[Interview] "Vega Sicilia: Wines That Layer Time Upon the Land"

Gonzalo Iturriaga de Juan, Technical Director of Tempos Vega Sicilia
Founded in 1864, Spain’s Iconic Winery
"Prioritizing Land and Time Over Individual Touch"
‘Unico’, the Essence of Spanish Tempranillo

"No one remembers who made Vega Sicilia a hundred years ago."

Gonzalo Iturriaga de Juan, Technical Director of Tempos Vega Sicilia, emphasized in a recent interview with The Asia Business Daily that their wines are not defined by the touch of an individual or the aesthetic of a particular era. What Vega Sicilia has consistently preserved are things that outlast people-namely, the land and time.

[Interview] "Vega Sicilia: Wines That Layer Time Upon the Land"

Gonzalo Iturriaga de Juan, Technical Director of Tempos Vega Sicilia, is conducting an interview with The Asia Business Daily and posing for a commemorative photo.

Tempos Vega Sicilia: Wines Shaped by Time

Tempos Vega Sicilia is a premium wine group centered around 'Vega Sicilia' in Ribera del Duero, Spain, founded in 1864, and also includes 'Alion,' 'Macan' in Rioja, 'Pintia' in Toro, and 'Oremus' in Tokaj, Hungary. The standard that runs through Tempos Vega Sicilia's wines is clear: to maximize and realize the potential of each region over a long period of time.

Iturriaga, who majored in agricultural engineering, entered the wine industry after an internship at the renowned Rioja winery 'Marques de Riscal.' He then completed a master's degree in oenology in Montpellier, France, and gained hands-on winemaking experience at a small winery in Ribera del Duero. After the 2009 financial crisis, he worked for six years as a sales manager at a French agritech company, building experience that spanned both production and the market.

Since 2015, he has overseen winemaking at Tempos Vega Sicilia. The reason Vega Sicilia chose him was that he was seen as someone capable of making sound decisions in a role that requires long-term choices. He describes himself as closer to a steward than an innovator-selected not to change tradition, but to ensure that tradition remains unshaken.

A view of the 'Vega Sicilia' vineyard in Ribera del Duero, Spain.
[Photo by Tempos Vega Sicilia]

Macan: The Time Needed to Understand the Land

One of the most striking experiences for Iturriaga early in his tenure at Vega Sicilia was a vintage vertical tasting of wines from the 1950s to 1970s held in New York. Seeing Vega Sicilia wines that had aged for over 50 years still retain their structure and tension was a clear demonstration of how this winery works with time. He recalled, "It didn't matter who made those wines. What mattered was that the wines had not collapsed, even after so many years."

The 'Macan' project is the clearest example of how Tempos Vega Sicilia approaches the concept of time. Macan is a winery that Tempos Vega Sicilia opened in the Rioja region in 2004. Macan presented the group with a challenge that was difficult to resolve. While there was consensus that the wines were generally excellent, there was a lingering sense that something was missing. Structurally, there were no issues, but internally, it was noted that the unique character of Rioja was not distinctly expressed.

The exterior view of the 'Macan' winery in Rioja, Spain. [Photo by Tempos Vega Sicilia]

Iturriaga described this process as "not a failure, but a period of understanding." He explained, "Rather than simply applying the experience accumulated in Ribera del Duero, we had to reinterpret the soil and climate of Rioja, as well as the response of Tempranillo. Every vintage required small adjustments-from harvest timing to the use of oak and the choice of aging vessels-and these changes could only be validated through the once-a-year cycle of harvest and winemaking."

He added, "It was only with the 2021 vintage that we finally achieved the vision we had for Macan from the beginning." At this point, Macan was no longer "a wine made by Vega Sicilia in Rioja," but rather "Vega Sicilia speaking in the language of Rioja." The reason this project took nearly 20 years was not simply because winemaking itself takes time, but because time was needed to truly understand the region.

Nature, Humanity, and Time: Three Inseparable Elements

Iturriaga stressed that time, nature, and humanity are inseparable when it comes to the essence of wine. "Our vineyards are the foundation that makes everything possible," he said. "Without good land, you cannot even begin." However, "Even with good land, without human choices, you lose direction, and without time, wine can never be completed." None of the fundamental elements that make up wine can be absolutized; only when they are harmonized does a truly great wine emerge.

At Vega Sicilia, winemaking is not a matter of intuition, but a series of decisions made with time as the underlying premise. Countless choices must be made-harvest timing, extraction intensity, aging methods-but these decisions are based not on immediate results, but on achieving balance decades into the future. That is why the wines here cannot be quickly explained or easily concluded.

At the end of this long period of contemplation stands 'Unico.' Unico is a wine made from Tempranillo, Spain's signature red grape variety, which Iturriaga describes as "the grape that best embraces time." Depending on where it is grown, it can show completely different structures, but it always possesses great aging potential. "Unico is the wine that represents the pinnacle of what Tempranillo can express over time," he said. "Structurally, it resembles Bordeaux, but as it ages, it takes on the texture of Burgundy."

The flagship wine of Vega Sicilia, 'Unico' [Photo by Tempos Vega Sicilia]

"Changing Everything to Remain Unchanged"

Climate change is clearly having an impact on Vega Sicilia. Warmer weather brings the risk of overly pronounced traditional oak barrel flavors. As a result, aging methods that reduce oak influence-such as concrete tanks and large oak casks called foudres-are being increasingly adopted.

There are also subtle adjustments in the grape varieties used. Some wines now include less than 5% of supporting varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Garnacha, and Graciano. This is not an attempt to change the style, but rather a measure to maintain the established timeline even in a changing environment.

Iturriaga summarized, "We are simply making the adjustments necessary for Vega Sicilia to remain Vega Sicilia as time passes. In order to change nothing, we are changing everything." In this way, Vega Sicilia wines are made in a manner that becomes more purposeful and defined with the passage of time.