"Women are made for the world of wine, half science, half art, and we both have plenty"
Where does your love of wine come from?
- I am from Mérida and a descendant of the admirals of Castile. By family culture, the wine that was drunk at home was something to be occupied with. It seemed to me something important. With 14 years, my father, very advanced for his time, sent me to study in France. I learned the language well and that expanded my options. I had studied Chemistry at a time when the outings for women were to teach science or work in the laboratory, but always as assistants, because men were in front and, frankly, it was not my ideal. Also, I was clear that I wanted to work on something more creative. I was able to devote myself to perfumes, but I chose wine, much more alive. And, once decided, he had to do it from Bordeaux, because in Spain there were not even schools. There were also few women, mostly daughters of owners of «chateaux». I thought that if I trained better, I would have a job.
- It was like this?
- I had a very solid formation and worked three years with Emile Peynaud, an eminence who advised Marquis de Riscal, and who supported me greatly. They were looking for someone who ran a winery in Bierzo and trusted me. I never thought they were surprised to see a woman, but the surprised one was me, when they said that, on certain days of the month, women spoiled the wines and could not enter the cellars. I had just married a Frenchman assigned to Madrid as general director of the BNP, but I went to live in the Villafranca shelter with the notary, the registrar and the engineers who made the access to the tunnel of Galicia. I smoked cigars, went on a motorcycle, entered bars with men ... they criticized me, but it was not I who had to take care of what others thought.
- His career is extraordinary. What would stand out of it?
- The tasting is my specialty and my passion, but I have touched the wine from all angles. I have been general secretary of the International Union of Winemakers and jury in numerous international competitions. From the UN, I have worked to boost the development of the wine industry and the fixation of the peasant to the ground in many countries. In Spain, I was the first woman to preside over the D.O. de Valdepeñas, I have been president of the International Salon of Barcelona, honorary president of the Association of Journalists and Writers of Wine and Vice President of the International Federation, I have been a member of the Royal Academy of Gastronomy since 1985 ...
- What do we need in Spain to "get out" with our wines?
- Marketing and communication. And understand that ours is an agricultural country and that it is essential to promote youth employment and projects in these environments, because if not, young people will go to the cities, with serious consequences.
- Looking back, did you have it easy?
- I was lucky to have a husband who understood my absences. I traveled a lot, I went to Bolivia and I stayed a month and a half. My parents helped me with my daughter ... without those supports, I would have thrown in the towel, but I found many doors open; also criticism and misunderstanding, but, as I said, that never affected me. Today, I can say, happily, that we have great women in the world of wine, in all areas: viticulture, export, winemaking ... and they thank me for the path I opened. However, I must say that women are made for wine, which is half science, half art and both are left over. We have extraordinary women like Cristina Forner directing Marques de Cáceres, but that is the only place we have left to conquer: the management positions.
