RAMÓN FAMILY, OWNER OF BODEGA AYLÉS

Ramón Family: “the process of recognition as a Vino de Pago was long and complex, but also very exciting”.

Aylés is the only Vino de Pago (single-estate winery) recognized in Aragón and one of the only 20 Vinos de Pago recognized in Spain. After years of studies in soil, climate, winemaking methods, organoleptic, physical and chemical analyses, the Ramón family’s wines obtained in 2011 the precious recognition.

A Vino de Pago is currently a wine covered by a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO), whose geographical area is a Pago. A Pago is an area with its own characteristics of soil and climate, known by a name traditionally associated with the cultivation of vineyards. This wine can use the term Vino de Pago instead of Protected Designation of Origin.

The winery is located in the Zaragoza municipality of Mezalocha, where the characteristics of this territory, the nature of its soils, the fields and roads that border the estate, the fauna and flora make up a combination of attributes that give Aylés wines a unique personality.

• Where does your passion for wine come from?

The origin of our passion for this world comes from my father: Federico Ramón. He was the creator and promoter of the Vino de Pago Aylés. He knew how to transfer the passion he felt for the countryside and for his land to his family and put all his enthusiasm in this project, which involved a lot of effort and sacrifice over a very long period of time

• What does it mean to run a winery, unique in Aragón, that makes single-vineyard wine?

The project was very exciting from the beginning. It was an exciting challenge for all of us who work in the winery and at the same time, a very great responsibility as it is a quality status recognized by law and much stricter than the wine Designations of Origin.

There were very complicated moments as the recognition process for Vino de Pago Aylés was very long and complex. A whole research work, unique studies like never before carried out in the area, endless conversations with the Administration which, finally, approved the Regulation of Vino de Pago wines in Aragón. Of course, we have also had exciting moments in which all of us who are behind this adventure have enjoyed a lot.

• Your wines have won and continue to win numerous awards, although there has been one of great importance: the appointment, in 2018, of Aylés “S” wine as the best wine in Spain. What does it feel like at that moment? Has this award brought you more recognition at the national, international and consumer level?

First, we are very proud, as it is yet another triumph for Garnacha from Aragón. We were delighted, as it was a recognition of the effort and work that our family has been doing for almost 30 years.

We received this very important “Alimentos de España” Award for the Best Wine of the year 2018 from the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, in a beautiful gala at the Palacio de Fomento in Madrid.

As it was an institutional recognition, it was a highly publicised award, but it is a wine that gave us great joy from the very first vintage we made. Our initial objective was to try to achieve the true character of the variety, which combines elegance, freshness and longevity. From a typicity point of view, it is one of our most special wines.

• What is the job that each of you carry out in the winery?

Pago de Aylés is a family winery. It was started by our father, Federico Ramón, and nowadays it is run by the three siblings: Federico (Financial Director), Ana (Quality Director) and Inmaculada (Winemaking Director).

• What do you expect from your wines?

We are trying to communicate and value the concept of Vino de Pago, as it is something unknown to most consumers. Besides, we are working hard to keep on convincing of the quality of our single vineyard wines

• Has the practice of sustainable agriculture already led you to have your vineyards certified as organic?

Of course, after many years of practicing sustainable agriculture, we decided to start in 2016 with 100% organic agriculture. We have been seeing a different evolution in the terroir of the estate that has given us a plus of complexity in the soils, being able to translate it into wines that are different in style from those we made in 2010. The conservation and improvement of the soils are at the centre of the strategy.

We are working to make our ecosystem more complex and robust. By eliminating chemical synthesis compounds, we are increasing the number of herbaceous spices present in the ecosystem and, in turn, greater complexity in the populations of insects, small vertebrates and birds, without disregarding the increase in soil life, fungi and bacteria.

Our firm commitment to the conservation of our environment, together with our vocation to increase the quality of our products and totally eliminate waste, has led us to certify our wines as organic.

• What is special about your wines?

By definition, a Pago is a place or rural site with its own edaphic and microclimate characteristics that differentiate it and distinguish it from others in its surrounding, linked to the cultivation of vineyards and from which wines with unique features and qualities are obtained.

The grapes for these wines must come from the vineyards located on the Estate (Pago) and the wine must be made, stored and aged separately from other wines. For its control, a quality system is implemented that audits from grape production to the release of the wine on the market.

Vino de Pago are identified with specific sites that enjoy exceptional conditions resulting from the land and the landscape, which translates into special products due to the added value provided by the land they come from.

• How many hectares does the vineyard occupy in the Estate and what varieties are used?

They are a total of 50 hectares with a combination of national varieties (Tempranillo and Garnacha) and foreign varieties (Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon) and soils rich in clay and pebbles that provide concentration to the grapes from old vines.

• Are you already working on future projects?

Sure, far away is the time when wineries simply had to worry about making a good product and establishing its distribution network.

Nowadays, and even more so with the COVID-19 pandemic, a new reality is emerging with a change in consumer behaviour towards leisure and consumption. Aylés is in the process of interpreting these trends and adapting to them.

The Ramón family recognizes that Aylés «is not just a winery» and defines it as «a well-defined territory in which nature and wine coexist in a very special way. Clay, limestone and calcareous soils give essence to this environment of deep caves and underground rivers. Undoubtedly, an authentic Pago with its own characteristics that differentiate and distinguish it from others in the area».