By a quirk of geography, the Monte Alto estate straddles the two most internationally renowned villages of the D.O. Ribera del Duero: Valbuena de Duero and Pesquera de Duero. Here, across both territories, stand the Montebaco winery and its vineyards. Monte Alto is one of the historic estates of the province of Valladolid. Extensive farming and a large livestock herd with its own brand were the estate's main activities until the mid-1980s, when the foresight of Valladolid industrialist Manuel Esteban and his family saw a future for the estate in winegrowing. After some trials, around twenty hectares of Tinto Fino were planted in 1987.
Today Montebaco has 50 hectares. In 2005 the project expanded into the Rueda Denomination of Origin, when the family bought a small Verdejo vineyard, and in 2006 it made the first 100% Verdejo Montebaco. It currently vinifies 25,000 to 30,000 kilos of grapes. The first wine from the estate was made in 1994 in a well-designed winery, spacious and equipped with advanced winemaking technology, housed in a restored single-storey building that once held the estate's dairy and several farm outbuildings.
