Interview with Donald Cusimano of Abadia Retuerta

Posted on February 26, 2007

Taken from a recent interview with Donald Michael Cusimano, General Director of the winery Abadía Retuerta

We spoke with Donald Michael Cusimano, General Director of the internationally renowned winery Abadía Retuerta, located in the area known as Ribera del Duero, in the region of Castilla-León, about the grave problem that is threatening to destroy this unique region which produces some of the best wines in the world.

The Ministry of Public Works plans to build a freeway along the Duero River between the cities of Valladolid and Soria, cutting directly across land belonging to the extremely prestigious wineries that make up an area known in the wine business as the Golden Mile of Wine. One of the wineries most affected by these plans is Abadía Retuerta.

Donald Cusimano, the General Director of Abadía Retuerta assures us that “this would deal a fatal blow to the Ribera del Duero region and its wines. The quality of the wines comes from the (soil) erosion that has taken place over millions of years, and if the project continues forward this will be ruined.” Abadía Retuerta could lose up to 70% of its finest vineyards.
The stretch of the very busy National Highway 122, also known as the “Golden Mile” (the priviledged geographic location where the most prestigious Spanish wineries are situated), divides the region and links the two cities of Valladolid and Soria. The existing infrastructure is no longer viable as it is heavily trafficked, which is too much for this local two-lane road to handle. Therefore, the government has considered six different options for dealing with this increased traffic, basing its research on an old map that dates back to the year 1991.
The Government eventually chose the option that by far seems the most destructive, the least reasonable, and the most unpopular solution among the people and businesses in the affected area – the conversion of the National Highway 122 from a two lane road into a four lane freeway.

Among the most severely affected wineries are Vega Sicilia, Viña Mayor and Abadía Retuerta.
Other prestigious winemaking families that have their roots in the area such as Emilio Moro and Matarromera, are examples of wineries that, although not directly affected by the project, are firmly against it, due to the fact that the plans affect not only the vineyards, but also the general beauty of the Ribera del Duero region.

To get a first hand insight into this situation, we spoke with Donald Cusimano:

The Government Ministry has opted for the proposal that most adversely affects this environment, but what other options are there?

In the year 2003, the Public Works approved a North-Central running plan. This route would traverse the northern portion of the valley, where it would produce the least amount of environmental impact of the four or five options that were presented.
It has already been approved, but the new Administration backed out. The current option is the Southern-Expansion of the stretch that runs through the entire Golden Mile of Wine.

Why do you believe that the Southern-Expansion plan is the worst option?

If the project goes ahead as planned, they will be destroying over 100 hectares of vineyards endangering the area and its value as a touristic destination and one of the largest economic forces in the region.
The wineries are fighting against what they believe to be a complete and utter disregard of the industry by the Government. Among the affected wineries, Abadia Retuerta will be particularly hard hit by these plans.

Therefore, according to your comments, supported by various recently published articles, the Southern-Enlargement option will be extremely detrimental to the area fauna, the environment, and the economic-tourist factor, therefore, why?

Public Works has failed to provide reasons for its decision, but it is no secret that who does support it. This project will result in bringing the freeway closer to the towns hence, the town mayors believe that having more accessible freeways will lead to the reclassification of land for urbanization. Thanks to the close proximity of the area capital of Valladolid, they are convinced of the profits that will come from speculation and real estate, and believe that this will help to improve the economic standing of the towns and tourism. This is the only possible argument that we have been able to come up with, however, it is clear that the future of this area is in the wineries and the wine tourism that is already growing on a daily basis. As an example, according to our statistics, this year we received 5000 visitors at Abadía Retuerta, and in the year 2003 less than 1000 visitors. We are talking about a massive increase, added to the fact that the other wineries also receive visitors. Therefore, it goes without saying that if there are tourists visiting the wineries, then there are also tourists visiting the towns. There is a Spanish saying that goes “a high tide lifts all the boats”

Which project do you support?
We support the plans for the North. This project would not affect any of the wineries, only some irrigated fields, resulting in a much smaller environmental impact. It should also be pointed out, that this project will be much less costly.

Public Works has based the criteria for its plan in documentation and data from the year 1991, is that correct?
Yes, they have used maps that are more than 15 years old, and basing it on these, the information is desfasada and would only involve 34 hectares in total, when in reality it is more than 100. For example, they do not consider Abadía to be affected at all, when actually at least 46 hectares of vineyards are affected.

What is the current state of this project?
The Ministry of the Environment published the chosen option as the Southern-Expansion in the BOE last November. From this point, Public Works has 6 months to approve and/or admit allegations/alegaciónes. We have challenged it and are waiting for their response.
On the other hand, we know that there is no budget for this Project in the year 2007, this will be a very lengthy process, but in the world of politics you never can tell.

How will Abadía be affected if this project is adapted, both in terms of the winery and the immediate plans to construct a luxury tourist destination?
We are optimistic and believe that with all of the efforts that we are making, both on a political and legal level, as well as through publicity, we are going to be able to convince the government to make the necessary changes to the project and therefore respect the vineyards. With respect to the future, we will continue ahead both with production and the future hotel project. We intend to begin construction in a few months and plan to finish at the end of 2008. The end result will be a 15 room luxury hotel with a renowned restaurant. The positive results obtained at Abadía have been noticed in Switzerland, and therefore they will keep supporting and investing in this business.

In addition to collecting signatures, are you carrying out other campaigns, what are they?

Yes, we are working closely with the media both on a local and international level to keep them informed as to what is going on here. We have received a great deal of response and have been published in various publications, some of which are very influential in the sector like the prestigious magazine “Wine Roots”. We have already collected over 2000 signatures and the more we have, the more we can exert pressure.

What can we personally do to fight this problem?

Without a doubt the signatures are very important and are what we most need at this time. If you would like to join in the campaign to save the Duero, you can find us on-line at www.savetheduero.com.

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