Azpilicueta Wineries

After marrying Gregoria Gonzalo Torrealba, Félix Azpilicueta started his business selling and producing wines, mainly exporting to France. Years later, in 1881, he founded Bodegas el Romeral, which soon opened branches in Logroño, Santander, Bilbao and San Sebastián. He built it next to the railway line with exports in mind, thus collaborating in the creation of the Barrio de la Estación, where some of his workers and even himself would live.

In 1883 he was elected mayor of Fuenmayor and provincial deputy for the second time, paying for the construction of the town's first pavement. Years later, during 1898 and 1899, to combat the phylloxera that was spreading throughout Spain, Félix Azpilicueta introduced the American grapevine, a rootstock that would delay the spread of phylloxera in this region for almost two decades.

40 years after his arrival in the heart of La Rioja, Félix built the new winery El Romeral, the most advanced of its time. He introduced cutting-edge innovations such as the coating of the tanks with glass tiles or a central panel from which the entire winery was managed. The town of Fuenmayor pays tribute to him by naming what was previously known as “Plaza del Progreso” after him.