Javier II
With Javier II’s talent and Marmorino’s business acumen, in 2002 the pair moved their talents to another Italian restaurant, Il Fornaio.It was here that Javier II refined his talent in spirits and acquired a comprehensive understanding of wine and wineries education in at some of the best vineyards in California. Javier II soon realized that he could translate what he learned about wine production to refine his own family’s mezcal making. From planting magueys to distilling the elegant flavor of what would become Mezcal Los Javis, he would bring what he learned in the U.S. back home to Santiago Matatlán. While Javier II continued to build his knowledge base in the U.S., Doña Gloria continued to care for the family’s magueys in Oaxaca and even though Jaime was still attending university, she made sure to train him in the ways of a mezcalero.
Campos de maguey.
All the stars aligned in 2003: Jaime finished his engineering degree and Doña Gloria welcomed her first grandchild, Javier III. The same year, the first magueys the family planted were ripe enough to harvest and create mezcal. The energy of these new beginnings sparked the dawn of what is now Mezcal Los Javis, named as a tribute to the three Javiers in the family. Soon Jaime joined his brother Javier II in U.S. and set off to learn how the two could start marketing Mezcal Los Javis to bars and restaurants in the U.S. The brothers worked day in and day out, creating strategies and conceptualizing marketing plans to make their dream come true. Jaime’s weeklong trips turned into 6 month interludes where the brothers would discuss the ways in which their ancestors would have chosen to perfect their mezcal. The brothers finally pieced it together: the elements that they needed to
La separación de las fibras de maguey por medio de la tahona.
focus on were the maguey, the land, climate and water. Thus was born the heart of Mezcal Los Javis: a spirit true to its artisanal Oaxacan heritage. With a renewed spirit, Javier II moved back to Oaxaca and worked alongside his father Don Javier, implementing the techniques he learned studying winemaking and translating them over to making mezcal. Today, Mezcal Los Javis is the first and only family owned brand that does everything from planting and harvesting magueys to distilling mezcal in their own palenque in creating their product. Dedication, perseverance, discipline and the knowledge of Javier II had a lot to do with it: The Mateo family now distributes Mezcal Los Javis in eight countries on four different continents. When asked, the Mateo family would say “That is our ALEGRIA...”