In French-speaking Europe, the name Cordonnier is intrinsically linked to wine both in the distribution business in Belgium and in winemaking in Bordeaux through châteaux like Saint Aubin, Dutruch Grand Poujeaux and Béard. A new face in Rioja, Etienne Cordonnier has extensive experience as a wine merchant in the Belgian market with some Spanish wines in his portfolio and a clear understanding of what a great wine is. His mother’s surname though is Leizaola —in fact Etienne is the grandson of Jesús María Leizaola, the second president of the Basque Government in exile.
Willing to recapture his Basque roots, in 2011 he had the opportunity to buy a vineyard in Laguardia (Rioja Alavesa) that met his quality requirements. “Great wines come from very special places, often from areas with geological breaks; drainage and balance are also key issues”, says Cordonnier. His 2.5Ha of Tempranillo bush vines are planted on clay-limestone soils at 520m of altitude and have a great story behind. Called El Sacramento (the sacrament), Etienne thinks it might have been owned by the Blessed Sacrament, a brotherhood which is officially recognized to have made wine locally in the 17th century.
The name and the classic, serious label displaying the coat of arms of the Leizaola family fit well with Etienne’s background and his passion for fine wines, notably fine red Bordeaux.
Cordonnier has been able to buy vineyards and land adjacent to El Sacramento where he has new plantings of white and red Garnacha, Graciano, red Maturana and white Tempranillo. He is particularly proud of a tiny 100-year-old plot: some of its vines were re-planted following the old tradition of burying one arm to obtain a new plant. These are set to be used for masal selections.
So far Cordonnier has gathered 13.5Ha, 10 of which are under vine. He is busy building a winery in the middle of his vineyards with capacity to make wine from around 20Ha and equipped with concrete vats to ferment and store wine.
In contrast with the Burgundy-inspired philosophy of working different vineyards separately and producing very limited quantities of wine, Cordonnier wants to build a brand with considerable stock availability. He firmly believes that 5% of something really good can change a wine. That’s why he makes just one wine —his first vintage was 2011— and expects to be able to produce 60,000 bottles in the future. El Sacramento costs around €40 and it may actually be easier to buy it in Belgium than in Spain. Tempranillo is blended with a variable amount of Graciano —ranging from 4% to 10% in the difficult 2013 vintage which is nevertheless finely textured. The forthcoming 2014 vintage is perhaps the most accomplished so far given Etienne’s early-picking philosophy that allowed him to avoid most of the rains that notably complicated the harvest that year.
