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Master Winemaker 100: José Manuel Rodríguez

20 March 2026 By db staff writer

The technical director at Spain’s Arínzano features in this year’s Master Winemaker 100 guide. He tells db about embracing trial and error, the danger of false narratives and who serve as the “true barometer” of the industry.

One way to raise your professional profile is to be the man responsible for a wine awarded 100 points by influential wine critic Robert Parker. So it was for José Manuel Rodríguez during his time in charge of winemaking at LVMH’s Bodegas Numanthia in Toro. Since 2015, Rodríguez has used these skills in his role as technical director for Navarran property Arínzano, making wines that can also claim the Vino de Pago denomination reserved for high-quality wines with unique characteristics from a single estate. The dedication to precision and quality shown by Rodríguez here has helped reinforce Arínzano’s position as a benchmark for Spanish wine on the global stage.

A wise person once told me: “Let them challenge you, rebuke you, correct you for doing, but never for not doing.” This isn’t about praising a fool who takes initiative, but I believe in constant movement, perpetual refinement, creation itself. Trial and error has always been the route to discovering something truly unique and unrepeatable. This is the philosophy I strive to embody every day.

A great wine should stir the soul and leave an indelible memory in those who taste it. And if it can transport you to the place where it was born, or kindle in you a longing to visit that land, then it has succeeded in creating an experience in your life, and thus become part of it. A great wine is one that is talked about, shared and celebrated with family and friends.

A great winemaker should know how to interpret a place, to guide that land and its grapes toward the creation of their own singular identity. We must work against standardisation and the fleeting fashions of the market.

Perfection does not exist. And if it did, life would be terribly boring.

The thing I’d most like to change about the wine world is the hypocrisy and fabrication of certain “viticultural narratives”; the fashionable language of “freshness”, “minerality” and “sustainability” that in 90% of cases rings hollow, devoid of genuine substance. There is a prescription for wine supposedly founded on these principles, yet so often what is actually valued runs contrary to them, driven instead by other criteria, other interests.

I wish I could tell the consumer who drinks my wine that they should enjoy it surrounded by good people: family, friends, even new acquaintances. Don’t give too much weight to life’s serious matters. Smile and raise your glass to good health, to the good fortune of being alive in this very moment. And perhaps buy a couple of cases while you’re at it.

The last time I asked a sommelier for advice was nearly every time I visit a restaurant. I let myself be guided toward wines of the region, new discoveries, bottles that have surprised and delighted them. Sommeliers are exposed to far more wines than we winemakers ever could be. They are the true barometer of our industry, its pulse and its possibilities.

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If I couldn’t be a winemaker, I would probably seek a profession where I could be a gracious host, where I could bring pleasure to others. Perhaps restaurant service – welcoming guests, attending to their needs – or even working with NGOs, finding fulfilment in helping people, in service to something larger than myself.

I wish our vineyards could become a living heritage to be preserved for centuries to come.

My next ambition is that, in the short to medium term, Arínzano will be recognised as one of the highest-quality wineries in the world, both nationally and internationally, with our Chardonnay, Merlot and Tempranillo varieties as our flagship wines.

If I won the lottery, I would share it with my family and friends, just as I share wine.

If there were more hours in the day, I would spend them with my family, playing sports, enjoying leisure activities and resting.

When it’s all going wrong and is beyond your control, you have to let it happen. It’s part of life and learning. Those difficult moments help you appreciate the good ones and enjoy them even more when they come.

My desert island wine would be… Well, if I were alone on that island, I wouldn’t open any bottles. It would be very sad not to be able to share it with anyone. But if I were not alone, I would open our Eternidad Chardonnay. It’s a wine that knows how to bear witness to time.