Familia Martínez Bujanda
Familia Martínez Bujanda is a historic Spanish wine-making family whose business in viticulture goes back all the way to the late 19th century.
The family takes pride in being responsible for growing their own grapes, harvesting and bottling on their own premises, thus being wholly responsible for the vinification process and the resulting wines.
Since their great-grandfather Joaquín Martínez Bujanda founded the original winery in Oyón (Rioja) in 1889, the family now owns and runs five separate wineries in Rioja: Finca Valpiedra (DOCa Rioja), Finca Antigua (DO La Mancha), Finca Montepedroso (DO Rueda), Viña Bujanda (DOCa Rioja) and Cosecheros y Criadores (Vinos de la Tierra de Castilla).
Though all the Familia Martínez Bujanda’s wines come from owned vineyards, they are very different from each othing owing to the diversity and richness of the various growing areas.
Back in 1889, founder Joaquín Martínez Bujanda was already determined to elaborate wines from his own vineyards, which was then against the general trend in Rioja originated by the Great French Wine Blight. This was a disaster in the mid-19th century caused by an aphid that destroyed scores of vineyards in France and ruined many in the wine industry. He went on however, to create a successful business which his descendants continued.
With five wineries in four different appellations Familia Martínez Bujanda now employs more than 110 people with a core team of five members:
Brother and sister Carlos and Pilar are part of the fourth generation of the Familia Martínez Bujanda group. Carlos is President of the company Familia Martinez Bujanda and one of the executive members of Grandes Pagos de España, an association of Spanish wine estates which defends and spreads the Estate Wine culture; the specific land that reflects the unmistakable personality of the soil, the subsoil and their climate, opposite to the industrial wine elaboration – something which he conceived together with Pilar.
The fifth generation is already in place. With Carlos’ children, Borja and Adrián currently studying but both looking to a future incorporation into the family business, and Pilar’s eldest daughter Marta Santander Martínez Bujanda and son Alfredo Santander Martínez Bujanda. Marta joined the family business in 2002 as export manager. She is a promoter of the politics to elaborate single vineyard wines which reflect the individual and natural landscape of the vineyards; a message that she spreads all over the world. Alfredo joined the winery just after his older sister, in April 2002. In time he will assume the direction of the business along with the family path.
Lauren Rosillo is technical director since 2002 and controls and supervises the 700 hectares of vineyards that Familia Martínez Bujanda grows in Rioja, Rueda and La Mancha. One of the biggest connoisseurs of viticulture and enology in the country, he is author of a number of publications and investigations in the fields of viticulture and enology and an Agricultural Teaching collaborator, at the Technical High School of Agronomists in Albacete. He shares with the family a passion for elaborating honest wines, reflecting of the different plots.
Familia Martínez Bujanda believes in complete dedication to the process of wine-making, which explains why the fourth and fifth generations continue at the helm of a more than 125 year-old project. And the process is still a considerable effort with some of the vineyards located in extreme growing areas, boasting stony soils and changing weather patterns, where the plants have to work hard every vintage to offer the best fruit.
“Because, for us, nature prescribes what the vineyards require and if we have learned anything during these more than 125 years, it is to take care of them, to pamper them, for this is the main guarantee of the future of our vineyards“, althus Familia Martínez Bujanda.
In 1951 expansion began with Cosecheros y Criadores, a winery conceived mainly to export wines, which today sells 60% of its Vinos de la Tierra de Castilla production in international markets. Though established over half a century ago, Cosecheros y Criadores boasts the latest wine technologies and over 6,000 American and French oak barrels to age innovative and versatile wines, conceived for the more classic consumers and for the more modern trends. Cosecheros y Criadores has produced a great number of versatile quality wines, not least its Infinitus Tempranillo, the wine named best value with regards to price and quality by Spain’s reputed wine guide ‘Guía Peñín’ 2017. Address Calle Diputación s/n 01320 Oyon – Álava Tel 00 34 945601944
In the 1990´s, Carlos and Pilar, with the experience of many years working with their father, decided to start a new project, based on the recurring theme of the winery philosophy: The elaboration of estate wines.
In 1997 they built Finca Valpiedra, a winery integrated within an exceptional landscape located along one of the meanders of the Ebro River, on the boundary of the towns of Fuenmayor and Cenicero; spectacular and unique vineyards in one of the most extreme areas for growing vines with terraces that slope down to the river, in a wonderful landscape whose history and culture are dedicated almost exclusively to the vineyard growth. (Note: This winery was used as one of the main sites for shooting film used on the well-known Spanish TV series ‘Gran Reserva’.) Address Término Montecillo s/n 26360 Fuenmayor (acceso por Cenicero), La Rioja Tel 00 34 941450876
Founded in 2003, Finca Antigua in La Mancha is nothing like the preconceived big plain extensions of other La Mancha vineyards. Situated at 900 meters of altitude, Finca Antigua is a unique landscape of shrub land with rich indigenous vegetation of Holms Oaks and Kemes Oaks, bushes of Rosemary and Thyme, other Mediterranean plants as well as a diverse wildlife such as eyed-lizards, dormice, partridges, rabbits and hares, some of which give name to the wines.The winery is a superb example of integration in the landscape through avant-garde and efficient architecture. The restored La Casona, and ancient typical building of the area, is open to visitors, with a wine shop, tasting room for groups and a private room for business meetings and a large patio where you can enjoy the summer nights at almost 1,000 meters of altitude. Address Carretera Quintanar-Los Hinojosos km 11,5. 16417 Los Hinojosos-Cuenca Tel 00 34 969129700
In 2008, 25 hectares of vineyards and buildings were bought to open Finca Montepedroso (in 2012), a winery dedicated to the elaboration of white Verdejo wines situated on a plateau at 750 meters of altitude in the actual town of Rueda with extreme conditions for the vineyard growth due to the extreme temperature differences between not just summer and winter but also night and day. The building was designed so as not to alter the vineyard landscape which required an elaboration under soil and measured construction techniques whilst using noble materials inside and out that give a sensation of continuity and integration with the vineyards. Finca Montepedroso organises visits and wine tastings. Address Camino de la Morejona s/n. Rueda-Valladolid. 47490 Tel 00 34 983868977
In 2009 the wine making family decided to bottle all the production from the rest of their Rioja vineyards and open Viña Bujanda. Viña Bujanda is Carlos and Pilar’s home project in Oyón, where their great-grandfather, Joaquín Martínez Bujanda founded the original family winery. Apart from the unique terroirs of Finca Valpiedra (La Rioja), Finca Montepedroso (Rueda) and Finca Antigua (La Mancha), the family owns 120 hectares of vineyards within the Denominación de Origen Calificada (DOCa) Rioja. The wine assortment of Viña Bujanda completes the Familia Martínez Bujanda portfolio, with a clear concept of elaborating a more traditional profile wine from Rioja, with the Crianza and Reserva as a base, but not forgetting the traditional elaboration of Young wines (red, rosé and White) of DOCa. Address Diputación s/n 01320 Oyón. Álava Tel 00 34 941450876
