La Casita - hacienda y bodega

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Jon Dowson and Jesus (‘Chus’) Bartolome met whilst both studying the two year full time Viticulture and wine making course at Plumpton Agricultural College (University of Brighton) in East Sussex. Prior to their acquaintance, Jon and Chus had gained a number of years of experience in bar / restaurant positions (Chus is an experienced Chef) as well as the fields that they had studied at University, respectively IT and Molecular Biology. 

At Plumpton College the full time course was split into grape cultivation in the first year with wine making in the second. The practical elements of the course were backed up by classroom theory and in addition separate WSET (wine and spirits education trust) qualifications were undertaken by the pair to improve their knowledge of all the world’s wine regions, as well as market trends in the drinks industry at large. The pair also gained much valuable work experience in the renowned wineries/vineyards of top English sparkling wine producers Nyetimber and Ridgeview.

At the end of the first year (June 2004), they travelled to Spain to undertake the work experience aspect of the course, choosing to go to the area of Spain from where Chus grew up, 'Arribes Del Duero'. This work experience placement saw them working for the controlling wine body of the Area (‘V.T.A Arribes del Duero’) carrying out various viticultural tasks as well as translating into English, articles produced by the organisation’s marketing department. In addition, they became involved with helping a fledgling winery in its first year of production and encouraged by this experience, they decided to return in September 2004 to help with harvest operations and investigate the feasibility of acquiring land for themselves.

A year and a lot of hard work later, they departed from their initial student-status-induced ‘£50’ business plan, and invested around €10,000 in winery equipment.   They had secured contracts for around 2ha of established vineyards and were realising their first vintage.

In February 2006 they took on more land taking the total to around 4ha and with the help of some of the next wave of Plumpton students, completed winter pruning for the 2006 vintage.

The Salamancan press wrote a piece on their involvement in the area and Chus was at last able to realise a long time ambition of being called an Englishman!