Javier Ruiz de Galarreta received the Lifetime Achievement Award by Meiniger Verlag in its 2024 edition. The German publication recognized the contribution and career of the founder and CEO of Araex Grands in the wine industry with this Awards, held at the prestigious Kö59 Hotel in Düsseldorf, Germany, with the attendance of more than 500 guests.

The Meininger Awards (this year in it’s 18th edition,) is an annual recognition of the excellence of great brands and figures in the world of wine, not only in Germany but also Worldwide.

The awards jury was made up of important opinion leaders, editors, wine critics and journalists from the Meiningers Sommelier, Weinwirtschaft, Meiningers Weinwelt, Meininger's International, Getränke Zeitung magazines, as well as other experts in the sector.

THIRD SPANISH FIGURE THAT RECEIVES THE AWARD

This is an award that in previous editions has gone to world-class figures such as Angelo Gaja, Marvin Schanken, Marchese Piero Antinori, or last year's winner, Bruno Paillard. With the award given to the founder of Araex Grands, this is the third Spanish figure to receive this award for an entire professional career, after those achieved in previous years by José Ferrer Sala and Miguel Torres.

For Javier R. De Galarreta, “Receiving this award is an immense honor, not only because it comes from of leading and prestigious professionals in the sector, but also because it is a new incentive, for me, to continue working towards building brands and bringing added value, both for our partners and for Spanish wine in general. 30 years ago we started a dream that today is more alive than ever, and this recognition pushes all Araex professionals, the partners and wineries that are part of the project, to continue promoting our wines, to generate value, and to build the excellence of Spanish wine”.

The rest of winners on this 2024 Meininger Awards were: Honorary award: Bettina Bürklin-von Guradze; Wine Family of the Year: Planeta, Sicily. Spirits Company of the Year: Anora Group. German wine entrepreneur of the year: Rudolf Knickenberg, Schlumberger. International wine entrepreneur of the year: Gérard Bertrand.

30 YEARS OF EXCELLENCE IN CREATING VALUE FOR SPANISH WINE

Javier Ruiz de Galarreta founded Araex in Vitoria in 1993. Together with several partners and wineries born in Rioja Alavesa, he created a unique management model, with a clear focus on the internationalization of brands and the creation of value. In 2001 he made the leap to other Spanish appellations of origin with the creation of Spanish Fine Wines, bringing into the project wineries from other appellations of origin such as Ribera del Duero, Rueda, Toro, Navarra, Castilla, Bolandin, Bizkaiko Txakolina, etc. .

Today Araex Grands Spanish Fine Wines is made up of 16 wineries belonging to 12 Protected Designations of Origin in practically the entire Spanish territory. And it is also, from 2017 to 2028, the exclusive supplier of the wines served by Iberia in Business class for its long-haul flights.

President of the Araex Foundation, Javier Ruiz de Galarreta created the Spanish Fine Wines Institute in January 2014, a training platform on quality Spanish wine that, in its first 10 years of life, has trained more than 5,000 professionals in the sector in many countries, deepening their knowledge about Spanish wine

Among the Awards and recognitions received in recent years by Araex Grands, the one granted by Mundus Vini as Best Spanish Producer (2019) or Best Spanish Food Company, Export modality by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in 2001 stands out.