Javier Moro: “Wine is meant to be enjoyed, not scrutinised”

There are winemakers who talk about wine as though it were an exam, and then there's Javier Moro, who prefers to talk about emotion, the family table and the grape harvest. Grandson of a family linked to Emilio Moro, one of the benchmark wineries of Ribera del Duero, Javier champions a wine free of solemnity and artifice, made from honesty and loyalty to a legacy that began, like so many great wine stories, around some inherited vines and a shared table.

In this conversation, he talks about myths he'd like to do away with, about Finca Resalso and its youthful energy, about where Ribera del Duero ought to be heading, and about why the harvest remains, for him, the most human moment of the year.

What wine would you always bring home… that isn't your own?

Without a doubt, wines from every wine-growing region in the world, so I can experience and enjoy every organoleptic sensation without missing a single one. 

What region or variety would you like to vinify one day, even just out of curiosity?

The truth is that Spain has many interesting regions to vinify in. Nowadays, I think I'd go for a cooler region where I could make white wines built to age. Albariño could be a very good option. 

Which wine myth would you like to see done away with once and for all?

That wine is something complicated or elitist. Wine is there to be enjoyed, not examined. We need to strip away the solemnity and give it back its emotion, warmth and truth.

What sets you apart from neighbouring wineries?

Probably the way we understand legacy. We've never wanted to grow at the expense of our identity. Every important decision goes through the question of whether my grandfather would be proud of it. That connection to our roots makes the difference.

If your wine had a soundtrack, what would it be?

Something between the purest flamenco and a classical piece. There has to be emotion, tension and elegance. A wine has rhythm too: it starts gently, builds, moves you and leaves a memory.

What is it in your wine that you feel defines you as a winemaker?

Honesty. We try never to disguise the vineyard. I like to think our wines speak clearly of where they come from and who we are. Without artifice.

How much weight does the word "family" carry in every decision you make?

Everything. Family isn't a department within the company; it's where all of this comes from. When a winery is born around a table and some inherited vines, you understand that every decision has to look after the past while preparing for the future.

What did the first vines of Finca Resalso tell you when you started out?

They taught us that youth can have character too. Finca Resalso has that energy of first times, of young vines still discovering the world, yet already with a great deal to say.

Where do you see Ribera del Duero today, and where would you like to take it?

Ribera del Duero is at a moment of great maturity and international recognition. But I believe the next step is to champion the origin even more strongly — the villages, the plots and the diversity that exists within the appellation. There's still a great deal of story left to tell.

At what point in the year do you feel your work makes the most sense?

At harvest time, without a doubt. That's when everything incidental falls away. All that's left is the earth, the grapes and people working together. It's the most human, most exciting and most authentic moment in wine.

Javier Moro makes it clear that at Emilio Moro, the future isn't built with its back turned to its origins, but from within them. He champions a wine that doesn't seek to impress, but rather to tell the truth of a place, a family and a land that, harvest after harvest, still has a great deal to say.