CASTAÑÓN

Since 1938

The Castañón Cider Mill was founded by my maternal grandfather, Alfredo García Menéndez, in 1938.

Formerly making his living transporting passengers on the Quintes-Gijón-Quintes route in a coach of his own, he lost his job when the vehicle was confiscated during the war. The coach turned up in a completely unserviceable state in Valladolid two years later and so he sold it as scrap for some 12,000 pesetas. Using this money and some savings he had, he built the main building of the cider mill.

This was where his small production and sale of cider commenced, which years later continued with the business run by his son (my father), Julián Gil Castañón, growing little-by-little each year in terms of new vats and machinery.

My father passed away in 1982 while I was doing my military service. With the support of my mother and my sister, I decided to continue his work and, through a great deal of both economic and sentimental effort, I gradually created the cider mill located up until recently in the neighbourhood de Santa Ana, in Quintes, famous for the restaurant and festivities devoted to Santa Ana that were organised there.

Due to the lack of land around the property that would allow extensions to be made to it, we decided to build another, new cider mill on an estate we bought not far from the original site, in the municipality of Villaviciosa. New facilities that we hope you will be to your liking, where you can visit our cider mill and taste our natural cider.