From the atlas
Bodegas Benjamin de Rothschild Vega Sicilia
At A Glance
Producer: Bodegas Benjamin de Rothschild Vega Sicilia Location: Paraje de San Millán, Samaniego, Rioja Alavesa Wines: Macán, Macán Clásico Grape: Tempranillo (Macán: 100%; Macán Clásico: Tempranillo with Grenache) First Vintage: 2009 Winery Opened: 2017
The Producer
In 2004, Tempos Vega Sicilia, the Ribera del Duero estate that had spent decades building some of Spain's most age-worthy reds, and the Wine Company Barón Edmond of Rothschild, the international wine arm of the French banking family, agreed to build something together in Rioja Alavesa. The partnership released its first wines, Macán and Macán Clásico, in 2009, before the winery they would eventually occupy existed.
The two wines follow the Bordeaux model of a primary and a second release. Macán is 100% Tempranillo, aged 15 months in predominantly new French oak. Macán Clásico blends Tempranillo with Grenache and sees 12 to 14 months in French and American oak before a minimum of 18 months in bottle. Both come from old vineyard plots across five Rioja Alavesa municipalities.
Place
Rioja Alavesa is the northernmost and highest of Rioja's three sub-zones, running along the southern slopes of the Sierra Cantabria in the Basque province of Álava. The mountain range blocks Atlantic weather from the north, and the elevation keeps temperatures cooler than in the broader DOCa Rioja plains to the south and east. Grapes here tend to ripen more slowly and retain more natural acidity, which changes what Tempranillo does in the cellar and the glass.
The estate draws from five municipalities scattered across this sub-zone: San Vicente de la Sonsierra, Labastida, Ábalos, Navaridas, and Elvillar. The vineyards sit on elevated terraces. The soils are gravelly and clay-limestone in composition, draining well and warming slowly in spring, which pushes the vines to root deep and produce concentrated, structured fruit rather than fast-ripening flesh.
The winery itself sits at Paraje de San Millán on the outskirts of Samaniego. Where most traditional Rioja built around American oak and earlier-drinking styles in the valleys below, this estate chose French oak as its primary barrel material for both wines. That choice, combined with the altitude and the slow-draining soils, places the wines at a different point on the Rioja spectrum.
Soil And Site
The 100 hectares of vineyard are spread across the gravelly, clay-limestone terraces that characterise Rioja Alavesa's elevated plateau. Gravel aids drainage; clay and limestone hold enough moisture for the vine through dry summers without forcing excessive vigour. Old vines on these soils produce smaller yields with thicker skins, which translates to deeper colour, firmer tannin, and more concentrated dark fruit in the finished wine.
The altitude across the five municipalities keeps night-time temperatures low during the growing season. That temperature variation between day and night preserves aromatic compounds and acidity in the grapes, giving the wines freshness and length that broader Rioja at lower elevation does not always achieve.
Story
The partnership agreement in 2004 was followed by several years of vineyard identification and acquisition across Rioja Alavesa. By 2009, the estate had secured approximately 100 hectares of old Tempranillo plots and released the first Macán and Macán Clásico from that harvest. The wines went to market without a dedicated winery: production was carried out in existing facilities while the permanent home was planned.
In 2015, construction began on a purpose-built winery at Paraje de San Millán, Samaniego. The project, designed by architect Enrique Johansson and reported to have cost 24 million euros, was completed by 2016 and inaugurated in 2017. Eight years of commercial releases had already established both wines before the estate had its own cellar.
The name Macán references the Macanés, a pre-Roman people associated with the San Vicente de la Sonsierra area. Two dynasties with roots in Valladolid and Paris chose to label their wines after an ancient local people rather than after either founding family or either founding estate. That decision put the name Macán on the bottle from the first vintage.
Vineyards And Cellar
Vineyard selection across the five municipalities focuses on old plots with established root systems. Old vines in these conditions naturally restrict yield, and restricted yield in clay-limestone soils concentrates flavour in the fruit without extracting aggressively during winemaking.
For Macán, the cellar work centres on 15 months in extrafine and fine-grain French oak, with the majority in new barrels and the remainder in one-wine barrels. New French oak at this level adds a cedar and spice framework to the wine without pushing the fruit aside, and the fine grain of the wood means tannin extraction from the oak itself is measured. The wine reaches 14 to 14.5% ABV.
Macán Clásico spends 12 to 14 months in new and second-year French extrafine-grain oak, with a proportion of single-use American oak barrels from Vega Sicilia also used. The American oak contributes a softer, slightly vanilla-edged texture that separates the second wine's character from the more austerely French profile of Macán. A minimum of 18 months in bottle follows before release.
Wines
Macán is the estate's principal release, made from a selection of the best old-vine Tempranillo plots across the five municipalities. Aged 15 months in predominantly new French oak and bottled between 14 and 14.5% ABV, it carries enough tannin and acidity from the Rioja Alavesa terraces to reward cellaring. Across recent vintages it moves between dense and immediately generous (2020) and firmer, more reserved expressions that need time (2019). The 2018 sits between those poles: vibrant and more subtly drawn, with the underlying dark fruit held back by acidity rather than tannin.
Macán Clásico uses Tempranillo as the base but adds a proportion of Grenache, which softens the mid-palate and adds a rounder, fruit-forward character. Shorter time in oak (12 to 14 months), a mix of French and American cask, and extended bottle ageing before release mean the wine arrives with less austerity than Macán. The 2022 is juicy and generous; the 2021 is livelier and fresher. Both carry a declared ageing potential of 10 to 15 years under proper storage, which makes the Clásico more flexible across cellar strategies than its second-wine positioning suggests.
In The Glass
Macán opens with dark cherry, dried herbs, and a trace of cedar from the French oak, the kind of nose that points at altitude and old vines rather than at winemaking additions. On the palate, the wine is dense through the centre, with firm, even tannin and enough acidity to keep the finish from becoming heavy. The oak framework is present but not primary. Younger vintages can feel closed for the first year or two after release; the 2019, with its brooding, full-bodied character, rewards decanting or another three to five years in the cellar. The 2020 is more open and immediately satisfying.
Macán Clásico is softer in its opening movement. The Grenache in the blend pushes red fruit and a lighter floral note forward, and the American oak adds a gentle vanilla background, and the wine is approachable from release. The mid-palate is rounder, the tannin less insistent, and the finish shorter than Macán's, but the acidity from the Alavesa terraces is still present and keeps the wine from feeling flat. The 2022's juiciness and the 2021's brightness both suggest the wine is best in its first five to eight years.
A Bottle To Understand It
Start with Macán Clásico. It gives the Rioja Alavesa terroir and the Bordeaux-model cellar approach in an accessible form: Tempranillo with a proportion of Grenache, 12 to 14 months in French and American oak, and at least 18 months in bottle before release. The Grenache lifts the red fruit, the American oak adds texture without overwhelming the wine's grip, and the acidity from the elevated sites holds everything in line through the finish. It is ready to drink on release but built to develop over a decade. At the Clásico level, the estate's approach to Rioja Alavesa becomes clear without the additional commitment the Macán demands.
Anecdote
The winery at Paraje de San Millán was inaugurated in 2017. Macán and Macán Clásico had already been on the market for eight years. The partnership between Vega Sicilia and the Barón Edmond de Rothschild family had agreed terms in 2004, spent several years identifying old Tempranillo plots across five Rioja Alavesa municipalities, and put both wines from the 2009 harvest into the world before a single stone of the eventual winery was laid. Construction did not begin until 2015, at a reported cost of 24 million euros, to plans drawn by architect Enrique Johansson. By the time the building opened, the wines had already found their market, gathered their first reviews, and established the name Macán in Rioja without a home to point visitors toward.
Final Word
Macán and Macán Clásico are what happens when two houses with long memories choose to work in a sub-zone they do not come from. The French oak, the Bordeaux-model range, the architecture of the winery, and the old-vine Tempranillo from Alavesa's gravelly terraces all point in the same direction: Rioja made with deliberate distance from the region's sweeter, American-oak traditions. Whether that distance is interesting to a buyer depends on what they want from Rioja. If it is the classic coconut-and-vanilla register, Macán is not the place to look. If it is Tempranillo pressed through altitude, clay-limestone, and predominantly new French oak, it is.
Sources
- https://www.temposvegasicilia.com/en/wine/231/macan
- https://riojawine.com/en-us/bodegas-rioja/bodegas-benjamin-de-rothschild-vega-sicilia-macan/
- https://spanishwinelover.com/winerie/benjamin-de-rothschild-vega-sicilia
- https://macan-wine.com/en/wines/macan-clasico/