The Wine

Spanish wine

Classification of Spanish quality wines:

DOCa Denominación de Origen Calificada
This category originated in 1991 and is the highest quality category for Spanish wine. Only Rioja and recently also the Priorat wine region received DOCa status. The wines must be bottled in the wine region.

DO Denominación de Origen
The second category for Spanish wine is DO, similar to the French AOC, which includes the most well-known classical Spanish wines. The wines have to meet the requirements of the Consejo Regulador (Supervision of the individual wine regions), who then decides if a wine-maker is entitled to use the DO label for his wine.

Wines from Murcia
Almost 100,000 hectares of vineyards, this gives you a rough idea of the importance of wine in the ancient kingdom of Murcia. Unfortunately, quantity and quality are often contradictory factors.
Until ten years ago, the names Yecla and Jumilla, the great wine growing areas in this region, were synonymous with robust wine of high alcoholic content and with a disturbing tendency to oxidation. This was to do with the extremely arid climate, high insulation, and production habits that were anchored in the past.
However, some winemakers have managed to find the way to produce quality wines.
To do so, they have had to go against the tide and tackle a tradition based on exporting wine in bulk.
Thanks to them it is possible these days to find red wines with a modern touch and plenty of delicate traits in Murcia. Wines inspired by the latest advances in technological science and in perfect harmony with the predominating tastes of the end of this century.

Jumilla
This historic area has staked out its claim with the production of red wines with supreme alcoholic tenor and magnificent colour, where there used to be a general lack of tannin. The Monastrell grape, basis of the Jumilla, was unsuitable for ageing in wood.
Today's Jumilla wine maintains its aura of popular red wine, and continues to produce spectacular commercial results. By controlling the fermentation of the musts and avoiding over-ripening of the grapes, some aromatic rosés and pleasant young reds have been developed.
The Jumilla wine region is situated in the province of Murcia and Albacete and covers an area of 33,000 hectares. The Jumilla wine region consists of 35 vineyards (Bodegas), which produce 220,000 hl of wine annually.

Vine varieties
Red:
Monastrell, Garnacha Tinta, Garnacha Tintorera, Cencibel (Tempranillo), Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah.
  
White:
Airén, Macabeo, Malvasia and Pedro Ximénez.

Consejo Regulador de la D.O. "Jumilla"
Calle San Roque 15
30520 Jumilla
Tel. 968 781 761
Fax 968 781 900
Email: info@vinosdejumilla
URL: http://www.vinosdejumilla.org/

Yecla, once a farming town and today a furniture-making centre, is surrounded by nearly 13,500 hectares of vineyards. Of these, one-third are classified for making DO wines.
The quiet, slow revolution, pioneered by small private wineries and cooperatives here in the mid-1980s , has allowed the area to start producing red wines made with temperature-controlled stainless steel equipment. Thanks to this special effort, those fortified wines of the past have now become much more balanced, and have gained enormously in aromatic complexity.
The low yields give concentrated wines with great potential. The number of vineyards registered with the Regulatory Council is steadily increasing, a clear indication of local producers’ interest in quality. Some wines have already won their place among the most prestigious in the Spanish winemaking world, and one of Spain's largest cooperatives is located here.
Although there are no subzones, the Campo Arriba district is outstanding for producing grapes with a higher extract than other DO areas.

Consejo Regulador de la D.O. "Yecla"
Calle San Roque 15
30520 Yecla
Tel. 968 792 352
Fax 968 792 352
Email: info@yeclavino.com
URL: http://www.yeclavino.com/

Bullas is the youngest of the Murcian denominations although it is an old growing area. The vines are spread over a very large area running down from the region's sierras, bordering on to Andalucía in the west, towards the Mediterranean plains, and the red and rosé wines made from their grapes have a distinctive character acquired from the Monastrell grape grown in its southernmost territory but nonetheless with a cool, sierra-influenced climate.
The granting of DO status later in the day than the other Murcian growing areas has encouraged the search for quality through experimental planting of new varieties for red, rosé and white wines vinified in new wine-making equipment. Harvests have risen considerably in the last five years and export began in 1999. This is an area of great promise for the future.

Consejo Regulador de la D.O."Bullas"
Avenida de Murcia 4
30180 Bullas
Tel. 968 652 601
Fax 968 652 601
Email: consejoregulador@vinosdebullas.es
URL: http://www.vinosdebullas.es/

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