Click for map showing the Valencia region Denominaciones de Origen
My name is
John Maher. The aim of this website is to provide guidance, information and random thoughts on the wines (and some other aspects) of the city and region of Valencia. It has its origins in my own difficulties in finding useful information about the excellent and endlessly varied wine that I found myself trying delightedly when I moved to the city in April 2006. There has been a remarkable surge in the quality of wine throughout Spain. Previously little-known areas like Priorat in Catalonia have produced superstars with prices to match. The region of Valencia (encompassing the three Denominaciones de OrigenAlicante, Utiel-Requena and Valencia - plus Vins de la Terra de Castellón and Vino de la Tierra El Terrerazo - as well as producing Cava and independent Vinos de Mesa) had until recently concentrated on the bulk export of wine. The ongoing transformation in the quality of wines has been extraordinary, but received little attention locally, nationally or internationally. Only one in three bottles of wine opened in Valencia is from the region, with consumers still in thrall to Rioja and Ribera del Duero. This website and my corkscrew are on a mission to do something about this.
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New stuff in winesofvalencia.com:
A couple of online sellers of Valencian wine that I've been meaning to link to: vinos-valencianos.com and Tendavins. Now you can buy these wines without leaving the house.
Wine Press (Hot) - The August 2008 Bulletin of Wines from Spain has a report in its "Rising Star" section on Toni Sarrión and his Bodega Mustiguillo, which is in Utiel, but rather grandly has its own Vino de la Tierra category - Finca de la Tierra El Terrerazo - rather than coming within DO Utiel-Requena.
The June 2008 Wines from Spain newsletter has a report on DO Alicante ("DO Alicante enjoys a sweet moment in the wake of its resurrection").
I enjoyed the fourth Noche del Vino Valenciano on 16 June at the rather wonderful Botanical Garden in Valencia, with its many elegantly proprietoral cats in among the magnificent trees and plants. Lots of DO Valencia wines, cheese and a jazz trio. I bumped into Oscar Priego from Bodega El Angosto in Ontinyent, who was very pleased at how well their La Tribu was doing with Virgin Wines, where it rubs shoulders with its fellow Valencian Marqués de Valencia Gran Reserva 2001, made by Víctor Porter, a winemaker in Valencia with an English surname, but who is in fact originally from Chile.
In a busy weekend ofwine activity I was also lucky enough to be invited to the opening of the new Aranleón bodega in San Marcos (Utiel-Requena). This is a beautifully renovated old bodega (from 1927 if memory serves). My neighbour who suffers from multiple sclerosis came in to our house in great excitement the other day saying she'd been reading about a bodega that had been designed to provide access for wheelchairs. She hardly drinks wine normally, but is twisting my arm to arrange a visit - so kudos to Aranleó for making this part of their forward-thinking approach, so characteristic of their wines and everything they do.
The prestigious Concours Mondial de Bruxelles has announced that its 2009 event will be held in Valencia ("Au revoir Bordeaux, bonjour Valence"). This is an international, professional competition whose aim is to reward the best wines and spirits produced worldwide. I'm sure that the professional tasters will enjoy Valencia and the region's wines when they relax away from the tasting room.
The February 2008 Wines from Spain Bulletin has a report - in the "rising star" category - on José ("Pep") Mendoza of Bodegas Enrique Mendoza fame. Click here for more.
I'm delighted to announce that the very much up-and-coming (and historically illustrious) wine area of Castellón (Vins de la Terra de Castelló) is receiving recognition. The tirelessly enthusiastic Guzmán Orero Clavero's Masia de la Hoya Rosado won a bronze medal at the "La Selección" Competition for Spanish wines sold in Austria, Germany and Switzerland. Keep an eye on Vins de la Terra de Castelló. The wines of Benicarló were prized for centuries as a dark and powerful wine much used for boosting northern wines, and they're coming back. I'm a big fan of Eloy Haya's wines at Bodegas Vinya Natura in Benicàssim.
An excellent tour d'horizon of Comunidad Valenciana wine from Gerry Dawes at his "Gerry Dawes's Spain" blog.
Valencia Land of Wine by Joan C. Martin
We are very pleased to announce the publication of "Valencia Land of Wine: A Winemaker's Selection" (ISBN 9781901990041) by Joan C. Martín. This collection comprises over 60 articles on different wines and bodegas of the Comunidad Valenciana that originally appeared in El País. Here is what it says on the back of the book:
"Joan C. Martín is a prizewinning wine writer and winemaker. In 2005 he won Spain’s prestigious “Juan Mari Arzak National Prize for Gastronomy and the Media”, in 2006 he received an award from the Academia de Gastronomía Valenciana for his writing on Valencian wine, and in 2007 a gala was organized in his honour at Valencia’s Centro Cultural “La Beneficencia” in celebration of his 25 years writing about Valencian wine. This collection consists of articles that originally appeared in El País newspaper, and is the best introduction not only to the wines of the Comunidad Valenciana, but also to the people who make them and the landscape in which they are made. Almost uniquely for a wine writer, he is also a winemaker, who as director of some of the region’s leading wineries has been at the forefront of the transformation in the quality of the wines of the País Valencià. Apart from wine, his family and the land of Valencia, his other great passions are Ireland and the films of the great Irish-American director John Ford, to whose memory Joan dedicated his unforgettable Millennium Cordial Gran Reserva 1994."
