Pago
recalls the terroir, unique place. Fantastic communion with the vineyard and
its environment that is Aylés, a winery with wines added to the experience and
efforts of its people. The rest is history and this winery has a lot of it.
Wines with personality, made with love,
respect to their environment, with aromas of nature alive. The desire of a
great man became a reality in Aylés: vision, love of wine and the field has
paid off. The winery and its wines travel the world with heads held high and a
job well done. Cheers!))
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| Image from Pago Aylés website |
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| Pago Aylés |
Interview
with Mrs. Inmaculada Ramón Reula, member of the Board of Directors and C.T.O.
and Mr. Felix Moreno Valiente, Sales Manager.
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| Inmaculada Ramón Reula |
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| Félix Moreno Valiente |
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| Pago Aylés |
C.S. Thank you very much for
your invitation and giving me the interview.
I.R. You
are welcome.
C.S. How did the project AYLÉS
start? It is known that the property was bought in 1992 and it was called
Winery “Señorío de Aylés”
I.R. No,
the property was just called Aylés. There were not a winery in. This estate has
been always called Aylés. We have found documents from XII century and it
already has this name: Aylés.
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| Pago Aylés |
I.R. No, the “Y” means that the origin is old
Castilian, nowadays it is seldom used in names. We do not know the origin.
There are people in the United States and United Kingdom with Ayles as surname,
and also there is an ice shelf in
Canada called Ayles. We really liked the name and when the winery was built we
decided to call the wine “Aylés”.
C.S. It is curious!
I.R. I
would like to know where the name is given. Maybe, I ask at the University to
see if they can help me to find out, because it is a very unique name.
F.M. A historian did a study and found documents from S.XII with the name of the
estate.
I.R. Yes, he
found the name of the estate but not
what the name can mean or where it comes from.
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| Pago Aylés |
C.S. There were Cistercian
monks established in this area, wasn’t it?
I.R. Yes,
in this area
C.S. Was there a friary
established here?
I.R. No,
there was not a friary. It was an area influeced by them from a monastery
established near here, Monasterio de Rueda. The property already existed as it
is today, and also called Aylés. After the monks, it belonged to a noble family
for centuries. After them, it belonged to another family until my father bought
it in 1992. What it is really curious is that during all these centuries the
property has been kept as it is now. It has not been divided in smaller pieces.
Aylés is a big property, 3.000 Ha. When my father bought it, it was in a state
of neglect, and we had to organize almost everything. My father really enjoyed
it because he was in love with field. Nowadays, we are enjoying all the work
and time invested in, started by my father and afterwards by all of us. There
have been years of a very hard work…
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| Pago Aylés |
C.S. So, in this 20 years…
I.R. Firstly,
a study of use of the property was made, to find out what was the best we could
do it. Vine was the one of the firsts choices. This area is a vine area, with a
great soil for it, and inmediatly we loved the idea. The first plantations dated from 1995.
C.S. What kind of soil have the
property?
I.R. It
is clayey-calcareous, as the rest of the area. We made a zoning study of the
property and discovered that inside the estate there are some pieces which its soil
has a different composition. In fact, there are some pieces where we can plant
Pago vines and there are other where we cannot do it. All Aylés property does
not have the high standard quality ground composition required to plant Pago
vines.
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| Pago Aylés |
C.S. How do you reach the Pago category?
I.R. After
we had been working with the winery for 5 years, my father realized the good potential we had here. What we imagined was coming true. He
was told about Vinos de Pago and all the requirements needed.
This kind of wine category was only gave
in Castilla. He knew that Aylés met virtually all of the requirements. From there, we had to prove it, we
had to make a study of grounds and zoning, conducted
by agronomists from the Polytechnic University
of Madrid. The conclusions drawn from this study were that the estate has its own microclimate and an excellent soil for growing grapes. We have some characteristics that
make the property unique.
Another study done by the
University of Zaragoza endorsed the uniqueness of the wines Aylés. Both the
sensory analysis and chemical analysis of aroma components say that our wines
are aromatically special and different from the wines from our environment.
Summarizing: from this different and special soil, a different wine is
obtained.
C.S. The property is a
protected area, isn’t it?
I.R. Yes,
it is a protected area of wildlife by the E.U. There
is much diversity. They must live here very well, because they don’t go! They really like Aylés. They live
so comfortably among grapes ... All this is reflected in the
personality of the wine. Its aromas express the variety of wildlife we have around.
My father realized that we fulfilled all the requirements. But the law is not national but dependent on the Regional
Government. There were this kind of wines, Vinos de Pago, in Castilla La Mancha, and the rest of Spain had not yet. After doing these studies - zoning simply lasted a year and a half of work! - we asked the application to the Government of Aragon. It was a very hard and long work.
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| Pago Aylés |
I.R. Because
we wanted to be different, because we wanted to have more quality.
C.S. Please explain us what
“Vino de Pago” is. It is not known in many countries.
I.R. The
definition of Pago: A rural area which has unique characteristics in both its
soil and microclimate distinguishing and differentiating it from surrounding
sites and whose vineyards produce wines with distinctive and singular
qualities”, Besides all these
things, you also need to fulfill many duties related to the process of
production, processing, quality, bottling ... in the end, all that guarantees the
highest quality.
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| Pago Aylés |
C.S. This happens only in
Spain, isn’t it?
I.R. Yes,
but it is similar to the French “Chateau”, where the differentiations are in
the land. They are different from us.
F.M. In
Spain, there are also geografical requirements. It means that to be a “Vino de
Pago” the winery has to be inside the vineyard, and this has to be bounded
perfectly. A wine cannot be “Vino de Pago” if the winery is right here and the
vineyard 15 km. far away; both have to be in the same estate
C.S. Do you still belong to
D.O. Cariñena?
F.M. There
is a part of the vineyard which production is under D.O. Cariñena.
I.R. Yes,
one of the formalities for a wine to be a Vino de Pago is that the vines must
have a minimum age; and not all our vineyard currently fulfills it, so we
cannot use these vines to produce Vino de Pago but to produce D.O. Cariñena.
F.M. Under
my point of view, the easiest and most simple way to explain what Vino de Pago
is to the final consumer is “distinction”; our wines are different to
any othe wine produced in our environment. This is key point.
I.R. I
think that distinction is the most important matter.
F.M. Vino
de Pago is as it were an own D.O. There is D.O. Rioja, D.O. Rias Baixas…D.O.
Pago Aylés. The distinction means that Aylés is its own D.O.: it is unique and
exclusive. And its position in the quality pyramidal system is the highest one.
I.R. We
are very few producers who met all the quality and singularity required
requirements.
F.M. Compared
to the French system, it would be similar to Grand Cru Classe. It is the
easiest way to explain what Vino de Pago is to an importer in another country.
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| Pago Aylés |
C.S. Being “your own D.O.”, do
you have external support? A winery which belongs to a D.O. has the support of
the group…
I.R. No,
in this case we are alone.
C.S. So, it is distinction and
exclusivity, but it is also a responsibility.
F.M. That
is right, we depend only on us, for better and for worse.
I.R. Yes,
and we are the only ones who want that the wine produced were great ... because it is "our
wine". It is a self-required level. We are the most interested and responsible to keep our reputation.
C.S. I like the explanation, it
is very clear. Which is the oldest vine in the property?
I.R. There
are some from 1940s, white Grenache.
They were already in the property when my father bought it.
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| Pago Aylés |
C.S. And, are they in the Vino
de Pago fields?
I.R. No,
they are not. In fact, there are very few ones and we do not use them. They have a
very low yield. My family planted the vineyard in 1995, but in Ayles estate
there have been always vines.
C.S. What varieties have you
planted?
I.R. Grenache, Tempranillo, Merlot, Cabernet. These were the first varieties
planted in the first 25 Ha. Then, we followed with Chardonnay and Syrah, and we
want to plant more. We want to continue planting Grenache. Step by step … we
are not in hurry…
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| Pago Aylés |
C.S. What wine is your
best-seller and has had a greater acceptance in the market?
I.R. Aldeya Garnacha.
F.M. This
is a trick question. The best
sold is the one with a better ratio quality-price, due to the economic
situation. The one better accepted…I think that all of them, all different for
different consumers and different moments.
C.S. How have you proposed the
export? It is a very complicated job right now
I.R. Yes,
it is a complex work. Firstly, Aylés exported a little, all was domestic
consumption, and now we export almost 70% of the total production. We realized
some years ago that due to the economic situation the national market was going
to get complicated, and we knew that we should do something: we should change
our commercial policy.
C.S. Has the crisis affected
the winery? How?
I.R. Of
course, like everyone.
C.S. So, you saw the start of
the crisis and realized that you must go out to sell, how did you faced it?
Sticking all the team?
I.R. Yes,
that’s right. All our efforts were focused on exports. We started to go out to
other countries. We have to increase the workforce to support the Commercial
Department. Going to national and foreign fairs, e.g.: Germany, United Kingdom,
Malaysia…to present our wine to the world.
F.M. It
has been countercyclical for us. It arrived almost at the same time as the Vino
de Pago recognition. We already had the idea that we were going to increase our
efforts when the recognition arrives. This crisis did not take away our
illusion, on the contrary, the harder the situation was the higher efforts made all of the team, in the whole property - vineyard and winery. We are very
confident with this project. It has not been something instantaneous. It is the
result of a work lasting 10-15 years. We are still working on it because crisis
gave us more strength than negativity.
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| Inmaculada Ramón Reula |
C.S. This is a very important
point because it is very useful to spread that work without effort has no
sense. Make a lot of money in 1 or 2 years and then get retired: it does not
exist.
F.M. This
project is not accidental.
I.R. We
are working on it for 20 years and we start to get the outcome little time ago.
There have been many years of stay, keep working and have the conviction to do
it. There had been moments thinking: Am I wrong? But, as you know, we are
“maños” (people from Aragon are called “maños” and are known as tough people) and we were committed doing
something that we think is important. You can have any kind of moment and
feeling, but after such a hard work and so long it is very satisfactory reach
the level we have got, and we have to keep on working. It does not finish, this
is just the beginning, we have a long way to run. There are 15 people working
here, and all of us we can live of this project. That's something to consider
C.S. It is a responsibility to
give a job to so many people.
I.R. Yes,
it is. It is not a big company, with 500 workers, but there are 15 families
living from the winery and we hope to be more in a near future.
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| Pago Aylés |
C.S. And also the environment,
it is alive because the winery is here!!!
I.R. Yes,
that’s right.
C.S. Which part of your
production is for national market?
I.R. Export
is arround 65-70%, so national is 30-35%. National market has increased notably
during last three years and keeps on growing due to Vino de Pago; years ago our
national market was only Zaragoza.
F.M. Yes,
you can find our wines in almost 70% of the Spanish market.
C.S. What kind of wines? Pago
wines? Any kind of wines?
F.M. Any
kind. Our top class is “3 de 3000”. Due to its price it is not a wine for daily
consumption. The medium-high range of our production is around 70% of our
wines, and Pago wines are among 30-35%. This is our range.
C.S. What is your production,
in bottles?
I.R. We
produce around 600.000 bottles including 400.000 for export. It always depends
on the harvest, and this year it seams it is going to be a great one!
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| Pago Aylés |
C.S. Is it going to be like the
one in 2004?
F.M. It
is still too early to say, but it can be like 2004 production or the 2000 production.
C.S. How do you see your
future? Do you have long-term plans?
I.R. Our
future and our plans must go together. We want to grow up and getting the loyalty
of our clients. We have to be known, to be recognized, we have to keep on
working with them and they trust us. We are talking about our importers,
distributors and consumers: they examine us every day. Our challenge is to keep
our relationship a long time and when some body could drink an Aylés wine
recognise our stile and quality. If we get this we will be very pleased.
C.S. How many people work on
the estate?
I.R. Usually,
15 people, but when it is time for specific tasks, like pruning works; we need to
increase the workforce in 20 people to help.
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| Pago Aylés |
C.S. Do you want to add any
message?
I.R. I hope we have been able to transmit the most
important message: what Vino de Pago is. People have to recognize it as
distinction and quality, and that it has a lot of work behind.
C.S. Is the whole family
working in the winery?
I.R. Yes,
the whole family work here, and even it would sound kitschy, all of us, we feel
as we were a family.
C.S. Yes, I can notice it!
I.R. Among
us, we have a very good relationship. We are almost the same age. We have the
same personal situations nearly at the same time. We spend every day all day
long together. This is the most important point in Aylés, the group of people
involved. Working with a good team is very important, it is the best that can happen to you. You have to
take care of the vine for they to produce good grapes to get a better wine, but
you also have to pay attention to the team of people, you have to trust them.
This is great. There could be problems, and if you have a team of reliable
people, you can face and solve them easily.
F.M. Yes,
this is a luxury. It is priceless!!!
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| Pago Aylés |
C.S. And this is transmitted to
the outside.
F.M. Yes,
everything is transmitted, even wine feels it!
I.R. Yes,
you can feel it in our wine. If you do not work comfortable, you have temper
and you produce a bad wine (laughs) (this sentence in Spanish is a pun: to have
temper is, literally to have bad grape, so with bad grapes you produce bad
wine)
When
I met people who are not comfortable in their job, I feel embarrassed to say I
have not this problems, that I am thrilled with my work. I do not live in an
unreal world, of course we have problems in our daily work and we also have
sleepless nights thinking of them!!!
F.M. And
in wine business, you know that you cannot find two equal years…That’s
wonderful, you find challenges day by day.
C.S. Thank you very
much for the interview. In vino veritas, longae vitae!))
Translated by Lola Torres
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