Ugly American

On Friday we were going to make a final stop at a winery in Ribera del Duero on our way back to Madrid.  We'd planned to stop at Portia known for the architecture of its beautiful building, but they only had a late afternoon opening and we wanted to reach Madrid earlier in the day.  So I called a place that was not too far from the highway on the route back and she said sure I'm here come on by.

As luck would have it what a wonderful visit we had.  The winery is called Ferratus, meaning comes from steal, as the owners father owns a steal company.  The lady who owns and operates the bodegas, Maria Luisa Cuevas, was an absolute delight.  She currently has a very small production, but has the capacity to double if she has the sales and distribution.  She had such a passion for her wine operation, her wines and a love for her family.  We spent the afternoon sharing two bottles of wine with her, which in this travelers opinion, was the best we had tasted.

Unfortunately, you will not be able to get her wine in the states.  This is the ugly part, her and 7 other wineries sent bottles to a so called exporter in Chicago along with some money.  Well long story short he swindled them and now she is tied up in legal fees trying to get it back.  Does she blame him, no, she blames herself for being so naive.  The whole thing made me so mad! 

She is in talks with another importer here in the LA area.  We took his information so we will check him out and we will stay in tough with her and see what we can do to help her out.  Hopefully not too long from now you will be enjoying her wine without needing to go to Spain, although I highly recommend that too!