Murcia Wines

Murcia Wines depend on 3 Designations of Origen:
D. O. Bullas
D. O. Jumilla
D. O. Yecla

Known as the Sunshine Wine with almost 100,000 hectares of vineyards, this gives you a rough idea of the importance of wine in the ancient kingdom of Murcia.

The Jumilla wine-growing region encompasses a large area in the province of Murcia and Albacete in south-eastern Spain. It is a rugged country, where the vineyards grow on a high plateau surrounded by mountains.

Grapes have been the principal crop here for more than two thousand years. In this land, the Monastrell grape has found the ideal environment for growth. The limey soil, the hard climate (with temperatures of up to 100 degrees Fahrenheit in summer, plunging to below freezing in winter), the scarce rainfall (less than 12 inches a year). all these conditions enable the Monastrell grape to develop its colour and flavour to the fullest.

Most of the wineries in the area are located in the town of Jumilla, which spreads at the foot of its 15th-century castle.

A bit more than half of the appellation area falls within the province of Albacete, on the eastern edge of the plain of La Mancha, where wine growing is a major activity in towns such as Hellín, Tobarra, Ontur, Montealegre, Fuenteálamo and Albatana.

The Appelation of Origin "Yecla" is one of the great wine growing areas we can find in the province of Murcia.

Until ten years ago, the name Yecla, was synonimous with robust wine of high alcoholic content and with a disturbing tendency to oxidation. This was because of the extremely arid climate, high insolation, and production habits that were anchored in the past.

Today's Yecla wine maintains its reputation producing accessible red wines, but has also achieved spectacular results. due to the fact that some winemakers have managed to find a way to produce quality wines.

Murcia Wines

Designation of Origen Bullas
The origins of wine growing in Bullas date back not only centuries but millenniums. There is evidence that vines have existed in this area from as early as 3000 BC even if they only began to be actually cultivated in 800 BC. From that moment up until the late 19th century when phylloxera devastated the vines in the area, wine-making has always played a fundamental role in the local community and the various powers that have passed through this area, from the Phoenicians to the Romans, to the knightly orders of the middle ages have all benefited from and added to this wealth of experience. Now the willingness to share these secrets and the innovatory spirit of local cooperatives and wineries have succeeded in combining modern industrial methods and time-eternal traditions, and this is the key to the superb quality of the wines that bear the Bullas D.O.C. label.

The area protected by the "Bullas" Denominacion de Origen is situated in the Northwest of the Murcia region and includes the towns of Bullas, Cehegín, Mula and Ricote. Compared to other wine growing areas the vines in Bullas grow at an extremely high altitude and most of the vineyards are situated at over 600 metres above sea level. As a result this area has a totally unique Mediterranean climate (the average temperature is 15.6º C), where the winters are cold but short and the summers are long and hot, and even if the yearly rainfall is low (450 mm) it is still higher than the surrounding areas.

In Bullas the Monastrell grape is by far the most popular amongst wine growers (80% of total cultivation) as traditionally this has always been a red wine area and this type of vine grows well in balanced conditions. Nevertheless a number of excellent whites and clarets have always been made here and grapes such as the Tempranillo, (for reds and clarets) and Macabeo and Airén, (for whites) occupy an important place in wine-making traditions. Recently a number of new varieties have been introduced to the area and despite the fact that the zone is recognized at an official level as a Monastrell region, wines such as Cabernet-Sauvignon, Sirah, Merlot and Garnacha (Grenache) are rapidly making ground.

From the maze of streets in the old town of Bullas, to the picturesque vineyards that line the Mula valley, this area lives and breathes its ancient wine-making traditions. The town and countryside are full of old cellars and even the ancient remains, such as the Roman sculpture of Bacchus in the Villa de los Cantos seem to whisper the word "wine". To help the visitor discover the unique and dramatic character of the countryside a number of facilities have been introduced such as camping sites, parks and the charming "casas rurales", beautiful old buildings, often in historical settings, that have been refurbished for use as holiday homes. Recently these initiatives have been extended to include a wine museum, a carefully signposted wine route and a number of the splendid old cellars have been opened to the public, including the offices of the D.O.C. authorities, situated in the town centre of Bullas.

All these innovations show just how proud the local people are to welcome visitors into their time-honoured world of viniculture and to share the secrets of a wine that dates back to the very beginnings of time in Murcia.