The land and the vineyards
The terroir of Bodegas Castaño
The vineyards are an essential part of what we are since the early stages of the winery, always with both, a responsible and sustainable care of the vines, planted in an area close to 500 hectares under the Appellation of Origin Yecla.
"HALF A WAY BETWEEN THE SPANISH MESETA AND THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA"
Vineyards
The poor limestone soils are the natural scenery of the dry-farmed Monastrell and Garnacha Tintorera, but we also grow foreign red red varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Merlot and in a lesser quantity white grape varietals as Macabeo and Chardonnay, which have become perfectly adapted to these conditions.
Monastrell is the main red variety within our Appellation of Origin Yecla, an ideal habitat that allows it to express itself at its best, intensity, colour, body, structure and silkiness. A unique grape variety for its qualities to create wines with a Mediterranean and mineral character.
The beginning of the harvest takes place with the reception of the beautifully ripen white grape varieties, followed with the ealier red grapes during the month of September. The end of harvest is always marked by Monastrell, the one with the longest vegetal cycle, that takes its dueful time to mature.
Our harvest process is fully manual, which helps us achieve an optimum state of the grapes when received in the winery and thus, a better quality for our wines.
Experimental projects
Following our innovating philosophy and with the aim to improve and try new wine coupages, we planted, back in 2006, an experimental vineyard with eight red grape varieties from different countries such as Argentina, Italy, Chile or France and other Spanish wine regions to study the behaviour in our conditions and their result in wine when blended with Monastrell.
The appellation of Origen Yecla is the only one in Spain that covers one single municipality. Located in southeastern Spain, it extends over 6,500 hectares of vineyards with two very different areas, Campo Arriba or highlands to the north of Yecla, with an altitude of 700-850 meters and mostly limestone and poor stony soils. Campo Abajo or lowlands covers the southern areas of the appellation, with an altitude ranging 400-500 meters and a more clayey composition of soils down here.
Continental climate with long, cold winters and equally long hot summers. There is a thermal oscillation of about 20oC between seasons, which allows the excellent ripening of the berries. The rainfall rate is quite low, with an average of 250 mm per year, in a region with the highest average annual hours of sun in Spain, about 3.400, recorded annually.