Manuel Ruiz Hernández is one of Spain’s wisest men when it comes to wine, by virtue of his 47 years’ dedication to the field, since he was appointed to his first and only official posting in 1969 as Agricultural Technician at the Oenological Station in Haro, La Rioja. In 1998 he set out on a new professional venture with Bodegas Sobreño, under DO Toro. From that moment on, his drive as the winery’s Technical Director has been to make quality wines out of grapes from old Tinta de Toro vineyards. “Toro is my passion now,” declares our scientist and winemaker.

In his laboratory, Manuel Ruiz Hernández has studied the comprehensive range of technical, oenologic, microbiologic, agronomic, edaphic, climatic, historic and cultural aspects surrounding wine for over 40 years, placing him as one of Spain’s leading wine academics. His expertise has been acknowledged through many of the field’s leading awards, including the National ‘Juan de la Cierva’ Microbiology Award, received in 1962; the National Oenologists Federation’s Gold Medal in 1986; the La Rioja Gold Medal in 1887 and the Gold Medal of Merit for Work, awarded in 2007.

Throughout all these years, Ruiz, who authored the first viticultural map of Casilla y León back in 1981, has been consistent and generous in his efforts to develop and transmit his scientific and technical expertise, earning him the respect of the entire Spanish wine community.

Closely linked to QDO Rioja, Ruiz was involved in the earliest stages of what would later become Bodegas Sobreño. “One evening I was in Rioja Alavesa, in the town of Laguardia, tasting some wines with my friend Roberto San Ildefonso, who mentioned an idea he had been considering: to establish a winery linked to the vineyard in another part of Spain, a winery designed to make quality wines, with an international outreach and able to meet the requirements of the most demanding markets,” explains the scientist, adding that from that very evening, “I was increasingly eager to be a part of the venture”.

Having defined the objective, the next step was to find the right location. The pair looked into different regions, considering different possibilities. Manuel Ruiz Hernández was keen on the River Duero, since he was familiar with the soil and the region’s varieties, having worked there in the early days of DO Ribera del Duero and having carried out wine research for the recently established Castilla y León regional government. “Essentially I wanted to work here because it would allow me to contribute to my own community with a project I was excited about”.