Today, Tonelería Murúa barrels are present in the best wineries all over the world and are a European benchmark in their sector. Generation after generation – and there are now four – the company has been preserving and expanding the vision of its founder, Justo Murúa Roales.

But to trace its origins, we must take a trip back in time. Let’s go back two centuries and cross the Ebro to Elciego, the town in Alava where this story begins.

It was at the end of the 19th century when a very young boy, Justo Murúa, became an apprentice cooper in the cooperage workshop of the Marqués de Riscal winery. Here, under the guidance of the French master cooper Jean Pineau, he began to learn the trade.

The young Murúa was an advanced pupil. So much so that, after several years of perfecting his knowledge, in 1898, at the age of 16, he left Elciego and moved to Logroño. In the capital of La Rioja, he set up his own company, which would become the most important cooperage in La Rioja and one of the first cooperages in Europe.

A visionary in the way he understood the business, in 1920 Justo Murúa’s cooperage took a giant step forward by investing in the incorporation of modern machinery. This was a revolution in the sector, as it meant leaving behind traditional methods of production and becoming one of the leading cooperages in Europe, a position he would never lose.

True to its entrepreneurial nature, the second generation of the company, presided over by his son Donato Murúa, took the international leap and ended up forging commercial relations with the most important wineries in La Rioja. When he died, his wife, Pilar Revuelta, decided to take over the business and continue the founder’s dream with the support of the whole family.

In 2009, he handed over the baton to his granddaughter Elena, the current manager, who remains faithful to the principles that have shaped the historic character of this cooperage: always one step ahead, always taking care of the quality that has always characterised them and the best possible treatment for their customers.

Since she took over, Justo Murúa’s great-granddaughter has managed to modernise the cooperage industry. With an innovative vision, she has created a sustainable and productive project that seeks quality and continuous improvement in the processes and in the final product. Barely a year ago, new facilities were opened in Navarrete in order to have a functional and productive factory that would improve all the processes, while maintaining the traditional, artisan method that is always involved in making a good cask.

Generation after generation has continued to pass on the values with which they began, including being a company of people passionately dedicated to their craft, maintaining tradition with an innovative vision, creating a sustainable and productive project that always seeks quality and continuous improvement in the processes and the manufacture of the final product.

YOU WILL FIND US AT OUR NEW ADDRESS: AVDA LENTISCARES 35, 26370 NAVARRETE, LA RIOJA.