2018 Celler del Roure Les Alcusses

The Spanish winery Celler del Roure is located in the town of Mogente, in the interior of the province of Valencia. There are 4 farmlands on the north side of the Serra Grossa and in the Alforins-Alcusses valley at about 550m height on average. The soil generally consists of clay and lime, is sandy and contains little organic material. The mountain ranges guide the dry continental winds (poniente) in the right direction, while the humid winds mainly come from the sea (levante) with an average pluviometry around 600 liters.

The wines of Celler del Roure are known as the most beautiful wines of the Valencia region. The winery has an impressive own style, among other things by using amphora, makes very elegant wines and works entirely according to organic methods. The winery is also part of several university studies in the field of 'vine water stress', canopy management and vine management systems.

History

Celler del Roure winery was started as a small family business in 1996 with the aim of producing red wines. The winery was founded by Pablo Calatayud who planted the vines together with his father and brother. Initially, 2 wines were produced, the Alcusses and Maduresa. The ^1st Alcusses of this winery dates from 2000 and was named after the nearby ancient ^(4th century BC) Iberian settlement. In order not to forget the beautiful and long cultural history of this terroir, a text in an ancient script was printed on the label, which was found on a lead plate in the settlement.

In 2006, the ambitious Pablo bought an old cave with vineyards to expand the company. He discovered an underground tunnel system with nearly 100 buried amphora jars. The find turned out to be a great discovery because the amphoras were still in good condition despite apparently having been in the ground for over 300 years. Pablo was very interested in the jars and started restoring them. He managed, thanks to an ingenious sealing system, to close the amphora properly. As a result, no oxidation could occur. The unique possibility of using the amphora produces very beautiful and special wines.

Currently, 20 amphorae have been restored and filled with various red and white wines. Tests show that the quality of the wines is becoming more and more beautiful and convincing. The ancient tradition has been restored to this! Because the ancient jugs of clay, unlike, for example, oak barrels, do not give off aromas, the essence and soul of the wine comes into its own even better.

In addition to the Alcusses and Maduresa, the winery now also produces 3 new wines: Gallets setze, Cullerot and Parotet.

Grape varieties

Pablo has now gained a lot of experience with various varieties of worked things out. For example, he has put the Tempranillo with Monastrell because the Tempranillo is not doing well in this region. The winery currently has about 66 hectares of vineyards with young and older vines with the grape varieties Merlot, Monastrell, Cabernet Sauvignon, Tintorera, Petit Verdot, Syrah, Mando and Chardonnay. In addition, for the white wines, grapes are also bought (Malvasia, Macabeu, Pedro Ximenez, Verdil) from old vines.

The Mando grape, one of the varieties that Pablo focuses on most in the red wines, is not very common in the region, has little yield, is very sensitive to wood aging and is also very delicate. The Monastrell is also important in this region and also the Tintorera. The other categories give structure (Cabernet Sauvignon), body (Petit Verdot), round juicy tannins (Merlot) or more character (Syrah) to his wines. Almost all of these latter categories are now older than 15 years.

Harvest & vinification

As befits a good winery, here too the grapes are only harvested manually and carefully checked. Maceration and fermentation takes place in stainless steel vats. Aging method differs per species. For example, the Maduresa gets the malolactic fermentation in oak barrels, where in other varieties it is on stainless steel. Oak barrels of different contents (225, 300 and 500 liters) are used for education, which are renewed every 4 years at the latest. And the amphoras are also increasingly used and tested further. It is now a fact that the Mando grape develops better on the amphora as on the oak barrels. The Cullerot (white wine) has also undergone the major part (60%) of its fermentation on amphora, after which the 5-month upbringing also follows amphora.

Order Celler del Roure wines online at Grand Cru wines

You can of course buy Celler del Roure wines online at Grandcruwijnen.nl, the wine trade with one of the largest wine collections in the Netherlands and Belgium, where you can order both special wines and wines for every budget. Quality products, fast delivery & reliable service that is Grand Crus!