Penalba Lopez Cava by Finca Torremilanos

Pablo Peñalba López acquired the Finca Torremilanos estate in 1975 with 60 hectares of vines (now grown to almost 200 hectares of vineyards)—seven years before Ribera del Duero was even recognized as an appellation. He immediately began producing estate-bottled wines of remarkable quality, moving away from the former practice of selling bulk grapes to the local co-op. Pablo continued to develop and showcase the potential of the land across a wide range of soils (sand, rounded river stones, clay, limestone) and exposures.

By the early 2000s, their eldest son, Ricardo, had stepped into his father’s role and began investigating organic and biodynamic farming methods, including returning to horse-plowing, hand picking, and native-yeast fermentation. In 2015 they became the first in the appellation to be Demeter certified. Since 1988 they have even produced their own barrels of French and American oak at their in-house cooperage.