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In ancient times, men sought answers to the facts of nature that seemed inexplicable to them, through stories in which gods, heroes and fantastic beings were protagonists. These stories passed from parent to child orally and governed their behaviors, their lives, and their destinies. We call these legends MYTHS.
King Minos, powerful monarch of Crete, son of the god Zeus and of Europe, is punished by Poseidon, the god of the sea, for his pride and his greed, with the birth of the Minotaur, a creature born from the relationship between his wife and a White bull. This is how the Minotaur was born, a fantastic and horrible being, cruel and bloody, with the body of a man and the head of a bull.
In front of the figurative scene of the Cretan labyrinth, the visitor can unroll the ball that Ariadna gave to Theseus to end the Minotaur.
Following the beautiful legend, passing the thread through the corners where each wine sleeps and relating them to the culture in that have been created, until reaching the jewel in the winery's crown: the Yllera Dominus.
In front of the figurative scene of the Cretan labyrinth, the visitor can unroll the ball that Ariadna gave to Theseus to end the Minotaur.
Following the beautiful legend, passing the thread through the corners where each wine sleeps and relating them to the culture in that have been created, until reaching the jewel in the winery's crown: the Yllera Dominus.
The Yllera Group, with the recovery of this space, pays tribute to the unique and admirable cultural heritage of the town of Rueda in its traditional underground cellars. Likewise, it recreates the birth of Europe in Crete and, with it, the first winery on the continent in the labyrinthine palace of King Minos. It is the starting point for a journey through a maze full of stories to be heard, and wines that are waiting to be tasted by its visitors.
We can affirm that the origin of European culture is Crete. Crete marks the beginning of the arts and techniques, philosophy, theater, mathematics, poetry, history, politics, oratory... The importance of this island begins in the dissemination of its knowledge throughout Europe. And although the origin of the wine is located in the East, it is thanks to the Minoan culture (derived from King Minos, King of Crete) that the cultivation of the vine, its knowledge and the consumption of the precious broth spread through the Mediterranean Sea.
The vines, together with the olive groves and the wheat fields, cross the Mediterranean Sea, from where the sun rises in Greece to its sunset in Iberia. The bubbly and wavy character of our progenitor sea suggests that we present sparkling wines as the start of the maze and a joyous welcome.
Cruel tribute paid by Athens to Crete, seven young men and seven maidens were introduced into the labyrinth where the Minotaur devoured them.
The purity, youth, beauty, sharpness and fragility of these maidens symbolize white wine, represented by the Verdejo variety, a prodigious grape that makes Rueda its capital.
Son of Daedalus, the Athenian builder of the labyrinth. Icarus is a young rebel, imprudent and reckless, wanting to fly high but with an early death.
It symbolizes rosé wines, young and fresh wines, difficult to classify, but with a short life due to its rapid oxidation.
Towards the middle of the labyrinth are the wines of the Ariadne thread.
The figure of Daedalus, builder of the labyrinth, as the viticulturist and the enologist who elaborates his wines putting all his effort and enterprising work, represents the aging in barrel, stage in the life of a wine where it is transforming, unrolling complex aromas that they will add complexity, robustness and longevity. Wine is a structure that must be created and raised. Daedalus, imaginative, artist, architect and inventor, is shown to us as an ideal example of "Signature Wine".
Theseus, the intrepid Athenian hero who killed the Minotaur in the labyrinth, from where he was able to escape thanks to the ball of thread Ariadna had given him, represents bottle aging, a stage that gives wines elegance, softness and sophistication.
The hero risks and secures the job as a winemaker would. The wine, in the bottle, is refined and acquires nobility, like Prince Theseus.
From the loves of Pasifae, wife of King Minos and a white bull, the Minotaur was born, a mythological creature par excellence, with the body of a man and the head of a bull and represented in murals and mosaics of the Minoan culture with remarkable fierceness. It represents the reserves, exceptional, powerful, complex wines that are not made every year since the conditions of nature (earth, sun, rain, wind...) and the performance of human hands must be exceptional so that they can be elaborated.
Ariadne, abandoned by Theseus, was sleeping on a beach on the island of Naxos, in the Aegean Sea, when she was discovered by Dionysos, the Greek god of wine and her husband. This beautiful passage symbolizes the great reserves, wines that, like Ariadna, sleep in the bottle to transform over time into unique and divine wines...
In the last room we collect the divine spirit of Dionysos, the Greek god of wine, and transform it into the best and most emblematic wine of the Yllera Group:
The Yllera Dominus : the most exclusive, elegant and prestigious wine of the Yllera Group, something unique, full, divine...
*Approximate duration 2 hours. 15€ per person.
*Approximate duration 2 hours 15 minutes. 20€ per person.
*Adults only.
*They will be individually quoted upon request
In addition to our standard and premium tours, we offer private and personalized tours to our facilities, meeting the particular demands and wishes of each client.
These tours would visit El Hilo de Ariadna, a genuine part of our project that cannot be visited anywhere else, and they would taste the previously selected wines depending on the visitors' taste, a tasting of only white wines, premium wines, rarities and follies (wines with very limited production that change every year and that come from the daily work of our R+D+i department), etc.
These tours will be individually quoted upon request.
Give a wine tourism experience to whoever you love most.
It includes a tour to the Hilo de Ariadna labyrinth, a wine tasting and an online wine tasting initiation course.
The coupon can be used for 6 months to reserve in the Reservations section.
The Rueda Wine Route is located in the heart of Castilla, circumscribed to the Rueda Designation of Origin, extending along the length and width of the left bank of the Duero river.
"In the town of Rueda (Valladolid), the cradle of Castilian white wine, the Verdejo, the unique and labyrinthine underground cellars of the Yllera Group stand out. In this winery, wine, art, mythology, history and culture come together to make way for a visit of sensations and senses. Inside an impressive cave, 20 meters deep and for just over a kilometer, its wines rest in several rooms that make up an intricate labyrinth."
The province of Valladolid has many places of interest where tourists will find the perfect combination of culture and gastronomy.
The wineries of the Yllera Group are located in the town of Rueda, a wine-growing area with Designation of Origin and located in a strategic point for inland tourist trips:
“El Hilo de Ariadna has been a beneficiary of the European Regional Development Fund whose objective is to improve the use and quality of information and communication technologies and access to them and thanks to which it has created this website for the improvement of competitiveness and productivity of the company. June 2020. For this it has had the support of the Tourist Competitiveness Program of the Valladolid Chamber of Commerce and the Valladolid Provincial Council. A way to make Europe. "
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