The history of Bodegas Y Viñedos de Gómez Cruzado goes back to 1886, when Ángel Gómez de Arteche, a relative of the Duke of Moctezuma, descendant of the Aztec Emperor Moctezuma II, decided to trade with La Rioja wines and settled in Haro’s Barrio de la Estación, the historic heart of Rioja. Their cellar is today one of only sixteen Bodegas Centenarias in all of Rioja. In 1916 the wine cellar was bought by Ángel and Jesús Gómez Cruzado, under whose management the business and vineyard holdings expanded.

In the early 1990s, the business became owned by several partners, up until 2003, when the Baños family purchased the operation. The family, hailing from Badarán, also have long ties to Mexico, where they currently reside. It’s a tidy and fitting custodianship of the business, which began generations ago from Mexican roots.

Since 2008, winemaker David González has overseen nearly 100 plots across their 50 hectares of vineyards in three sub-areas: Alto Najerilla, near the mountain range Sierra de la Demanda; Baja Najerilla, in the triangle formed by the Uruñuela, Torremontalbo and Cenicero; and the foothills of Sierra Cantabria, including Rioja Alavesa and Sonsierra.