History Remírez de Ganuza
This estate was founded in 1989 by Fernando Remírez de Ganuza, who also gave it his name. Right from the start, the keywords have been innovation and perfection. For 20 years Fernando, who comes from Navarra, was a wine estate broker, which gave him a perfect knowledge of the vineyard, and in particular of old vines. Over these years, a project matured: to produce his own wine and to make it one of Spain’s best wines from the best vines he could find in Rioja. His idea, which now seems common place, but was then revolutionary, was to select the grapes very carefully and not to manipulate them too much during the winemaking. From the beginning, he wanted to make his wine in the vineyard, whereas the Riojan principle was to do one’s best in the cellar with whatever grapes one received from the grower. Fernando wanted to control the whole process, from the beginning to the end, so as to be able to learn from each new vintage and improve. Even if his wines are modern, they are made in accordance with tradition. A token of this is the bodega itself, located in the centre of the small village of Samaniego, in the heart of the Rioja Alavesa, just beside the small 17th century church of Our Lady of the Assumption. Underneath this historic building, beats the heart of the bodega. Not only did Fernando build his cellar there, but he also lives there with his family. Year after year, Fernando could put into practice his ‘revolutionary’ theories, in the vineyard and in the cellar. The results – the wines – are not only spectacular, they deserve the attention of the wine lover, because they show a great personality.