Bodegas Cerrón El Cerrico

In Jumilla, an appellation of origin in southeastern Spain, a long winemaking tradition exists. At the end of the 19th century, each family had their own little winery where they produced 3 or 4 jars to sell. However, in the 1950s, the cooperative movement triggered a shift, meaning that the wine went from being made at home to being blended in large tanks. In Fuente Álamo (Albacete), thanks to the altitude and the diversity of soils, its wines were held in high regard. But the Cerdán family went a step further in defence of the environment and in the 1990s, as pioneers in organic farming, they decided to leave the cooperative and start producing their own wines. Today, the fourth generation, in the hands of Juanjo Cerdán and his siblings Lucía and Carlos, is establishing the foundation for a low-yield viticulture that pushes the limits and seeks to explore the terroir to achieve peak performance.

From one of its pre-phylloxera vineyards of barely half a hectare, El Cerrico, Bodegas Cerrón El Cerrico was born. A wine made from the native Airén variety, planted in the 1920s at an altitude of 1,000 metres above sea level in calcareous soil with a sandy texture and the presence of marine fossils. Certified organic, it is grown using sustainable and traditional methods, and biodynamics is the order of the day. When the grapes reach optimum ripeness, they are harvested by hand. Then, at the winery, the vinification is carried out via 20 days of spontaneous fermentation with the skins still on in 450-litre earthenware jars without temperature control, followed by 4 months of ageing in oak and 12 months in stainless steel tanks.

As the result of the recovery of a genetically extinct variety and the exploration of the limestone terroirs of the Mediterranean, Bodegas Cerrón El Cerrico is a superb white wine for cellaring that gives us a taste of the new generation of Jumilla.