Winemakers with a name of their own: Jorge Navascués
The series Winemakers with Their Own Name brings wine closer through the people who create it, with their stories, passions, and visions. Each installment features a winemaker whose experience and philosophy define their wines, showing how they combine tradition, innovation, and respect for the land, and how every decision in the vineyard and the winery is reflected in the bottle.
Jorge Navascués: the winemaker born among vines
“I will die making wine.” The phrase, spoken without grandiosity, sums up the vocation of Jorge Navascués, third generation of a family of winemakers from Aragón and today one of the key names in Spanish oenology.
With roots in Campo de Borja on his father’s side and in Utiel-Requena on his mother’s, Navascués seemed destined to follow the path of the vineyard. He has done so, but with one foot in tradition and the other in innovation.
From the Family Winery to International Prestige
After training as a winemaker and completing a master’s degree in Viticulture and Enology, he soon began working side by side with his father, Jesús Navascués. “He gave me the tools and the confidence to take risks,” he recalls.
Today, Jorge is the technical manager at Viñedos del Contino, one of the most emblematic projects in Rioja Alavesa, where he succeeded the renowned Jesús Madrazo. He also advises wineries in Valdeorras, Navarra, Somontano, and Aragón, and leads his own personal projects: Cutio and Más de Mancuso, focused on Garnacha (Almonacid de la Sierra).
He also participates in the initiative Agrícola de Vinos La Portera, in Utiel-Requena, together with other proactive winemakers.
Garnacha and Minimal Intervention
Navascués champions Garnacha as a flagship grape: adaptable, versatile, and deeply connected to the territory. He also advocates for minimal intervention in the winery: “The less you manipulate a wine, the more honest it is.”
This respect for the terroir and the honesty of the wine defines his style. He does not seek academic perfection, but the liquid truth of each plot, with all its nuances and particularities.
