Want to buy a winemaking lifestyle?
Flying in the face of a downturn in the Spanish property market, a Spanish property group is in the process of launching a 200-hectare, vineyard-based housing development, to be offered to buyers in June this year.
By Agencies |
RONDA, SPAIN: Flying in the face of a downturn in the Spanish property market, a Spanish property group is in the process of launching a 200-hectare, vineyard-based housing development, to be offered to buyers in June this year.
The project is the first of its kind and is aimed at buyers seeking the pleasure of owning a vineyard without the responsibility of actually running one.
"We are a bunch of investors and wine lovers who want to do something different," said one of the seven investors, Jorge Viladomiu, who runs Spanish property company, Barcelonesa del Loft.
The 200-hectare (500-acre) development, called La Melonera, is in southern Spain near Ronda, itself near Malaga. The land was originally purchased in 2003, and the investors have spent the last five years getting the property into shape.
"By June we will have spent about 22 million euros landscaping and doing things like finding the right grape varieties and sal So far 13 hectares of vines have been planted with local grape varieties that were in danger of disappearing, Viladomiu said.
"La Melonera, Tintilla, Blasco and Rome, are the local Andalusian varieties that we managed to save -- in some cases there were only a few plants left -- and we are also planting Mediterranean varieties of Monastrill, Grenache and Syrah," he said.
Owners of vineyard estates will be able to supervise the making of their own wines with either the resident Spanish winemaking expert, Jose Luis Perez Verdum, or a guest winemaker who will be chosen each year. The first wines from the development are expected to be produced in 2011.
Prior to the sale of estates in June the investors are currently sponsoring a meeting of international winemakers and critics in Rhonda, which was opened Friday by Britain's Prince Michael of Kent.
The conference theme is whether the increasing quality of wine has resulted in a more standardised, less interesting product.
The project is the first of its kind and is aimed at buyers seeking the pleasure of owning a vineyard without the responsibility of actually running one.
"We are a bunch of investors and wine lovers who want to do something different," said one of the seven investors, Jorge Viladomiu, who runs Spanish property company, Barcelonesa del Loft.
The 200-hectare (500-acre) development, called La Melonera, is in southern Spain near Ronda, itself near Malaga. The land was originally purchased in 2003, and the investors have spent the last five years getting the property into shape.
"By June we will have spent about 22 million euros landscaping and doing things like finding the right grape varieties and sal So far 13 hectares of vines have been planted with local grape varieties that were in danger of disappearing, Viladomiu said.
"La Melonera, Tintilla, Blasco and Rome, are the local Andalusian varieties that we managed to save -- in some cases there were only a few plants left -- and we are also planting Mediterranean varieties of Monastrill, Grenache and Syrah," he said.
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Owners of vineyard estates will be able to supervise the making of their own wines with either the resident Spanish winemaking expert, Jose Luis Perez Verdum, or a guest winemaker who will be chosen each year. The first wines from the development are expected to be produced in 2011.
Prior to the sale of estates in June the investors are currently sponsoring a meeting of international winemakers and critics in Rhonda, which was opened Friday by Britain's Prince Michael of Kent.
The conference theme is whether the increasing quality of wine has resulted in a more standardised, less interesting product.
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