Luis Canas

Behind the name of Luis Cañas stands a humble family, the story of four generations of effort and passion for the vineyard. The family tradition dates back more than a century, when young wines were made in the Cueva de los Curas, an old winery dug into the earth and still preserved today. At that time, it was the now deceased Carlos Cañas, father of Luis Cañas, who transported the wines with carts pulled by mules, crossing the Sierra Cantabria and the Montes de Vitoria.

Luis Cañas, the founder and the person after whom the winery was named, was born in 1928 and worked incessantly to raise the quality of the wines he sold in bulk, until in 1970 the first bottled Luis Cañas came onto the market. Shortly after, the winery would be built and Luis Cañas' solid reputation as one of the most admired brands in Rioja Alavesa would begin to be cemented. In 1989, a young Juan Luis Cañas, son of Luis, made a strong commitment to making aged wines and five years later the new winery was built, a modern construction with everything necessary to make wines of the highest quality and diverse styles.

However, the great obsession of the Villabuena firm focuses on the vineyard, because they understand that without an excellent grape it is impossible to make great wines. In the shelter of the Sierra Cantabria, the old vines struggle to obtain sustenance from a soil of low fertility and, despite not offering large productions, they are capable of giving the harvesters fruit of excellent quality. Despite their advanced age, the immune system of plants allows them to defend themselves, thanks to the strict prohibition of the use of herbicides or synthetic fertilizers. The circle is thus closed and the vines produce healthy grapes that give rise to healthy wines in a healthy land, the inheritance that Luis Cañas wants to bequeath to future generations.