two new wines in the UK market: Beronia Barrel-fermented Viura 2023 from Rioja, and Laslías de Beronia 2022 from Rueda.
Sustainability, tradition and innovation
Over four decades, Matías Calleja established himself as an innovative winemaker at Beronia, shaping the style of the brand. He pioneered the use of mixed-oak barrels (made with American oak staves and French oak ends) putting his stamp onto Beronia’s wines in the process.
The Barrel Fermented Viura is the first wine made by Alejandro López and was produced specifically for the UK market
How does López feel about stepping into Calleja’s shoes in Rioja, I ask?
López explains the transition has been a gradual one over the last two years, and the two men had a good number of months working side by side before López took over. He believes the style Calleja created is one which works well for Beronia and sees it as important not to change a recognised style, particularly while things are running so well.
It is helpful that the two share the same vision for the winery: “Matías says that we speak the same language, we have the same philosophy” he says. López shares how he tells Calleja that now he can enjoy the winery, while López himself has the energy and experience to continue the work there. That experience spans over two decades in wineries in Chile, Italy and USA as well as other bodegas in Rioja, and he has been praised as a leading figure and trendsetter in the Spanish wine industry.
López tells me that he sees the three important pillars of Bodegas Beronia as sustainability, tradition and innovation.
Bodegas Beronia - a commitment to sustainability
As part of the González Byass family since 1982, the winery shares the group’s commitment to sustainability. The team at Beronia works proactively on sustainability practices, having won an award for sustainable construction of the winery in Rioja, becoming part of Wineries for Climate Protection, and making concerted efforts to reduce carbon emissions, water use and bottle weights.
The role of tradition is evident in the style of wine Beronia makes, the Rioja region as a whole, their work in the vineyards and the ageing of their wines – producing classically styled Crianza, Reserva and Gran Reserva wines amongst others.
López explains that innovation comes from “how we adapt this tradition to the tools that we have, how we invest in technology to grow in quality.”
This marriage of tradition and innovation to strive for excellence is what stands out at Beronia. The winemakers are experts in producing the classical wines of Rueda and Rioja, but they also go beyond that, with new terroir-focused wines and a drive to always search for fresh ideas. López remarks how consumers, particularly in the UK, are asking for more and says they “want to be able to surprise” with new products.
Currently those new products are Beronia Barrel-fermented Viura 2023 from Rioja, and Laslías de Beronia 2022, a lees-aged Verdejo from Rueda.
The barrel-fermented Viura from Rioja Alta
At the vineyards in Ollauri in Rioja Alta, cooled by the Atlantic but protected from humidity by the Sierra Cantabria, balanced, elegant wines are produced that retain acidity. Although their main production is red wines from Tempranillo, Beronia has always made white wines as well, mainly from Viura.
López likes working with Viura: “it is a wonderful variety because for me it is very plastic… you can drink it in a young wine, a barrel-fermented style… or [one] with a really good capacity for ageing.” He adds, “it’s not sexy, like Sauvignon Blanc or Albariño, but the ageing potential is really good.”
The ageing potential was one of the main drivers for making this barrel-fermented style of Viura. Grapes from old vines from 12-15 different plots are selected. Traditionally Viura was co-planted with Tempranillo in this region, so to use the old vines, they pick by hand across different plots. After maceration and settling, fermentation is in barrels. For vintage 2023 they have used both French and American barrels, 100% new. Bâtonnage is used to add volume to the wine, with the wine staying on lees in barrel for a further 6 months before bottling, and the wine only released after a further 4 months in bottle.
Although the first vintage on the market, this barrel-fermented Viura is actually a revived style that was made by Beronia until the 2000s. When the style became less popular amongst consumers, production was halted, but as they see the popularity of white wines from Rioja increasing again, Beronia has resurrected it from the 2023 harvest.
The lees-aged Verdejo from Rueda
Marian Santamaría and the Laslías de Beronia 2022 - the first time this wine has been made available in the UK
In Rueda, Marian Santamaría has made a premium wine to sit alongside her existing young, fresh style of Verdejo. Laslías de Beronia 2022 is a ‘Gran Vino de Rueda’, a category launched in the region in 2021 in which wines must be made from vines at least 30 years old and be aged for at least a year before release.
Santamaría explains how these wines “change the vision we have of only young wines from Rueda, to wines that have a greater capacity for ageing.”
For Laslías de Beronia, the team selected a parcel of Verdejo vines over 50 years old to harvest by hand and whole bunch press. Fermentation is carried out in two materials: large old French oak barrels of 500L and foudres of 1200L; and concrete tanks.
Santamaría explains that they were looking to make a Burgundian style wine, and Laslías de Beronia sees 9-10 months lees contact, bâtonnage, and a minimum of 6 months in bottle before release. They look to bring out some minerality from the chalk soils in the in the vineyard, something Santamaría thinks blends well with the green, herbal notes of Verdejo.
She works in a reductive manner to enhance this minerality and uses subtle oak so as not to overwhelm the herbal and subtle orchard and stone fruit notes of the variety. The result is a rounded, richer style which contrasts well with the crisp, easy drinking style of the Verdejo 2023. Santamaría is hesitant to say how long the wine could age but remarks that the 2020 vintage is drinking well now, with some positive evolution from time in bottle.
Are there any further projects in the pipeline, I ask?
López shares that they are always experimenting. “I can’t read the future, but we are always working on something. Most of the time it doesn’t work…but maybe one time it works, so we are always looking.”
The Beronia wines are imported and sold in the UK through González Byass
