Estenas

Southeastern Spain’s Utiel-Requena is not a D.O. one would usually associate with classically structured wines of balance and nuance, mostly due to the “quantity-over-quality” mentality that has afflicted Southern Spain, and specifically the Bobal grape. With 90,000 hectares under vine, Bobal is the third most planted grape variety in all of Spain. The high-yielding vine was historically regarded as only useful for simple, acidic red & rosé wines destined for the local Co-Op.  Recently, a handful of quality-minded growers, using artisanal farming and vinification, are producing highly individual wines with true complexity. Bobal is fulfilling its true Mediterranean potential – certainly “wines of the sun”, but with remarkable freshness, moderate alcohol, and lovely notes of bright plum fruit, spice, and earthy, calcareous soil-inflected tension.

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