Spain · Rioja

Marqués de la Concordia Family of Wines

A Rioja-based Spanish wine group centred on its Cenicero winery, where Federico Paternina, Lagunilla and Marqués de la Concordia Rioja-Santiago wines connect historic labels with modern cellar work.

The producer

Marqués de la Concordia Family of Wines works from Cenicero in La Rioja, producing the Federico Paternina, Lagunilla and Rioja-Santiago labels. Its Banda Azul label dates to at least 1896, while the group now also operates in Cava, Ribera del Duero, Rueda and Arribes del Duero; Rioja remains the place to look for Tempranillo shaped through its Cenicero cellar.

Rioja-Santiago Crianza shows the house in a direct style: 100% Tempranillo, stainless-steel fermentation and 12 months in French and American oak. Red fruit and blackberry meet eucalyptus, vanilla and toast; the palate is fleshy, with velvety tannin and a spicy oak finish.

Known for

Rioja Tempranillo, especially the Rioja-Santiago range from the Cenicero winery.

Notable facts

The story

Bankruptcy proceedings in 2024

In February 2024, Wine-Searcher reported that Marqués de la Concordia Family of Wines had entered bankruptcy proceedings. The report described a company that had once been a major exporter and said it had accumulated €64.4 million in debt in 2024. Wein.plus separately reported the insolvency and the decline in turnover, alongside the group’s spread across Rioja, Cava, Rueda, Ribera del Duero and Arribes del Duero. The reports appeared while the company’s Rioja material still described the Cenicero winery as responsible for Federico Paternina, Lagunilla and Marqués de la Concordia Rioja-Santiago wines.

From the atlas

Marqués de la Concordia Family of Wines

At A Glance

Marqués de la Concordia Family of Wines is a Spanish-owned group based at Cenicero in La Rioja. Its Rioja winery makes Federico Paternina, Lagunilla and Marqués de la Concordia Rioja-Santiago wines, while the wider company also works in Cava, Ribera del Duero, Rueda and Arribes del Duero. The useful starting point is Rioja-Santiago Crianza: 100% Tempranillo, twelve months in French and American oak, with red fruit and sweet, velvety tannin.

The Producer

This is not a single-estate Rioja house but a Rioja-based family of labels and cellars. The winery at Carretera de el Ciego in Cenicero turns fruit from Rioja growers into the Paternina, Lagunilla and Rioja-Santiago ranges. Its stated house approach joins Spanish heritage to modern oenological technology, so the bottles carry historic Rioja names while fermentation and ageing are handled with a planned cellar programme.

Place

Cenicero is the group’s Rioja base, but its fruit does not come from one vineyard behind the winery. For the Rioja wines, the company works with local growers in Rioja Alta and Rioja Alavesa, two named parts of the appellation. That sourcing gives the Cenicero cellar access to Tempranillo for wines such as Rioja-Santiago Crianza, while the group’s bottles from Rueda, Ribera del Duero, Cava and Arribes del Duero belong to separate regional stories.

Soil And Site

The Rioja-Santiago Crianza comes from selected hillsides where vines average 20 years old and root into calcareous clay. The producer links those deep roots and the soil to slow maturation, depth and persistence. In the bottle, that site description sits beneath a fleshy Tempranillo palate rather than a light, early-drinking red.

Story

The Paternina name supplies the long line in this portfolio: the producer dates its Banda Azul label to at least 1896. Over time, that Rioja inheritance became part of a group working across five Spanish wine areas and selling beyond Rioja. The result is a range with distinct regional labels rather than one vineyard expression: Cenicero remains responsible for the three Rioja families, while a Rueda operation has more than 100 hectares of its own vineyard.

Vineyards And Cellar

In Rioja, the company says it has developed vineyards for decades with growers in Rioja Alta and Rioja Alavesa. Grapes are pressed into must, then fermentation turns that must into wine; the cellar follows that basic sequence with stainless-steel fermentation and barrel ageing where the bottle calls for it. For the 2023 harvest, winemaker Víctor Pascual identified production control and winery technology as important tools in managing a difficult year, a practical concern when ripeness and healthy fruit need close handling before oak and bottle age can add their flavours.

Wines

The Rioja range is built around three names: Federico Paternina, Lagunilla and Marqués de la Concordia Rioja-Santiago. Within Rioja-Santiago, Crianza is the fruit-and-oak expression: 100% Tempranillo, fermented in stainless steel and aged for 12 months in new French and American 225-litre barrels. Its red fruit, eucalyptus, vanilla and toast sit with sweet tannin and a fleshy body.

Rioja-Santiago Vendimia Seleccionada takes a more selective route. It is also 100% Tempranillo, from selected Rioja Alta and Rioja Alavesa vineyards averaging more than 25 years, hand-harvested in 12-kilogram boxes and made only in years the producer judges exceptional. Eighteen months in medium-toast Allier and Nevers French oak moves the profile towards balsamic spice, a velvety texture and a long finish. Lagunilla Family Collection Reserva provides another named Rioja branch, while Paternina carries the historic Banda Azul connection.

In The Glass

Rioja-Santiago Crianza opens in cherry-red fruit: red berries and blackberry, then balsamic notes and spice. The 12 months in French and American oak bring vanilla and toast, while the palate stays fleshy rather than dry and angular because the tannins are described as sweet and velvety. Eucalyptus lifts the fruit through the middle, and the finish carries the oak-derived spice after the red-fruit flavour has settled.

Vendimia Seleccionada is darker in shape. Its 18 months in medium-toast French oak frame balsamic aromas and spice; on the palate, the wine is velvety, with the balsamic and spicy flavours continuing into a longer aftertaste. It is the bottle for a meal with roast meat or cheese, where its body and oak weight have something substantial to meet.

A Bottle To Understand It

Start with Marqués de la Concordia Rioja-Santiago Crianza. It is a clear Cenicero-made Rioja statement: 100% Tempranillo from selected hillside vines in calcareous clay, stainless-steel fermentation, then a full year in new French and American oak. Expect crisp red fruit and blackberry first, followed by eucalyptus, vanilla and toast. The body is fleshy, the tannins are velvety, and the oak leaves a spicy finish without burying the fruit. It puts the group’s Rioja base, grower sourcing and technical cellar work in one glass.

Anecdote

In February 2024, Wine-Searcher reported that Marqués de la Concordia Family of Wines had entered bankruptcy proceedings. The report described a company that had once been a major exporter and said it had accumulated €64.4 million in debt in 2024. Wein.plus separately reported the insolvency and the decline in turnover, alongside the group’s spread across Rioja, Cava, Rueda, Ribera del Duero and Arribes del Duero. The reports appeared while the company’s own Rioja material still described the Cenicero winery as responsible for Federico Paternina, Lagunilla and Marqués de la Concordia Rioja-Santiago wines.

Final Word

Look for the label, then read beyond it. A Rioja-Santiago Crianza leads back to Tempranillo, calcareous-clay hillsides, Cenicero and twelve months of oak; Paternina leads back to a Banda Azul label documented from at least 1896.

Sources

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