cent of your wine, you have to work a lot. I don’ t believe in“ star” winemakers, however.
When I came to Rioja, in the late 1980s, early 1990s, a“ surfer” like me with long hair was enough to make people notice and say,“ Ah! This is the revolution— a winemaker with long hair!” At that time, all the wineries were in the hands of managers, and the winemakers were chemicos [ chemists ]; maybe it was not very sexy to be a chemico. I am of a generation that has moved away from a boring, traditional winemaking approach. Today, the Spanish wine industry is very exciting, with a lot of very talented, nice young people. I’ m very proud of what we have done, but I got the impression that we have been working in silence. To write about my wines is very difficult, because I don’ t think we have done a lot of iconic wines. We have never been looking to be very famous; in fact, our wines are very honest and very simple.
I remember journalists saying,“ You are making very modern wines, very stand-out, very international.” It’ s not true— the problem is the word“ modern.” The world has an image of Spain that is completely wrong. All my wines are based on original Spanish grapes. I’ m not at all interested in spectacular wines.
TJ: The wines you are producing are amazing and very value-oriented. What do you think about all of the“ new money” and the foreigners pouring money into the wine regions such as Rioja and some of the other regions?
TR: I think everything we do for wine is great— we need more money in Rioja. The young, talented people working in nice vineyards are the future of Spain. A lot of good and very passionate people will make very good, honest, and interesting wines. But, we have to be careful not to be in the middle of artificial projects. I don’ t think it’ s enough to have a good architect and a lot of money to produce a great wine in Spain. We don’ t need that. We need more passion.
TJ: What is special about coming back to your family estate at Remelluri?
TR: For me it is special because it is a place that I love. I have lived in Remelluri since I was very young, but it is also important for wine: it has history. Since the Iron Age, man has been working that estate. The monks in the 12th century had vineyards. It is a privilege to have a site with such history, like Clos de Vougeot, Château Ausone, or Châteauneuf-du-Pape. The privilege for a wine producer is to have a place that holds all that historical information. For me to be back here is very interesting, because here, I have everything I never had; I am able to produce something original and very authentic.
TJ: I would like to talk about wine labels. I think that labels are a representation of the balance between the art and the science of winemaking. Your labels express what you want people to see in your wine.
TR: When I started my project, I didn ' t put too much“ design” into the labels. I found somebody to design the labels who was Spanish in origin who didn’ t know anything about wine labels. In Spain, wine labels were beautiful in the 18th century, but they were very ugly starting in the 1970s. Then, the new producers, like me, who had a background in French and Italian culture, started copying a little bit, with reference to the French and Italian wines. I didn’ t want to produce a wine with a French or Italian label. I wanted it to be very Spanish. I didn’ t want to work with a designer who had in mind all those nice French, Italian, or even American labels. I wanted to work with somebody who had a sense of the typography and the graphic design of Spain. So I worked with Fernando Gutiérrez, because I think he’ s got that sense of quality and tradition. But it’ s very funny, because
The following wines by Campania de Vinos Telmo Rodríguez are available at Banville & Jones Wine Co.:
Campañía de Vinos Telmo Rodríguez 2009 Basa Rueda DO, Spain($ 16.99)
Campañía de Vinos Telmo Rodríguez 2009 Viña 105 Cigales DO, Spain($ 17.99)
Campañía de Vinos Telmo Rodríguez 2009 LZ Rioja DOCa, Spain($ 19.99)
Campañía de Vinos Telmo Rodríguez 2009 Dehesa Gago Toro DO, Spain($ 19.99)
Campañía de Vinos Telmo Rodríguez 2006 M2 De Matallana Ribera Del Duero DO, Spain($ 47.99)
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