San Esteban de la Sierra
Salamanca · Castile and León
VC Sierra de Salamanca343inhabitants
1847wine documented
A mountain town in southern Salamanca (Sierra de Francia) that arose with the Leonese resettlement of the sierra; it belonged to the Cuarto de Peña del Rey, within the jurisdiction of Salamanca, and in the 15th century had a documented Jewish quarter.
First mention: The earliest documented references, under the name Santisteban, date from the 15th century, when a Jewish community with its own quarter is recorded (Cea Gutiérrez, 1988); the specific document is not identified.
The legend
rock-cut wine presses of uncertain date (Roman or medieval tradition); schoolmaster paid in wine, documented by Madoz around 1847; DOP since 2010The rock-cut wine presses and the schoolmaster paid in wine
In the hills around San Esteban de la Sierra, beside the Alagón, there are basins carved into the granite: these are rock-cut wine presses where, according to local tradition, grapes have been trodden since very ancient times, attributed by some to the Romans and by others to the medieval resettlers. Over the centuries the slopes were stepped into terraces for the vines, and Rufete became the grape of the sierra. In the mid-19th century, Madoz's dictionary records a custom that says much about the importance of wine in the town: the parents of the seventy children at the school each paid the schoolmaster with a cántaro and a half of wine. Later, the cooperative bodega restored the prestige of the village's wine, known for Mount Tiriñuelo.
Alive today: San Esteban de la Sierra is home to several bodegas of the DOP Sierra de Salamanca (2010), focused on Rufete grown on terraces in the Sierras de Béjar y Francia Biosphere Reserve. The town council maintains the Ruta de los Lagares Rupestres and organises the Carrera de los Lagares Rupestres race, which held its 12th edition in 2026.
Wineries and their wines
- D. Sierra Blanco
- D. Sierra Dominium
- D. Sierra Espumoso
- D. Sierra Momentum
- Las Pamelas Blanco 02
- Las Pamelas Tinto 01
- Marta Blanco
- Pedro Martín Rufete
- Pedro Martín Tempranillo-Rufete
Wine towns nearby