Vega Sicilia moves base to London

Revered Ribera del Duero estate Vega Sicilia, producer of arguably one of Spain’s top fine wines, has moved its base to London.

As reported by Harpers, Bodegas Vega Sicilia has been placed under the ownership of Mezqual Limited, a London-based company founded by the winery’s managing director Pablo Alvarez, via its holding company El Enebro.

In addition to Alvarez, Mezqual Limited is run by four of his siblings, who collectively own a majority stake in Vega Sicilia.

According to Harpers the move was prompted by Alvarez’ desire to expand into high-end food products in addition to increasing its global vineyard holdings.

London was chosen as Alvarez sees it as the epicentre of the global wine trade.

The Alvarez family owns Tokaj Oremus in Hungary and have a joint venture in Rioja, Bodegas Macán, with Benjamin de Rothschild.

The decision to move to London was made before the UK voted out of the EU.

Last year, Vega’s technical director, Javier Ausas, left the company after 23 years and was replaced by Gonzalo Iturriaga de Juan, former technical director at Bodegas Habla in Extremadura.

While the estate currently only produces red wine, Alvarez has ambitions to make the “Montrachet of Ribera” in the future.

In 2014 Alvarez was forced to write off over 500,000 bottles of wine due to excessive levels of sediment.

Vega produces around 80,000 bottles of top wine Unico per year. The estate spans 240 hectares and boasts 19 soil types.