A man passionate about wine
A personal interview to find out what Gonzalo Sáenz de Samaniego, winemaker at Bodegas Ostatu, is like and what he likes to do in his spare time.
Who is Gonzalo?
A person who lives and enjoys Rioja Alavesa, his work, and his family. I like to know, to listen more than to speak, I am restless to know new things, and I like to enjoy myself with friends.
When you are not working we can find you…
- Listening to… I barely listen to music, except when I’m driving, which isn’t a few hours, and I like intimate, personal music, I really enjoy singer-songwriters, whether they’re vindictive or not.
- Reading… I enjoy historical novels, but I dare with any theme and style.
- Going to… Traveling is one of my favorite hobbies, and if the destination has art and history, I am there.
- Eating… I am one of those who like everything, good meat, more and more fish, and I am a ‘laminero’, that is to say, I have a sweet tooth.
- Doing, practicing… Little sport, I enjoy and I like to walk be it mountains or routes.
Passion for wine both trained and vocational
Your training has been focused on the wine sector and is closely related to the primary sector. Your own decision or were you somewhat influenced by the family and by giving continuity to the business?
Obviously, what you live, you have it well assumed and you feel it your own. But I have to tell you that it has always been a personal will and decision, the choice to be where I am today and what I have dedicated myself to in recent years. I have not felt at all that it was an “obligation or duty” to the family circumstance.
Three siblings in charge of a business with everything that entails… the plots, the management of the winery itself, the creation of the wines… Do you all participate in all the decisions or is each one specialized in their department?
The three of us are aware of the tasks of the rest. Each one has its areas of responsibility and is the one who takes precedence in decision-making in each of the areas. But we agree on most of the issues, whether in the vineyard, wine, or commercial and management field.
Did you dream of being a winemaker as a child? What did Gonzalo say when he was little when they asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up?
Not at all, in my house our parents always demanded the obligation to study before doing any work approach. Since we were little, we always collaborated with the specific jobs that were needed at home (removing weeds, harvesting, bottling, etc.), but first and foremost, the obligation was to study. And I, following these indications, thought of studying history, until fate took me to the Viticulture and Oenology School in Laguardia, where, hand in hand, a great man and professor like Ernesto Arbulu, inoculated us with this passion for wine. And from that almost coincidence, it became the best decision ever.
Winemaker in and out…
What wine would you offer, as a winemaker, to someone visiting your home for the first time?
I like that everyone chooses their wine because the objective when one visits your house is that they enjoy what they prefer or like the most, and if they want to try other styles later, well, phenomenal, in our house they have a variety of them to be able to contrast and enjoy them.
A good winemaker, is he born or made? Is it possible to educate the palate, smell, and sight or do you have to have something special?
As in most cases in life, a good professional is made, here miracles or magic wands are not valid. As a winemaker, it is about getting involved in your work, learning, listening, seeing, contrasting, questioning things many times, and striving every day to do your job better. But without a doubt, it is always being with an open attitude and eager to learn every day.
You are committed to the environment through the use of sustainable technologies in some of the processes. How do you see the future of viticulture in this sense? Is more training needed in this regard for both consumers and producers?
For our part, we have been completely involved for more than a decade and we have also turned environmental sustainability, both from the cultivation and production part, into one of the fundamental axes around which the work of our winery and family is centered. And this is a field where obviously, all of us, and especially at the regional level, must make an effort both to train and to guide our activity, since without a doubt the market is going to be more and more demanding in this regard, and regardless of that, it must be a personal responsibility, since if something is evident, it is the need to look at the land with respect again and that our crops are faithful to the characteristics of our area and soil.
Winemaker’s word: your favorite Ostatu wine and why
This is a common question that all of us who are dedicated to wine are asked. Tell you that I enjoy everyone, yes, each one in their environment. Obviously, for direct reasons, it is the young wine from Ostatu that I drink the most, and I have to admit that this wine is where we have been able to do everything else that has come to our house. But I also have to admit that my favorite wine is the Ostatu Selection, that style of wine with which we began to make the aged wines since it was the first, the one that fell to me together with my father to start this style. of winemaking.
