From the atlas
Sierra de Toloño
At A Glance
Sierra de Toloño is Sandra Bravo’s Rioja Alavesa project, founded with the 2012 vintage. It works certified organic and biodynamic vineyards across Villabuena de Álava, Samaniego, Rivas de Tereso and San Vicente de la Sonsierra; old bush vines, high parcels and modest oak shape reds with fresh acidity and whites with dry, stony lift.
The Producer
Bravo was born in Logroño, with family roots in Rioja and the Basque Country, and returned to Rioja in 2012 after work in Bordeaux, Chianti and Priorat. Sierra de Toloño began that same year, using Tempranillo and Garnacha as its red foundations while older white varieties such as Viura, Malvasía, Calagraño and Rojal keep the white wines tied to local plantings.
The operation remains small in physical terms: in 2024, Bravo owned seven hectares, rented three more and rented the winery. That scattered, compact holding helps explain a range built from village wines, five-parcel whites and individual vineyards rather than one uniform house style.
Place
Rioja Alavesa sits on Rioja’s northern side, where Sierra de Toloño follows vineyards through several villages instead of concentrating on one estate block. Rivas de Tereso supplies Tempranillo from bush vines around 650 metres for Sierra de Toloño Tinto, while Villabuena de Álava supplies Raposo and the five microparcels behind Nahikun Blanco; the place named on each wine points to a different scale of origin.
Higher ground matters particularly for Garnacha. La Dula combines old parcels described at roughly 650–700 metres, where slower ripening supports acidity alongside Garnacha’s red fruit; Tereseño narrows the focus further to a Garnacha vineyard planted in 1944 near Rivas de Tereso.
Soil And Site
The holdings include ochre clay, limestone slabs, marl, sandstone and stony deposits. Those rocky, limestone-rich sites are especially important in Nahikun Blanco’s old-vine parcels, where the grapes are worked by hand and the finished wine carries citrus, white-flower and mineral notes rather than a broad, creamy profile.
Old bush vines also concentrate the range’s geography into small lots. La Dula draws from several mature Garnacha parcels, whereas Camino de Santa Cruz comes from one Tempranillo vineyard; one bottle gathers a wider high-altitude picture, while the other fixes attention on a single site.
Story
Bravo came back to Rioja in 2012 with experience from Bordeaux, Chianti and Priorat, but Sierra de Toloño did not begin with an established winery or a large contiguous estate. The first vintage was made from rented vineyard land, and the project developed through a mixture of owned and rented parcels; that practical structure still appears in wines assembled from small sites across Rioja Alavesa.
Her farming choice is equally central. The vineyards are Demeter-certified organic and biodynamic, and Bravo reports that this work increased acidity while reducing alcohol. In the glass, that stated aim fits wines that favour red-fruit freshness, dry finishes and measured body over long ageing in overt new oak.
Vineyards And Cellar
Fruit is handled with vessel choices matched to the wine. Sierra de Toloño Tinto, a 100% Tempranillo, spends eight months in neutral French oak and is neither filtered nor fined, so the oak supports the fruit without turning vanilla or toast into the main aroma.
For La Dula, spontaneous fermentation proceeds slowly in small foudres at low temperature before ageing in 300-litre amphorae. Large wood and clay avoid a heavy oak imprint, leaving Garnacha’s cherry fruit, floral notes, savoury earth and supple tannin more exposed. Nahikun Blanco also ferments spontaneously, then spends eight months in barrel, gaining pastry-like lees notes around its green apple and citrus core.
Wines
The range moves from regional and village expressions into parcel-specific bottles. Sierra de Toloño Tinto is the direct Tempranillo red: bush-vine fruit from Rivas de Tereso, medium body, red and dark fruit, and tannin shaped by neutral oak rather than sweet barrel spice. Raposo is a Villabuena wine based on Tempranillo with a small portion of Graciano, adding a firmer, more savoury edge to the fruit.
Garnacha carries the higher-site thread. La Dula blends several old parcels, with some Garnacha Gris harvested alongside Garnacha, and brings floral aromas, cherry fruit, acidity and fine-grained grip through amphora ageing. Tereseño takes Garnacha from its 1944 planting into a single-vineyard bottle, while Camino de Santa Cruz does the same site-specific work with 100% Tempranillo fermented in amphora and aged in barrel.
The whites are not an afterthought. Sierra de Toloño Blanco uses Viura that has traditionally grown among red vines, while Nahikun Blanco gathers Viura, Malvasía, Calagraño and Rojal from five old-vine microparcels. The latter’s dry palate, citrus and mineral finish make its mixed planting visible as flavour and texture rather than as a catalogue of grapes.
In The Glass
La Dula opens on flowers and red cherry, then settles into a dry palate with fresh acidity, modest weight and savoury earth beneath the fruit. Slow foudre fermentation and amphora ageing keep the texture present but do not add obvious oak; the finish is carried by fruit, grip and acidity.
Nahikun Blanco runs in the opposite colour register: green apple, gooseberry, citrus and white flowers lead into pastry and mineral notes. Its barrel time adds breadth through the middle, while old-vine fruit and the blend’s acidity keep the finish dry, fresh and lightly chalky rather than soft or sweet.
A Bottle To Understand It
Start with La Dula Garnacha de Altura. It gathers Sierra de Toloño’s old high-altitude parcels into one red, then takes a cellar path that is easy to taste: slow spontaneous fermentation in small foudres, followed by ageing in 300-litre amphorae. Expect floral notes, red cherry, savoury earth, fresh acidity and gentle tannin rather than dark fruit wrapped in new-oak spice. It shows how Bravo uses Garnacha from 650–700 metres to make a Rioja with dry lift and moderate body.
Anecdote
Sandra Bravo returned to Rioja in 2012 after working in Bordeaux, Chianti and Priorat, and began Sierra de Toloño by renting a vineyard. The project’s first vintage was made that year. More than a decade later, the physical arrangement still reflected that starting point: Wineanorak’s 2024 profile recorded seven hectares owned, three hectares rented and a rented winery. The bottles therefore came from a patchwork of small sites rather than a single established estate, including vineyards in Villabuena de Álava, Samaniego, Rivas de Tereso and San Vicente de la Sonsierra.
Final Word
Sierra de Toloño is Rioja seen through small, rocky sites and vessels that leave grape and ground in view. Choose La Dula for high-altitude Garnacha and amphora texture, or Nahikun Blanco for old white varieties, citrus fruit and a dry mineral finish.
Sources
- https://sierradetolono.com/vinedos/
- https://wineanorak.com/2024/03/12/sandra-bravo-is-making-some-of-riojas-most-interesting-wines-at-her-project-sierra-de-tolono/
- https://www.leaandsandeman.co.uk/wine-producer/Sierra-de-Tolono-1733-04.html
- https://sierradetolono.com/
- https://www.decanter.com/wine-reviews/spain/northern-spain/sierra-de-tolono-nahikun-rioja-northern-spain-2023-95386/
- https://www.decanter.com/magazine/the-diversity-of-rioja-in-six-wines-470265/
- https://www.bowlerwine.com/wine-or-spirit/rioja-la-dula-garnacha-de-altura/2023