Imanol Garay
Maslacq, Pyrénées

Originally from San Sebastián, winemaker Imanol Garay came from the world of conventional wine before “letting love in,” and making the switch to producing wholly natural wines. 

From his cellar in Maslacq, just outside Orthez, he draws upon his experiences working with noted vignerons Richard Leroy and Vincente Carême, who helped bridge that crucial transitional time and informed his approach to farming and vinification. Imanol retains a commitment to biodynamic practices in his farming and zero-sulfur winemaking, relying on intuition and a keen, sensitive palate when tasting his brut wines.

Garay’s production reaches outwards and embraces a multitude of forms. His projects span from his cellar in France to a separate cellar in Spain’s Txakoli region. Alongside his own recently planted 1 hectare of vines in Saint Etienne de Baïgorry, just outside the limits of the Irouléguy appellation, plus a second recently-acquired hectare in Orthez, he purchases fruit for his French production from the appellation Madiran in the Hautes-Pyrénées. His Spanish production sees fruit come in from Rioja and Navarra. 

In his cellars, wines see a multitude of different vessels, from barrels and fibreglass tanks to stainless steel and amphora while vinifications are entirely dictated by the nature of the fruit and the character of the vintage. 

Imanol’s intrinsic flexibility and willingness to bend the tropes of regional expectation lend themselves to a production that is beguiling and wholly unique. He is not solely a winemaker but a painter, a musician, and a wonderfully sensitive person to the movements of the world around him. His charm and hospitality have touched many that have passed through his cellars, making it easy to understand why his wines have quickly become some of the most-loved amongst the natural wine constituency.