Bodegas Frutos Aragón. A small Ribera del Duero winery with very clear ideas (2)

It comes from: Bodegas Frutos Aragón. A small Ribera del Duero winery with very clear ideas.

Desafío 2006

Despite of Pedro´s self-financed attitude, his expectations of expansion of the winery are quite ambitious. But, wisely, he does not put a time limit to those expectations. The extensions will be made with the revenue that business will generate. (Can a small winery grow differently at this moment?)

Another thing he has clear, based on costs, is to consider what type of machine he wants to own and which he wants to rent for specific activities.

Pedro owns also another company that provides machine hire service for other wineries and for his own winery. His service is so good and his prices are so competitive that some wineries that have the machines prefer to rent his machines than using their own. (We can see there again the entrepreneurial attitude, finding a need and attending to it, and keeping controlled the costs)

Barricas de "Desafío alta gama"

Afterwards we went to visit his vineyards to see how they harvest. He has some really attractive vineyards. And he takes care of them with great detail. I was lucky to see the whole process at harvest (vintage machine, unloading truck, unloading in the warehouse, filling fermentors).

The end of the visit was a summary of what he planed to do if things go as expected. And for the way he spoke, it gave me the impression of speaking of rather a short period.

Being with someone like Pedro is like a breath of fresh air. I recall a Charles Darwin sentence. «It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change». I think that Peter will not have problems to get along, because one of his strengths is to have things clear. He understands the situation. He knows where we are going and what he wants, and he is making ready his companies to this new situation.

Nave de alquiler de maquinaria

What I say it seems quite obvious but I have the feeling that many small and medium size, and a few big wineries, have not their ideas so clear. Or that is what they look like.

What is still missing Peter? Using Internet properly. But he does not have to worry about, because if he wants I will do this job for him..

I wish you good luck Pedro, but I think you even do not need it. You think you are going to get it quite soon… and I agree with you.

See you soon

Post in Spanish: Bodegas y Viñedos Frutos Aragon, una pequeña bodega con las ideas muy claras. (2)

Bodegas Frutos Aragón, a small Ribera del Duero winery with very clear ideas

Fachada de Bodega Frutos Aragón

I was in Roa yesterday, a village in the centre of Ribera del Duero.

Pedro Hernández brought me there. I want to thank him for presenting me Pedro Frutos and his wife, owners, of Bodegas Frutos Aragón.

I enjoyed the visit a lot. Because I found a man who has very clear how to grow. We are talking about a small winery, but with a professional and larger winery ideas attitude, and with the intention to grow fast.

They are investing in installations when few companies do it now, not only on the wine sector but in any other.

He has 2 kinds of product strategies. By one side he tries to mecanize as much as he can in order to make the lowest variable cost of elaboration, with a good quality product. For this wine he has “Desafío” and he sells it at 3 euros. The “Desafío 2006” spends 9 months in french oak barrels.

Fermentadores

Behind this name and this man there is a very interesting story. He reads and knows a lot about wine, about history and about history of wine. ¡How many nice stories there are behind many wines!

I had the opportunity to drink it later in a restaurant at dinner. I had to pay 5 times its winery price!!!!. Not bad for a restaurant to get such a huge margin. Is it excessive this margin? Is Pedro selling his wine too low? Maybe the answer is yes for both questions. But this is not new. Isnt´it?

There is another product line in wich he is focussed on quality and quality image. On this case he elaborates wine with the most expensive systems in order to get a first class quality product. A very good grape, taken at hand, the best barrels, the most controlled and cared elaboration. He intends to sell this product al 15 euros a bottle.

Pedro´s priority is an strict costs follow up, in order to be sure, that his sale prices are higher than costs prices. He operates with no banking support. This way he does not have to be thinking on banks relationship. The cost control responsible is his wife. I can realise they both make a very good team.

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Post in Spanish: Bodegas y Viñedos Frutos Aragon, una pequeña bodega con las ideas muy claras.