NOM 111,
Trying to follow the history of Viuda de Romero is enough to drive you to drink. The earliest recorded references to the Romero family’s interest in tequila go all the way back to 1852 when Don Epitacio Romero produced “mescal wine.” Don Epitacio died in 1873, leaving his estate to Don Francisco Romero Gonzalez. In 1888, Don Francisco formed a partnership with Don Cenobio Sauza and others. Over the next 45 years, no less than four different tequila distilleries were operated by various members of the Romero family. When Don Francisco died, his widow, Dona Catalina Aguilar Madrileno, became the Viuda de Romero-the Widow Romero of the brand name.

In 1933 Don Tomas Romero sold the rights to the Viuda de Romero name to the Velazco family, who later sold the brand to another producer named Gonzalez and Noriega. By 1976, the Viuda de Romero Company produced 14 registered brands and ran two distillation plants, one in Guadalajara and one in Tequila.

In 1979 Don Joaquin Gonzalez formed a partnership with a Spanish company called Cavas Back, who managed the brand until 1983, when they closed their Mexican operations and sold the business to L. A. Cetto, one of Mexico’s most established wine producers. Louis Cetto completed construction of a new facility for Viuda de Romero in 1985. The current facility, located on the main highway just outside the town of Tequila, includes a distillery, barrel aging warehouse, bottling facility, corporate offices, and a tasting room.

At Viuda de Romero, agave is steamed in 15-ton autoclaves, and distilled in3,000-liter stills that produce about five thousand liters per day. The Reposado tequila is aged six months in large oak tanks. The Añejo is aged for two years in oak barrels.

The Viuda de Romero brand includes a Blanco, Reposado, and Añejo’”all 51% blue agave from both Tequila and Los Altos. At the same facility, they also produce Real Hacienda Silver, Reposado, and Añejo, all of which are 100% blue agave from Tequila and Los Altos. Finally, they have El Alteno, a 100% blue agave Reposado made exclusively from Los Altos agaves. In addition, the facility produces 8’“10 other brands of tequila sold in Mexico and other countries.