Utiel Requena is a Spanish Denominación de Origen Protegida (DOP) for wines located in the province of

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

(

Valencian Community The Valencian Community ( ca-valencia, Comunitat Valenciana, es, Comunidad Valenciana) is an autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish autonomous community after Andalusia, Catalonia and the Community of Madrid wi ...

). It takes its name from the two neighbouring towns of

Utiel Utiel is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of Requena-Utiel in the Valencian Community, Spain. According to the 2014 census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a ...

and Requena. It is renowned for the predominant use of the

Bobal Bobal is a variety of ''Vitis vinifera'', a red grape used in winemaking. It is native to the Utiel-Requena region in Valencia, Spain, Valencia, Spain. The presence of Bobal in Utiel-Requena was documented in the 15th century in "Espill o llibre ...

grape variety.

History

Archaeological finds in ancient Iberian settlements such as the one at show that grape growing and wine production in the area dates from at least the 7th century BC. In the 1st century BC, the

ancient Romans In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 ...

, after defeating the

Carthaginians The Punic people, or western Phoenicians, were a Semitic people in the Western Mediterranean who migrated from Tyre, Phoenicia to North Africa during the Early Iron Age. In modern scholarship, the term ''Punic'' – the Latin equivalent of the ...

, settled the area and introduced new wine making techniques. During the Moorish dominion of the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, def ...

, wine production was tolerated, even though it was forbidden by the

Koran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , si ...

. The first written references to vineyards and wine date from the 15th century. During the course of the 17th and 18th centuries, population and the areas under vineyards increased, and some distilleries are known to have operated. The 19th century was the golden age for the Utiel-Requena area as the number of vineyards increased even more. In 1847, communications with the port of Valencia were improved and in 1887 a railway line connected Utiel with Valencia. The renowned Bodega Redonda (Redonda Winery) dates from this time, strategically located next to the railway station in Utiel, and today is the seat of the Utiel-Requena DOP Regulatory Council (''Consejo Regulador''). Exports were significant as the French vineyards were affected by oidium during the decade 1852 to 1862, and then were struck by the phylloxera virus from 1868 onwards along with the rest of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

. The vineyards of Utiel-Requena escaped the devastating effects of the phylloxera virus because they were planted with the Bobal grape variety, which is more resistant to it than other varieties. This gave producers the chance to replace their vines by grafting varietals onto New

World In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

rootstock A rootstock is part of a plant, often an underground part, from which new above-ground growth can be produced. It could also be described as a stem with a well developed root system, to which a bud from another plant is grafted. It can refer to a ...

. In 1965 the first cooperative was founded with the purpose of bottling and aging wines. There are currently over 100 wineries registered with the DOP, which was created in 1932.

Geography

The DOP is located in the transition zone between the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...

coast and high plateau (

La Mancha La Mancha () is a natural and historical region located in the Spanish provinces of Albacete, Cuenca, Ciudad Real, and Toledo. La Mancha is an arid but fertile plateau (610 m or 2000 ft) that stretches from the mountains of Toledo to th ...

) of Central Spain. The whole area slopes down slightly from northwest to southeast. The vineyards are located between two rivers: the Turia and the

Cabriel Cabriel () or Cabriol () is a tributary of the Júcar River in the province of Albacete, Spain. It has its source in the Montes Universales. See also * List of rivers of Spain This is an incomplete list of rivers that are at least partially i ...

Soils

The soils are dark in colour with a high lime content, permeable and poor in organic matter.

Climate

The climate is not only continental (long hot, dry summers and cold winters) but one of the most severe of all the Spanish grape growing regions. Frosts and hailstones are frequent in winter and drought common in summer. Temperatures can reach a maximum of 40°C in summer and drop to a minimum of -10°C in winter. Nevertheless, the vines are well adapted to such a climate and there is a Mediterranean influence due to the closeness of the sea (only 70 km as the crow flies) and the cool wind, known as the Solano, helps to keep temperatures down. Rainfall is sparse, about 450 mm per year and the vines receive about 2,800 hours of sunlight per year.

Grapes

The

grape variety occupies over 80% of the vineyards. Bobal is the second most planted red grape variety in Spain. Planting density is between 1,600 vines/ha and the maximum of 4,000 vines/ha. The authorized grape varieties are: * Red:

Tempranillo Tempranillo (also known as Ull de Llebre, Cencibel, Tinto Fino and Tinta del Pais in Spain, Aragonez or Tinta Roriz in Portugal, and several other synonyms elsewhere) is a black grape variety widely grown to make full-bodied red wines in its ...

Garnacha Tinta Grenache () or Garnacha () is one of the most widely planted red wine grape varieties in the world.Niels Lillelund: ''Rhône-Vinene'' p. 25, JP Bøger – JP/Politikens Forlagshus A/S, 2004. . It ripens late, so it needs hot, dry conditio ...

, Garnacha Tintorera, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Pinot Noir,

Petit Verdot Petit Verdot is a variety of red wine grape, principally used in classic Bordeaux blends. It ripens much later than the other varieties in Bordeaux, often too late, so it fell out of favour in its home region. When it does ripen it adds tannin, ...

, Cabernet Franc. * White: Planta Nova (or Tardana),

Macabeo Macabeo, also called Viura or Macabeu (, ), is a white variety of wine grape. It is widely grown in the Rioja region of northeastern Spain, the Cava producing areas south of Barcelona, and the Languedoc-Roussillon region of France. Spanish ...

, Merseguera, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc,

Parellada Parellada () is a Spanish white grape variety of Catalan origin specially grown in Catalonia, Spain. With Macabeu and Xarel·lo, it is one of the three traditional varieties used to make the sparkling wine Cava, which is primarily produced in ...

Verdejo Verdejo is a variety of wine grape that has long been grown in the Rueda region of Spain. The grape originated in North Africa, and was spread to Rueda in about the 11th Century, possibly by Mozarabs. Verdejo was generally used to make a strongl ...

Moscatel de Grano Menudo Muscatel ( ) is a type of wine made from muscat grapes. The term is now normally used in the United States to refer to a fortified wine made from these grapes rather than just any wine made from these grapes. This fortified muscatel became pop ...

References

External links

D.O. Utiel Requena official website
{{coord, 39, 30, 22.17, N, 1, 10, 51.7, W, source:cawiki_region:ES-VC_type:landmark, display=title Wine regions of Spain