Protos breaks out

The Protos winery of the Ribera del Duero D.O. is in the midst of a major expansion.

The winery, founded in 1927, sold more than 236,000 cases (9 liter) of wine in 2004, a 15% increase from the year prior. Work has recently begun work on a new 14 million euro extension of the winery, which was designed by renowned architect Richard Rodgers. The new facility will be linked underground to the current one, providing much greater capacity for aging wines, making available wines of greater complexity and refinement.

Presently 80% of the sales of Protos are within Spain, with most exports destined for northern Europe and Latin America. In a recent interview in "El País" newspaper, winery President Miguel Ángel Carrascal made plain his intention to look for new business, particularly in Russia and Asia. Making the bet that consumers there will be looking for higher quality wines, Mr. Carrascal has set a goal of raising export sales to one third of total company sales.