Thursday, October 18, 2012

PostHeaderIcon Utiel-Requena wineries (I): Vera de Estenas

In 1876, Mrs Filomena Pons y Pons, paternal great-grandmother of the Martínez Roda family, founded a wine and spirit making company in the Grao de Valencia region. Very soon afterwards, she began to export wines, a tradition which was to be kept by the generations to come. However, one of her grandsons, Francisco Martínez Bermell, who had been managing the winemaking of the company in the Utiel - Requena region since the 1940s, decided to break away and start his own company in Requena. He began to introduce new varietals such as tempranillo, which had never been grown in the area before, and in very close association with Pascual Carrion Carrion, then manager of the Requena Winemaking Station, started adopting new winemaking techniques which would substantially improve the quality of the wines of the region.
 

In the early 1980s, the Martínez Roda brothers, sons of Francisco Martínez Bermell, took over and seeing the huge potential of their estate to produce quality wines, proceeded to reconvert the Casa Don Angel vineyards. For the first time ever, foreign varietals such as cabernet sauvignon, merlot, malbec and chardonnay were introduced into the Utiel - Requena D.O. and grown alongside the tempranillo and more traditional bobal vines.

The centenary mansion, situated in the middle of the vineyards, was modernised, new machinery introduced and the underground cellars were adapted to new needs. In 1981 the Casa Don Angel estate is acquired by the Martínez Roda brothers.Once Casa Don Angel had been modernised and upgraded (the ageing plants reconditionedand a new cellar prepared for the sparkling wines), a museum (following the guidelines of a typical French Chateau) with over 3000 bottles representing most of the wine growing regions of the world, was installed.

The first wines were introduced into the market in 1985, and in 1987 the first wine ever to be made from the cabernet sauvignon variety in the D.O., the "Vera de Estenas" reserva. In 1994, Felix Martínez Roda, the youngest brother, took over management of the company and soon took an innovative step by bringing new wines into the market, such as "Casa Don Angel", "Martínez Bermell Merlot" and "Viña Lidon", the first white wine fermented in oak barrels in the Valencian Community.
  
The CASA DON ANGEL estate comprises of the main house,winery, garden and agricultural land. It is situated in the borough of Utiel, at "La Cabezuela", which lies 2.5km west of the estate. To the east, it forms a border with the Rambla de Estenas (watercourse) which in turn is the natural border of the borough of Requena.

This family owned concern trades as a limited company, the Martínez Roda family being sole owners.At present the estate houses an elegant Art Nouveau mansion built in 1919, following the guidelines of the era, as well as the original cellar, since upgraded and streamlined. Adjoining this, the new cellar, ageing plant, bottling plants and museum are found.

With the exception of a couple of almond trees lining its pathways, the estate is dedicated entirely to the growing of vines. These range from over a hundred year old Bobal vines to the recently planted ones.

The vineyards are situated on a gentle slope stretching from the Sierra de Juan Navarro to the Vega del Magro (plains) very near the Rambla de Estenas (watercourse). Here we find a very sunny calcareous glacis where erosion has designed an undulating landscape of valleys and hills. The floors of the valleys are very rich and produce exceptional grape harvests. However, on the hills a calcareous crust with a stony surface predominates. Here the soil is poorer but very suitable for obtaining quality wines. This is something which has not gone unnoticed by Felix Martínez, who plants his most prized cabernet sauvignon, tempranillo, merlot and chardonnay vines here. Even with the help of localised irrigation, Felix does not allow the yield to exceed 3kg per vine.”

Due to its high altitude and continental position, this area is prone to more extreme temperatures then the rest of the Community of Valencia. The average temperature being 14ºC in Requena and 12ºC in Utiel, January being the coldest month, averaging 5ºC and August the hottest, averaging 24ºC. A very significant factor is the marked difference between day and night temperatures which can reach a 20 degree difference. The frequency of extreme temperatures must also be taken into account, these can drop to a freezimg 5 - 10 degrees below zero in winter and rise to a scorching 35 - 40 degrees in summer.

NAME: Vera de Estenas
ADDRESS: Next to the N-III at km 266.
Paraje La Cabezuela. Casa Don Angel.
LOCATION: Utiel – Valencia (SPAIN)
POSTAL ADDRESS: P.O. BOX 20, C.P. 46300 Utiel – Valencia (SPAIN)
e-mail ADDRESS: estenas@veradeestenas.es
TELEPHONE: +34 96 217 11 41
FAX: +34 96 217 43 52
PROPRIETORS: The Martinez Roda Family
MANAGER: Felix Martinez Roda
VISITS: By appointment
VINEYARD AND FACILITIES:
VINEYARDS: 45 Ha
DENOMINATION OF ORIGIN: Utiel – Requena
PRODUCTION CAPACITY: 500.000 litres
NUMBER OF BARRELS: 500
SALES : Mainly to restaurants and specialised shops
LOCAL MARKET : 60%
FOREIGN MARKET: 40%

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