Mediterranean Region

A winery of the DO Alicante, Bodegas Enrique Mendoza began when Enrique Mendoza decided to continue the tradition of the Marina Baixa of producing wine for family consumption. Since then, the estate has grown considerably with the ambition to make wines that reflect the Mediterranean character of the climate and soil. Growing international and native varieties like Monastrell and Roman Muscat, Bodegas Enrique Mendoza is in search of expressive, terroir-driven wines. Since the first documented cultivation of the farm dates to the 16th century, they have adopted a philosophy of minimal intervention to protect the land for centuries to come.

KEYFACTS HISTORY

CLIMATE: Continentalwithextreme temperaturesthatrangebetween26°F(-4°C) and95°F(35°C)

ELEVATION:1,804-1,969feet(550-601 meters)

SOILS: Sandywhitemarlsorconglomerates, withsandorclaycompositions

VINE: 198totalacres(81ha);74acres(30 ha)acrosseightplotsareGPE-approved

KEYVARIETALS:PinotNoir,Merlot, Syrah,PetitVerdot,CabernetSauvignon, Garnacha,Tanat,Monastrell,Chardonnay, Merseguera,Muscat

ECO: Builtwastewatertreatmentplantto returnwastewatertotheaquifer

While the winery officially began in 1989, Enrique Mendoza had been making wine for his family at home for years. Before founding the estate, Mendoza was simply a merchant with a keen interest in wine, collecting and investing in other wineries. Eventually, he started purchasing vineyards and tending to his own vines, and his first bottles arrived to market in 1990. The estate is now carried on by Mendoza's son, Julian.

SUSTAINABLEVALUES

EnriqueMendozabuiltawastewatertreatment plant in 2020. Water from the winemaking process is purified before returning it to the localCastellaraquifer.

Many organic practices in the vineyards aim to respect the environment and biodiversity. Green cover crops are used in many plots to protectthesoilandfixnitrogen.Later,theyare composted in the soil. Vine treatments are organic, such as the use of pheromones to controlinsectpopulations.

THETEAM

Julian Mendoza is the general manager of the family winery. He holds a masters in enology, viticulture and wine marketing, but in more recent years has studied the cultivation of olive trees. The estate’s olive oil production has centered on recuperating local varieties ofthefruit.

Winemaker Sonia Llorente earned her master’s in viticulture and enology in Madrid and has more than 20 yearsofexperienceworkingthroughoutSpain.

General Manager: JulianMendoza

TERROIR

Locatedatanaverageof1,650feet(503me)abovesealevel in areas with an old riverbed and scrubland, the vineyard has soils of varied profiles: from the fine and sandy loam sands of the Estrecho pago, to stony soil profiles formed by gravels in theElChaconerovineyard.

El Chaconero is a very unusual vineyard. The layers of the subsoil are not horizontal but oblique, so the results are numerous small plots with totally different soils. Gravel or sandy-silty or totally sandy plots can be found in the same vineyard.

The microclimate is relatively extreme for the province of Alicante, despite the proximity to the coast (about 37 miles or 60 km). Considered a continental Mediterranean climate, the microclimate is a transition between the two, with cold wintersandwarmersummersthanonthecoast.

GOODTOKNOW

Finca El Chaconero, or "Las Tierras del Charco de Enero" (The Lands of the January Pond), is one of Enrique Mendoza’s most important pagos. The first documents that refer to the cultivation of this plot on the estate date from the 16th century, and state that it rained so much between the months of September and October that its lands remained flooded until January. Hence its name: TheLandsoftheJanuaryPond .

VITICULTURE&WINEMAKING

CULTIVATION

Natural farming is prioritized at Bodegas Enrique Mendoza. Indigenous yeasts are used, and insecticides, herbicides and fertilizers are all avoided in favor of biodynamic practices. Poor soils are augmented with organic sheep manure compost. Vinesareplacedundertheoptimallevelofhydricstresstoproducesmall,concentratedgrapesandcomputerizedsensors monitormoisturelevelsinthevineyard,adjustingirrigationaccordingly.Plotswithbushvinesaredryfarmed.

WINEMAKING

Bodegas Enrique Mendoza’s philosophy revolves around making fruit-forward, balanced wines with elegant tannins. In order to maintain freshness and the proper levels of acidity, a tool called a Dyostem is used which shows the growth of the berryandsugarcontenttoidentifytheoptimalmomentofcollection.Fermentationtakesplaceatcontrolledtemperatures in stainless steel tanks with a proportion of whole cluster grapes. Malolactic fermentation happens in tanks and/or barrels, followed by aging in French oak barrels and foudres of 2,000 L. Aging times are determined by variety and the vintage, alwaysrespectingthefruit,freshnessandcharacterofeachvariety.

The Monastrell of the Estrecho pago is trained in the traditional goblet form and is strictly dry-farmed. This helps control yields and produce concentrated but balanced fruit.

Enrique Mendoza believes in defending pago-specific wines, the terroir and personality of Both vineyards benefit from the higher altitude and climate conditions which help maintain the grapes’ acidity. The aromas of the rich surrounding scrubland are reflected in the cuvées from Estrecho and Las Quebradas.

BODEGASENRIQUE

MENDOZAPORTFOLIO:

Estrecho, Las Quebradas. Santa Rosa, Dolç and Finca Xaconero

Estrecho

DOP Alicante

Varieties

100% Monastrell

Vinification

Vinification to ensure gentle extraction, 16 months in 500

L French oak barrels

GoodtoKnow

Grapes from the Estrecho pago

LasQuebradas

DOP Alicante

Varieties

100% Monastrell

Vinification

Vinification to ensure gentle extraction, 16 months in 500

L French oak barrels

GoodtoKnow

Grapes from the Las Quebradas pago

BODEGASE.MENDOZA

Camino del Romeral, 42 3580 Alfaz del Pi

Alicante

BODEGASMENDOZA.COM

@BODEGASEMENDOZA

Contact:JuliánMendoza

julian@bodegasmendoza.com

Framed by the medieval castle of Alarcón to the west and the Hoces del Cabriel nature preserve to the east, Finca Sandoval is located in Ledaña, between the Júcar and Cabriel rivers in the DO Manchuela. With 62 acres (25 ha) of organically farmed vineyards, Finca Sandoval is preserving parcels of old traditional varietals and reviving the viticultural tradition in this little-known area of Spain .

KEYFACTS

CLIMATE: Mediterraneanwithaverage temperatureof56°F(14°C)

ELEVATION:969-3,281feet (296-1,001meters)

SOILS: Clay,sand,gravel,calcareous

CLASS: DOManchuela

HISTORY

Finca Sandoval began in 1998 when journalist and food critic Víctor de la Serna decided to plant a vineyard of Syrah and an experimental plot of the Portuguese variety Touriga Nacional. In 2019, Anta Winteries acquired the estate. Anta’s wine-loving entrepreneurs, led by Ángel and Germán García-Cordero and the former director of Freixenet, Diego Jiménez, recognized the potential to produce high-quality wines from the many 50-year-old vineyard plots that make this region unique in Spain

From the left: Co-CEO Germán García-Cordero, President Ángel García-Cordero, Co-CEO Diego Jiménez

VINE: 61acres(25ha)across10parcels

KEYVARIETALS:Syrah,Bobal, MoraviaAgria,Monastrell,GarnachaTinta

ECO: Certifiedorganic

In 2019, Anta Wineries added winemaking and viticulture advisor Javi Revert to the team. He brings a more contemporary style to the wines, and has worked to recover old plots of the area, especially the Bobal variety. This work is reflected in the scores and commentsofwinecritics.

SUSTAINABLEVALUES

All plots at Finca Sandoval, whether owned or leased, are certified organic and cultivated without phytosanitary additives. Committed to sustainable ecological practices, Finca Sandoval has incorporated biodynamic methods, such as bottling wines in accordance with the biodynamic calendar.

Winemaker: Javier Revert and Winery Partner Germán GarcíaCordero

TERROIR

Finca Sandoval is primarily defined by its altitude, which reaches upwards of 3,000 feet (915 meters). This altitude gives the wines a notablefreshnesswithoutsacrificingtheirMediterraneancharacter.

The Mediterranean climate has long, very dry, hot summers. When combined with the altitude, these conditions yield great thermal amplitude, lengthening the growth cycle and producing more balancedripeningofthegrapes.

The clay soils have an important limestone component. The vines rest on a limestone rock-base called tuesca in Manchuela, with depthsrangingfrom16to40inches(41to102cm).Soilcomposition is primarily sandstones and conglomerates, with layers of yellowish sandyloamsandlimestones.

Paraje Casablanca, Finca Sandoval’s largest parcel with 62 acres (25 ha) and four grape varieties, contains five distinct soil types. They show differences in levels of key components like organic material, calcium carbonate or iron. The winery vinifies each variety and soil typeseparatelytomaintainthecharacterofeach.

GOODTOKNOW

Sandoval champions the Bobal variety.Whilethegrapeiswidely planted, it doesn’t enjoy the reputation of more commonly understoodEuropeanvarieties.The medium-bodiedredgrapemakes wineswithcrisp,structuredacidity.

VITICULTURE&WINEMAKING

CAREFUL VITICULTURE

In2020,FincaSandovalchangedthetrainingandpruningsystemstoencouragegreaterdevelopmentofthecanopy.This promoted shading of the bunches, which yields larger, more concentrated fruit and wines of more fluidity, freshness and elegance.

AGING IN CLAY

Recovering local winemaking practices for their Fundamentalista bottling, Finca Sandoval is experimenting with clay amphora known as las tinajas – the traditional aging vessels of Manchuela. The team feels wine aged in the amphora best expresses the estate’s terroir and their work in the vineyard. The clay’s porosity allows the winemakers to perform controlledmicro-oxygenationwhilepreservingintensityoffruitandthefreshnessofthewine.

ART OF BLENDING

Finca Sandoval maintains the European tradition of blended wines, even when one variety dominates. For instance, their Finca Sandoval bottling is primarily from low-yield, old-vine Syrah, but it is blended with native grape varieties like Monastrell,GarnachaandBobaltoaddcomplexityandlocalcharacter.

Moravia Agria is an heirloom grape native to Manchuela, the only DO that permits its use in wine. It is a sensitive variety with very thin skin that produces relatively low alcohol content (approx. 12.5%) and notable acidity. Finca Sandoval uses Moravia Agria in blends to add freshness and acidity.

Howistheterroirreflectedinthe winesofFincaSandoval?

Finca Sandoval is driven by the desire to make wine that reflects the specific terroir of their various plots. For example, La Fundamentalista is a field blend sourced from a high elevation plot where old-vine Bobal is coplanted with Moravia, Marisancho and Tortosina. The fruit is co-fermented, allowing the vineyard character to shape the wine. The resulting winesshowgreatverticality,acidityandfreshness.

Salia, on the other hand, is composed of Syrah, Bobal and Touriga Nacional from separate plots. They are vinified separately to preserve the identity of their growing site. The predominantly clay soils yield wines that are round on the palate with more volumeandintensefruit.

FINCASANDOVAL PORTFOLIO:

Fundamentalista, Salia, Finca Sandoval, Signo Bobal, La Rosa, Aurora

SingularitiesoftheWinery

FincaSandovalhasworkedtoputManchuelabackon the viticultural map, recovering the best of the area’s vines and winemaking traditions. Their combination of new and old technology is uncovering layers of expressionoftheirfruitandterroir.

WhyisFincaSandovalaGrandes PagosdeEspañawinery?

Finca Sandoval is a founding member of GPE. Victor de la Serna has long been a champion of single-estate wines that display characteristics of a particular soil type, orientation, microclimate or cultivar – the definition of pago wines. Like fellow members, they produce wines in harmony with the soil,climateandnatureofeachpago.

FincaSandoval

Varieties

80% Syrah, 15% Bobal, 5% Moravia Agria

Vinification

Vinified with 40% whole cluster fruit, spontaneous fermentation with natived yeast; aged 18 months in large foudres

GoodtoKnow

Blend from the best parcels of the Casablanca vineyard

Varieties

60% Syrah, 25% Bobal, 20% Touriga Nacional, 5% Garnacha

Vinification

Vinified with 40% whole cluster fruit, spontaneous fermentation with native yeast; aged 10 months in 300 L French oak barrels

GoodtoKnow

All fruit comes from the same municipality

Mustiguillo

is a family winery located in the Valencian highlands on the El Terrerazo estate Here, vines grow in a unique microclimate equally influenced by the nearby mountains and Mediterranean Sea, making Mustiguillo unlike any other estate in Southern Spain. Focused on the recovery and celebration of native varieties such as Bobal and Merseguera, the estate is proudly regionally-focused and terroir-driven. From thorough soil studies to careful organic viticulture and explorations in biodynamic farming, the winery is at the forefront of new and exciting experiments in Spanish wine.

KEYFACTS

CLIMATE: Continentalclimatewith Mediterraneaninfluence;averagetemperature 56°F(14°C),precipitation 17in.(438mm)

ELEVATION:ElTerrerazo2,690ft(820m); FincaCalvestra3,018ft(920m)

SOILS: ElTerrerazo:calcareoussoilsof dolomiticorigin,sandy-loamtexture; FincaCalvestra:limestone, silty-sandytexture ofalluvialorigin,smallplotwithmarls

CLASS: DOPTerrerazo

HISTORY

Mustiguillo was founded on estate built in the 19th century and acquired by the Sarrión family in 1970. Yet, it wasn’t until Toni Sarrión left his career in business administration to dedicate himself to winemaking that Mustiguillo as we know it today took shape. Mustiguillo is the pioneer and current benchmark for quality Bobal. In 2004, Quincha Corral 2001 was the first 100% Bobal wine rated by Robert Parker (95 points), while Decanter recognized Finca Terrerazo in 2014 as the best Spanish wine under 25£. In 2019, Mustiguillo celebrated the centenary of Terrerazo 1919, the first vintage produced at the estate and documented at the time by famed enologist and agricultural engineer Rafael Janini.

VINE: 264acres(107ha)across47plots

KEYVARIETALS:Bobal,Merseguera

ECO: EU-certifiedorganic;eliminationof allplasticsinwarehouseandpackaging

INNOVATE: Conductingsoilanalysis, experimentingwithbiodynamicsand sustainablepracticeslikeusingsheepand theirowncomposttofertilizevineyards

Mustiguillo practices 100% organic viticulture,withemphasisonconservingthe flora and fauna of the environment. To encourage soil health, they use natural compost of manure with pulverized pruned leaves and canes, as well as soil treatments such as tillage in alternate rows and vegetable cover crops. The cover crops are mixed (spontaneously mixed with fescue seeds, bromus and vetch) and defined according to the plot, variety, type of wine and winter rainfall. This helps encourages thevinestocompeteforresources.

THETEAM

With his passion and dedication, Winemaker Toni Sarrión is the heart of the winery. He has earned the nickname “Mr. Bobal” thanks to his efforts to promote thisnativevariety.

The viticulture team is led by Irene Garcia and Fernando Garcia with a focus on biodynamic practices. Isabel Cano is the second winemaker leading day-to-day operationsandputtingintopracticeToni’sphilosophy.

Winemaker: ToniSarrión

TERROIR

Thevineyardsarelocated63miles(100km)inlandfromthe MediterraneanonthewesternedgeoftheValenciaprovince. PagoElTerrerazoandFincaCalvestrasitat2,690feet.(820 m)ontheedgeoftheSierradeNegrete,wheretheCastilla highlandsreachtheborderofValencia.Here,theextreme continentalclimateisgraduallyinfluencedbythemilder Mediterraneanconditions,resultinginhighoscillationof diurnaltemperatures(+-68ºF,20ºC).

ElTerrerazorestsonalimestonelayerofDolomiticorigin.The soilsaregenerallyhomogeneous,butincludeloamypatches withremarkablealkalinity,orpocketsofsand.ToniSarrión prioritizedunderstandingthesoilcompositionfromthe beginning,openingtestpitstoobserveeachplotand identifyingthosewiththepotentialforsingle-parcel expression,likeFincaCalvestraMargas.

GOODTOKNOW

In 2010, DOP El Terrerazo became the first single estate denomination in the Mediterranean region.

VITICULTURE&WINEMAKING

NATIVE VARIETIES

Mustiguillo focuses on expressing origin by working with native grapes like Bobal and Merseguera, with the belief that these grapes best transmit a genuine sense of place. Before the efforts of Mustiguillo, these varieties were largely underratedandseenasmoresuitableforbulkproduction.

LOW YIELDS

Bobal and Merseguera are naturally vigorous, productive varieties. Toni Sarrión has employed many techniques to lower yields;bunchthinning,covercropsanddryfarmingareamongkeyoptionstosuccessfullycultivatehigh-qualitygrapes.

LOW INTERVENTION

Mustiguillo believes low-intervention winemaking is the key to crafting the terroir-driven wines that will best express the character of their pagos. Parcels are fermented separately, exclusively with native yeasts and free-run must. Avoiding over-extraction, gentle racking by gravity and use of neutral vessels like old oak or concrete for maturation preserve eleganceandMediterraneanflavors.

Agingpotentialisone of Finca Calvestra’s virtues. This rare quality for a Mediterraneanwhite wine results from careful winemaking and Merseguera’s low pH. The wine’s typicity starts to show from the fourthyearonwards.

Howistheterroirreflectedinthe winesofMustiguillo?

The terroir of Mustiguillo is perhaps best understood through their Bobal wines. The fruit of Finca Terrerazo is marked by the extreme climate, high elevation and its old vines, giving it a distinctive Mediterranean character, intensecolorandbalancedacidity.

Old-vine Bobal is planted among groves of pine, oak, and olive, as well as rosemary, fennel and thyme that tingethefruit.

The expression of the limestone soil is noticeable in a slight chalky sensation on the palate, a savoriness and a verticalnose,resultinginalong,elegantwine.

SingularitiesoftheWinery

Their pagos El Terrerazo and Finca Calvestra are a viticultural benchmark for Bobal and Merseguera. Toni Sarrión has worked to study all aspects of each individual plot individually, with a persistent curiosity tounderstandtheestate’sterroir.

WhyisMustiguilloaGrandesPagosde Españawinery?

Committed to respecting the origin and typicity of their wines, Mustiguillo joined GPE to promote visibility of their unique terroir. Mustiguillo has found a home with the other GPE wineries, where all work to learn more about their land, vines and the surroundingenvironment.

MUSTIGUILLOPORTFOLIO:

Quincha Corral, Finca Terrerazo, Finca Calvestra Margas, Finca Calvestra, La Garnacha, Mestizaje Blanco, Mestizaje

FincaTerrerazo

DOP El Terrerazo

Varieties

100% Bobal

Vinification

Maceration, fermentation and 18 months aging in 35

HL and 50 HL French oak vats; only free-run wine is aged

GoodtoKnow

Fruit from two single plots, one planted in 1945 and the other in 1970

FincaCalvestra

Vino de España

Varieties

100% Merseguera

Vinification

6 hours cold maceration. Fermentation and aging in 225 and 500 L acacia barrels with native yeast; 11 months aging on fine lees

GoodTtoKnow

Vineyard altitude 3,018 ft (920 m); Merseguera is grafted on old, dry-farmed Bobal vines

For more information about The Terroir Workshop, including updates on upcoming class schedules, please register here