We are not talking about mass wine when talking about the only Spanish wine that enters the Vatican, although it is surely more than one of them, but the reality is that only one winery (specifically from La Rioja) has the honor of bottling a wine for His Holiness.
Furthermore, it has been doing so since 2001, which was when this religious oenological idyll began with John Paul II, that opened the doors of the Holy See to the Heras Cordón winery, located in Fuenmayor (Rioja Alta).
Thanks to the mediation of Benigno Polo, president of the Castilla y León Wine Academy, this Rioja winery introduces its wine to the Vatican, according to Fuera de Serie, with some 2,000 bottles a year. A pyrrhic amount if we take into account that according to the winery itself, per year they export more than 700,000 bottles to countries as diverse as Malaysia, the Philippines, South Korea, the United States, Mexico or Colombia, as well as numerous countries in Europe.
However, there is no client more special than the Holy Seewhere they entered thanks to the mediation of Polo, who was responsible for choosing the Spanish wines that entered the Vatican cellars, and also through Paloma Gomez Borrero, legendary correspondent in Rome and the Vatican for RTVE, and who, in turn, introduced Polo to this circuit.
The truth is that this family winery entered on the right foot and it was John Paul II who enabled Heras Cordón as official supplier, an honor that also then they also endorsed Benedict XVI and Francisco I, so there are already three popes who have endorsed that this Rioja wine enters their tables.
Like is logic, this wine is not marketed normally. In fact, the label says “no sale” and it shows the name of the pope for whom the wine is bottled, the coat of arms of the pontiff in question and also a legend in Latin, taken from Psalm 88, which pray Misericordias Domini in aeternum cantabowhich would be translated as “I will sing eternally the mercies of the Lord”.
Heras Cordón Selected Harvest Crianza 2018
What is also not known for sure at present is what type of wine is being bottled from Heras Cordón for the Holy See. The last information that echoed Out of series It’s from 2017, when a 2014 crianza was sent made with a blend of Tempranillo, Graciano and Mazuelo, which would be part of the receptions and commitments of the Vatican.
The best recipes of Direct to the palate (Cooking)
In any case, what we do know is that Heras Cordón regularly bottles its Crianza Vendimia Selectada with the same grapes that Vatican wine makes and that, in this case, 2018 is the latest vintage that is for sale and that is surely the wine that is closest to what they enjoy in the Holy See.