Sometimes, the great stories of wine are not written in the winery, but in the offices, in the newspapers or in a theatre full of winegrowers. In 1915, Félix Martínez Lacuesta was the protagonist of one of those decisive moments: he managed to stop a law that would have allowed Rioja wines to be counterfeited in free ports. His defence of the origin, the name and the future of Rioja was the first step towards a collective awareness which, a decade later, would give rise to the Designation of Origin. This is the story of that founding gesture.

In the early years of the 20th century, Spain was looking for ways to reactivate its economy after the loss of its colonies. One of them was the creation of free trade zones: tax-free areas next to strategic ports such as Barcelona and Bilbao . What appeared to be an opportunity, entailed a serious risk for Rioja wine: in these warehouses it would be allowed to mix national wines with others of unknown origin, favouring the big traders who could “manufacture” Rioja or Jerez without control of origin.

Félix Martínez Lacuesta, then president of the Logroño Provincial Council and a leading figure in the Exporters’ Union, raised his voice against the bill. He launched a national press campaign under the slogan “We must shout” and wrote a report which he sent to Parliament warning of the dangers of including wine in this law. In January 1915, he convened a large assembly of exporters, harvesters and industrialists from all over the region and neighbouring provinces at the Bretón Theatre. From there, an urgent telegram was sent to the president of the Council of Ministers, Conde de Romanones, demanding the exclusion of wines from the duty-free regime.

The pressure paid off. Wine was left out of the free port project, thus preventing the counterfeiting of Rioja in port areas. That was no minor achievement: it was the first time that origin was defended as an inalienable value. That seed grew in 1925 with the creation of the Rioja Designation of Origin and a year later with the birth of the Control Board.

The tribute to Felix was massive. In April of the same year, more than 700 people travelled by train from Haro and other towns to the Beti-Jai fronton in Logroño. The banquet, amidst cheers, marching bands and speeches, became a popular festival in defence of wine and the man who had defended it. Félix refused the gift of a golden feather and asked that the money raised be used to create an export fund for Riojan fruit and vegetables.

Today, one hundred years later, the history of Rioja wine cannot be understood without this courageous gesture. Because there was a time when Rioja was not yet an appellation, but it already had someone to defend it as a collective symbol.

More information can be found on pages 58 to 67 of the book. Martínez Lacuesta 1895-2020. 125 years of a family winery . José Luis Martínez Lacuesta.
You can get the book in the shop of our winery or in the following link.