V I N E E X P E C TAT I O N S
Labels come to life
With an eye for storytelling, Casa Rojo’s founders have blazed a trail for a new style of winemaking in Spain. By June Lee
I
t’s not often that wine labels look like movie posters, but on top of that, José Luis Gomez looks like he stepped right out of his MachoMan bottle. Which is indeed accurate, as the label was based on a caricature of Gomez by Spanish artist Eduardo del Fraile, a good friend. Gomez, 44, and his wife Laura Muñoz, 37, are an attractive winemaking couple. They are unabashedly plugged into social media and millennial drinking culture and share many of the same values and interests of that generation. As Gomez articulates, “The future is here, so you have to adapt or die. The new generation of wine drinkers is interested in holistic quality, not just the product. They want to know the approach all the way to the moment of consumption.” He chuckles as he checks my Instagram photos, reminding me to tag Casa Rojo in order to reach their avid followers.
Born in wine Muñoz was born into a winemaking family, waking up to the smells of fermentation and watching her father stomp grapes
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while Gomez got started in the wine business at 18 years old. They met in Japan on separate business missions, and had an immediate connection over drinks at a Roppongi bar. If the movie Lost in Translation comes to mind, that’s a resemblance that has occurred to Muñoz as well. Married in 2008, they started Casa Rojo in 2010 with the ambition of elaborating the best wines across different regions across Spain and native grapes to faithfully represent the terroir of each. It resembles a négociant business, which, while well-established in France, is relatively rare in Spain. Today, they handle nine different projects across Spain – MachoMan (Monastrell) from D.O. Jumilla, El Gordo del Circo from D.O. Rueda, The Orange Republic (Godello) from D.O Valdeorras, La Marimorena (Albariño) from D.O. Rias Baixas, Ladrón (Mencia) from D.O. Bierzo, Alexander vs The Ham Factory (Tinta Fina) from D.O. Ribera del Duero, Maquinón (Garnacha Negra) from Priorat, The Invisible Man (Tempranillo) from D.O Rioja, and Molto Negre (Trepat) a D.O. Cava from Villafranca del Penedés.
