El Tenista is made with the Gil family in Murcia, with about 8,000 bottles in its first vintage and a suggested price of €60
Retired tennis player Rafael Nadal has launched his first wine. El Tenista is a red from the Jumilla denomination of origin, in the Murcia region of southeastern Spain, made in partnership with the Gil family, owners of Gil Family Estates. Nadal announced the launch on his social media, and the wine was reported by Alimarket and Directo al Paladar on October 14 and by Vozpópuli on October 18.
The debut vintage, 2024, is 100% Monastrell, the most widely planted grape in Murcia, organically grown. According to Vozpópuli, the grapes come from very old vines planted on their own roots, without grafting, which is why they were never hit by phylloxera; each vine yields up to about 700 grams of grapes. Alimarket reports that the vineyards sit at about 750 meters of altitude, that harvesting is done by hand and that the wine has 15% alcohol. The red spends 18 months in new French oak barrels and then rests in bottle.
The first release is about 8,000 bottles, with a suggested price of €60 each, according to Vozpópuli. The label shows a tennis ball hitting clay, a reference to the Spaniard's wins at Roland Garros. There is no information about sales in Brazil.
The wine is made at Bodegas Juan Gil, part of the group, by winemaker Bartolomé Abellán. According to Vozpópuli, Nadal and the winery set up a 50-50 company in October 2024, called Dominio del Liftado, and the tennis player takes part in barrel tastings and in deciding the blend. Directo al Paladar points out that Nadal has not bought the winery or become a grape grower.
The relationship began after an interview Nadal gave to the Wall Street Journal in 2021, in which he said he sometimes drank El Nido, a wine from the same family, according to Vozpópuli. The next step is a second label, also called Dominio del Liftado, in the works alongside the 2025 vintage of El Tenista.
Gil Family Estates has about a dozen wineries in denominations such as Jumilla, Rioja, Priorat, Rueda and Rías Baixas, and 1,700 hectares of its own vineyards, according to Alimarket. Other wines from Spain are in Bebidário's catalog.
Sources: Vozpópuli (October 18, 2026), Alimarket (October 14, 2026), Directo al Paladar (October 14, 2026).
