How A Chance Meeting in Ireland in 2012 Created Solagusto

Myself (Maya) and my sister , Jacqueline, were invigilators at the local amazing modern arts centre, The Visual and Jacqueline was working that day in an amazing exhibition that featured a barn built inside the art gallery with a roller skating rink in it. It was an exhibition based on the film, Heaven’s Gate. Jacqueline got talking to Estefanía and invited her and her children back to our place for a meal. After that first meal, we spent the rest of the summer together exploring Carlow and the surrounding areas and cementing our friendship.

Later I went to Spain to visit them and having always had a passion for all things Spanish we thought about ways we could do something together. From there was born the idea of bringing special wines into the UK and a year later we had formed Solagusto S.L. with a selection of 9 wines from Galicia, Rias Baixas, Navarra and Rioja and foods from small artisan makers in Navarra and Andalusia.

Creating Solagusto was a labour of love and we launched our brand at the Taste of London Winter Festival in November 2014.

‘We want to support small winemakers who love their vines and produce excellent wines. We admire their passion and attention to detail and want to introduce a whole new audience to them’, says Estefanía. ‘We select the producers carefully, where they create wine from their own grapes and pay great attention to the management of the vines and the production of their wines. We love the family orientated aspect of our suppliers.’

Solagusto Ltd. aims to support small producers because we feel that the UK misses out on some of the best wines in Spain as traditional importers aren’t interested in such relatively small amounts. By creating an online shop, consumers can buy from Solagusto and have the wines shipped directly to their door.

At a recent wine tasting with a wine club in Lincoln, the wines were rated 5.5 and 6.5 out of a maximum of 7 by 30 people who are normally quite conservative with their ratings. Needless to say, we were delighted!

TUTORED WINE TASTINGS COMING UP

Solagusto is holding wine tastings with an expert Wine Educator where you can try the wine with relevant food, learn about the wineries and also buy the wines at a discount:

March 24, 2015, 7-9pm, La Raza, Cambridge

March 26, 2015, 7-9pm at Jamón Jamón, Soho, London

April 9, 2015, 7-9pm, The Larder House, Bournemouth

For information and tickets to events, please click on the links above.