Compañía de Vinos Telmo Rodriguez
Telmo started his wine business in 1994 with fellow winemaker Pablo Eguzkiza under the Company name of Compania de Vinos de La Granja. Telmo and Pablo’s first offering was a wine they named Alma (soul), a Garnacha created from old bush vineyards in Navarra. The wine was a success, but this was to be a journey of exploration, so Telmo and Pablo headed south to Rueda. Here they made the decision to re-name the Company “Compania de Vinos Telmo Rodriguez”; firstly to capitalise on Telmo’s reputation in the wine world, and secondly, because Telmo is not only making wine, he is working closely with local wine makers from many different regions all over Spain to create unique wines that he can sell under the umbrella of his company. Pretty much all the vineyards at the time his company was starting up were been piled with foreign grape varieties. Wine growing land was largely manipulated to grow major international and recognisable grape varieties. Telmo’s mission was to buck the trend and not only work with native grape varieties, but also breathe life back into abandoned or forgotten vineyards.