Spanish fine wine collective grows

Four wineries have joined the Grandes Pagos de España, an association designed to promote Spain’s high-end single estate producers.

Finca Moncloa, one of the latest additions to the Grandes Pagos de España

Drawn from all over the country, the new Grandes Pagos members are Belondrade in Rueda, Cortijo de los Aguilares near Ronda, Finca Moncloa in Cádiz and Palacio Quemado in Extremadura.

Founded in 2003 with seven wineries, the association now boasts 34 members from 15 official Denominations of Origin. Although the generic word “pago”, meaning “single vineyard” is unregulated, Vino de Pago is a legally recognised and defined classification.

Speaking to the drinks business last year, Enrique Valero from the Grandes Pagos executive committee described its members as “often mavericks in their regions”, who share a goal of promoting Spain’s high quality, personality-driven wines in the country’s key export markets.

Valero welcomed these new members as a sign that “the work that we are doing to promote our unique collection of Spanish wineries is gaining strength both in terms of numbers and reputation.”

He hailed the four wineries as “pioneers in their regions in terms of the work that they have been doing to promote their single estates and the quality of the wines they are producing internationally.”

With these producers joining existing Grandes Pagos members such as Aalto in Ribera del Duero, Numanthia in Toro, Cava producer Gramona and Sherry bodega Valdespino, Valero said: “We believe that we now have some of Spain’s most exciting winemakers and winery owners amongst our group and that these newly included states will only help to increase the potential of the Grandes Pagos de España both here in Spain and abroad.”