We’ve been friends with Luis now for some time and he comes from an Aragonese family which has been farming, tending vineyards and making wine in the parishes of Abadiado and La Hoya de Huesca for many generations. Luis himself has a long pedigree working alongside some of Spain’s top winemakers in regions like Aragón, Bierzo, Galicia or Madrid, where he really discovered his passion for finely made Garnacha wines in the Sierra de Gredos.
Now he’s back home in native Huesca and dedicated 100% to his own winemaking project, Luis Oliván Vinos y Viñedos. Luis’s credo centres on the idea that older vineyards where grapes have been grown for decades, or sometimes centuries, is the best indicator of quality fruit.
With that in mind, Luis seeks out historic sites and revives them. His first stop was a parcel of Garnacha outside the village of Bespén in the province of Huesca, which locally goes by the name Las Pilas. Historical accounts record Garnacha being made and enjoyed in Bespén from as far back as the mid-12th century, and Luis’s approach tries to respect that centuries old winemaking tradition.