José Mendoza has a passion for wine in his blood. Son of Enrique Mendoza, owner of the bodega of the same name, one of the most important under DO Alicante, he has always known that his true vocation was to be an oenologist, that is why, at the tender age of 36 he already has 16 vintages, from his native soil, under his belt to add to his CV. His speciality: creating premium wines from foreign grape varieties, acknowledged for their quality both at home and abroad; his motto: “great wine comes from the best viticulture”.

When José Mendoza was only three years old he was already helping his father, Enrique Mendoza, who in the first half of the ‘70s, after buying, collecting and investing in wine from other bodegas, decided to plant his first 2,000 vines of multiple varieties to make artisanal wine in Alfaz del Pí. This was the beginning of what was to become, in1989, Bodegas Enrique Mendoza, one of the great bodegas under DO Alicante.

After this experimental phase in Alfaz, the Mendoza family moved to ‘Finca Chaconero’ in Villena to carry out the second expansion, up to a total of 120,000 vines of international varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir and Petit Verdot. It was then that José Mendoza made the decision to become an oenologist, an assignment he would accomplish at ‘Escuela de Viticultura y Enología Feliz Jiménez de Requena-Valencia’ (Feliz Jiménez de Requena-Valencia Viticulture and Oenology School), finishing his studies in 1990, the year he became the family bodega’s oenologist.

So it comes as no surprise that José Mendoza links his history intimately with that of the family vineyard. “I grew up with the vineyard, with the bodega”, José Mendoza explained, currently Bodegas Enrique Mendoza’s star attraction, helped on the commercial side by his brother Julián.

However, this oenologist’s professional life is not limited just to the family vineyard or the region. José Mendoza did his practical training with DO Costers del Segre and DO Penedés for the Codorniú Group, at Raimat and Masía Bach, respectively, and during six years he carried out two campaigns, one at home and the other abroad. “I was the first oenologist to go to New Zealand”; he recalls referring to his work for the Grove Mill Group in the Marlborough Valley. Similarly, he has also made wine for the Altavista Group in Mendoza, Argentina. In Europe, he has participated in various exchanges with vine growers from the regions of Toscana for Brunello di Montalcino, Bordeaux and Bergerac.

Both life and professional experiences acquired during this period have marked considerably how José Mendoza understands viticulture, a mark that is impressed on his wines. “I learnt technique in the New World, and respect for the terroir in central Europe. We work on both aspects, the ecological and the agrotechnological”, the oenologist stated, admitting to belonging to a generation of technicians whose philosophy is not to harm the land but to take advantage of technique.

His concept of viticulture has led him to produce grapes grown without herbicides or insecticides, fed only with compost and vineyards scientifically controlled using dendrometry (a technique that measures the hydric stress of plants) and precision viticulture. Furthermore, he advocates low yields and denser planting patterns in benefit of quality. “We design the grape according to the maximum quality we want our wines to have, all of them premium”, explained José Mendoza adding that in his opinion, Spain is currently a leading country when it comes to precision viticulture.