In the 1870s Spain was affected by the European phylloxera plague, a devastating insect. The path of infection was through the Eastern Pyrenees, especially through the Rioja and Penedes regions. The impact of this plague on the wine economy was devastating. After a few years of strong resistance by the most modest winegrowers, the solution of gradually replanting all the vines by grafting European varieties onto American rootstock was imposed.

However, this crisis also had a positive effect, which was the increase in the exchange of experiences and techniques between Spanish and French winegrowers, both in the cultivation of the different varietals and in winemaking procedures. In addition, the presence of French winemakers in Spanish wineries determined the gradual abandonment of traditional procedures and the adoption of more advanced technology in winemaking.

The founder of the dynasty, Ramiro Pastor Pastor, was immersed in this new process. In the middle of the 19th century, taking advantage of the cultural heritage received from his ancestors, the high quality of the terroir and the favorable Spanish climate, he enthusiastically embraced the technological achievements that were within his reach in those years. His remarriage to Dennise Lalande, who belonged to an eminent lineage of Bordeaux winemakers, was a determining circumstance in his future activity.

In 1896, his son Ramiro Pastor Aragonés, the child of his first marriage, joined the team. While Spain was still immersed in the search for a solution to fight the plague, they decided to purchase the “El Soleado” winery in Ledaña (Cuenca), and from that moment on, achieved a complete transformation in their business development.In a short time the Pastor family had other wineries in La Mancha, Yecla (Murcia), Ribera del Júcar (Cuenca), Toro (Zamora) and Ribera del Duero, always trying to respect the peculiarities and personality of the wine production of each region, with an avant-garde and innovative treatment of the wines. In parallel to his profession as a winemaker, Ramiro Pastor Aragonés was passionate about photography, an activity that he maintained throughout his life, as evidenced by a considerable legacy of images on a variety of subjects. The relationship he kept with Joan Vilatobá, the most eminent representative of Spanish pictorialist photography, allowed him to test techniques such as bromolithography and bichromate gum on his plates with brilliant results.

The prestige of his wineries rose like wildfire and the wines of the various appellations of origin that they produced became a reference for the most refined tables.

The year 1927 determined the great expansion of the family business. After the death of Ramiro, the patriarch of the dynasty, his son took over the winery complex. He first set out to visit the most prestigious wine regions of the world to learn about new varietals and study the winemaking processes they used. In Chile, he came across the Maule Valley, a privileged place for the development of the world’s main red and white grape varieties. For this reason, he decided to acquire the “Viejo Sabio” winery, whose vineyards extend from the Andean mountain range to the Pacific coast, a wide range of microclimates and soil types conducive to the cultivation of such prized varieties as Cabernet Sauvignon and Carménère. The thermal oscillation between day and night not only allows the grapes to grow slowly in order to maintain a good level of acidity, but also the purity of the air at the foot of the mountain means that the probability of frost, rot and the appearance of mildew are considerably reduced. The fruit flavor is more concentrated, resulting in a full-bodied wine with a complex and unique taste, with an elegant and noble bouquet.

The Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) intensely affected the rural world and the wineries of the Pastor Aragonés family were not an exception. In view of the black post-war panorama, with an autarchic regime practically isolated from the outside world, Ramiro Pastor Aragonés decided to move his residence to France with his wife Doña Conception Camille Lopez, but he came face to face with the German occupation of the country after the outbreak of the Second World War. In those first years of the 1940s, Ramiro witnessed the decline of vineyard crops in the most emblematic French regions: Burgundy, Bordeaux, Beaujolais, Champagne, Jura and Lorraine.

Ramiro was as industrious and enterprising as he was indomitable. Overcoming all difficulties and without giving up the development of “El Soleado”, he got in touch with winegrowers in the Saône-et-Loire region who taught him the secrets of Burgundian viticulture, winemaking and aging. During his stay in Auxerre, the capital of the Yonne department, his wife’s family helped him to train in fundamental aspects for a winemaker, such as brand building and wine culture management.

In 1941 Ramiro Pastor Aragonés had the opportunity to participate in a wine tasting competition representing Camille’s family and managed to win first prize by only one point, competing with local experts. This episode boosted Ramiro’s self-esteem and persuaded him that he was predestined to direct his life towards the pursuit of excellence in such a complex field as wine growing and winemaking. A year later, once his sentimental relationship with Camille was consolidated, he acquired the “PRDS” winery belonging to the Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC) Languedoc-Roussillon. This winery, founded in 1892, had achieved a well-deserved reputation over several generations based on respect for the most usable of the traditional way of cultivating grapes. Along with this, the unique characteristics of the terroir and the new ownership’s incorporation of emerging technologies have enabled PRDS to produce wines with the highest ratings in international markets.

Ramiro returned to Spain, his starting point. He undertook the reorganization of the “El Soleado” winery, incorporating improvements in the winemaking and management models. The outcome of this new stage was the creation of the “Billøn” brand with the aim of imbuing his products with a business philosophy based on rigor, quality and originality. Ramiro’s objective was to ensure that each bottle of wine under his brand was capable of transmitting these values to demanding consumers with diverse tastes.

His descendants, Ramiro Pastor López and David Pastor Rodríguez -third and fourth generation of the family- wanted to make these principles their own when projecting themselves into the international quality wine market. Following in the footsteps of his ancestors, Ramiro Pastor Pastor López turned to the world’s most renowned experts to establish a set of wine tasting and classification systems, according to varieties, vintages, aromas, tastes and other basic indicators. At the same time, a guide of recommendations was drawn up for pairing its wines with the most emblematic dishes of the different Spanish cuisines. This initiative has been reaping a multitude of awards from the most prestigious gourmets in the world.

Ramiro Pastor López put this formula at the service of the most rigorous consumers, baptizing it with the denomination of “Diamond System”, trying to transfer with such a term, by mimicry, the qualities of this jewel to wines destined to accompany high-level consumers at their tables. With the globalization of the “Billøn” brand progressively occupying the immense space of the international markets, they adapted the “diamond” system to the gastronomy of each new country where the brand was a success. The company is also committed to transmitting our wine culture to the families and consumers from all the countries of the world.

In 2009, David Pastor Rodriguez, while on a tour of the five continents in search of markets and exchange of experiences, conceived the idea of designing a faceted bottle in the shape of a diamond. After several attempts, he began to collaborate with a Spanish design studio that knew how to capture the spirit of the idea that was bubbling in the minds of David and his wife, managing to materialize it in a satisfactory way. It took no less than two years of creative work and 38 sketches to finally come up with the bottle he was looking for. he bottle, with its original design, refined aesthetics and perfect proportions, was the ideal container for the wines they were making. Industrial production began and “Billøn” is now a brand present in every corner of the world capable of appreciating and valuing a rounded product that combines the best winemaking tradition with the latest achievements of enology.

Today we can proclaim that “Billøn” summarizes and materializes the dream of the founders of the dynasty, as it has become synonymous with high quality wine in the most demanding international markets.