Antonio Docampo García, from the northwestern Spanish region of Galicia, only drank red wine.

12 FEBRUARY 2016 •

Antonio Docampo García, who died last week at the grand old age of 107, attributed his longevity to his drinking habits – four bottles of red wine a day, and no water.

Mr Docampo liked to have two bottles of wine with lunch, and another two with dinner, his family told reporters.
“When we were both at home we could get through 200 litres of wine a month. He never drank water” “He could drink a litre and a half all at once,” said his son Miguel Docampo López.

Mr Docampo, of Vigo in north west Spain, owned his own vineyard and was founder of the wine company Bodegas Docampo. (A cynic might suggest that tales of the wine’s life-giving properties could contain a teensy trace of marketing spiel.)

Mr Docampo’s nephew Jerónimo Docampo, who now runs the vineyard, told La Voz de Galicia: “He sold the majority of the wine he produced, but still kept a decent amount back for himself.”

“If he produced 60,000 litres a year he would keep 3,000 litres for himself. He always said that was his secret to living so long.”

Adam Blout