oday the D.O. Utiel-Requena has 108 registered Bodegas and over 39,000 officially recognized hectares of vineyards. 80% of the plantations are of the Bobal variety, almost unique to Utiel-Requena and which has become valued for its quantity of anthocyanins, for bulk export. It has become the finest variety of the Denomination of Origin and a distinguished, genuine and revolutionary product for the making of high-quality bottled wines which breaks with the varietal uniformity of Spanish production of recent years.

n Spain it wreaked havoc but the vineyards of Utiel-Requena, among others, remained healthy as the Bobal plants have a strong resistance to this parasite and were only attacked slowly. This allowed the viticulturers to little by little substitute the European stems for American ones. This fact motivated French and Catalonian commission agents to come to the Utiel-Requena region which in turn caused spectacular plantation growth, a redistribution of land ownership, which gave rise to new growers associations, and planting by industry and Valencian businessmen. In 1950 recovery in the aftermath of Filoxera plague was finally complete and the vineyards of the D.O. Utiel-Requena now covered some 40,000 hectares. From the first quarter of the 20th Century rural emigration and farm mechanization began along with the fervour of cooperative practice: in 1927 the Agricultural Cooperative of Utiel was founded, in 1935 the Requena Viniculture Cooperative and so on until reaching the present 36 cooperatives that have been in operation in the D.O. Utiel-Requena since 1965. It was in this year that “Coviñas en Requena” was created: the first cooperative dedicated to the ageing and bottling of quality wines. At the turn of the 1980s the first commercial family Bodegas were born and it is in the 90s that the great explosion of Bodegas takes place, in great part because of the incorporation of Spain into the European Union and the export possibilities this brought.

he 19th Century saw the peak of wine-making in Utiel-Requena owing to the increasing creation of vineyards, especially by Utiel’s neighbours who had conquered the Serranía de Cuenca market to move their wine and liquor surpluses. In 1847 the Cabrillas road was opened linking the region directly to the port of Valencia and initiating large scale trade in wine. At the same time, the first harvester associations came into existence with the aim of improving cultivation and to exercise a degree of commercial control. In this century numerous country houses appeared and there was large demographic change in the villages in the D.O. Utiel-Requena. In 1887 the Valencia-Utiel railway was inaugurated allowing the creation of true Bodega districts around the stations of Requena, San Antonio and Utiel, especially in the latter as it was the end of the line. It is from this time that the Bodega Redonda dates, being strategically built in front of the railway station. Nevertheless, the main cause of growth and increased external demand for the wines of this region was the production shortages of the French vineyards that were affected by the disease oidium, or mildew, in the decade 1852 to 1862. After this crisis in the French vineyards came a new plague: Filoxera (the Wine Louse. An insect vine parasite that can cause the death of the plant) which devastated practically all European vineyards between 1868 and 1900.

rom Medieval times come the first documented references to the vine and wine such as the Charter of Requena conceded by Alfonso X “The Wise” in the year 1265 which is the oldest preserved document. In it is established the appointment of “Binaderos” or guardians of the vineyards for the three months before the harvest. In the municipal bylaws of Requena from 1479 the work of the “Binaderos” is referenced again as well as the prohibition of the introduction of foreign wine which would suggest that local production was enough to meet internal demand. In addition, in the bylaws of Villa de Utiel, corresponding to the year 1514, can be seen fines for damage caused by livestock entering vineyards and a ban on harvesting before the date laid out in the law. A curious fact is that the native grape, Bobal, was know as Planta Nueva in the 15th Century. The balance between production and consumption remained stable during the 16th and 17th Centuries with relatively very little cultivation in a series of estates scattered among large cereal farms. At this time, in villages with large harvests, Taverns formed a part of the town’s properties and were rented out every year by public auction. The Town Counsellor or Lord also fixed the profit that an innkeeper could earn from each pitcher of wine that he sold as well as the price he should pay to the harvesters who supplied him. Following Medieval tradition some harvesters could sell wine in their homes, each taking a turn and advertising the fact by placing a green branch or pine sapling in their door or window to lure the public in. From the Reconquest of Spain to the middle of the 18th Century there was a gradual increase in cultivation and production for local consumption. Thanks to a growing population and more seafaring, viticulture began to become more profitable with the production of Liquors. Between the 17th and 18th Centuries there were a dozen liquor producers operating in the region.

he viti-viniculture tradition of the D.O. Utiel-Requena is more than 2,000 years old. This is corroborated by several archaeological finds such as a collection of grape pips together with wine-making structures and pottery. Vine cultivation and wine consumption soared in the Iberian epoch – from the 7th Century B.C onwards – when the Iberians settled in Villares – then known as Kelin -, as well as in other regions, located in Caudete de las Fuentes: one of the municipalities in the D.O. Utiel-Requena midlands. Among the Iberians wine was an everyday drink. Utensils from this time show different vessels for drinking and serving wine such as bottles, jars, cups and glasses and art work depicting related scenes. Amphorae from Los Villares also show peculiar markings which seem to suggest the existence of a wine from Kelin and its territories. These markings probably identified the origin, content, ownership, price, etc. of the wine. From these times there are also the remains of excavated structures devoted to wine-making. They were winepresses where the grapes were crushed underfoot to make the must and which still preserve the holes where posts where fixed to support a cover as they were kept outdoors. When the wine was to be moved to the amphorae and earthenware jars for storage it was sieved to remove impurities. The resulting dregs were used as livestock feed or even to make flour from the grape pips. Kelin became the most important settlement in the region even having its own Mint for striking coins. It had “City” status and maintained trading contacts with the Greeks, the Punics as well as with Iberians from other regions within the Peninsula. After the arrival of the Romans, Kelin maintained its predominance but entered into decline between the years 83 and 77 B.C. With Christianity wine acquired a sacred quality and, although Islam prohibits the consumption of wine, it is also evident that the Hispanic Muslims both made and drank it. In the D.O. Utiel-Requena there are numerous underground cellars from before the Christian occupation which were used for domestic storage of, among other things, wine.