Ribera del Duero con boast of a relationship
of more than 2000 years with the grape and wine: witness the
mosaics of the Roman Villa in Baños de Valdearados
which are dedicated to the God Bacchus. Many other villas
with illustrations depicting typical Roman agriculture exist
in Ribera in country estates where the grape was the most
important crop due to the suitability of our soil and climate,
and our area of Villalba de Duero is no exception as it incorporates
the Roman word “villa”:… other evidence
is found in terms such as “to pay the Quintanilla”.
The vine acquired great importance in the
repopulation of this area of the Duero valley from the Moors
by the Spanish in the 11th Century. The principal instigators
were the Cistercian and Cluniac monks who
brought Burgundy and Bordeaux varieties to our region, planting
their vineyards under divine protection in the Monastery of
Our Lady of the Vine, the most important monastery in the
Burgos area or the Ribera.
This historical link between the Ribera and
the vine is present everywhere with its special features of
wine presses to produce the wine and underground cellars for
its conservation in and around the city centres. In our area
there are 30 wine presses and many more cellars developed
through the centuries in the hill of San Pedro.
The township of Villalba
de Duero is situated on the right bank or the River
Duero with its typical characteristics of a wood parallel
to the river, a flat, fertile, irrigated plain where cereal
is cultivated and the gentle slopes where cereals alternate
with vineyards surrounded by large pine and oak forests..