Introduction

The winemaker and director of Adegas D'Altamira, Jose is completely self-taught, and in only two years has scooped no less than 30 national and international awards for his 'liquid gold' wine!

Jose works in Rías Baixas - the lower estuaries of Galicia - the region that continues to produce the finest expression of Spain's great white grape, Albariño.

Jose says he always dreamed of owning his own wine and Adegas D'Altamira is his dream come true. His extraordinary success comes from hard work, dedication a little bit of family know-how - they've been making wines in this beautiful region for four generations.

History

Adventure-seeking Jose made his fortune sailing all over the world, and has business interests in construction and hotels. But his passion has always been for wine - and in particular the wines of Rías Baixas.

He was born into a family of winemakers, and remembers fondly his grandfather making wine when he was a child. Much of his youth was spent mucking in at family members' vineyards and learning all his skills 'hands-on.'

When Jose began setting up his own winery, he balanced the know-how his elders had passed down with cutting edge technology. He was determined to get the best of both worlds and craft wines the old-fashioned way, but with all the benefits of technological advances in the trade.

The enchanting castle-shaped winery was established in Altamira Highview in the heart of El Salnes, the area with the best soils in the entire region. The vines at his disposal were 70 years old, grown 200 metres above Atlantic sea level - the ocean breezes offering perfect conditions for Albariño to ripen.

With the help of visiting winemakers, Jose threw himself at the new project with incredible zeal - and the results are simply stunning.

A Decanter Trophy for best white wine in Spain is testament to just how far Jose has come in such a short space of time, and we are not the only ones in the wine world salivating at the prospect of what he'll do next!