REQUENA

As you drive across the plateau of the Sierra de Tejo approaching Requena, to the west of Valencia, you are driving across the largest and highest flatlands in the Valencian Community. Forty five kilometres in diameter, the region is freezing cold for the long winters that can stretch from October to May and baking hot during the months of July and August.

Because of this intensity of climatic change Utiel-Requena is the largest producer of wine in the Community and the second largest producer of red wine in Spain. Its rich, brick-red earth once supplied mainly red wines for blending but these days the bodegas of the region are winning more and more national and international awards, especially for their cavas, one of which was voted the best in Spain in 2003 and is whispered about as being on par with some of the best French champagnes.

It is also the intensity of the winters that accounts for the gastronomy of the region, strong and flavoursome dishes rich in proteins and calories; la ‘olla’ de bajocas, el arroz en cazuela, gazpacho manchego, gachas, ajoarriero, and morteruelo, but it is the embutidos, the traditional Requena sausages that now have their own Consejo Regulador (similar to Denominación de Origen for wines), that take pride of place on the regions menus.

Growing hand-in-hand with a new breed of wine maker catering for the select palette, entrepreneurial chefs are using the best of local produce while selecting the finest from other regions and combining quality with skill to create a cuisine that matches any, and is often better than most, from the coastal regions. Elegant and unusual hotels and casa rurales are opening, often with their own restaurants or even as part of a working vineyard, to cater for the stream of new visitors which, given the beauty of the area and the quality of its produce, could well soon turn into a river.

The Virtuous Vine

A bottled history.
The first indications of possible involvement in wine production, or at least vine growing, came with the discovery of grape seeds lying in sediment beside an amphora in a house in Los Villares in 1995. These were dated to the 5th/4th century BC and whilst it can’t be stated with any exactitude whether the product inside the amphora was wine or grapes, it is usually assumed that vines are grown to produce wine, although they are also consumed fresh or as raisins. (Other amphora found in the village dating from the Phoenician times show that wine was drunk in the area at least as early as the 7th century BC.)

Documentary evidence shows that vines were grown in the region from the 13th century and a local bye-law, established by Alfonso X the Wise, appointed binaderos, residents of Requena who became guardians of the vines for three months before harvesting. In 1479 a ban was placed on ‘the introduction of foreign wine’ and in Utiel in 1514 vedados (bans) declared that ‘No one will dare to harvest until this is ordered by the representative authorities when the grapes are ripe, on penalty of losing the grapes picked up and paying a fine of six hundred maravedis,’ a hefty fine for the times.

When the dreaded vine disease philoxera struck the French and Catalan growers in the mid-19th century they turned to Utiel-Requena to supply wines for blending and with the coming of the Valencia-Utiel railway in 1885 the region’s distribution problems were solved almost at a stroke and wine production in the area became big business.

In the mid to late 20th century large amounts of the region’s wine was exported in five-litre containers to the ex-Portuguese African colonies of Angola, Senegal, Mozambique and Guinea, labelled as ‘Wine of the Iberian Peninsula’ and even now 80% of production is exported world-wide in bulk for blending.

With the creation of the ‘Denominacion de Origen’ by a statute of March 26th 1933 the Spanish government set the standards for wines based on climatological and geographical conditions. The ‘D.O. Utiel-Requena’ was granted as part of the same statute, and in 1987 the International Office of Wine in Paris declared the town ‘Ciudad de la Viña y el Vino’. Since 2004 satellites using a form of global positioning are now able to identify growers who may be producing more grapes than is legal under the Denominacion de Origen laws – a sort of 21st century binadero.

Sampling the sublime
When one of the major bodegas in the region was taken over by a multi-national corporation on the cusp of the new millennium some of its employees with vast years of experience were faced with an uncertain future. A number of them went on to create their own bodegas and, free of the grasp of shareholders and large-scale accounts departments, have gone on to produce excellent wines on a small scale, covering themselves with awards in the meantime.

Two of these, Dominio de la Vega and Pago de Tharsys, are family owned bodegas that are using traditional methods of production while at the same time incorporating new ideas and the latest technology to produce interesting and award-winning wines.

Dominion de la Vega was formed in 2001 when a group of four enterprising individuals supported by a total of nineteen wives, children, brothers, sisters and cousins sank everything they had into buying the Casa del Conde, a 19th century house-bodega near San Antonio, in the geographic heart of the wine producing region. The house had a chequered history from its construction by the Count de Villamar, a devilishly handsome penniless chap who married a rather less than pretty lady of considerable financial means, to becoming a disco prior to the current owners taking over and spending a year restoring the old cellars and creating a cool and shady ambience, as befits a bodega.

Dominio de la Vega produces a selection of red, rosé and white wines, but it is their cava’s that are drawing the eye and the palette of Spain’s imbibers. After only one year in operation their 2003 Brut Reserva was selected as the best cava in Spain, beating the Catalan producers who had always held sway in this field. The pale golden wine sparkles on the tongue with an elegant and persistent bubble and whilst being dry has the tiniest edge of sweetness to it that stops it being acidic. The flavour lingers and the light floral bouquet betrays it Macabeo and Chardonnay origins.

Amongst a host of other awards, the Dominio de la Vega was also voted as producing the best rosada (rosé) in the Valencian Community in 2004.

A couple of kilometres in the direction of Requena, Pago de Tharsys is a new building built over a cellar that’s been in use since 1805. ‘Pago’ is the original name of the estate and ‘Tharsys’ pays tribute to a Greek conqueror said to have founded Requena in 1531 BC.

The family of owner Vicente García has been involved in wine production since the early years of the 20th century but he is experimenting with new approaches in wine production collected from his study travels around Europe and the ‘new world’. As well as producing excellent reds and cavas two of the gems of the bodega are the Vendemia Nocturna and the Vino Dulce, two rarities in the region and made from grapes grown on Pago de Tharsys’ own vines.

As its name suggests, the Vendemia Nocturna is harvested at night when the temperatures are low and the grapes enzymatic activity is minimum. The result of this type of low temperature harvest is a fruity, elegant and long-lived white wine with an initial freshness that develops into a full after-flavour with the merest hint of vanilla. Only 3,230 bottles of this excellent wine were produced from the 2003 harvest and with this limited production this is almost certain to become sort after on specialist wine lists.

For those with a taste for desert wines the Vino Dulce Pago de Tharsys is the ‘candy for sweet wine lovers’, as the brochure so aptly describes it, limited to an annual production of 740 bottles. In the dark, dumpy bottle with its elegant swan neck resides a creamy white wine with hints of chocolate and raspberries, almost a desert in its own right. Perhaps a little to rich to drink on its own, it is an exceptional accompaniment to almost any desert.

Taking care of the inner man
The harsh winters of the Utiel-Requena plateau demand stout foods to bolster the energy and moral of those tending the vines and the cuisine of Requena has historically been rich and varied. There are many pork dishes such as stews, rolls or deep pancakes filled with rashers and sardines, dishes such as ajoarriero, a cod dish made with oil, garlic and peppers; rice casserole with string beans; potatoes in stock and game dishes such as gazpacho manchego or morteruelo, a type of migas, fried breadcrumbs. Desserts made from honey, such as alajú – of Arab origin – and the burruecos are popular while others include nougats, sweet potato pastries, pies and butter cakes.

Everything but the squeal
Tres dias hay en el año
Que se llena bien la panza:
Nochebuena, Nochevieja
Y el dia de la matanza

(There are three days in the year
When the belly is well filled:
Christmas Eve, New Years Eve
And the day of the slaughter)

Throughout Spain in days gone by the matanza, the killing of the family pig, was celebrated by family and friends as they prepared the meats and sausages that would see them through the next year. The ritual usually took place in the chill months between January and March, depending on the area, after the pig had been carefully fattened for the previous nine months.

Great bowls would be on hand to gather the blood that would go into the making of delicious morcillas (black puddings), vats prepared for the salting of the joints, legs hung from rafters or laid on roofs to slowly air dry and innards carefully cleaned to take the minced meats for the sausages, each with its own texture and flavour depending on which part of the animal it came from and the family’s preference in spicing. The head would be roasted to provide the delicious cabilleras (roast cheek) and the trotters boiled and chewed on. In keeping with the old English saying, ‘they use everything but the squeal’.

In these days of sanitised butchery where the weekly joint comes in a cling-film covered carton, the matanza is rarely seen, although a few rural folk still carry out the annual killing on the quiet. The pig, however, still provides everything but his squeal and the Spanish take great pride in producing some of the finest embutidos (sausages) to decorate a plate.

In Requena the sausage makers art has reached its pinnacle and eleven local manufacturers make up the membership of the Consejo Regulador I.G.P, a body who fiercely controls the quality of all who proudly label their product ‘Embutido de Requena’.

The producers of ‘Embutido Artesano y de Calidad de Requena’ use recipes, methods and rituals handed down from father to son to recreate the traditional flavours of the region. The Consejo Regulador covers a range of seven different varieties of sausage, longaniza, morcilla, chorizo, salchichón, sobrasada, perro and güeña, the last two being included in February 1995 in the catalogue of Quality Products of the European Union.

There are four fundamental features that must be conformed to for an embutido to be accepted as artisano by the Consejo Regulador.

The pig must come from within the limits of the municipal territory, therefore being a product of the long, cold winters and strictly regulated control.

Only the meat of the female and castrated male can be used.

The intestines used to contain the meat are completely natural to allow for the conservation of the sausage and giving an authentic taste.

Only top quality spices can be used and added at a specific time and in the correct proportions during production.

On Calle Fortaleza, just as you enter La Vila, the Medieval centre of Requena, is the shop of Carneceria Emilia, one of the members of the Consejo. Walking into the shop is like going into a small museum with displays of old sausage-making machinery and rows of ceramic orzas, the pots filled with olive oil in which meats were stored in pre-fridge days.

The sausages that make this shop worth a visit are at the back. On mouth-watering display are morcilla de cebolla, fat black puddings made with onion, perro blanca, stout haggis-like productions with big chunks of white fat to give it flavour, the slim, dark perro and the even slimmer spicy chorizo longa. A chat with señora. Emilia or her sister Maria Angeles will reveal a family steeped in sausage who can recount personal memories of childhood matanzas and excellent ways of using their equally excellent products.

WHERE TO EAT

Requena:
La Posada de Águeda, Crta. de Madrid-Valencia km 283. Tel. 96 230 14 18.
Open daily for lunch and dinner. Very highly recommended.

Meson de La Vila, Plaza de Albornoz 13. Tel 96 230 1275.
Rustic restaurant in what was once the house of the Inquisition. Good local food and modest prices. If you dine there you get free entry to their private caves. Open daily for lunch and dinner except Mon.

Meson de Vino, Avenida Arrabal 11. Tel 96 230 00 01.
Open daily except Mon for lunch and dinner. Closed all September. Rustic style restaurant specialising in local cuisine with an award winning gazpacho manchego. Celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2004.

Utiel:
Restaurante Castillo, Calle Camino 90. Tel 96 217 10 84.
Open daily for lunch and dinner except Monday (Closed 15 Sep-15Oct). Comfortable, mildly elegant décor and menu of local dishes and own inventions. Good robust food and highly recommended.

El Carro, Calle Heroes del Tollo 25. Tel 96 217 11 31.
Open daily for lunch and dinner. Well regarded restaurant that goes as far as making its own ice-cream. You could try the olive oil or rosemary flavours.

El Tollo Alto, San Agustin s/n. Tel 96 217 02 31.
Stylish modern hotel recently opened. Mid price range Mediterranean cuisine in highly rated restaurant.

Venta del Moro:
Casa del Pinar, Tel. 96 213 90 08.
Elegantly rural restaurant, part of a small hotel/casa rural complex in splendidly restored ancient finca. Has own small bodega producing award-winning wines. Open daily but table must be booked. Very highly recommended.

WHERE TO STAY

Requena:
La Vila, Calle Cristo 21. Tel 96 230 03 74.
Small rustic hotel in Moorish quarter. Some rooms furnished with antique furniture.

San Antonio de Requena:
Casa Doña Anita, C/Mayor 13. Tel. 96 232 0676.
Email casadeanita@tubal.net. Web page www.tubal.net
Delightful small hotel completely restored from an original Modernista family home and furnished throughout with antiques. Highly recommended.

Venta del Moro:
Casa del Pinar, Tel. 96 213 90 08.
Beautifully restored farmhouse that is now a relaxed hotel with two workers cottages that have been tastefully converted into casa rurales which are let individually. Very highly recommended. Must book.

Bodegas
The area covered by the D.O. Utiel-Requena has 108 bodegas actively involved in the production of wine, from those that produce over a million bottles a year to those who make only a few tens of thousands. Most offer guided tours and tastings.

Pago de Tharsys, Ctra. Madrid-Valencia, Requena km 274.
Tel: 96 230 33 54.
Email pagodetharsys@pagodetharsys.com Web page www.pagodetharsys.com
Open Mon-Sat from 10.30am-2pm & 4-7pm. Sun holidays 10.30am-2pm. A small, family owned bodega that produces a limited range of wines, cavas and petillant (slightly sparkling) white and rosé, made mainly from grapes from their own vines., They include a white vendemia nocturna, the only one in the area, and a vino dulce, also unusual for Requena. English-speaking guide.

Dominio de la Vega, Ctra. Madrid-Valencia km 270, San Antonio (just on the of outskirts of the village). Open Mon-Sat from 10.30am-2pm & 4-7pm. Sun & holidays 10.30am-2pm.
A privately owned bodega that began production in 2002 and has won a number of awards in its short life, including best cava in Spain in 2003 and best rosada (rosé) in the Valencian Community in 2004. Despite the youthfulness of the bodega the four owners principally involved in its wine production can count on almost a century-and-a-half of wine making experience. Produces a range of extremely well-priced wines and cavas and even its prize winners are easily affordable. English-speaking guide.

Bodegas Murviedro, Ampli. Pol. ‘El Romeral’ s/n, Requena.
Tel :96 232 90 03.
murviedro@murviedro.es Web page www.murviedro.es . One of the biggest bodegas in the region, producing over one million bottles per year, some of which finds its way onto the shelves of Marks and Spencer. One of the few D.O Utiel-Requena that has a British presence of any size.

Embutidos:
There are eleven manufactures of sausages in the Requena area that meet the stringent standards of the Consejo Regulador. (See below how to obtain a full list.)

Carniceria Emilia, Calle Fortaleza 10, Requena. Tel. 96 230 3410. Open every day including Sundays and holidays. (Also has a shop at Calle Colón 9)
Carniceria Isabel, Calle Villajoyosa 37, Requena. Tel. 96 230 1180.

WHAT TO SEE AND DO
Museo del Vino (Wine Museum) Calle Sevilla 12, Utiel. Tel. 96 217 1062. Housed in a one-time winery, the Bodega Redonda (round bodega) is one of only four buildings of its kind in Spain. Open Mon-Fri 10am-2pm. Entrance free. Its also houses the offices of the Consejo Regulador D.O. Utiel-Requena, the regulatory body that controls production of the Denominacion de Origin wine in the area.

Ruta del Vino.
Asociación Ruta del Vino de la D.O. Utiel-Requena, Calle Seville 12, Utiel (in the Museo del Vino). Tel. 96 217 1062 Ext 111, Mob. 660 073 280. Email utielrequenacom@terra.es Web page www.rutavino.com
In association with a number of bodegas, restaurants and hotels in the area the Asociación runs one day and weekend wine routes that take the visitor to various bodegas and growers, with opportunities to sample the wines. Prices from 30€ one day and 75€ weekend include accommodation where applicable and meals of regional cuisine.

Fiestas
In February the annual three-day Muestra del Embutido de Artesano is held in Requena, a celebration of the town’s famous sausages when the regional delicacies are washed down with a plentiful supply of the local wines. During late August to early September the town honours the vine with the Fiesta de la Vendimia, a bacchanal that celebrates the end of the grape harvest. Utiel celebrates the same event in the second week in September and Utiel Gastronomica, towards the end of October, is an opportunity to sample regional dishes or follow a tapas trail around a selection of bars, each with its own speciality. (The exact dates of each fiesta are variable and should be checked with the relevant tourist office or association.)

FURTHER INFORMATION

Requena:
Tourist Information Office, Calle García Montés s/n (beside entrance to La Vila)
Tel 96 230 38 51. Open Tues-Fri 9am-2pm, Sat/Sun 10am-2pm, 4-7pm.
Consejo Regulador I.G.P Embutido de Requena, Avda Arrabal 9, Edif. Mercado.Tel 96 230 2520. Email:embutido@tdv.net

Utiel:
Museo del Vino (Bodega Redonda), Calle Sevilla 12. Tel 96 230 38 51.Open Mon-Fri 10am-2pm.
Consejo Regulador de la D.O. Utiel-Requena, (in Bodega Redonda) Tel 96 217 10 62. Email ;utielrequena@terra.es
Asociación Gastronomia Utiel, Tel. 96 217 3580

(Ask at the Tourist Office in Requena or the Bodega Redonda in Utiel for a copy of “Ruta del Vino de la D.O. Utiel-Requena”, an excellent book giving details of bodegas, restaurants, museums etc in the area. Not normally on display, but it is free).

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