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PORTIA ALTA 2023, A REINTERPRETATION OF RIBERA DEL DUERO FROM AN ALTITUDE OF 900 METRES
Tuesday, November 3th 2026
PORTIA ALTA 2023The latest addition to Martínez Zabala Gallery explores a different way of interpreting Tempranillo through altitude, rigorous grape selection and a distinctive winemaking process.
Bodegas Portia presents Portia Alta 2023, a new limited-edition wine joining Martínez Zabala Gallery. Its grapes come from the winery’s own Tempranillo vineyard, located at an altitude of 900 metres in the heart of Ribera del Duero, where the growing conditions provide the starting point for the entire project.
At this altitude above sea level, growing temperatures are lower, resulting in a slower, more gradual, even and balanced ripening process. Portia Alta is therefore born from a simple yet demanding idea: to start with a vineyard with very specific conditions and guide this raw material throughout the entire process, making decisions designed to preserve its identity.
From every bunch to every grape
To make Portia Alta, the Tempranillo grapes are selected by hand, bunch by bunch, and transported in crates to the winery. There, a second manual selection process takes place, during which every individual grape is inspected and selected before vinification.
Portia Alta ferments in two 3,000-litre concrete egg-shaped tanks. Their distinctive oval shape allows the wine to remain in continuous movement inside the tank, while also keeping its fine lees in suspension. This movement, together with the natural micro-oxygenation that takes place through the concrete walls, helps create a wine with greater volume, texture and elegance, without losing the expression of the grapes.
One of Portia Alta’s most distinctive features is that the wine ferments in two 3,000-litre concrete egg-shaped tanks. As they have no corners, the oval design of these vessels encourages the wine and its fine lees to remain in motion inside the tank.
Portia Alta is then aged for 20 months in 600-litre French oak barrels, selected to continue adding complexity during ageing while ensuring that the influence of the wood does not overshadow the wine’s origin and terroir.
In this way, the key decisions that define Portia Alta can be traced almost all the way from the vineyard to the bottle: a plot located at 900 metres, manual selection bunch by bunch and grape by grape, fermentation in concrete egg-shaped tanks and subsequent ageing in 600-litre French oak barrels.
A new addition to Martínez Zabala Gallery
Portia Alta joins Martínez Zabala Gallery, the most exclusive collection from Familia Martínez Zabala, created to bring together unique and distinctive wines from its wineries. The collection comprises limited editions originating from the family’s own vineyards, made from varieties grown in privileged locations and characterised by distinctive winemaking methods and numbered bottles.
About Bodegas Portia
Bodegas Portia, Familia Martínez Zabala’s winery in Ribera del Duero, is located in Gumiel de Izán, at km 169 of the N-1. The building rises from the surrounding vineyard, maintaining close and respectful contact with its environment.
Beyond the conventional
Bodegas Portia is a unique and pioneering winery in Ribera del Duero. Designed by Foster&Partners, with the support of Familia Martínez Zabala’s technical team, the ingenuity of its construction and design enables the winery to carry out its pioneering wine production and ageing process in a methodical, sustainable and innovative way, producing the finest wines from the excellent vineyards owned by the family.
Explore the extraordinary
Bodegas Portia represents avant-garde design and innovation, with oak, steel and glass — materials used at every stage of winemaking and ageing — systematically incorporated throughout the building. The barrel and bottle rooms extend underground, reducing the building’s thermal mass and enhancing its sustainability.
The architecture of Bodegas Portia invites visitors to enjoy extraordinary experiences as they explore its avant-garde building, entering a world where tradition and innovation, viticulture and technology, winemaking and hospitality are skilfully brought together.
https://visitabodegas.familiamartinezzabala.com
Instagram: @bodegasportia_
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