The international renowned winery believes in quality rather than quantity, and sometimes put clients on waiting list.

"The best wine is yet to be made," says Pablo Álvarez, chief executive officer of the most internationally renowned winery in Spain.

Vega Sicilia caters to a very select clientele in 85 countries, and even then only sells them 40 percent of its limited production of 130,000 bottles a year, at a cost of EUR 120 a bottle. The other 60 percent is sold in Spain. The jewel in the winery's crown, Vega Sicilia Unicoi, takes 10 years to produce.

The second son of David Álvarez Díez, the man who in 1940 created Grupo Eulen - Spain's leading business-services company, has been at the helm of Vega Sicilia for the last quarter of a century. At 53, he comes across as frank and serene as he criticises "an excess of conceit, a lack of experience and not enough self-criticism" in the wine world. And this, from the head of a flagship winery of the top-ranked Ribera del Duero region.

It was 1982 when Miguel Noimán, who had inherited the winery, asked David Álvarez, a friend and businessman, to find a foreign buyer for Vega Sicilia because he thought no Spanish entrepreneur would be interested in this high-quality wine business. Álvarez found two prospective buyers, but the offers fell through, and after pondering the issue for over a year, he himself decided to buy the winery, thinking it might be a good future business.

"I think my father had great foresight, because back in 1982 wine in Spain was just a staple, and very few people guessed at the growth of quality wine as a luxury item," says Pablo Álvarez, who was placed in charge of running the business.

Now considered one of the 20 people who know most about wines in the world, Álvarez says he came into the business with no prior knowledge but with open eyes and ears, and all the humility of a beginner. The wine world today, he says, is rife with empty verbiage, although there are still professionals who shy away from all the paraphernalia and glamour that surrounds them.

"Let's not kid ourselves: this is a business and a job, and wine is made to be consumed and enjoyed just like food, and not to have spiritual experiences with, as some people try to tell you," he says.

The boost that Vega Sicilia gave the area in the 1980s helped raise the existing 12 wineries in the Duero region to 270, and the original 5,000 hectares of vineyards have now become 20,000 hectares.

Gone are the days when this land produced the "claretes" (rosé wines) that were sold to liquor store owners in La Rioja. And in consumers' minds, say the experts, Vega Sicilia rises above the rest of wines in the area, even if they all share the same quality certificate of "denominación de origen."

"Our goal is to maintain quality above everything else, even if that means putting clients on a waiting list because production is limited to our 205 hectares - and that's not going to change," says Álvarez.

In fact, it is rumoured that the main job of the sales and marketing directors of Vega Sicilia is to politely tell clients to get on the waiting list. Álvarez denies this, saying that he personally travels across the world to sell his wine in Japan, the United States, Finland and Argentina.

In order to produce one of the best wines in the world, according to trade magazines, workers tend to the vines with old-fashioned craftsmanship: they use plants that are at least 10 years old; they renew the French oak barrels every year, keeping the facilities impeccably clean; and they find just the right proportion of light, moisture and countless other factors.

A key element, says Álvarez, is having your own quality vineyard. Each new wine that is brought out by Vega Sicilia is the result of a lot of thought, and one of its latest ventures is a wine that is being produced in Hungary under the Tokaj brand. But the company has been pondering whether to bring a white wine into the market for 10 years now.

"Only if we achieve the quality we want, and we will wait as long as it takes," he says.

Last year, Vega Sicilia had sales of EUR 28 million and EUR 9 million in profits, in line with other luxury wineries. Álvarez says that politicians have understood the economic value of the sector as a boost to some regions, which until now lived off cereal production.

Asked whether he would consider selling his business if the right offer came along, he says: "We're not even thinking about it now because we're happy the way we are - although nobody knows what the future will bring."

[El Pais / Santiago Hernandez / Expatica]