Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/759555
50 / the tasting panel / december 2016 of the 1980s, when it was owned by the Chivite family. In 1998, the family decided to apply for DO Pago status, and in 2007 they obtained it. In 2015, SPI Group acquired Arínzano, thanks to Louzada's work. DO Pago—the name Pago comes from the Latin pagus, meaning "prop- erty"—is defined by a 2003 Spanish law called La Ley de la Viña y del Vino (The Law of Vineyards and Wine), which holds that DO Pago wine must, firstly, follow the rules of an appellation of ori- gin. On top of that basic requirement, the property must prove that the soil and climate are unique, and that the wines they are producing are singular and exceptional. There is a long pro- cess of application for DO Pago status, involving consistently submitting wines for tasting and analysis. "When you taste [Arínzano] wines, you're going to say, 'This is not a Spanish wine;'" says Louzada; instead it might remind you more of a Burgundy, or another world- class, age-worthy wine. Louzada grew up in the Portuguese wine industry, as his family owned the Messias empire; he had the urge to learn other aspects of the business, however, and spent his twenties working for one of Portugal's Estaçao Vitivinicole, a regional wine associa- tion. In 1997, Louzada went to work for Rozès Port, part of the Moët Hennessy group; the company then moved him to Argentina, where he worked for LVMH, Moët's parent company, for a decade. Needless to say, by the time Louzada came to SPI as CEO of its wine portfolio, he had tons of experience. But what was also evident, at a recent tasting of Arínzano wines over lunch at The Dutch in Miami, Florida, is that Louzada—Head Global Winemaking Operations and CEO of Stoli Group's Prestige Wine Division, Tenute del Mondo—is incredibly passionate about healthy, organic vineyards, the unique attributes that make a terroir stand out among its neighbors and the precision of good, but noninterven- tionist, winemaking. The Arínzano estate, dominated by Lizette Garcia, Stoli Group USA South Florida, with a bottle of Arinzano 2010 Gran Vino White. Manuel Louzada, Head Global Winemaking Operations and CEO of Stoli Group's Prestige Wine Division, Tenute del Mondo, at The Dutch in the W South Beach Hotel, Miami.