Bodegas Faustino

Bodegas Faustino and Foster+Partners: The Legacy of Bodegas Faustino

The Legacy of Bodegas Faustino

Bodegas Faustino and Foster+Partners build the most innovative and sustainable architectural complex around wine worldwide: El Legado de Bodegas Faustino (The Legacy of Bodegas Faustino).

It includes new visitor areas and structures, as well as renovation of existing facilities and buildings, which have already allowed the most avant-garde and innovative developments to be applied in the production and aging of Faustino, the leading brand of the highest quality Rioja wines in the world

El Legado de Bodegas Faustino (The Legacy of Bodegas Faustino) will allow visitors to enjoy the most complete and exclusive set of experiences around wine, vineyard, nature, architecture, culture and sustainability

The first phase, which can already be visited, involves the reconversion of the entire environment and the intervention in the interior and exterior spaces implying an improvement in the productivity of Bodegas Faustino 

El Legado de Bodegas Faustino (The Legacy of Bodegas Faustino) is a milestone in the promotion of sustainability in the world of wine and is in line with its position as a leader in sustainability and environmental care in the wine industry

Bodegas Faustino and Foster+Partners are building together Bodegas Faustino – Foster+Partner 2024 Project, that will turn Bodegas Faustino, which already has the most advanced and innovative facilities for the production and aging of Rioja wines of the highest quality, into the most innovative and sustainable architectural complex around wine worldwide.

 El Legado de Bodegas Faustino (The Legacy of Bodegas Faustino), devised by Foster+Partners involves a complete redesign of Bodegas Faustino, which benefits the entire winery and the estate, with which Bodegas Faustino becomes a new paradigm of what the wineries of the future will be like. This project includes the construction of new visitor areas and buildings, as well as a series of renovations of existing facilities and buildings, which have already allowed the most avant-garde and innovative developments in technology and sustainability to be applied in the production and aging of Faustino, the leading brand of the highest quality Rioja wines in the world. 

As a result of these works, the new facilities of Bodegas Faustino will allow visitors to enjoy the most complete and exclusive set of experiences around wine, vineyards, nature, architecture, culture and sustainability in a unique proposal that connects all spaces with the vineyards, which become part of the architectural complex.

All this takes place in a historic winery, that is more than 160 years old and has more than 60,000 barrels, in which the highest quality Rioja wines age, and more than nine million bottles of Rioja Reserva and Gran Reserva. A winery that will continue to produce and age world leading Rioja wines.

The first phase of El Legado de Bodegas Faustino (The Legacy of Bodegas Faustino) Faustino and Foster+Partners 2024 Project, which can already be visited, involves the transformation of the entire environment and the intervention in the indoor and outdoor spaces of the winery designated to the production and aging of wine. And, in parallel, it allows improving the productivity of Bodegas Faustino, thanks to the better time and quality management in all the processes that this renovation facilitates. Among the remarkable improvements that Foster+Partners has designed for Bodegas Faustino in this first phase, the following stand out:

• The vegetation cover of the facades, resulting in a new evolutionary appearance that makes the project more sustainable, as it helps to maintain the temperature more efficiently.
• The creation of a new vinification cellar, which has differentiating tools for the production of very high-quality white wines to respond to market demand. This is the case of the use of inclined hoppers, boreal equipment (a unique system that allows the grape paste to be continuously cooled using liquid CO2 and thus control the start of the fermentation process), work with inert gases or use of innovative techniques in fermentation processes.
• The renewal of the color of the exterior pavement and facades, opting for a tone that does not absorb heat, which makes the use of energy more efficient.
• The installation of solar panels in existing buildings and in new facilities.
• The change of the flow scheme of visitors and daily business activity through actions that involve an aesthetic change and an architectural change, to make productive activity compatible with the presence of visitors.

Lourdes Martínez Zabala, CEO of Familia Martínez Zabala: Bodegas Faustino is a unique, innovative, technological and sustainable world leading brand that is a benchmark for Rioja wines of the highest quality. Now, El Legado de Bodegas Faustino (The Legacy of Bodegas Faustino), Faustino and Foster+Partners 2024 Project allows Bodegas Faustino to live and develop in an architectural space that has those same attributes and that projects Bodegas Faustino into the future, while allowing us to be a tourist destination, which helps to energize the Oyón area, our roots, and the Rioja Designation of Origin.

Carmen Martínez Zabala, president of Familia Martínez Zabala: Familia Martínez Zabala is a pioneer in architectural development in the world of wineries. More than 30 years ago we built Bodegas Campillo, and twelve years ago we opened Bodegas Portia, the first winery built by Foster+Partners. Now it is logical to take a step forward and consolidate El Legado de Bodegas Faustino (The Legacy of Bodegas Faustino) as a new dimension of wine tourism that houses a much more complete and avant-garde set of experiences that allows us to increase the level of knowledge about the vineyards and wine of our visitors.

Bodegas Faustino, world leader in Rioja Gran Reserva 

Bodegas Faustino is synonymous with world leadership in the production and aging of Rioja wines of the highest quality. Faustino is recognized as one of the most admired brands worldwide (it is TOP 23 The World's Most Admired Wine Brands according to Drinks International) and has obtained numerous very relevant awards and prizes nationally and internationally. Thus, Bodegas Faustino has been chosen as one of the five best European wineries of 2022 in the Wine Star Awards of Wine Enthusiast; Faustino I Gran Reserva 2001 is the best wine of the year 2013 by Decanter Magazine; and Gran Faustino I Gran Reserva 2004 is one of the best wines of the year 2022 by Wine Enthusiast. 

Faustino is the leader in the production and export of Rioja Gran Reserva worldwide for more than 30 years, with a current market share of 35% of the most prestigious category of Rioja. And Bodegas Faustino currently houses more than 60,000 barrels and more than nine million bottles. And it is one of the Spanish wineries with a greater mythical vintages collection dating back to 1955 which are available for purchase.

Other Familia Martínez Zabala brands have also obtained important national and international recognitions. Thus, Campillo 57 Gran Reserva 2013 is the Alimentos de España (Food of Spain) Award for Best Wine of the Year 2021 and Gran Bacchus de Oro 2021 (best rated wine of the entire contest); Portia Summa 2018 is Gran Bacchus de Oro 2021; Portia Prima 2007 was present at the dinner of the Nobel Peace Prize 2010; and Marques de Vitoria Gran Reserva 1995 was present at the dinner of the Nobel Peace Prize 2005.

A milestone in the boost of sustainability

The Faustino and Foster+Partners 2024 Project is a milestone in the boost of sustainability in the world of wine and is in line with the position of Bodegas Faustino (and Familia Martínez Zabala in general) as a leading company in sustainability and environmental care in the wine industry.

Familia Martínez Zabala has developed numerous innovative initiatives for mitigation and adaptation to climate change, care for the environment and respect for biodiversity, the land and the environment, which also lead the constant increase of the quality level of its premium wines.

The company is the largest vineyard owner in Rioja and has more than 2,200 hectares of vineyards, located in six Spanish designations of origin, in which it is present with its six wineries. And that property guarantees greater care for the vineyards and also for the environment.

Familia Martínez Zabala focuses its sustainability activities on pillars such as adaptation to climate change; the care of the environment and conservation of biodiversity through integrating conservation and sustainable use; and the commitment to quality and sustainable responsibility. The commitment to the environment of Bodegas Faustino and Familia Martínez Zabala is articulated through a program of initiatives focused on areas such as energy, water, waste treatment, transport and emission reductions by replacing CFC gases (compounds containing chlorine, fluorine and carbon) with alternatives.