Wine Industry Report

The initiative is supported by the European Optima project, which promotes environmentally friendly buildings that provide significant energy savings.

Martínez Laorden family, owners of the winery by the same name under Rioja appellation, have built Europe’s first bio-climatic winery, with support from the Optima project, which promotes buildings designed to minimise their environmental impact, both in terms of construction and energy use.

Bio-climatic architecture designs buildings in such a way that impact on the surrounding environment is reduced to a minimum, making the best use of existing resources so as to limit water and energy consumption.

Bodegas Martinez Laorden, located in Cenicero, have applied sensible state-of-the-art technology. The semi-emerged construction was build using locally sourced materials and is equipped with solar panels, a natural ventilation system and a water treatment facility that recycles all the building’s waste water for irrigating the building’s green cover.

The winemaking cellar is equipped with small 100 to 250 hectolitre vats, custom build for each of the estate’s plots, so as to preserve their singular character. The ageing cellar holds 1,000 barrels and is designed to ensure a stable temperature.

A number of studies have revealed that eleven litres of water are required to produce a single litre of wine. The water recycling and treatment system installed at the Martinez Laorden winery limits the ratio to six or seven litres, according to the owners. On the other hand, the building’s solar panels generate 35 percent of the electrity used by the winery.

[Source: Wines of Spain]