The Civil Guard, after the great media impact (even international) due to the sabotage of Cepa 21, has today informed the riverside winery that they are continuing with the investigation to clarify the unusual assault that ended, in a few minutes, with up to 60,000 liters of up to three of their wines from the last harvest in the sewer. But at the moment there is nothing. Many questions remain open. The agents of the armed institute have also informed them that they will not inform them again until they can solve the case. The sources of the Peripheral Communication Office of the Civil Guard of Valladolid consulted by the Comer channel of La Vanguardia are very cautious.
They limit themselves to briefly informing that the investigation is open, and that they are not closed to a single hypothesis. They don’t even want to confirm if the person who sneaked through a door into the warehouse at dawn last Saturday to Sunday is a woman, as appears to be apparent from the images captured by the security cameras. In these images, which are in the possession of the Civil Guard, the face of the assailant cannot be clearly seen, who covered his face with one arm and was wearing a type of raincoat with a hood. Yes, it can be seen that she easily opened the keys of up to five stainless steel tanks, of which only three contained wine.
The person who has decided not to grant more interviews is the president of Cepa 21, José Moro Espinosa. As reported to the Comer channel by people from his team who prefer not to reveal his identity, the president of this well-known Valladolid winery located in Castrillo de Duero is “very upset and impressed” since “he did not expect that something like this could happen.” . They add that he “is a very sensitive but strong person at the same time.” The night before the events, José Moro had dinner with some friends at the winery itself and decided to stay the night there. He did not hear or notice anything that happened around 3:30 in the morning. His apartment is located in the warehouse’s office area, a place away from the warehouses that were sabotaged. According to José Moro, the perpetrator, who did not take any valuable objects, acted “fluently” around the warehouse, and believes that he “knew where he was moving.” He has described what happened as “pure vandalism.”
Cepa 21 denies that this assault and sabotage could lead to the winery going into technical bankruptcy despite losses that José Moro estimates could rise to 2.5 million euros. They remember that this would have been the case if the assailant had emptied all the tanks. Specifically, wines from the Cepa 21, Malabrigo and Horcajo brands (the winery’s top brand) from the 2023 vintage have been lost. Only from Horcajo 2023, a tempranillo that is currently on the market with the 2018 vintage at 89.60 euros per bottle, all production has been lost. As the Comer channel reported, the sabotaged reds from this DO Ribera del Duero winery were insured, although the Cepa 21 winery has recalled that the insurer does not cover the final market value.
The sources consulted from the team closest to José Moro do not want to venture to point out whether the authorship could be that of a former employee, much less someone linked to the winery that is today presided over by his brother Javier Moro. On April 1, 2022, José Moro abruptly and controversially left the presidency of Bodegas Emilio Moro, a position he held for more than 30 years. He was forced to leave the presidency due to differences in the company’s strategic vision. Since then he has dedicated himself to relaunching the Bodegas Cepa 21 project. The wounds from the family split, however, have not been healed. The sources consulted argue that “it is very incredible, it cannot be, that the sabotage comes from a winery like Emilio Moro.”
Cepa 21 has decided to maintain its agenda of activities despite the “hard blow” they have suffered. On March 4, Cepa 21 will be one of the more than 200 wineries from around the world that will participate in the Casa Llotja de Mar in Barcelona, ??with José Moro at the helm, in the La Música del Vi showroom in Vila Viniteca. The next day they will also meet in Barcelona with the press.
