Viña Coqueta, Samaniego
It’s impossible to understand the philosophy behind Bodegas Remírez de Ganuza without first exploring the character of the man behind this iconic Rioja winery. Fernando Remírez de Ganuza (1951-2024) founded his eponymous estate driven by two complementary goals: bringing the excellence and diversity of Rioja’s terroirs to the forefront, and highlighting the quality of the fruit hailing from some of the region’s oldest and most prized vineyards.
The vineyard as a starting point
Having spent more than two decades brokering vineyard transactions across Rioja, Remírez de Ganuza gained a uniquely comprehensive knowledge of the vineyard stock across the region’s diverse regions and terroirs. He also developed a critical view of how the fruit hailing from these prized plots was being handled. This in turn shaped his belief that a different way of working was needed to make justice to the quality of the grapes and the character of the different sites.
His insider knowledge and extensive exploration of the region, allowed Remírez de Ganuza to build his own portfolio of old vineyards in Rioja Alavesa as the basis of his namesake winery, established in 1989. The bodega, located in the village of Samaniego, at the feet of Sierra Cantabria, and largely designed by Fernando himself, became the heart of the project.
Savvy pioneer
Born in Navarra to a family dedicated to the production of meat-based products, Remírez de Ganuza was unbound to tradition or prior expectations. His unusual, polymathic background, along with his ‘outsider’ status, gave him
