Almansa (DO)
Encyclopedia
Denominación de Origen
Denominación de Origen is part of a regulatory classification system primarily for Spanish wines but also for other foodstuffs like honey, meats and condiments. In wines it parallels the hierarchical system of France and Italy although Rioja and Sherry preceded the full system...
(DO), known for its red wines, located in the southeast of the province of Albacete
Albacete (province)
Albacete is a province of central Spain, in the southern part of the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha. It is bordered by the provinces of Granada, Murcia, Alicante, Valencia, Cuenca, Ciudad Real and Jaén....
(Castile-La Mancha
Castile-La Mancha
Castile-La Mancha is an autonomous community of Spain. Castile-La Mancha is bordered by Castile and León, Madrid, Aragon, Valencia, Murcia, Andalusia, and Extremadura. It is one of the most sparsely populated of Spain's autonomous communities...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
), in the transition zone between the high central plateau (La Mancha
La Mancha
La Mancha is a natural and historical region or greater comarca located on an arid, fertile, elevated plateau of central Spain, south of Madrid, stretching between the Montes de Toledo and the western spurs of the Serrania de Cuenca. It is bounded on the south by the Sierra Morena and on the north...
) and the Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
. The vineyards are mostly around the towns of Almansa
Almansa
Almansa is a Spanish town and municipality in the province of Albacete, part of the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha. The municipality borders with Alicante, Valencia and Murcia...
, Alpera
Alpera
Alpera is a municipality in Albacete, Castile-La Mancha, Spain with a rich history of wine making. It has a population of 2,372....
, Bonete
Bonete
Cerro Bonete is a mountain in the north of the province of La Rioja, Argentina, near the provincial border with Catamarca. Its summit is 6,759 m above mean sea level, making it the fourth highest separate mountain in the Americas . SRTM data disproves the frequently made claim that its summit is...
, Corral-Rubio
Corral-Rubio
Corral-Rubio is a municipality in Albacete, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. It has a population of 428....
, Higueruela
Higueruela
Higueruela is a municipality located at 43 km east of Albacete, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. It has a population of 1,350. The land surface is around 205.4 km² and its population density is calculated at 6.5/km²....
, Hoya-Gonzalo
Hoya-Gonzalo
Hoya-Gonzalo is a municipality in Albacete, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. It has a population of 768....
, Pétrola
Pétrola
Pétrola is a municipality in Albacete, Castile-La Mancha, Spain.It has a population of 877. Very famous because of its salt water lake, the economy is mainly based in agriculture and farming, lambs and ships mainly. It is 35 km from Albacete, capital of the province...
and El Villar de Chinchilla.
History
During the Middle AgesMiddle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, Almansa was a frontier region between Moorish and Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
kingdoms. Almansa Castle (Castillo de Almansa) was built by the Moors
Moors
The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of the Maghreb region who are predominately of Berber and Arab descent. They came to conquer and rule the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. At that time they were Muslim, although earlier the people had followed...
to protect the Vinalopo
Vinalopó
The Vinalopó is a small river flowing through the Alicante province, of Spain. It flows from north to south and, with a length of 81 km., it is the longest of the rivers which flows for its entire length within the limits of this province...
Valley (Valle de Vinalopó) which was for a long time the frontier between the Christian kingdoms of Castile
Crown of Castile
The Crown of Castile was a medieval and modern state in the Iberian Peninsula that formed in 1230 as a result of the third and definitive union of the crowns and parliaments of the kingdoms of Castile and León upon the accession of the then King Ferdinand III of Castile to the vacant Leonese throne...
and Aragón
Aragon
Aragon is a modern autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. Located in northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces : Huesca, Zaragoza, and Teruel. Its capital is Zaragoza...
.
Climate
The climate is continental (long, hot summers, cold winters). Rainfall is sparse (350 mm per annum) and sporadic usually in spring and autumn in the form of violent storms, often in the form of hail. Temperatures can reach 38°C in summer and -6°C in winter.Soil
Most of the vineyards are on flat land at altitudes of between 700 and 1000 m above sea level, comprising permeable lime-bearing soils that are poor in nutrients.Authorised Grape Varieties
Red: Monastrell, Cencibel (TempranilloTempranillo
Tempranillo is a variety of black grape widely grown to make full-bodied red wines in its native Spain. It is the main grape used in Rioja, and is often referred to as Spain's "noble grape". Its name is the diminutive of the Spanish temprano , a reference to the fact that it ripens several weeks...
), Garnacha Tintorera, Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Canada's Okanagan Valley to Lebanon's Beqaa Valley...
, Merlot
Merlot
Merlot is a darkly blue-coloured wine grape, that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name Merlot is thought to derive from the Old French word for young blackbird, merlot, a diminutive of merle, the blackbird , probably from the color of the grape. Merlot-based wines...
, Syrah
White: Verdejo
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 strongly oxidized, Sherry-like wine...
, Chardonnay
Chardonnay
Chardonnay is a green-skinned grape variety used to make white wine. It is originated from the Burgundy wine region of eastern France but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand...
, Sauvignon Blanc
Sauvignon blanc
Sauvignon Blanc is a green-skinned grape variety which originates from the Bordeaux region of France. The grape most likely gets its name from the French word sauvage and blanc due to its early origins as an indigenous grape in South West France., a possible descendant of savagnin...
Garnacha Tintorera and Monastrell are the most common varieties planted while Cencibel (Tempranillo) represents about 15%. The vines are planted with a maximum density of 1,600 vines/ha.