From the outset, Don Cenobio established himself as a trailblazer in the tequila industry, although in 1873, it wasn’t much of an industry yet outside of Jalisco. It’s widely recorded that Cenobio was the first distiller of “Mezcal de Tequila” to export to the United States. Through the process, he was also at the center of shortening the name to just Tequila. Fortaleza Helped Establish Tequila’s Identity This cookie is set by Rubicon Project to control synchronization of user identification and exchange of user data between various ad services. Soon enough, Fortaleza extended similar invitations to the bartending community. This was over 10 years ago, a time when even engaged tequila drinkers talked little of the distinctions between highland or lowland agave or knew to be skeptical about diffusers and additives. But industry professionals were already arriving at that point. Over the course of that period, visiting bartenders — occasionally from as far-flung reaches as Australia — will walk agave fields, watch the legendary tahona in motion, and sample plenty of tequila. They, too, will visit Sauza’s ancestral home before the trip culminates with a party in Fortaleza’s very own cave, where bats fly overhead as Sauza pours one of his three expressions: blanco, reposado, or añejo. Every glass bottle across Fortaleza’s range is hand-blown in Mexico and finished with a hand-painted agave piña stopper on top. It Uses an Ancient Method

It was by no means a bad inheritance, but perhaps bittersweet for the U.S.-based Sauza, who had grown up thinking he would follow his forefathers into the tequila business. Showing the fortitude that would later lend its name to his brand, Sauza eventually followed those dreams in 1999, though not as a Tequila Sauza exec.

Fortaleza Reposado - Winter Blend 2022

The majority of marketing for tequila are these romantic images but the reality doesn’t match up in most cases,” says Lou Bank, the founder of SACRED, a nonprofit that supports rural Mexican communities making heritage agave spirits, and the co-host of the “Agave Road Trip” podcast. “For the tequila geeks who really want it to match up, by and large Guillermo’s doing it.” Where other trade visits are hyper brand-focused, Fortaleza takes its guests to visit the production facilities of friends and neighboring producers, like Arette and Don Fulano. This only adds to the impression that the visiting bartenders (who have to buy their own airfare, by law) are not being sold on anything but are instead there to experience — and, if they are so inclined, they can later spread the word. Records the default button state of the corresponding category & the status of CCPA. It works only in coordination with the primary cookie. In 2000, when the family business was in the beginning stages of being resurrected, Fortaleza went under the name “Los Abuelos,” meaning “The Grandfathers.” It was a way of paying homage to the traditional methods used by previous generations to make tequila. Unfortunately, the company ran into a trademark issue in the United States. Ron Abuelo Rum was already established and prevented Los Abuelos from selling tequila using the near-identical name. That’s when Tequila Fortaleza was born for use in the international marketplace. Fortaleza Has a Direct Translation Sauza spent just as much time with liquor store owners, thanking them for carrying Fortaleza. Some wouldn’t know who he was, so he’d leave small booklets with information on the tequila. Others did know his name, and were astounded that the founder of the company was paying them a visit. “We put a lot of feet on the ground, which really made a difference in the rollout in the industry,” he says.

When he says “we,” Sauza refers to the friends who were able to help out, and who were often paid in tequila — so tight were the purse strings in those early days. Wolf was among them, having serendipitously met Sauza while drinking his tequila at a bar in San Diego. Two days later, Wolf would turn up at the family distillery in Tequila, greeted by the amazed Sauza, who couldn’t believe Wolf had taken him up on an impromptu bar invitation. The pair have remained friends ever since and Wolf has worked full-time at Fortaleza for seven years, now acting as international brand ambassador. They’re not hiding anything, there is not one roped-off section within the facility,” recalls Javelle Taft, the head bartender at New York’s Death & Co, who recently joined a Fortaleza trip. “They’re completely transparent in terms of what they use, how they use it, and how much they can bottle per year.” The Payoff As of yet, Fortaleza’s is not a story that large liquor corporations have been able to mimic. And chances are, if one did swoop in to scoop up the brand and capitalize on its cool appeal, most aficionados and trade members would lose their taste for it — though Sauza has been very vocal over the years about it not being for sale. In addition to making its mark on the aficionado community worldwide, Fortaleza has also built close ties to the restaurant and bar industry community by hosting quarterly trips and tours to the Tequila making regions of Mexico.Following more or less the same agenda to this day, Fortaleza continues to host three of its trade trips annually — though industry members and consumers can also inquire about visits on their own schedules. The getaways usually take place from Sunday through Wednesday because “we figure industry people make most of their money on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday,” Wolf says. What they did have, however, was a solid property, a distillery able to produce tequila in a legitimately authentic manner, and, in Sauza’s opinion, a high-end product destined to be a “hit.” “We wanted to show the authenticity of [tequila] — I thought that would certainly appeal to people,” he says. “And we were right.” Tequila’s production standards haven’t always been set in stone. Don Cenobio was the first to implement the use of steam to cook the blue agave. Previous to this, the agave was cooked in earthen pits, similar to how mezcal is made. Tequila’s Protected Origin Has Fortaleza to Thank Getting that product to market would pose numerous challenges, though — particularly in the United States. Launched as Los Abuelos, to honor Sauza’s grandparents, in Mexico in 2005, Sauza had to abandon the brand name for U.S. sales because of a trademark conflict with Panama’s Ron Los Abuelos. (Fortaleza translates to both “fortitude,” and “fortress,” the latter of which was Don Javier’s name for the family’s small, hillside distillery.) A darling of bartenders and industry professionals across the country, Tequila Fortaleza offers a traditional portfolio made using ancestral methods, ranging from affordable blanco to añejo that has been aged between 18 and 24 months. Using a boiler from 1903 and copper stills from the 1940s, Fortaleza encompasses generations of skill and technique to express pure and authentic agave-flavored tequila. We’re fans at VinePair as well, having placed Fortaleza Blanco on the lists of 50 Top Spirits of 2020 and The 30 Best Tequilas for Every Budget.