Bodegas Ochoa is one of Spain’s most dynamic wineries. Family owned and run since 1845, it is based in Olite, a small town capital of Navarra wine, where the King had the summer residence in medieval times and Ochoa was the wine supplier. We keep an invoice from 1370.
OCHOA is a Family winery whose traditiongoes back to 6 generations. The 5th generation is based on the marriage of Javier Ochoa and Marivi Aleman and the 6th are their daughters Adriana Ochoa and Beatriz Ochoa. Nowadays the winery is run by the 2 sisters Adriana and Beatriz.
Adriana is responsible for winemaking and quality control. Beatriz is responsible for general management of the company and Sales Manager. The objective of the family is to make the best grapes in their 145 hectares of vineyard, to make wonderful wines. Bodegas Ochoa looks after their wine in a customized way, from the terroir to the bottle. Ochoa also owns 58 hectares of olive trees to make extra virgin olive oil, the highest quality in this product category, with Arbequina and Koroneiki olives.
We are convinced that quality starts in the vineyard and we are practising and certified Organic by EU standards.
Our product range is divided in the classic line created by Javier Ochoa, named under the last name of the family: OCHOA; Adriana Ochoa has created her own style with the 8A (8=ocho) symbol; Calendas is our fruit forward wines, without oak ageing, and organic certified wines.
Everyone says my father and I (Adriana) are sooooo alike. There are also plenty of ways in which we are different. But I can’t deny that I see myself in him more and more every day.
We both like to take our time and think things through, but once something captivates us we are unstoppable… like a couple of whirlwinds.
I set out at the age of 18, when I decided to pack my bags and go and study oenology in Bordeaux, with hardly any knowledge of French. I soon felt at home there. We were not cooped up in a lab in white coats for our oenology classes; we were out in the fields in rubber boots. That was part of why I fell in love with what is now my profession. Contact with the land, the soil, getting my hands full of mud and my mind full of games with the elements.
After that I went on to see more of the world. I worked in France for Pichon Comtesse de Lalande, then I spent some time at Torres, one of the biggest wineries in Spain; and, later, moved by another fit of passion for wine and a yen to see what it was it was like on the other side of the world, I set off for Australia to work for Yalumba.
After a time, I came back to Spain but not right back home. I worked for Nekeas for a time and from there I came to Olite, to our own winery, where I have remained, learning every day from my family, not only my own flesh and blood but also the larger family of those who work with us.
My sister Beatriz studied Business and Marketing in Navarra, Canada and Denmark and then travelled and worked in the UK before returning to the family business and falling in love with the industry and its people.
Beatriz and I have an enormous challenge ahead of us. We have inherited a centuries-old family legacy. It is our duty to keep it going and, we will make all in our hands to improve it. It is a huge responsibility.
Of course… when we are passionate about something… energy tends to spiral upwards, and here we are, innovating, but always with full respect for our father’s good practice and that of generations past, and filled with passion and enthusiasm to keep Bodegas Ochoa a reference of high quality of Navarra and Spanish wine.
Adriana: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adriana-ochoa-5b032330/
Beatriz: https://www.linkedin.com/in/beatriz-ochoa-26600435/