Bordón Winery
Bodegas Franco-Españolas was born in 1890 as the union between France and Spain at a peak in Rioja, when the French came to the region trying to replace their vineyards that had been devastated by phylloxera disease. This was the origin of the "fine wines of Rioja".
All this led Frederick Anglade Saurat, a native of Bordeaux, to found Bodegas Franco-Españolas in 1890. The first harvest, one year later, resulted in the winery's icon wines: Diamante and Burgundy Style. This was renamed Rioja Bordón in the 1950s, and in 2017 it was redesigned as Bordón.
In 1920, fifteen years after Anglade's death, the French sold their shares and the winery became entirely Spanish. King Alfonso XIII visits the winery in 1903 and 1925. Ernest Hemingway will do so in 1956.
The end of the Dry Law in the USA in 1933 and the re-emergence of the Control Board in 1953 gave a boost to exports of Rioja wines. Franco-Spanish wines are present in major European cities, as well as in Caracas, Buenos Aires, Havana and New York. 1964 is an excellent vintage, perhaps the best of the century.
In 1984, businessman Marcos Eguizábal (1919 - 2009) bought Bodegas Franco-Españolas, and in 1990 the winery celebrated its first centenary. In 2012 the image of Diamante and Rioja Bordón wines was renewed, and in 2013 the bodega was awarded 'The Best of' Oenological Tourism in the category of Innovative Experiences.
In 2015 the bodega celebrated its 125th anniversary and in 2016, Borja Eguizábal took over the management, giving way to the third generation of the Eguizábal family as owners of the bodega. In 2017, Rioja Bordón is relaunched, becoming Bordón, with a new concept: "Uncompromisingly classic".
Its privileged location, on the banks of the Ebro River, has made Bodegas Franco-Españolas a witness to the history of Logroño. In the hands of the Eguizábal family since 1984, it is currently immersed in new projects and is a reference point among the leisure and cultural offerings of La Rioja with its varied wine tourism proposals.
Photography and texts: https://www.francoespanolas.com