Juantxu Mendieta, also known as “Mendi" (a charming nickname given to him by his friends and family in the pueblo), is arguably one of the finest producers to watch from Rioja Alavesa, the most notorious wine region in Spain well known for having the perfect combination of soils and climate, both of which influence the flavors and textures of the wines.  

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Mendi's dream has always been to make wines that play to the strengths of his vineyards and that are true to the climatic conditions of each vintage.  He is both the vineyard manager and winemaker, controlling every aspect of the vineyard growth and winemaking process.  By overseeing all stages of fruit development (such as pruning, green pruning and canopy management) to retain the integrity of the vineyard, Mendi nurtures each wine's personality. 

 

At a very young age, Mendi learned how to make wine from his father, Juanjo.  One of Mendi's earliest memories is going to the vineyard with his dad and running around the rows and rows of vines; it was like an endless playground for him.  When his parents weren't looking at the winery, Mendi would sneak sips of wine from his father's stash, thus knowing at a very early age that he wanted to be a winemaker, or at least an avid wine drinker.  

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For Mendi, it has always been a luxury to work with premium grapes from his family's own vineyards, especially since his family has been growing grapes on its historic vineyards for generations.  Mendi valued such a privilege early on and decided to hone his own know-how by doing a Masters program in viticulture and winemaking, which included traveling and visiting different wine regions and wineries around the world.  Studying and traveling made Mendi DREAM of one thing and one thing only:  to capture the special terroir of his Rioja Alavesa vineyards in a bottle. 

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The end result are high quality, handcrafted wines that are limited in production and a true reflection of this very special Rioja Alavesa terroir.  These wines range from Tempranillo monovarietals to wines from a single vineyard awarded the highest quality vineyard category of "Viñedo Singular" (a monovarietal Tempranillo gem and a Malvasia/Viura beauty also awarded the upmost prestigious Rioja wine category of "Viñedo Singular") .  It's precisely this sort of vineyard that Mendi truly adores and these kinds of wines that dreamt of making.