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Alex's Notes on Telmo Rodriguez

A global icon in wine circles and now in his early 60’s, dashing Spaniard Telmo Rodriguez is without doubt the artisanal, pioneering winemaker most winemakers would love to be.

He is a maverick, adventurer, terroir hunter, intellectual, wine historian, innovator, yet traditionalist, all at once.

In terms of quality and reputation, it is difficult to think of anyone still living who has done more for their country’s wines, with very few others having worked so extensively across Spain.

TL;DR

Not only is Telmo responsible for the exceptional wines at Remelluri (the once neglected Rioja estate bought by his father in 1967), but he and his winemaking colleague Pablo Eguzkiza are also responsible for a frankly staggering portfolio of wines from Rueda, Toro, Valdeorras, Ribera del Duero, Alicante, Cigales, Castilla y León, and Málaga.

Not many of his wines are jaw-droppingly expensive, but all are great quality, and all are great value (as of course great value isn’t just about being ‘cheap’).

They are made to be drunk with food, in brilliant tapas bars and fine dining restaurants, and to adorn the shelves of independent wine merchants.

These are not supermarket wines.

You will very often find his wines on the lists of the best restaurants worldwide.

Ethos

Telmo’s ethos in a nutshell? To make vinos de pueblo – wines that reflect the identity of specific vineyards, with the winemaker intervening as little as possible to champion place over the winemaking process.

He is famous for having revived abandoned vineyards and having championed only indigenous grape varieties and low-yielding old vines, while vinifying locally to each of the vineyard areas in small-scale wineries that he has often restored and shares with others.

His wines are true originals, and, essentially, they make themselves; he sees himself more as a facilitator than a winemaker.

A Vinous Indiana Jones

Both Telmo’s white wines in your Signature Sips case are produced organically, so with zero use of chemical treatments.

His philosophy puts sustainability front and centre: revival of abandoned long-forgotten vineyards, organic, biodynamic and regenerative practices, Spanish cultivars only, no trellising (which saves tons of metal), plus the pursuit of as much biodiversity in the vineyards as possible.

I liken him to a vinous Indiana Jones, venturing into viticultural backwaters – if not with a whip, with a pruning knife - breathing new life into forgotten or unfancied areas.

For him, discovering an ancient vineyard with 25 grape varieties that nobody knows and replanting only indigenous varieties is what wine making should be all about.

The Basa Verdejo is a good example of his approach; it’s his most “commercial” wine in terms of style and pricing, but unlike many others in the Rueda region he has long resisted the temptation to plant Sauvignon Blanc, instead focusing on the Verdejo grape, native to Rueda.

Sustainability

To illustrate Telmo’s deep-rooted commitment to environmental stewardship, he notes that since Remelluri came into his family’s ownership in 1967, they have not used “a single gram of herbicide or pesticide.” As he puts it, he was “born in a culture where that was not used.”

Both Telmo and his father were decades ahead of their time; as Telmo reflected in an interview last year, “agriculture in Europe in general was destroyed by chemicals in the 1960s” - and, in many cases, long after, and in all honesty still to this day.

Telmo continues to lead by example through regenerative farming practices: planting cover crops to fix nitrogen and prevent erosion (so that he doesn't need to use artificial fertiliser), composting and limiting tillage (so as not to release the carbon stored in the soil or disturb soil biodiversity and mycorrhizal fungi), dry farming to conserve water, establishing wildlife corridors, and harvesting by hand with minimal mechanisation. He has also embraced renewable energy, with solar panels now powering vineyard and winery operations.

While his wines may not arrive at your door by donkey, for those who value sustainability, authenticity, and an unwavering pursuit of quality, Telmo’s bottles are about as close to guilt-free drinking as it gets.  

Drink Less but Better

Telmo argues that the British “are among those responsible for Spain being bad” when it comes to wine quality. As he puts it, “if you don’t give value to something,” it soon becomes accepted that “Rioja should be cheap, that Sherry should be cheap” — and that mindset shaped the market for decades (still does in some quarters, if thankfully less so). He believes Spain’s problem was that it became known for supplying inexpensive wine, and “people didn’t give any value to it.” Some, sadly, still don't, or can't.

Seeing himself as “part of a generation between a very boring Spain and an exciting Spain,” Telmo began his “journey around Spain 30 years ago” and has since amassed 90 hectares (222 acres) of what he calls ‘grand cru’ vineyards. His influence on the revival of once-overlooked viticultural regions and on Spain’s quality revolution in recent decades cannot be overstated (albeit there is still far too much unhygienic chemical-reliant dirt-cheap production). His philosophy has also helped inspire a broader movement towards drinking less, but better – and more sustainably. And with food. What an amazing, deeply caring, thoughtful man, handcrafting the most spectacular wines.

Wines by Telmo Rodriguez

Life is too short to drink bad wine.