Nestares family owns a farm of vineyards and almonds. Since 2005 they began the process of transformation for production of quality wines adapted to the current market under the ecological management, offering experiences linked to the wine tourism. The farm is located in a mountainous area near the coast of Granada, it is a location full of possibilities from the point of view of wine production and the great attraction from the tourist point of view.Nestares family owns a farm of vineyards and almonds. Since 2005 they began the process of transformation for production of quality wines adapted to the current market under the ecological management, offering experiences linked to the wine tourism. The farm is located in a mountainous area near the coast of Granada, it is a location full of possibilities from the point of view of wine production and the great attraction from the tourist point of view.Nestares family owns a farm of vineyards and almonds. Since 2005 they began the process of transformation for production of quality wines adapted to the current market under the ecological management, offering experiences linked to the wine tourism. The farm is located in a mountainous area near the coast of Granada, it is a location full of possibilities from the point of view of wine production and the great attraction from the tourist point of view.
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| NUMBER OF WORKERS | FAMILY MEMBERS | EXTERNAL WORKERS |
|---|---|---|
| Full time | 0 | 4 |
| Part time | 0 | 11 |
The farm consists of 7 hectares of vineyard and 23 of almond trees located in the Contraviesa mountain range in the grenadian Alpujarra. Since 2005 it experienced a reconversion in order to produce quality wines adapted to the taste of current market. In order to manage this, the ecological management was introduced, new infrastructures were built and the planting pattern was modified, so vineyards were formed onto trellis with three varieties (shiraz, merlot and tempranillo) aiming on favouring uniform ripening, facilitating work and harvesting, reducing costs and ensuring plant health.
Along with these changes, a winery was built to produce their own wine under the brand of Nestares family accompanied with ecotourism offer and a thematic wine centre with a museum, restaurant, shop and wine tasting courses. Their marketing spreads by the help of specialized distributors, online stores, and export by contacts acquired at fairs and other events. Samples of the history of viticulture and winemaking are exposed in the museum accompanied by wine and gastronomic tastings. Nestores family farms are pioneers in obtaining quality wines with a purely ecological management that belongs to the Granada PDO, guaranteeing quality and food safety.
The farm is situated in a landscape of pre-coastal mountain in Granada in the highest areas of the Contraviesa mountain range near the municipality of Torvizcon. It is a very high-lying area with scarce rainfall with fresh summers that guarantees a continuous ripening of grape with a humid microclimate for placement near the Mediterranean sea protected by the Alpujarra and Sierra Nevada, all these factors are climate characteristics expressed in the wines elaborated by Nestares.
Even without previous experience in organic production, Nestares bet on the conversion to ecological production, free of contaminants, that guarantees higher price and added value even for the non-ecological market. From the point of view of nutritional management, only biodegradable material of animal origin or with certificate of ecological use are used in the production.
From the soil management point of view, the organic matter is continuously incorporated to improve the structure of the soil, accompanied with maintenance of vegetation cover to prevent run-offs and erosion. In the areas of almonds with slopes greater than 30% it is also necessary to use terraces.
The area of the Alpujarra, is a very popular touristic area, an enclave from which you can see the Mediterranean sea and enjoy the views of Sierra Nevada, which guarantees tourists the attraction, especially for foreign visitors.
• Success comes from wine processing project that allowed greater control of the value chain.
• It is essential to find prepared people able to provide the knowledge you need, that knowledge can be obtained through training or advice.
• Generate positive experiences linked to your product and the environment where the product is produced, generate future yield and loyalty of your customers.
The project has been tremendously ambitious and courageous since 2005, but also required major changes in farming and the undertaking of new activities without prior experience in this field.
When farming activity is combined with other activities, the fundamental advice of experts in all areas is needed, e.g.: winemaker for wine design, distributors for marketing, agricultural technicians to start the ecological activity, tourism offices for positioning in wine tourism sector, agrarian organizations for the subsidies application, etc. This way, many areas of knowledge are covered in a very short time.
Collected recommendation is to be prepared and training done before and not during the development of an initiative, trying to access all knowledge that may be useful in the field of your activity.
Obviously, a planning to define a commercial strategy is essential, it is necessary to think about the market before even launching the product, since this has a lot of implications in all the business areas.
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If it is possible for the promoter, it is essential to train before and not during the development of an initiative; for his activity it has been fundamental to learn about winemaking, viticulture, tasting, ecological management, and wine tourism. But the biggest need for someone who processes is to sell his product so commerce and marketing training are very important to save time and efforts.
It is also important for a tourism company to know how to position itself, have visibility, and reach agreements with tour operators; for that reason it is necessary to manage social networks and know how to negotiate to be a part of existing touristic routes.
• This example shows how to evolve from farmer to wine entrepreneur, marketer, and manager of a tourism company. Do you think that your farm can develop any of these activities?
• To start your new activity, do you plan to go to consultants to facilitate the process?
• This case demonstrates the importance of planning of the commercialization. Have you already thought about how to market your product? What resources will you allocate to this area?
