Gregorio Díez makes a living picking pine cones. His father did it before him and his son has also followed the family tradition. There aren’t many artisan jobs of this kind left in the countryside, but we at Abadía Retuerta are very happy to have recovered the traditional pine trees in the estate.
Pine nuts used to be part of the monks’ diet at the abbey. Nowadays, they are one of the products in Abadía Retuerta’s Crafted Spanish Foods range, which extends beyond vineyards and wine.
Don’t miss this video of Abadía Retuerta’s pine nut harvest
Gregorio Díez perfectly embodies the pine cone picking tradition in the estate. He was born in Sardón de Duero, but his father and grandfather were born in Abadía Retuerta. Their job is to supervise the whole process and coordinate the work with the cooperative in Pedrajas de San Esteban, where pine nuts are processed and packaged.
Located in Tierra de Pinares, to the southeast of Valladolid, almost on the border with Segovia, the village of Pedrajas de San Esteban has preserved the old artisan tradition of harvesting and working with pine cones. The key is to let nature slowly do its job. In fact, pine cones need almost two years to mature after budding in the spring. They brave the sun, wind, rain, cold, snow and even ice. Cones are harvested in winter and stored until the summer, when they are slowly sun dried on the ground. The heat opens up the cone and eases the extraction of the pine nuts.
Pine cones need to mature on the tree for almost two years before they are harvested.
Pine nuts are then classified according to their size, moistened and peeled —it is no easy job to keep them whole. After that, pine nuts go through a selection table —similar to the ones we use during the grape harvest— and sorted according to color and appearance. Nuts are then brushed and washed with water before they are packed. At Abadía Retuerta pine nuts are vacuum-packed in glass jars to preserve their properties.
Amateur chefs might like to know that, aside from the classy pine nut dishes prepared by 1-Michelin star chef Pablo Montero at LeDomaine restaurant, there are some traditional recipes in the area like rabbit seasoned with Pedrajas pine nuts. We are particularly fond of pairing it with our Selección Especial, which perfectly sums up the combination of landscapes and terroirs in the estate. There is a wide choice of different gift ideas in our online store such as pine nuts with Pago Negralada or with our Pago Garduña Syrah.