On the way to Moixent we find a valley dotted with vineyards, farmhouses and wineries where traditional and organic farming is practised.
One of the most unique wineries is Celler de Roure, where we can enjoy the Bodega Fonda, a construction that has been recovered by the Calatayud family and which dates back to the 17th century.
To access the cellar we must go down a stone staircase where we find a hundred huge earthenware jars buried in the structure excavated in the stone. These containers mature the wine “without interfering with its taste”, a situation that does not occur when the wine is aged in barrels of any type of wood. They can hold up to 2,000 litres of wine, which has previously undergone an initial fermentation in the steel vats located on the surface and which are transferred to the earthenware jugs.
It is in this Bodega Fonda that the local grape varieties rest and mature. This maturation technique is so important that the winery says: “From a total of 24 centuries of wine production in these lands, 23 have been made in ceramics”, and not even a hundred years have passed since the wooden barrel system (which they still use) was extended throughout the world for logistical reasons.
Images courtesy of F. Calatayud
Celler del Roure
Carretera de les alcusses, km 11,1 (CV-652)
46640 Moixent (València)
Telephone: 962 295 020
www.alcusses.es