Our Story
Our Hacienda los Arcos winery is located in Mijas, southern Spain, a tranquil region at the foot of the mighty Andalusian coastal mountains, just a few kilometers from the Mediterranean Sea.
Wild herbs and grasses sway here in the mild coastal wind. Dragonflies, butterflies and other insects buzz in the air. Today, healthy, strong vines thrive here in the variety of plants of the Andalusian summer.
OUR STORY
How it all started…
Here in Mijas, since the beginning of the 21st century, the Munich couple Rudi and Sigrid Ballauf, have fulfilled a very personal dream with their „Hacienda los Arcos“. As a member of the „Commanderie de Bordeaux“ and the „Jurade de St. Emilion“, Rudi Ballauf was closely associated with the outstanding wines of Bordeaux and their producers throughout his life, and has thus developed a high level of knowledge and connoisseurship.
In 2015 he finally decided to attempt to cultivate vines on his property in Mijas / Andalusia. This led to the development of a wine-growing project that aims to practice agriculture, regarding climate change and without the use of chemicals, through natural means and methods. Water management is also a top priority.
That means steering away from chemicals and soil pollution, towards nature and holistic, ecological plant protection – just as the natural viticulture was practiced in previous generations.
Sigrid und Rudi Ballauf in their vineyard
Inspection of a freshly planted plot: Rudi Ballauf (right) and oenologist Simbad Andres Romero (left)
Book Author Isabelle Legeronabout natural Viticulture:
Honest, genuine, sustainable
„Natural wine is not new. It is the wine as it always was – only today it has become a rarity. Today it is like a drop in the ocean – but what a drop!”