A mentoring project in Labastida

"I hope these five children of wine growers will now begin to rewrite the history of Labastida." With these words, Telmo Rodríguez introduced (from left to right in picture 1) Alain Quintana, Iñigo Perea, Jorge Gil, Alberto Martínez and Luis Salazar —the quintet of farmers he has hosted at Remelluri since 2020. The goal? To help them bottle the grapes from their best plots and pave the way for a new chapter in which they can, if they want to, start their own winemaking project with the vineyards they farm in the village.

As we mentioned in the feature we published last year, Rodríguez has guided them through the entire process, from vinification to labeling. He is now also assisting with the sale of about 2,000 bottles of each wine, which will be distributed in Spain by Alma Vinos Únicos. The retail price is expected to be around €25.

The presentation, held in an 18th-century palace in Labastida that Remelluri is restoring from ruins, began with a brief talk on Labastida's centuries-old relationship with wine by historian Salvador Velilla (picture 4). Afterward, the five winemakers thanked Rodríguez for his support ("he gave us an opportunity we couldn’t let go") and emphasized their work in the vineyard as well as the town's winemaking tradition and legacy.

The five wines come from different sites in Labastida and are mainly Tempranillo, blended with various amounts of Garnacha and other varieties, aged in used French oak barrels of various sizes. 2020 is the first vintage, with four more already cellared or under production, in the case of the 2024 vintage. All have benefited from extended time in the bottle and showcase the rich nuances that can be found within a single village: the minerality of Los Herreros by Luis Salazar, sourced from a vineyard near Las Beatas; the good mid-palate of Saigoba by Jorge Gil; the depth and darker tannins of Larrazuri by Alberto Martínez; the fresh fruit of Espinabendita by Iñigo Perea; and the ample character of Espirbel by Alain Quintana.

The labels, simple and clean, prominently display the name of the plot and the wine grower. They also include in the corner a brief but eloquent history of Labastida’s wine, which as early as 1676 boasted 269 grape growers and 260 wineries.