Hacienda Grimón: a dream come true

Following the river Jubera upstream, which flows away from the river Leza just before the village of Murillo towards Camero Viejo, Paco Oliván, a man with a long career working for other prominent wineries, has built his dream around a privileged estate in Ventas Blancas, in the vicinity of the villages of Lagunilla and Santa Engracia.

In 1999 Oliván, the son of winegrowers, decided to return to his roots. He left behind his suitcase, his car and his flight trips and converted the family estate. This is a privileged setting, with vineyards at high elevation (650 metres on average) virtually on the Cameros mountains: “If the Lord, or whomever, gives me the strength to finish the project, I am convinced that Hacienda Grimón will be one of the most beautiful estates in Rioja.”

Paco Oliván is not wrong. Since he started investing in the winery and the vineyard, he has sunk all his money into an absolutely vital project, to the point of making Ventas Blancas his permanent family home. The winegrower, meticulous like no other, has built the bodega around the vineyards he inherited from his father, buying and planting land covering a total of 36 hectares. Finca La Oración is his main vineyard and occupies 18 hectares. It is reached through a cypress road that serves as a connecting element for an estate meticulously parceled by varieties and soils.

The winegrower works with sheep compost, without using herbicides or poisons and with very low yields. The winery produces 12 different wines, although Oliván’s creativity does not stop and new wines will be released.

In love with Graciano, which he planted whilst at Castillo de Sajazarra, Paco Oliván has created two spectacular varietal wines from this grape and Garnacha. Both are called Desvelo, after the draining of the grapes overnight and the first treading. The rest of the range includes Hacienda Grimón (young, crianza and reserva), Finca La Oración Tempranillo from the eponymous vineyard, and Labarona, a Tempranillo from his oldest vineyards blended with Graciano. He has also planted Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc, benefiting from the elevation and the quality of the estate’s poor soils, and the first results are already on release, along with a spectacular carbonic maceration wine made from the four historic red varieties of Rioja called Como lo hacía mi abuelo (‘As my grandfather used to make it’). With the help of winemaker Alexandra Schmedes, Paco Oliván’s daughters Sara and Alba have now joined the project, thereby ensuring continuity.