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SPAIN
– GRAPES –
The winery makes two single varietals from Bobal: “La
Senda del Caballo and Finca San Blas Bobal which
can be considered as small-batch wines. The wines are
matured in large wooden casks (fudres) or barrels, with
clear Bobal expression at its most potent and expressive,
but also very refined and elegant.” Other wines, red and
rosé, have Bobal as the main variety, but are blended with
other grape varieties grown on the farm.
According to the staff at the Finca San Blas, Bobal “is
a variety that has become more and more famous over
the last decade in the national and international market,
and is undoubtedly one of the Spanish varieties with
the greatest international future in decades to come.
Importers already know that Spain is much more than
Tempranillo, and Bobal is a grape that is generating
great interest abroad and even within our own borders
because of its excellent ability to make great wines that
are complex and elegant, but at the same time, easy to
understand.”
Pasiego is a family-run winery located in Sinarcas
The barrel room at the Pasiego winery
PASSIEGO: FROM A HOBBY TO A PROFESSION
The first steps of this project were taken in 1997, with
13 barrels in a basement in Utiel, when three friends
and wine enthusiasts decided to set up a winery as a
hobby, without any economic expectations, with the sole
purpose of enjoying the process of making the best wine
possible.
At that time, they were not yet creating wines. Instead,
they started by comparing a lot of wine samples and
choosing which they liked best in order to age them in
barrels, as good artisans do, patiently and perseveringly,
and without rushing the process.
As time went on, they kept growing in size and receiving
awards. The hobby was becoming something more
serious. Two of the founding members jumped ship and
the new company remained under the control of brothers
Julio, José Luís and David Salón Pérez, who moved their
facilities to Sinarcas with the intention of making wines
from their own grapes.
Since then, the project has become a family-run winery
located in Sinarcas, in the inland area of the province of
Valencia, within the Utiel-Requena D.O.
72 AUTUMN 2021 GILBERT & GAILLARD - THE FRENCH EXPERTS ON WINE