My Adventure in Spain

Where I made my first wine La Extranjera / L'Étrangère

When I first visited the vineyards at Microbio Wines, I was amazed to find old ungrafted vines of Verdejo, aged between 140 and 270 years old.

I spent 1 year and 7 months working with Ismael Gozalo and learning everything about winemaking. I structured and organised the administrative side of the business and accompanied him in many wine fairs and visits to import partners around the world.

Microbio Wines

In Nieva, Segovia, around 800-900 m of altitude, the Verdejo vines are planted in sandy soils, along with slate, limestone, pebbles or clay, and that is mainly why they survived the phylloxera catastrophe at the end of the 19th century. The cellar, located in the centre of the village, is a piece of history, used by the monks a thousand years ago. Ismael Gozalo is the 5th generation of grower to care for these old vines, which have never seen pesticides or other agri-chemicals. Ismael’s father, Candide Gozalo, was the first to bottle the family’s wine.

Ismael was working with his family winery Viñedos de Nieva, but wanted to experiment on his own with natural wines. This is why Microbio Wines was founded in 1998, as a side project. In 2004, he co-founded Ossian with his partner Javier Zaccagnini. They quickly received recognition for their vibrant, terroir driven wines of Verdejo. After his partner left and sold his shares to a bigger group, Ismael decided in 2013 to concentrate his efforts on his solo project: Microbio Wines.

Click to learn more about Microbio Wines

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