Telmo RodriguezCastilla y Leon, Spain

Telmo Rodriguez: The Visionary Reviving Spain’s Forgotten Vineyards

Few figures have had as transformative an impact on modern Spanish wine as Telmo Rodriguez. A pioneer, provocateur, and tireless champion of Spain’s viticultural heritage, Telmo has dedicated his career to reviving forgotten vineyards, championing indigenous grapes, and challenging the industrial orthodoxy that once defined large parts of Spanish winemaking.

Having studied in Bordeaux and worked with some of Europe’s greats — Cos d’Estournel, Chave, Clape, and Trévallon — Telmo returned to Spain to begin his journey at Remelluri in Rioja Alavesa, his family’s historic estate. In 1994, he founded Compañía de Vinos Telmo Rodriguez with friend and collaborator Pablo Eguzkiza, marking the beginning of one of Spain’s most important modern wine movements.

Telmo Rodriguez is now widely recognised as one of Spain’s greatest wine visionaries. Named among Spain’s top 10 producers by Tom Stevenson’s Wine Report, his wines regularly earn 96–100 point scores from critics. Beyond the bottle, his legacy is cultural: championing a return to authenticity, heritage, and terroir in a country once content with industrial mediocrity.

Collaborating with Jean-Guillaume Prats for La Place de Bordeaux distribution, Telmo has placed Spain’s finest terroirs on the global fine wine stage — a legacy defined by landscape, history, and integrity.

A Philosophy Rooted in Place and Tradition

From the outset, Telmo rejected Rioja’s industrial winemaking model and its obsession with oak regimes, seeking instead to express Spain’s landscapes through its old vines and historic terroirs. His philosophy is grounded in the recovery of abandoned vineyards, the preservation of bush vines (en vaso), and the celebration of field blends — methods rooted in tradition but viewed as radical in the 1990s.

His vision aligns more with Burgundian principles of terroir than with Spain’s traditional classification, advocating for recognition of Spain’s complex mosaic of sites and villages. In 2015, he authored the Terroir Manifesto, a key step in pushing Spain toward a more terroir-focused future.

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Key Projects and Vineyards Across Spain

Bodega Lanzaga – Rioja Alavesa

At Bodega Lanzaga, Telmo has crafted a model for terroir-driven Rioja. Farming organically and eschewing monoculture, the estate produces a suite of wines — from village expressions like Corriente and LZ to single-vineyard bottlings like La Estrada and El Velado — that articulate the nuanced soils and microclimates of Lanciego with clarity and finesse.

Matallana – Ribera del Duero

In Ribera del Duero, Matallana is one of Spain’s most ambitious terroir projects. Sourced from 21.5 hectares of old bush vines spread across five villages, it captures the diversity of Ribera through meticulous farming and restrained winemaking. The wines express Tinto Fino with purity, texture, and finesse rarely seen in the region.

Rediscovering Forgotten Spain

Beyond Rioja and Ribera, Telmo’s footprint spans Valdeorras, Rueda, Málaga, Cigales, Alicante, Arribes, and Cebreros (Sierra de Gredos). Here, he works with Godello, Moscatel, Juan Garcia, Monastrell, Mencia, and Garnacha, reviving long-neglected vineyards and demonstrating the potential of Spain’s diverse terroirs beyond the mainstream. His work is anti-industrial, embracing unirrigated bush vines and field blends as means of resilience and authenticity.

Viticulture and Winemaking: Respecting Nature, Honouring Heritage

Across all projects, Telmo’s methods reflect a deep respect for the land. Vines are trained exclusively as bush vines, left unirrigated to deepen their roots and heighten expression. Native varieties only are used, avoiding international grapes in favour of Spain’s rich genetic heritage.

In the cellar, minimal intervention is key: fermentations are spontaneous, oak influence is measured, and traditional vessels like concrete and amphora are embraced to preserve purity. Farming practices emphasise organic and regenerative principles, with cover crops and tree planting employed to foster biodiversity and restore fragile ecosystems.

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Signature Wines: Expressions of Spain’s Forgotten Terroirs

Yjar (Rioja Alavesa)

Positioned as Spain’s first wine released through La Place de Bordeaux, Yjar is a singular expression of the Remelluri estate’s limestone slopes in Rioja Alavesa. Combining field blends and ancient bush vines, it offers refinement, depth, and age-worthy complexity, cementing Telmo’s reputation as a pioneer.

Las Beatas (Rioja Alavesa)

A painstakingly restored Grand Cru-style vineyard, Las Beatas produces one of Spain’s most profound wines. Complex, layered, and deeply site-driven, it reflects Telmo’s obsession with terroir purity.

Tabuérniga (Labastida)

A historic site yielding fine, precise Rioja with aromatic lift and mineral depth, Tabuérniga captures the elegance possible from ancient vines and thoughtful farming.

La Estrada & El Velado (Lanciego)

These single-vineyard bottlings show the character and finesse of specific plots within Rioja Alavesa, highlighting the diversity within even small subzones.

Corriente, LZ, Lanzaga

Village-level wines that champion the essence of Lanciego’s terroir — expressive, pure, and unpretentious, reflecting Telmo’s belief in everyday wines of integrity.

Matallana (Ribera del Duero)

A pure, terroir-expressive Tinto Fino, Matallana avoids the excesses of Ribera, delivering structure, freshness, and depth from ancient bush vines.