“We pay meticulous attention to each stage of the process. We even invested in our own state of the art canning line to capture the freshness of the vineyard.”
Carlos Lopez de Lacalle, Winemaker
Carlos Lopez de la Lacalle
Carlos Lopez de la Lacalle’s passion began in the vineyard walking the vines with his father. He understands the importance of a healthy vineyard. Wine is his life. After attending a high school that based their studies in viticulture and winemaking, he attended enology school at Lycée Viticole Montagne-Saint Emilion. Carlos is based in NYC and manages Artadi USA Imports. He commutes to Spain for every harvest.
Carrie Chiappetta
Carrie Chiappetta is a full-time ICU nurse and an avid rosé aficionado. While not your typical wine industry veteran, she does know good wine when she tastes it. Her love for the outdoors and good wine is the inspiration for Ah-So Wines. Like many, Carrie had tried “canned” wine but nothing lived up to her quality standards. In 2017, she was drinking her favorite rosé (Artazuri) and wondered if it could be canned. So was born Ah-So Wines.
Dustin Chiappetta
Dustin Chiappetta is a veteran of the wine industry who grew up scrubbing dishes in his family’s restaurants. For the past 13 years, Dustin has worked with fine-dining establishments, fine-wine distributors, and a national importer. From these experiences, he has discovered that the great wines in the world are produced by families. In 2015, he founded a fine wine shop exclusively dedicated to family-owned and operated wineries.
Vine to Can
The Lopez de la Lacalle family realized immediately that there was something special about the old vineyards they had found. The clone of Garnacha that grew in this village had adapted to its specific micro-climate, developing into a very unique clone. In fact, the birthplace of Garnacha is only just 180K south of the town of Artazu. To respect the tradition, and Mother Nature, the family propagated the new vineyards with cuttings from the old Garnacha vines buried in the hillside.
Today, Ah-So is fortunate to benefit from the foresight of the Lopez de la Lacalle family. Their willingness to blend the traditional viticulture methods and embrace the technology of canning wine is the first in Spain. Their commitment to the vineyards remains the same no matter the package. Never using fertilizers or synthetic chemicals. The de la Lacalle vineyards are farmed with the maximum respect for the environment using organic viticulture. The aim is to produce wines of authenticity and character never compromising. All movements in the vineyard are done manually. All grapes are harvested by hand and fermented using native yeast.