Paco García: the ‘handprint’ of hard work

Husband and wife team, Juan Bautista García and Ana Fernández Bengoa, are behind Bodegas Paco García. Heir to a family winery owned by Juan Bautista’s parents (García Ramírez) in Murillo, the company underwent a complete renovation in the midst of the 2008 financial downturn. With extraordinary enthusiasm, the young couple have achieved national and international critical acclaim: “My father understood wine and the vineyards —Paco García owns around 40 hectares under vine—, but we had to take it one step further.” Juan Bautista’s brother, Chisco, was destined to run the winery, but a traffic accident cut short his life and Juan Bautista finished Agricultural Engineering in 2006 to take the reins of the business. The handprint, which is the hallmark of the bodega, belongs to his father, Francisco (now deceased), and epitomises the “hard work” and the family roots of the project.

The young winegrower bought some vineyards in the upper reaches of Murillo in search of added freshness and pleasure for a red wine aimed at young consumers: “The testing ground were our own friends; we asked them why they didn’t drink wine and we invited them to try ours to see whether it appealed to their tastes,” he explains. Thus was born Paco García Seis, a real crowd-pleaser in the bars. Paco García Crianza goes a step further. It comes from the vineyards closest to the valley, providing greater structure for a more serious wine, while Beautiful Things is a stunning wine from La Dehesa, a vineyard planted by Juan Bautista’s grandfather.

The couple never stops and every year they launch a new experience such as Duelo de Robles (two cuvées of the same wine aged in American and French oak), Graciano and Mazuelo varietals; wine aged in chestnut barrels; and a spectacular and delicate Pucheros, aged in foudres and clay amphorae. These are some of their most recent experimentations and now they are working with the new Rioja categories: village wines and Viñedo Singular wines that will soon be released.