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A minor revolution has been under way in DO La Mancha, the
largest wine-growing region in Spain and indeed the world.
La Mancha is a vast, flat natural region that includes
a major part of the provinces of Toledo, Ciudad Real, Cuenca
and Albacete. La Mancha is a sea of old 'en vaso' or 'bush trained' vines. There are more vines planted in this denomination than in all of Australia and they are mostly dry farmed and old, producing very low yields naturally. This gives an insight into how this region in particular is able to offer such a fantastic quality/price ratio.
Bodegas Campos Reales is situated in the heart of La Mancha in El Provencio, in the province of Cuenca on the border with Toledo. The company was established in 1988 after the merging of two cooperatives in the same town. In 1996 they built a new winery, installing innovative machinery with state of the art technology, thus forming one of the most modern European bodegas, in a move towards producing wines of excellent, consistent quality and value. Nowadays Campos Reales is one of the leading bodegas in Spain to produce wines in the category of 'Popular-Premium'.
Between El Provencio and the
neighbouring villages Bodegas Campos Reales have a total of
4000 hectares of vineyards which include white varieties,Verdejo, Airén, Macabeo,
Chardonnay
and Sauvignon
Blanc, and red varieties, Tempranillo
(Cencibel), Garnacha
Tinta, Garnacha
Tintorera, Cabernet
Sauvignon, Syrah,
Monastrell,
Moravia Buena, Merlot
and Bobal. The
calcareous (lime) clay soils with their stony character
are ideal for maximum water retention when there
is drought, the main enemy of these vineyards. The
climate is continental with long hot summers and cold
winters ranging from extremes of -15?C in winter to 45?C in summer. Rainfall is scarce with annual amounts averaging
no more than 500 mm which fall mainly in the spring and autumn.
These extremes of cold in winter and heat in summer are the
ideal climatic conditions for producing excellent quality
grapes.
Bodegas Campos Reales has recently been recognised for its high standards of wine production and bottling by IFS, BRC and ISO. Responsible oenologist Rafael Canizares is one of the generation of young winemakers in Spain who have created a new style of wine. The Tempranillo wines of Campos Reales have been honoured with numerous national and international awards in recent years such as 'Best Spanish Young Red' and 'Baco de Oro' (Gold medal at Baco Awards).
NEW!
Click on the underlined grape varieties
for more information.
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