Category: Bodega en

Our challenge is the pursuit of perfect wines.
Craftsmanship starts with the best vines, where we practise rational viticulture which respects the environment throughout the growing cycle.
We believe that tradition does not need to clash with innovation, but rather they go hand-in-hand in order to improve.
Care, perfection and loving attention to what we do can be seen from the very way we transport the clusters of grapes, in small plastic crates in the case of the oldest vineyards and in small trailers for younger vines.
As well as selecting on the vine itself, ALL Luis Cañas wines undergo a double selection process. First they pass through a sorting table where the clusters are selected by hand and subsequently, each individual berry is checked on a Mistral table, so that only those in perfect condition continue in the process.
The most stringent winemaking process. We select the French- and American-oak casks, from among the best cooperages in the world. The cask stock is renewed continuously, so the average age is three years. A real luxury.

Committed to quality and to society.
In 2006 we started a pioneering project in Spain: the construction of a home for agricultural workers.
With room for 40 people in separate dormitories for men and women, toilets, and also laundry, industrial kitchen, canteen, rest room and infirmary. This initiative received the prestigious 2008 Caring Company Award given by the magazine Dato Económico.
Always committed to the environment and to quality, we were the first winery in Spain to obtain the BRC Protocol with AENOR, the ISO 14.000, the ISO 9.002 quality certification, and we inaugurated our own Waste water Treatment Plant.

Our starting point is the conviction that, “you can only make the best wines from the best grapes”, hence our obsession with the vineyards.

In the heart of the Rioja Alavesa, that’s where you will find our vineyards, sheltered below the Sierra Cantabria. Surely one of the best vine growing areas in the world. The vineyards, mainly small plots and advanced in years, are characterised by being located in chalky-clay soils with low fertility, mainly on slopes and terraces, with an ideal microclimate and exposure to the sun which makes them unique.

As a result of these conditions, we obtain low yields, small clusters and berries of excellent quality. More than 1000 tiny plots are needed to complete the approximately 450 hectares of estate-owned or cellar-controlled vineyards.

Respect for the environment and the hard work of each and every link in the human chain involved in the process are vital for turning the boon of rational viticulture into success. Rational viticulture is a farming system which optimises the use of natural resources and mechanisms to the maximum, guaranteeing the future of sustainable agriculture. Biological, chemical and other methods are carefully selected and balanced in order to ensure the protection of the environment. The use of herbicides, synthetic fertilisers and aggressive products or practices is strictly forbidden in order to protect the surroundings and obtain vines with a strengthened immune system so that they can defend themselves on their own. For this work, we have a specific field department made up of 3 agricultural technical engineers and oenologists as well as 8 workers who are true vineyard masters.
The aim is to have healthy land, (surely the best legacy we can leave for future generations) and as a result, healthier fruit and wines.

Four generations behind a humble family.

Effort, determination, a passion for things done well and a clear philosophy focussed on the vineyard. There have been four generations which have written the history of our family, the “Luis Cañas Family”.

For more than a century, our family has been devoted to producing and selling traditional young wines made by the carbonic maceration method (whole clusters). These were made in the Cueva de los Curas (Priests’ Cavern), an ancient cellar carved out of the ground and which still today forms part of the landscape of the area.

Formerly, the wines were transported by Carlos Cañas, the father of Luis Cañas (who passed away last December at his 91 years´ old), in carts drawn by mules, crossing the Sierra Cantabria and Montes de Vitoria to the borders of Bilbao and San Sebastián, more than 100 kilometres from Villabuena.

In 1928 the founder, Luis Cañas was born. A perfectionist, exceptionally hardworking and whose motivation was always the pride of achieving the best quality in his vineyards and consequently in his bulk wines which convinced the palates of the great wine merchants who at the time were based in the Bilbao Alhóndiga market

It was in 1970 that Luis Cañas went on the market selling bottled young wines which had previously only been sold in bulk. That same year, not far from the Cueva de los Curas, we created the winery which bears our name and poured into it all our passion for the grape, the true origin of wines of the finest quality from the Rioja Alavesa.

1989 marks a milestone in the history of our cellar, with Juan Luis Cañas, son of Luis Cañas, taking over the reins. Just 33 years old, he brought a breath of fresh air to the winery while preserving the work ethic and family tradition thanks to his character as a perfectionist and non-conformist. This meant it was not enough for him just to make good young wines, but rather, now to start making new wines with an increasing emphasis on aged wines.

In 1994 we inaugurated a new, modern cellar equipped with the best winemaking facilities. Since then, in Bodegas Luís Cañas we have not ceased in our efforts, with constant improvements and extensions to our plant in order to continue improving the quality of our wines.
the character of Juan Luis, one of the most restless and innovative winemakers in the country, combined with the know-how and experience of the team at the winery, have made it possible for our wines to become recognised all over the world with the most prestigious awards.