Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/884376
october 2017 / the tasting panel / 67 National Sales Manager for CIV USA–García Carrión, the U.S. importer of J. García Carrión's portfolio. The García Carrión family served as grape growers and locally-focused wine producers for centuries in the region of Jumilla, and built its first commercial winery in 1890 to capitalize on the rapid growth of Jumilla's wine exports to France in the wake of its phylloxera epidemic. Over the next 70 years, the winery enjoyed steady growth and success through three generations of the García Carrión family. In 1968, fourth-generation family member José García Carrión took over the management of the family's interests and started the expansion process to make the company a global player. In 1997, José was joined by his son Luciano, who has spearheaded the international expansion, and together they have turned J. García Carrión into Europe's largest winery (and fourth largest in the world) with sales in 155 countries on six continents. "We have come a long way since the founding of the winery by my grandfather, and for over 125 years we have stayed true to our values of quality, which have now been passed down through five genera- tions," José says. Much of this success is due to J. García Carrión's firm commitment to improve quality while working only with the best fruit and thinking ahead to identify upcoming trends in the marketplace. Another key factor is the constant mission to make capital improvements to the production infra- structure. This includes investing in the latest technology in bottling—J. García Carrión is the only producer in the world completely verticalized in all packaging categories— making it a key player in Glass, P.E.T., Tetra Pak, Bag-in-Box, and most recently, the growing interest in canned wines. Along the way, José and Luciano have built a reputation for providing wines of outstanding quality across the full spectrum of price categories, from value-driven wines to the super-premium sector, while expanding to make wine throughout Spain. The Jaume Serra winery was built in 1647 in Vilanova i La Geltrú, Barcelona. The current winery sits amidst a 125 hectare–vineyard growing Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Tempranillo, and Chardonnay.