40 Under 40 Tastemaker

Co-founder, Olé Imports 

Iberian connection

As a 19-year-old college student in Miami, Málaga native Mata and his partner, Alberto Orte, began to import Spanish wines into United States with the launch of Olé Imports. Two decades later, Olé is a market force. The company represents about 75 mostly small wineries, more than two-thirds of which are from Spain, with the remainder from Portugal (imported by a division called Obrigado Vinhos). Mata is also behind Liquid Geography, a rosé from Bierzo in Spain; he says sales benefit cancer research, youth education in the Bronx and school meals in developing countries.