150 years of history – Bodegas Langa

150 years of history

THE ORIGIN OF THE WINE

The first evidence of wine in the area is to be found in the ancient Celtiberian city of Segeda. There, the remains of a vast wine vat with a capacity of 2,000 litres was found and examined, it is one of the oldest to exist in the Spanish territories and indeed in Europe, and one of the oldest in a conserved state to have such a large capacity. Archaeological studies have also shown without doubt, that red wine was produced in this vat and that production stopped in 153 BC.

THE EARLY YEARS

In the nineteenth century, from this rich history and from the wine makers who had contributed to it, sprang some traditional wineries with a commercial approach to wine production. This was the moment when, in 1867, the family, headed by Mariano Langa Gallego, began a long, arduous and difficult albeit a magical and passionate journey through the world of wine. Mariano Langa Gallego was succeeded by Juan Langa Mariscal who, on his return from the Cuban War in 1898, would not take long to put a new shine onto the family business.

THE BEGINNING OF EXPANSION

In 1940, the reins of the family business were taken up by Juan and Sebastian Langa Langa, who maintain wineries in Morata de Jiloca, Calatayud y Jaca. Both brothers manage to maintain a tight export trade with France, which will in the future suppose a gateway to the rest of Europe.

THE FINAL PUSH

In 1967 Juan Jose Langa Fuentes finishes his studies in Technical Chemical Engineering and together with his sister Maria Teresa Langa Fuentes decide to give a boost to the family business, which proves to be the most important advance in the family story. For one part they decide to stop selling the wine in bulk, and in 1954, install the first wine bottler in the area. Thanks to this impulse, their tenacity and their faith in the wines of the area, in 1967, they found the DOP Calatayud and achieve acknowledgement for Bodegas Langa as an historic member of the Cava Regulatory Board.

TRADITION AND INNOVATION

Today, engrossed in the wine world, Juan and César Langa González represent the fifth generation of a family who for over 150 years have known how to stay faithful to the tradition handed down from generation to generation. At the same time however, they have brought in the necessary advances in order to adapt to the new methods and demands in and on production.