With one eye ever fixed on the past and the other looking ahead to the future, brothers Gabriel and Carlos Garcia-Luengos Garcia along with their sister Ofelia grabbed the reins of their family bodega in the mid 90's and have taken a wine making tradition dating back to the mid 19th century and steered it lovingly into the modern age. Their fondness for the native Prieto Picudo varietal has driven this new generation to focus on a simple, yet passionate goal…to resurrect and preserve the grape and with it make distinctive, world-class wines that won't drain your wallet. (More on Prieto Picudeo)
The farm and 150 acres of vineyards are located in the municipality of Gordoncillo on the southern León plain, where the continental climate provides cool winters, hot, dry summers, and wide temperature swings between day and night help to ripen and concentrate the fruit. In the vineyards fastidious attention is paid to the vines with much energy devoted to proper pruning and crop thinning. All grapes are harvested by hand and delivered in small (16kg) boxes to the bodega, where hand sorting, destemming and temperature controlled fermentations are standard.
Formerly working under the Vino de la Tierra classification, Villacezán's wines are now produced under the newly formed D.O. Vino Tierra de León. This new D.O. was created primarily to recognize the potential of Prieto Picudo and foster the production of quality wines made from the varietal. Villacezán has been an outspoken proponent of the D.O. from it's beginning and continues to work closely with the Council in clone development and research.
We at VinLozano were particularly struck by the energy and spirit of Villacezan's new leaders, and after tasting through their wines decided to import their entire portfolio. The line-up of wines from top to bottom shows nothing but quality and personality, and we, like Gabriel, Ofelia and Carlos, also believe the wines based on the Prieto Picudo varietal are really something extra special.
The Villacezán Team
Pictured at right: Alfonso Bazaga, Ofelia Garcia-Luengos Garcia, and Gabriel Garcia-Luengos Garcia flanked by Heidi and Andrew Graff. Alfonso is the general manager and partner (with Ofelia, Gabriel & Carlos) of dVino Export, a company that provides export services for bodegas lacking resources or expertise to retain an in-house export department. Ofelia handles all sales and marketing for Villacezán, while her brother, Gabriel, is the company's general manager.
Gabriel Garcia-Luengos Alonso (at right), father of Gabriel, Ofelia and Carlos, guided Villacezán up through the mid 90's. Though not involved in day-to-day operations, he continues to guide and offer inspiration and appreciation of the past.
(Right) Overseeing the entire winemaking process, oenologist for Villacezán, Carlos Garcia-Luengo Garcia, is never far from the bodega or vineyards.
(Left) Celler Master, assisting in all aspects of production, Miquel Angel Fernández Pastor is the right-hand-man for Carlos.
The Pruning Team (left) carries out much of the vineyard work, including winter pruning, shoot thinning, bunch thinning and harvest.
Tending the vines as if they were his children, Eleuterio Valdés Garcia (right), Villacezán's vineyard manager, coordinates all vineyard activities and works closely with Carlos on everything from developing new rootstock to the final decisions at harvest.
Though the lambs pictured to the left don't do a lot of work around the farm now, in the future they will be involved with a new project aimed at making artisan sheep's milk cheese. Check back with us for developments, as we may be importing the cheese in the future.
