SPAIN VALENCIA: Eastern Promise

Spain’s Levant area, traditionally known for producing an abundant supply of cheap and cheerful wines, is re-inventing itself as a high-quality production region, writes Andrew Catchpole

The Levant has long been a slumbering giant in Spain, pumping out a steady flow of wines to satiate local Spanish thirst and meet the cheaper end of overseas demand. A rambling, fertile, hot, often high country spreading deep inland through the Valencia and Murcia autonomías from the Mediterranean, it takes its name from the Spanish “levantarse”, meaning, roughly, “where the sun gets up”. Vines thrive alongside oranges and almonds, with well-drained sandy soils, ample sun, dry conditions and marked diurnal temperature fluctuations conspiring to deliver high yields of well-ripened fruit on the vines.

It is these same conditions, though, coupled with the harsh reality of global oversupply, that has been driving the more dynamic producers of DO’s including Utiel-Requena, Jumilla, Yecla and the broader Valencia zone, to refocus on the quality – rather than quantity – of their wines.

The effects of inward investment, both from private bodegas and by government, are increasingly evident. New wineries, extensive experimental plantings of “foreign” varieties, close work in the vineyards with the native Monastrell and Utiel-Requena’s robust Bobal, plus a general repackaging and modernisation of the wines is the result. Wine tourism routes have been introduced and cellar doors opened.

Noted producers such as Vicente Gandía in Utiel, Casa de la Ermita in Jumilla and Bodegas Castaño in Yecla are leading the charge, but the co-ops and other bodegas are following behind. The results can be tasted in the increasing number of high entry to mid-price wines that sit comfortably with the image of a “New Spain”.

A revealing example is that of Bodegas Utielanas, the cooperative in Utiel. Representing 1,700 growers, with 4,000 hectares of vines, it has seen an investment of e6million over the last five years. “We have been making great efforts in changing our offering and changing the attitude that this is a bulk wine region,” says winemaker Modesto Francés. “We are taking short, slow but very firm steps to improve quality and looking for the first time to foreign markets, especially the British market, for our wines.”

In addition to the main varieties grown, the local Bobal (a punchy red enjoying a resurgence in popularity in Spain), Tempranillo and Macabeo, small percentages of Cabernet and Merlot have been planted and the incentive system for growers to “deliver the right grapes at the right time” has been overhauled. The results are striking. The Infante label, a new quality tier created in 2003, has made it on to the list at London’s Ritz, while a Macabeo has been voted top in the DO by Spain’s influential Pien guide.

Russell Burgess, an ex-Threshers buyer who married into the family at Vicente Gandia, expanded on the DO’s current course. “There is a real revolution going on in Spain in terms of quality and wine styles,” he said. “The history here is one of bulk wines until 1979, with barrels being shipped to France, Germany, Britain and elsewhere in Spain, and the same went for the whole of Utiel-Requena.”

Despite problems of pronunciation and obscurity, Burgess believes these could become the DO’s strengths. “We are promoting Utiel-Requena, rather than the broader Valencia DO under which these wines can also be bottled, because Spain is still thought of as a hot, undiscovered ticket and so it is increasingly fashionable to seek out up-and-coming Spanish regions.” Backing up his words is a new e9m winery, completed in 2000 in the heart of Utiel’s vineyards, and a new premium-end range labelled Cremonia, specifically aimed at the British market.

“Bobal is still big in Spain because of its big colour, high acidity and firm tannins, but since the early 1990s Gandia has been putting in more Cabernet, Garnacha, Tempranillo and Shiraz,” continued Burgess. “We don’t want to lose the Spanishness of our wines, but we also don’t want to ape Rioja, so we are looking to a more modern style of winemaking.” With 225ha of vineyards to its name and an intensive land-buying programme, Gandia aims to bring 4,000ha of both grower- and privately-owned vines under its control. Its influence on the fortunes of Utiel-Requena is clear.

A newer arrival on the scene is Bodegas Vegalfaro whose owner, Rodolfo Garcia, is part of a new wave of winemakers who have studied oenology at Valencia. His family have been growers for two generations with 65ha of vines, but began bottling and selling under their own label in 1999. Two-hundred thousand bottles are now produced annually, with some wine still sold in bulk, but 70% shipped in bottle.

“In 1999 we also started to plant different varieties and I think fresh varieties work well on some of the land,” explains Garcia. “Tempranillo works in the higher vineyards and we also have varieties including Merlot, Garnacha and Alicante Bouchet, with most wines now being labelled Utiel-Requena.”

Another world

To the south, in Jumilla, the message that this is a new world, not the New World, crops up, with a similar emphasis on this slice of Iberia being “undiscovered” and thus something of a blank slate. At Casa Castillo, winemaker José Maria Cerezo revealed: “Casa Castello is more traditionally minded when it comes to varietals, we flee from Cabernet and Petit Verdot, going for more Mediterranean varieties like Garnacha, Monastrell and Syrah.” Again, the aim is modern wines retaining a distinct a Spanish flavour.

“There are plenty of ‘international style wines’ but they are cheaper to make in the New World, so why bother?” she continues. “Special varieties are the way forward and the best we have is Monastrell. People say it’s not noble but with proper handling, cropping, controlling yields in the vineyards, it is a very good variety, making elegant, complex wines with minerality that works well with food.”

Another newcomer is Casa de la Ermita, an estate that has been growing grapes for 200 years, but built its own winery in 1999 to produce and bottle Jumilla and Yecla DO wines. “We believe a gap has developed in the market for quality wines from Jumilla and Yecla,” said Lorenzo Baños. “And in addition to regular varieties like Monastrell, we have developed an experimental plot with two to three rows of vines, each of 28 varieties, including Viognier (which is showing very well), Riesling, Tannat, Malbec and Petit Verdot.” Again, development funding has been made available via both the Murcia autonomia, into which these DOs fall, and central government.

Nearby, the small DO of Yecla is also flexing its muscles and pushing its independence as something far more than a better-than-average spot in a bulk wine region.

Like Casa de la Ermita, Bodegas Castaño already has a deserved international reputation, its 500ha producing 9% of the wines from this 6,000ha region. The mainstay is, and will remain, quality-driven Monastrell, with this modern bodegas exporting 85% of its wines. “There is a time and place for Monastrell and that place is here as it performs extremely well in the region having adapted to the climate and soils over time,” said Daniel Castaño. “But we also have experimental plots of Verdelho, Albariño, Chenin Blanc, Pinotage, Carmenere, Tannat, Cabernet Franc, Pinot Noir and others as there is still a lot to learn about other varieties that may well thrive here in Yecla.”

As with Jumilla and Utiel-Requena, once the established quality producers provide the impetus, others feel emboldened to take the plunge. Barahonda is a spanking new bodega, owned by three generations of the same family, with 240ha and access to a further 1,500ha of fruit, located just outside Yecla. Again, Monastrell rules the roost, with a new release of four identically vinified wines from four different terroirs clearly revealing the high-end ambitions of this winery. In addition, the undisclosed sum to build the facilities, which also includes a state-of-the-art public tasting area and excellent modern Spanish restaurant, represent major confidence in Yecla’s ongoing rise.

It’s happening at grass roots level here, too, with the Yecla Cooperative, La Purísima, representing 700 members, 3,200ha of vines and producing 60% of the DO’s wines, now chasing the baton of quality and lucrative exports. “We have no UK agent yet but we are building both the wines and a programme to export,” confirmed winemaker Daniel Gimenez. Production is 92% red, 3% rose and 5% white, with Monastrell, Tempranillo and Syrah, plus Sauvignon Blanc, Macebeo and Airen the major varieties. On tasting evidence, the mean quality is high.

The Levant, and especially its leading DO’s of Utiel-Requena, Jumilla and Yecla, is certainly a place to watch as Spain’s quality wine map continues to develop and unfold. As Gandia’s Burgess puts it: “The future for Spain has to be at the mid-to-higher end, with regional identity hand-selling modern wines.”

© db April 2007