About Jorge Ordóñez

Possibly the single most influential player in importing, and promoting, the great Spanish wines to the United States, Jorge Ordóñez did a tremendous amount for the advancement of Spain as an internationally regarded fine wine country before his eponymous winery was even conceived as an idea. Jorge was a force to be reckoned with in America in the late 1980s. A man of true impetus and drive, Ordóñez introduces the imperious likes of Vega-Sicilia and La Rioja Alta to the New Worlds and subsequently gained a reputation for becoming unusually involved in the production of the wines he represented as importer.

A shareholder in Bodegas Numanthia, since sold to LVMH, it was in 2000 that Ordóñez pivoted completely to winery owner having come to understand both the commercial and technical requirements of an estate in Spain as comprehensively as anyone. Three years later, and ever-bold champion of his country’s wines embarked on an ambitious project to revive the lost sweet wines of Málaga.

Born and bred in Andalucía, with a special connection to the region, the fascinating appellation of La Axarquía mirrors Tokaji in some respects, having been the home of legendary sweet wines, highly revered in years gone by but since fallen into obscurity. A pan-European effort to resurrect these special wines, the winemaker chose to help Ordóñez was the late, great Austrian Alois Kracher, followed by his son Gerhard.

Viniculture

Jorge Ordonez is a true classicist, reviving wine styles that have almost disappeared from the modern Spanish wine scene. His production methods are almost Burgundian in style and it shows in his wines. Minimal intervention and light-touch wine making have resulted in wines that are fine expressions of Rueda's climate and soil.