Historia
It may seem hard to believe, but in 1993, when the brothers, Francisco, Javier and Luis Parra founded Parra Family Organic, the idea of Organic certification was a new one. But the brothers decided it was a natural thing for them to pursue, given their long history of sustainable farming.
Francisco says:
"Organic certification was thought of as being highly eccentric when we started. When we explained what we were planning to do to the people around here, it made them nervous. But to us, it just made sense. Our family has always farmed in La Mancha. Some of us kept sheep. An uncle even had a vineyard. And the way we always worked our land was the traditional way, free from pesticides, herbicides and chemical fertilizers.”
So, they did things the way they had always done them and the world took notice. Today Parra Family Organic wines are 100 percent NOP-certified and the Parra brothers are the largest producers of Organic wines in Europe. It’s a position many wineries are now working very hard to be in, but for the Parras it never felt like anything special. “Some people call it Organic farming,” Francisco says, “for us it is just a continuation of what our family has always done.”
In spite of the size of the business – Parra Family Organic sells around four million bottles a year – the brothers alone handle most of the office work and are intimately involved in the workings of the cellar and the vineyard. Everyone helps out with everything, but if pressed Francisco will admit he does a bit more in the way of sales and marketing, while Javier concentrates more on winemaking. Luis does some of everything and is very involved in his passion: raising pigeons.