In wine, as in life, everything begins in the soil. For Raúl Tamayo, technical director of Nivarius and Proelio, this idea is not just a slogan, but his way of working. That is why his inclusion in the Top 100 Winemakers in the World list compiled by the international magazine The Drinks Business is also recognition of a philosophy that places the vineyard at the centre of everything.

This way of understanding wine is fully in line with the viticultural project of Palacios Vinos de Finca, where he carries out his work on a daily basis. At Nivarius and Proelio, he creates each bottle with a clear objective: to express the territory from which it comes.

When wine speaks of the place

At Palacios Vinos de Finca, the starting point is not the winery, but the landscape. The project is built around a simple and powerful idea: putting the territory at the centre of everything.

This means working with respect for the origin, seeking out vineyards with their own identity and allowing each estate, each soil and each altitude to define the character of the wines. Wine is understood as a natural consequence of the land, not as a technical construction.

This philosophy is reflected in the winery's various projects. At Nivarius, the high-altitude vineyards of Rioja produce whites of great freshness and precision. Proelio explores the diversity of La Rioja through its soils and landscapes. And in Trus, in Ribera del Duero, the vineyards located in elevated areas provide balance, elegance and character. Each of them responds to the same idea: to let the territory express itself in the glass.

A journey that began almost by chance

Interestingly, Raúl Tamayo's journey into wine did not begin as an early vocation. His first professional contact with the sector came while he was studying Agricultural Engineering.

His family had always made wine—mainly his grandfather—but as a domestic tradition, without commercial pretensions. It was during his university years that wine began to become more than just a family custom. In 2007, together with Rafa García, technical director of Trus, he started a project in Ribera del Duero focused on preserving the essence of tinto fino. That experience would profoundly mark his understanding of the vineyard.

He later completed his training with studies in oenology in Palencia and broadened his experience by working in different wine-producing regions, from Galicia to New Zealand and Monterrei. Each stage brought new perspectives on the landscape, the varieties and the interpretation of the vineyard.

Listening to the vineyard

For Tamayo, wine is not created in a laboratory or designed in a cellar. Wine is born in the field.

His work begins with observing the vineyard, understanding the soil and respecting the natural rhythm of each plot. Restoring vines adapted to their environment and respecting historic vineyards are fundamental principles in his way of working.

‘The terroir is in charge,’ he constantly explains. In his opinion, the role of the winemaker is to listen, interpret and accompany.

Recognition that looks to the origin

The inclusion of Raúl Tamayo in The Drinks Business's Top 100 Winemakers not only recognises his talent and the quality of his unique wines, but also a way of understanding wine that is deeply connected to the territory.

A philosophy that, at its core, recovers something very ancient: the common sense of those who worked the land before us.

Because, as Tamayo reminds us, without the countryside there is no wine.