Of all the red wine grapes in the world cabernet sauvignon and merlot, are probably the best known. And talking about Spanish grapes, almost everybody will know tempranillo.
But how about bobal or mencía? Have you ever heard of those? Let me tell you that the bobal grape is the number 2 of Spain's most grown wine grapes and the mencía also results in very interesting red wines. Two totally different grapes from completely different Spanish wine regions. Let's dive in!
Queen of Utiel-Requena
According to bodega DeMoya* bobal is “without a doubt, the queen variety of Utiel-Requena”. It has been grown in this wine region, about 70 km´s inland from the city of Valencia, for many centuries and with 61,524 hectares (in 2015) it happens to be the second most planted red grape variety in Spain (after tempranillo).
In Utiel-Requena about 80% of all the red grape vineyards grow bobal. Furthermore bobal can be found in significant quantities in Valencia, Cuenca and Albacete and in small quantities in other regions of Spain, like La Manchuela (Castilla–La Mancha), Ribera del Guadiana, Alicante, Murcia, Campo de Borja, Calatayud, Cariñena and Valdejalón.
Bovale > bobal
Outside Spain, bobal is grown in small amounts in Languedoc-Roussillon (France) and the Italian island of Sardinia, where it is known as bovale or nieddera.
Fun fact about bobal: the name bobal derives from the Latin word bovale, referring to the shape of a grape cluster, that is similar to a bull's head.
DeMoya Justina & Maria
Bobal wines are typically loved for their soft tannins, velvety finish and fruity flavours like blackberry, dried berries and pomegranate. Since opening our bar we have a.o. discovered the wines of Bodega DeMoya and we can certainly say this is true for two of their Bobals: Justina and Maria.
Justina quickly became one of our best selling red wines at La Experiencia. And no wonder. This cherry coloured red blend of 90% bobal and 10% syrah contains aromas of ripe red fruits, like cherry and blackcurrant. The blend with syrah and 4 months ageing in oak barrels gives Justina a little bit of extra spice and a very refined minerality, resulting in a very pleasant and round aftertaste. What's not to like?
Justina’s ‘more mature sister’ Maria also contains bobal (90%), only this time it’s blended with merlot (10%) and aged for 12 months in carefully selected French oak barrels (35% new and the rest 2nd and 3rd year). This results in another great fine bodied Bobal wine, with aromas of cacao, leather, spices and ripe black fruits like blackberries, bramble and cassis. Extra nice combined with some old cheeses or Spanish ham. Delicious!
The mencía grape
Another interesting red wine we encountered is Abad Dom Bueno made from the mencía grape, in this case, grown in the region Bierzo. In general Mencía wines from Bierzo can be classified as light red wines with fruity notes, smooth tannins and an expression of minerally terroir.
Besides Bierzo, mencía can primarily be found in this northwestern part of the country, in the regions Ribeira Sacra, Valdeorras and Monterre. With over 9,100 hectares, mencía is about 6 times less grown than the bobal, but it has been gaining popularity since the 1990s and an increasing number of noted Spanish winemakers are now working with it.
Portuguese roots
An interesting detail about mencía is that it was once thought to be an ancient clone of Cabernet Franc, as it shares some of its aromas. But this impression has been proven wrong with the help of a technique called DNA profiling. Instead, it was concluded that mencía is identical to the Portuguese grape variety Jaen do Dão (or Jaen for short).
Mencía (Jaén do Dão) likely originated in Portugal as a result of a crossing between Alfrocheiro and Patorra, two red grape cultivars from the regions Dão and Douro.
Abad Dom Bueno
Okay, now back to the wine! ;-) The Abad Dom Bueno mencía truly expresses the variety and the vineyard it comes from. All the qualities and characteristics of the mencía grape are present in the Abad; displaying floral and fruity aromas, a lively and fresh taste, followed by a very silky and fruity persistence. The 9 months of ageing in French barrels complements these qualities, providing it with great complexity and elegance.
In other words, this is a very pleasant and balanced red wine, that's easy to drink on its own, but also tastes great in combination with f.e. rice, vegetable and poultry dishes or a nice plate of cheeses and ham.
Just writing about it makes me want to pour a glass! :-)
How about you? Have you tried our Justina, María or Abad Dom Bueno mencía? Or maybe another Bobal or Mencía wine? We would love to hear about your favourite wines from those Spanish grapes! Do share them in a comment below this post.
Cheers! It´s Wine Time!
As mentioned in our blog post part 1 of Spanish grapes to discover, Spain is home to many grape varieties and wine regions.
Too many to mention all in one post, so this will be a subject I will be writing about much more in the future ;-) If you have a favourite Spanish wine or grape, let us know and we´ll go and explore!
Bodega DeMoya
*Bodega DeMoya in Utiel-Requena is the family-run bodega of Yves Laurijssen. He moved to Spain to follow his passion and succeeded in making his dream come true. He describes it on his website as “a project in which we explore the vineyards of Valencia, using the local varieties (bobal, monastrell and merseguera). We combine the best of two worlds. History with the old vines and almost extinct grape varieties, combined with efficiency and modern winemaking techniques”.
His family plays an important role in their success story, seeing as all the wines are named after his loved ones. For example the red wines Sofia, Maria and Justina, are named after the 3 women in his family and the white (and rosé) Tíbo refers to his son.
Bodega del Abad
**Bodega del Abad in BIerzo has a totally different story. The essence of their cultural landmark can be found a few meters from the bodega: the Carracedo Monastery, which was founded by Bermudo II "El Gotoso" in 990.
This old medieval monastery inspires one of their other great wines called Carracedo. The name and logo of Bodega del Abad on the labels both derive from their recognition of the Abbot who cared for the Monastery's vineyards.
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