Izadi

Located in Rioja Alavesa, Izadi aims to produce wines that express the character of the varieties indigenous to Rioja: Viura, Malvasía, Garnacha Blanco & Tinto, Tempranillo Blanco & Tinto, Graciano, and Mazuelo. They own 72 hectares and have access to another 108 hectares through long-term contracts. All are located within a triangle formed by Villabuena, Samaniego, and Ábalos – hence the triangle on their labels. Farming is sustainable, with many organic practices to eventually convert their vines to certified organic. The average age of their vineyards is greater than fifty years old. The soils are a mix of sandy clays and clay-limestone typical of vineyards situated at the foot of the Sierra de Cantabria.

Stylistically, they adhere to a middle ground between tradition and modernism, valuing the former’s elegance to the latter’s fruit-forward qualities. The Antón Family founded Izadi in 1987 after years of managing vineyards in Villabuena de Alaba and restaurants in Vitoria. Most notably, the Antóns own and run the one-star Michelin Restaurant Zaldiaran in Vitoria. The transition from a purely culinary family to one that also embraced winemaking began in 1997 when Don Gonzalo Antón hired Mariano Garcia (the former technical director of Vega Sicilia and the current director of Aalto in Ribera del Duero) to assess their vineyards, complement them with setting up contracts with their neighbors and constructing a cellar to make their own wines. Together with Roberto Vicente, the current winemaker for Izadi, the Antóns, and Mariano Garcia created what we now recognize as the Izadi style: robust yet refined, modern, and elegant.