Quotes

Mr. Ausas notes that the winery is spending $25 million to build 60 new fermentation vats to replace the 21 now in use. The new vats, he says, will allow him to isolate different grapes grown in different compositions of soil, so that he can do a better job blending them together to make the wine. That big expenditure won't produce any additional revenue, he points out, since production will remain the same. There is no sign at the Vega Sicilia winery and no tasting room, and anyone uninvited who knocks at the door will be turned away. Waving a wad of money to buy a bottle of wine will do you no good; nothing at the winery is for sale. Vega Sicilia is one of the most highly regarded—and unusual—wines on the planet. The 146-year-old winery, in the Ribera del Duero wine region of Spain, is a two-hour drive north of Madrid. Since 1982, it has been owned by the Alvarez family, the owners of an international company called Grupo Eulen, which provides services like security and cleaning to businesses in Spain, Portugal and Latin America. Since buying Vega Sicilia, the Alvarezes have diversified a bit, purchasing one Ribera del Duero winery called Alion, starting another in the nearby Toro region called Pintia, and opening a winery in Hungary called Oremus, specializing in sweet dessert wine. The Vega Sicilia winery is as unusual as the wine itself. In an era of winery owners who strut like peacocks bragging about their wine, the head of Vega Sicilia, 55-year-old Pablo Alvarez, is shy and unassuming, speaking so softly that I strained to hear him even as I sat next to him at a restaurant outside of Valladolid, near the winery.