Finca Vistahermosa
Valle de Ocón • Rioja Oriental
Location: Valle de Ocón
Village: Sierra de la Hez
Appellation: Rioja Oriental
Climate: Continental, Mediterranean
Elevation: 560m to 760m
Soils: galets, sandy-loam, ferrous clay
Vineyards: Approx 5ha
Farming: Certified Organic, Regenerative
Varieties: Garnacha Tinta, Tempranillo, Graciano, Viura, Malvasía, Garnacha Blanca, Maturana Blanca, Tempranillo Blanco, Sauvignon Blanc, Verdejo
Cellar: Hand harvested, Native yeasts, minimal intervention, low SO₂, large barrels, concrete, long aging
Proprietors: Clara Herrero & David Inchaurraga
Viticulture: Juan Antonio Blanco
Winemaker: Clara HerreroFinca Vistahermosa captures everything we love about the new generation of Rioja. A remarkable landscape, historic vineyards, and thoughtful people working with curiosity and conviction to reveal the true character of their place.
The estate is located in the Valle de Ocón, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in the foothills of the Sierra de la Hez mountains in eastern La Rioja. Just 35 kilometers from Logroño, the property sits between 500 and 1,338 meters in elevation and is surrounded by forests of pine and holm oak. Wildlife is abundant, biodiversity is extraordinary, and the views stretch across much of the Ebro Valley.
At the center of the project are Clara Herrero and David Inchaurraga, a husband-and-wife team originally from Madrid who traded city life for a long-term commitment to the Rioja countryside. Their energy, humility, and willingness to challenge convention have made them part of a growing movement of producers redefining Rioja through site-specific farming and a renewed focus on terroir regenerative farming. First and foremost, Clara and David are enthusiastic winelovers who exude positivity and great vibes, which transmits directly into their Conversa wines.
The story began in 2003 when Clara's father and native Riojano, José Ramón Herrero, purchased the property that he had admired for more than twenty years. José asked his children who would take on the project and Clara, then a 28-year-old forestry engineer, embraced the challenge and continued her studies in viticulture and oenology at the University of La Rioja. What she inherited was not a winery, but a remarkable piece of land and history: old vineyards, extensive forests, and enormous potential.
“Because we sensed that when roots are deep, wine is deep too, we manage the estate as a complete ecosystem: vineyard, Mediterranean woodlands, crops and biodiversity.”
Today, Finca Vistahermosa is a model of regenerative viticulture and agroforestry. The 400-hectare property includes 237 hectares of pine and holm oak forest, cereal and legume crops, and 163 hectares of vineyards, most of which are leased to and farmed by other famous Rioja names. The farming for Vistahermosa is certified organic, entirely dry-farmed, and supported by indigenous cover crops that encourage biodiversity, healthy soils and deep root development.
The vineyards are planted between 560 and 760 meters above sea level, where cooler temperatures preserve freshness and acidity rarely found elsewhere in Rioja. The estate cultivates ten varieties, including Garnacha Tinta, Tempranillo, Graciano, Viura, Malvasía, Garnacha Blanca, Maturana Blanca, Tempranillo Blanco, Sauvignon Blanc, and Verdejo.
Most significant is the estate's old-vine Garnacha. Finca Vistahermosa is home to the largest reserve of old-vine Garnacha in La Rioja, including 85 hectares of bush vines planted in 1974. Garnacha from nearby Tudelilla has long been prized as one of Rioja's finest sources of age-worthy fruit, and these vineyards are among the region's most important.
The combination of altitude, a cooler-than-expected climate, and distinctive sandy-loam soils with clay, low pH, and abundant surface stones creates ideal conditions for Garnacha. Vine roots have been recorded extending more than four meters (13 feet) into the ground, allowing the vines to thrive without irrigation while producing wines of remarkable freshness, depth, and balance.
“We want our old vines to still be alive fifty years from now. But we also want something simpler: that when someone opens one of our bottles, they say, ‘It feels so good to have chosen this wine.’ Because wine is not made to impress, it is made to be shared.”
Finca Vistahermosa occupies a unique position within Rioja. While the estate produces its own wines, its primary business is growing grapes for some of the region's most respected wineries. Rather than selling fruit by weight, vineyards are allocated by hectare, allowing clients to work closely with specific parcels throughout the growing season.
The model has been enormously successful. The estate commands grape prices roughly double the Rioja DOCa average and supplies fruit to producers including Álvaro Palacios, Roda, Baigorri, Muga, Izadi, Marqués de Vargas, and Barón de Ley.
For years, however, Clara and David felt that the story of the vineyard itself was missing.
“For years we sold our grapes to some of Rioja's most prestigious wineries, but we realized that if no one told the vineyard's story, the landscape would disappear from the narrative. So we decided to make our own wines. We left Madrid and moved permanently to La Rioja. That's how Conversa and Cuesta de la Estrella were born. Small productions, minimal intervention, absolute respect for each vintage. We don't aim to make complicated wines, we aim to make honest wines. Transparency builds trust.”
Today, Clara and David farm approximately five hectares for wines bottled under the Finca Vistahermosa label. Produced in a small winery located within the vineyard, the wines are made with spontaneous fermentations, indigenous yeasts, minimal intervention, and very low sulfur additions. Aging takes place primarily in French 1,000-liter tinas, 500-liter bocoys, 2,500-liter oval foudres, and concrete tanks, with most wines spending around two years in élevage before release.
The Conversa range includes a blanco, rosado, and tinto, named for the conversation between grower and landscape and the conversations wine inspires around the table. Conversa Blanco is a distinctive skin-contact wine made from Garnacha blanca, Maturana blanca, and Sauvignon blanc that reinterprets Rioja's white wine traditions through a modern lens. It is easily one of most compelling skin-contact wines produced in Rioja. Conversa tinto comes from a single parcel of old Garnacha tinta planted en vaso in 1974 at 680 meters and is vinified with gentle extraction to preserve freshness, energy, and drinkability. Conversa tinto is juicy and medium-bodied with violets and cherries on the nose and mouth watering acidity and a savory Mediterranean imprint that goes perfectly with food. It’s a wine that you can think about, or just enjoy with friends; perfectly capturing the spirit of Garnacha tinta from the foothills of the Sierra de la Hez.
The flagship wine, Cuesta de la Estrella, is a Vino de Pueblo sourced from a single one-hectare parcel of Garnacha tinta planted en vaso in 1974 at 670 meters. Powerful yet refined, it demonstrates the extraordinary potential of old-vine Garnacha from this corner of Rioja and promises to improve for decades in bottle. Future releases will focus on singular expressions of Maturana Blanca and Graciano, two indigenous varieties that Clara and David are especially passionate about.
The Valle de Ocón and Sierra de la Hez represent one of Rioja's most distinctive emerging subregions, and Clara and David are among its most important advocates. We are proud to be their first U.S. import partner and look forward to sharing their wines, their landscape, and their vision with a wider audience of wine and food lovers!
The Wines of Finca Vistahermosa
Conversa Blanco Valle de Ocón Rioja Oriental
Conversa Tinto Valle de Ocón Rioja Oriental
Cuesta de la Estrella Valle de Ocón Rioja Oriental
