WINE ESTATE ALCENO: "WE CAN BRING OUR PASSION TO THE PALATE"

These special wines from La Hormiga Roja , literally translated as The Red Ant or ' The Fire Ant ', come from the Alceño winery, which is located in the heart of Jumilla. A family business founded in 1870 by Alceño, at the time the winery was the first winery to export and sell wines in the Jumilla region. Today the winery is owned by the Bastida family. By applying new and modern winemaking techniques and through continuous innovations in the facilities, they meet the highest quality standards . According to the winemakers, the taste of the wines is tailored to the quality of the area; "We put our passion back into the wines, and you can taste it immediately".

Blessings in Misfortune

Between the wine regions of Yecla and Bullas in Murcia in eastern Spain lies Jumilla, named after the capital of the region. In this arid and slightly hilly wine region west of Alicante, the vineyards are located between four and eight hundred metres above sea level on a limestone subsoil covered with sand . There is a sultry warm climate where only the occasional sea breeze provides the much-needed cooling. It was precisely this soil condition, in combination with the warm weather conditions, that caused the outbreak of the phylloxera plague (this is grape louse, an aphid that affects the health of the vine) to be postponed for a long time. It was not until the end of the eighties of this century that the phylloxera managed to attack the vineyards of Jumilla. As a result, the wine sector was of course forced to uproot the old vines and plant new ones . In principle, this is a blessing in disguise, because it also led to a large investment in research into the best varieties for the region . Because it was clear that the Jumilla area was ready for renewal; the yields were low, and the locake wine that was produced here in large quantities, ' D e vino doble pasta' , was much too heavy and robust to drink on its own. The wine was only used as a blend wine to give other wines strength. Under the leadership of a number of large wine concerns and with the much-needed financial support of the European Commission, the entire wine region was reorganised and they started to focus on the production of more modern and commercially interesting wines .

MIGHTY MONASTRELL

A grape that feels particularly at home in this warm, dry climate and in the vicinity of the sea, is the Monastrell, better known in France as the Mourvèdre. In France too, the grape is a lover of heat and sea air. Monastrell is by far the most widely planted in warm regions in Jumilla and produces deeply coloured, spicy, robust wines. Due to the low yields per hectare - only 10 hectolitres - they also have a lot of concentration (the grape plant has to share its nutrients with fewer fruits). Monastrell is increasingly combined with grapes such as Syrah , Garnacha (known in France as Grenache) and/or Tempranillo ; this makes the wines somewhat softer, fruitier and more accessible. Sometimes we also find Bordeaux-specific grape varieties such as Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. In terms of white wines, the Sauvignon Blanc is mainly a frequently 'present' grape; in Jumilla, the dashing, aromatic character of the Sauvignon Blanc is well expressed. Expressive, but also very pure!

LA HORMIGA ROJA; THE WINES OF ALCENO

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