Anne Arbeau
France
Anne's family vineyard is one of the last of its kind
- Fronton has been home to Anne and her family since the 16th Century, a southwesterly French region that also happens to be home to some of the first vines in France, planted by... the Romans. We guess you could say it's a well established set-up.
- With an ever decreasing number of family owned wineries in the area, what the Arbeaus have is a true jewel. Not only is it the oldest winery of its kind in Fronton but the dedication they have to representing their region and doing it sustainably, is a rare thing indeed.
- Anne and her family work with local producers they've been in close partnership with for years to turn local grapes like Negrette into powerful wines that sing with all the fruit forward, aromatic hallmarks of their landscape.
Rodolfo Valiente
Spain
Known for his organic wines, Rodolfo has taken out the Valenican Wine Association 'Winemaker of the Year' title.
19 Ratings
12 Followers
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Rodolfo Valiente is a fourth-generation winemaker from a long line of grape-growers, distillers and winemakers. With winemaking in his blood, he had an itch to be in the vineyard, so it was no surprise when he ditched is big city lawyer job to follow his dream.
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Despite his family's connections, he took himself on a mission to learn the trade, spending vintages in Spain and California understanding the process, from tending to the vines to bottling the wines. In 1999, armed with a wealth of wine knowledge, his transfer from the corporate world to sun-drenched vineyards was complete and Rodolfo made his first commercial wine from the family's vineyard.
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The Valencian Association of Winemakers appointed Rodolfo as their 'Winemaker of the Year' in 2017 for his concentrated but elegant, mature but fresh organic wines.
Xavier Iturria
Spain
The Frenchman who fell in love with making fine Spanish wines
428 Ratings
5 Followers
- Xavier took his pen off the paper in 1999, finishing his studies in Viticulture and preparing to make his winemaking dreams a reality in the shiny new millennium.
- Exchanging one winemaking hot-spot for several others, Xavier left Bordeaux to cut his teeth in some of Spain's most important winemaking regions. Ribera de Duero, Toro and Rioja are the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Xavier's very exclusive list.
- The years of experience came good in 2009 when Xavier established his very own Winery in Morales de Toro, his vineyard boasting a staggering 700m altitude and a ravishing selection of Tempranillo and Grenache vines. You don't need us to tell you that a vineyard like this + a winemaker like that = some seriously exciting loot.
Arco Laarman
South Africa
A South African winemaking original looking for parcels with personality
441 Ratings
88 Followers
- Arco had his heart set on a life in wine well before he could even drink the stuff! In fact he'd barely broken into his teens when a tour of a Stellenbosch cellar took a firm hold of his imagination.
- At just 19 he moved to the Cape where he worked on 3 vintages with a top draw winery and, as it happens, room shared with our very own Danie Steyler (a name you might recognise from some seriously tasty bottles on our shelves). Quickly working his way up the South African winemaking ranks, Arco established his own winery in 2016.
- Arco now seeks out the very best parcels of grapes from all over South Africa, highlighting with each wine the personality of its region. Chardonnay sits closest to Arco's heart but his flair for smooth red Cinsault and Syrah cannot be missed! Word has it that Arco is also a keen foodie, so those looking for some culinary inspo can look forward to the exciting new pairing recommendations coming your way...
- The Rollet family have been making top quality wines from Beaujolais for generations.
- Today it is Marie Laure who is the passionate winemaker who makes these wines from different villages across the region.
- Her love for the Gamay grape is palpable and this comes through in the wines!
Javier Gonzalez
Spain
Javier made his family's Ribeiro Winemaking dreams a reality
1,077 Ratings
75 Followers
- Javier's vineyard in the Spanish region of Ribeiro is so much more than a plot of land. There's a rhyme and reason behind every detail, from the white grapes it grows all the way through to the finely tuned fermentation process - this is a space dedicated to Javier's family and their homeland.
- Whilst working abroad in Venezuela, Javier's father, Ramón, was consumed by thoughts of home, dreaming of the day he would return to Riberiro to pick up his ancestors tools and make his ultimate white Ribeiro wine. In 2000 he did just this, purchasing a small plot of land with prime conditions for growing Treixadura and Albariño grapes.
- 13 years later Javier was handed the baton and has been carrying his fathers dream from strength to strength ever since. These personality filled and refined white wines are the result of pure dedication and have quite simply bowled us over!
Luca Hodgkinson
Chile
Making low-yield artisan wines isn't only Luca's passion. It's his way of life.
3,867 Ratings
843 Followers
Born and raised in the rugged Priorat region of Catalonia, to an English dad and French mum, Luca got a winemaking Master’s degree in Bordeaux, where he lived in the middle of St Emilion. He’s since made wines on 3 continents, and speaks 5 languages fluently.
Over the years, Luca realised he had to unlearn a lot of stuff from wine school. Like using artificial additives, pesticides, man-made irrigation and fertilizers. He believes vineyards are like people. If left to nature, they have personalities that shine through in their wines.
To Luca, wine is the most social product man has ever made, pure emotion in a glass. A mirror of the soils and location it springs from. It brings our senses down to earth. With Naked funding behind him, he’ll be able to focus 100% on what he’s best at, making his old-vine Chilean classics taste as delicious as possible.
Stefan Landauer
Austria
He may be young, but wine making is in Stefan's blood
249 Ratings
133 Followers
Despite Stefan having the wealth of 370 years of family winemaking experience and tradition available to him, he’s determined to reinvent himself and find his own unbeaten path.
Calling himself a wine grower and not a winemaker, Stefan believes it’s what happens when the grapes are on the vine that sets up his wines to be special.
Using the unique microclimate of Austria to his advantage, and a lot of gut decision making, Stefan's dream is to carry on the family motto of getting the highest quality with no strings attached but while adapting to all the current challenges faced by so many winemakers.
Marta Ramas & Miguel Fisac
Spain
They've travelled vineyards the world over but there really is no place like home for Marta and Miguel
1,066 Ratings
114 Followers
- Don't let their fresh faces fool you! Between them, this couple have enough winemaking knowledge to fill several encyclopedias on the subject and racked up enough air miles to rival even the oldest hands in the game.
- Starting their careers with a prestigious wine course in Bordeaux, the pair quickly graduated on to working amongst the vines of the equally prestigious Saint-Emilion and Péssac Léognan regions. The winemaking bug firmly took hold, leading Marta and Miguel to find themselves working on new wines in Hawkes Bay, Napa Valley and The Cape in South Africa.
- Encyclopedic wine brains full to bursting, the couple decided it was time to pack up what they'd learnt over their years of travel, come down from the clouds and focus on roots. They returned home to Spain where they've been making stunningly intense wines in the heart of the highly sought after Ribera del Duero, ever since.
Patricia Benitez
Spain
The unsung hero behind Spain's most sought after Ribera
31 Ratings
252 Followers
- Patricia Benitez is a bona fide winemaking powerhouse who has dedicated years to perfecting one of Spain’s most legendary (and expensive) reds. One of Patricia’s vintages bagged a perfect 100 Parker Points and costs upwards of £100 a bottle.
- Having achieved most winemakers’ wildest dreams, you’d think Patricia would be satisfied. But she had another goal yet to tick off her bucket list… making a wine with her own name on the label and with her favourite Riberan area of Fuentenebro at it's heart.
- Now, thanks to Angel funding, she’s finally on her way to unlocking this long cherished dream. With your backing, She’s on a mission to rescue neglected old vines in a remote abandoned village in Spain’s Ribera del Duero, to create wines of sensational quality - at Angel prices.
