Dominio de Es
Dominio de Es is a highly regarded boutique winery in the Ribera del Duero wine region of Spain, specifically in the remote village of Atauta in the province of Soria. It was founded in 2011 by Bertrand Sourdais, a French winemaker from the Loire Valley, who had previously spent many years as technical director at another influential Ribera del Duero estate before creating this personal project focused on expressing the unique terroir of the area.
The estate manages around four hectares of very old, pre-phylloxera vineyards spread across numerous small plots at about 1,000 metres altitude—among the highest in the appellation. The sites are characterised by sandy, calcareous and clay-rich soils and a continental climate with significantdiurnal temperature variation, which together help produce grapes with intense flavour and structure.
Dominio de Es is noted for its organic and biodynamic vineyard practices and minimal-intervention winemaking philosophy, aimed at letting the character of each small parcel really come through in the wines. Sourdais works with his partner Olga Escudero in managing both vineyards and winery, and the estate has pursued formal biodynamic certification.
The winery produces a limited range of deeply expressive wines, often blending Tempranillo (locally called Tinto Fino) with a small amount of Albillo. Its core wine, Dominio de Es Viñas Viejas de Soria, comes from various old-vine plots, while very limited single-vineyard bottlings such as La Diva, La Mata, and more recently Carravilla showcase the distinct soil and microclimate of individual sites.