The second edition of the Organic Wine Contest of the Valencian Community already has a winner. The result has left the organic red from Font de la Figuera ‘Highway to hell’ from Wines N’ Roses viticultores (Grupo Arráez) as the winner.
It is a wine of the 100% organic Monastrell variety aged for three months in French and American oak barrels and a cherry red color with a high layer and a violet rim. The grapes for the winning wine come from vineyards planted in clayey and calcareous soil, over 30 years old and located in plots at an altitude of about 600 meters in La Font de la Figuera and Fontanars dels Alforins, municipalities located in the interior of the province from Valencia.
In this second edition, a total of 25 organic wineries from the three provinces of the Valencian Community have participated, presenting a total of 86 samples. The tastings, held on November 22 and 24, have been made up of a prestigious panel of tasters.
For the CEO and oenologist of the Wines N’ Roses winery (Grupo Arráez), Toni Arráez, “it is a great joy to receive this recognition because Wines N’ Roses is a very young winery and a different project that is struggling to value the autochthonous grapes from our area. These acknowledgments help us to continue believing in it with more force since it is a recognition of the effort and work of the entire team. In addition, it reinforces the firm commitment to organic products, in a period of one year we will have 100% of the wines from the organic winery”.
The Grupo Arráez project firmly believes in the care and protection of the land. For its CEO, “my family and I have been living for more than 70 years from grapes and wine from this area, one of the areas with the longest wine-growing history in the Mediterranean. I believe that we have a responsibility to protect and care for it in order to pass on that heritage, which we received in due course, to subsequent generations just as we found it”
Strength of all Valencian organic wines
PROAVA and the CAECV agreed to launch this biannual contest in 2020, because they considered it essential that organic wines and all the producing wineries have their recognition through a contest that brought together the wineries certified by the CAECV.
In white wines, the gold went to ‘Nimi’ by Joan de la Casa, a viticulturist, the silver to ‘Fuenteseca’ and the bronze to ‘Pasión de Moscatel’, both from Bodegas Sierra Norte.
In the rosé category, the gold winner was ‘Laudum Nature’ from Bodegas Bocopa, the silver for ‘Il.lusiona’t’ from Celler Cataruz and the bronze for ‘Señorío de Benidorm’, also from Bocopa.
In young reds, gold was awarded to ‘Virtu’ from Cooperativa Las Virtudes, silver to ‘Fuenteseca’ from Bodegas Sierra Norte and bronze to ‘Aniceta’ from Organic Wines and Flavors.
Finally, in the red category, gold went to ‘Mariluna’ red from Sierra Norte, silver went to ‘Mínimo’ from Bodegas Arráez and bronze went to ‘Viña Capricho’ from Bodegas Palmera.
Closeness to the producer and search for the highest quality
Lluís Romero, president of PROAVA, explained that the entity wants to “always be close to the producer, to the quality product and proximity, and in this search we are clear that ecology not only provides a plus in quality, but it is the future” .
Romero thanked the work of the tasting panel and expressed his satisfaction at holding the second edition of a contest that values the idiosyncrasies of organic wines. The contest rewards its vocation for sustainability and is committed to its revaluation in the market “today it is impossible to differentiate an organic wine from one that is not if it is not previously reported,” says Romero.
Perhaps for this reason, in recent years, the increase in certified vineyard area has not stopped growing until it has become the crop with the largest organic area in the entire Valencian Community, mainly in areas such as Utiel-Requena and Vinalopó Mitjà. Between 2016 and 2021, its surface has grown by 61.7% to reach 16,600 certified hectares.
For the president of the CAECV, Vicente Faro, “we are taking another step to position and promote a key sector in organic farming such as wine. Contests of this type help to make visible the excellent wines that our organic operators are capable of producing, without neglecting the use of totally respectful tactics with the environment”.
An expert tasting panel made up of oenologists and technicians from all over the national territory
The tasting panel of this second edition of the Valencian Community Organic Wine Contest has been made up of renowned international wine experts together with the most prominent representatives of the Valencian Community, all of them under the direction of José Vicente Guillem, Doctor Agricultural Engineer and Master in Oenology and Viticulture with extensive experience in the sector.
The awards ceremony will be next December 20 at La Marineta, next to the Veles e Vents building in the city of Valencia.
To give the prize more significance and stimulate the contest, the winery awarded with the best organic wine from the Valencian Community will be able to participate free of charge in the next TerraECO fair, the Mediterranean Organic Agriculture and Production Fair to be held in Valencia in the coming March 22 and 23, 2023.
