¡Of course! This one´s for you, Justina. Cheers and love.
I’ve been brought up between the hard vineyards located on the slopes of the beautiful mountains of Liébana. My family and I have lived the culture of orujo since we were children, beginning with my grandmother, Justina, and continuing with the subsequent generations. My sisters and I used to play among the grapevines while my parents were teaching us how to trim off the plant.
That legacy is a responsibility and also a privilege. We elaborate the liquor as it has been done in Liébana for centuries, using copper stills, with orujo artisans who handle the fire as Vulcan, trying to get the perfect drop.
My mother, Carmen Gómez, is deserving Justina’s daughter: lover of a well-done job and perfectionist to the core.
With pride and a bit afraid I faced the challenge of keeping ORULISA’s essence, the extraordinary quality of the product we elaborate but expanding its future. I absorbed all possible knowledge from the best sommeliers, oenologists and viticulturists.
I wanted to personalize the business, so I improved the management and I created a new brand: Justina de Liébana, in memory of my grandmother. We worked in a new design, a new image, a new packaging. I am delighted. The project excites me and I love it. It is satisfying to check an ecologic product is accepted because people appreciate the products elaborated with great care to the land.
We work with local producers, with raw material free of toxins, and we also want to do our bit in social projects. That is the reason why we collaborate with Solidarity Workshops. Currently, one of those workshops elaborates the little bags we use to cover our Justinas.
The ones who spend time with me have heard me say I may have inherited a notions store instead of a distillery. Today, with the perspective the time gives, with the annoyances and joys, I believe my father could not have given me a better present. I know he always wanted my best and I wish he had got right. For him, for Justina, for Carmen, I am here today and here is Justina de Liébana. I wish you enjoy it.
ISABEL GARCÍA, Justina’s granddaughter