SOIL

 

The Yecla Denomination of Origin is located on the Murcia Plateau, at an altitude of between 500 and 900 metres. It has numerous jagged NE-SE mountain ranges. The most important mountain ranges are the Sierra del Cuchillo, the Sierra Salina and the Serral.

In this unsettled orography a large number of different soils coexist.

These soils originated mainly from sediments of the Pliocene period (2000 million years ago). They all have the same pH: they are all basic soils with an average pH of 8, poor in organic material with low total nitrogen content. These parameters limit the vigour of the vine and make the soils unproductive, thus guaranteeing concentrated wines.

Climate

 

The climate of Yecla is of a dry continental type, with very hot summers which can reach 39ºC, and cold winters with temperatures which can drop to -10ºC on the coldest days. The mean temperature in Yecla is around 15ºC.

Rainfall is scarce, coming mainly in spring and autumn. Summer storms in the form of downpours or torrential rainfall are common in summer, often accompanied by hailstones.

This climate is the origin of our soil and our wines. Wines with character, colour and intense flavour.

Vino

Monastrell

Monastrell is a variety of Spanish origin which has been known since the 15th century, and which has been cultivated massively all along the eastern coast of Spain. Its origin is from Camp de Morvedre in Sagunto (Valencia), since there are numerous ancient documents which refer to it.

There is no doubt la Monastrell is a variety which is incredibly well adapted to our climate. It is capable of supporting long hot summers, long periods of drought, and brusque changes of weather. It can halt its activity in periods of drought and come back to life when the first September rainfall comes.

Monastrell seems to have found its natural habitat in Yecla, giving us the purest and most concentrated wines which can be obtained with this variety.

At Bodegas La Purísima we have almost 100 Ha of ungrafted Monastrell. These old Monastrell vines were planted in the same soil without any grafting, in exactly the same way vines were planted before phylloxera. Phylloxera was a plague which, at the end of the 1890s, razed European vines to the ground, although our Monastrell resisted and was able to survive.

Monastrell is undoubtedly our most valued grape. Neither the high temperatures, the lack of rainfall or the phylloxera plague at the end of the 1890s have been able to destroy this magnificent grape.

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Otras Variedades

Syrah

A grape of somewhat unknown origin, believed to be from the Middle East or Italy. It is widely cultivated in the Ródano valley. It was introduced in Spain in 1982. Late in sprouting, its grapes are medium-sized, compact and cylindrical. The grapes are small, bluish-black colour. It is well adapted to hot climates and dry areas. It produces deep coloured red wines, of differing alcoholic content, very aromatic, suitable for high quality ageing. It combines well with Monastrell.

Tempranillo

This is the Spanish grape par excellence, and is the most well known outside of Spain, even though it is not widely cultivated beyond our frontiers. Originally from La Rioja it is cultivated in the majority of Denominations of Origin. Its name comes from the rapid maturity compared to other varieties. Upright vine, sensitive to drought. Medium-sized, compact bunches and medium-sized, spherical, bluish-black berries. It gives us high quality balanced, aromatic and slightly acid wines, with a very intense brownish-red colour. It works very well alone.

Airén

This is the variety which is most widely planted in Spain, and probably in the world. They were previously considered to be neutral grapes, with very little quality in terms of smell and taste, although nowadays, thanks to modern wine production techniques, they are used to produce fruity, fresh, smooth, pleasant, easy-to-drink wines. It produces young varieties of wine. Late to mature, the bunches are large and loose, with corpulent, spherical, golden grapes.

Cabernet Sauvignon

A grape originally from the French Médoc (Bordeaux), introduced in Spain in the 19th century by the Marquis of Riscal. Late in sprouting, its bunches are small, with small-, round, thick skinned, hard grapes of deep black colour. It adapts to all climates, hence it is the most widespread grape in the world. It gives intense red wines, with violaceous nuances-, of alcoholic body and aroma, making it the perfect grape for mature wines-, and it is often associated with Tempranillo. The wines it produces have a profound and intense nose and are flavourful on the palate.

Sauvignon Blanc

Of French origin, this grape is of intermediate sprouting. The vine is robust with small bunches and small, oval berries of golden yellow colour when ripe. This grape produces dry wines, distinguished and balanced, with great aromatic intensity.

Macabeo

This is found in abundance in northern Spain; it is believed to originate from the Cuenca del Ebro area, although some believe it is from Valencia. Late in sprouting, its bunches are large and ramose with large, round, golden coloured berries with a fine skin. This is used above all in the production of cava-, and gives a yellow wine with green tones, light and balanced with intense and fruity aromas, elegant, acid and slightly bitter on the palate. It has low alcohol content.

Garnacha

Grown in the Levante area, it is one of the main varieties in Alicante, Tarragona, Vinalopó and Yecla. A white vine of great personality, it adapts well to all kinds of soils and climates; the bunches are medium-sized and the grapes are medium-sized, round and yellowish green colour. It gives us fine, fruity, aromatic young wines of pale colour.

Merlot

Merlot is a dark blue-coloured wine grape variety, that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name Merlot is thought to be a diminutive of merle, the French name for the blackbird, probably a reference to the color of the grape. Its softness and “fleshiness”, combined with its earlier ripening, makes Merlot a popular grape for blending with the sterner, later-ripening Cabernet Sauvignon, which tends to be higher in tannin.

Culture

Yecla is a modern industrial city, the main economic activity of which is the production of furniture. Conserving the winegrowing tradition, Yecla has become a land of wine, with nationally and internationally recognised wine producers, and with its own Denomination of Origin, D.O. Yecla.

Yecla is very active culturally, with the Festivities in honour of the Immaculate Conception, declared of national tourist interest, being a must-see, along with the Festivities of St. Isidore and the Fair in September.

Throughout the year there are also cultural exhibitions and acts organised by institutions in the city, such as the Association of Mayordomos, the Higher Chapter of Guilds and the Association of Friends of Music, which has rescued the musical tradition through its Musical Band and the Municipal Music School.

Its origins date back to the late Palaeolithic period, since when many civilisations have passed through the city: Iberians, Romans, Arabs, etc. Proof of this are the paintings of Monte Arabí, the Iberian remains of Cerro de los Santos, the Roman remains of Los Torrejones and Madina Yakka, imprinted by ancient civilisations.

Other later civilisations also left their mark, and nowadays we can visit the basilica of La Purísima, of neoclassical style, constructed in two stages as of 1775, along with the Parroquia de la Asunción or Iglesia Vieja churches, dating from the 16th century, of Gothic style, amongst many other buildings and monuments.

Landscape

La Voluntad, 1902. José Martínez Ruiz, Azorín

«The city awakes. The uneven lines of the Eastern-bordering facades light up bright white in the sun. The sounds of the cockerels fade away. Further up, in the chapel, a bell rings out with long chimes. Lower down, in the town, the silvery chimes of the bells hover over the faint murmur of voices, banging, shouts of sellers, barking, singing, braying, the clinking of forges, a thousand sounds of the crowd around the task in hand.

The sky extends above like a smooth arch of wonderful blue silk. We can see the town, radiant, clean and precise, at the foot of the mountain. Dotted around the uniform grey sea of tiles we come across picturesque red, yellow, blue and green touches. In the foreground are the golden walls of the old church, with its hefty tower; further down, the Iglesia Nueva church; then, bordering with the orchard, the large building of Escuelas Pías, sprinkled with the diminutive dots of the balconies. And scattered around the whole town, old temples, hermitages, prayer rooms, chapels: to the left, Santa Bárbara, San Roque, San Juan, in ruins; El Niño, with the roofs of the lower domes; then, to the right, the Hospital, flanked by its two tiny towers; San Cayetano, las Monjas…

The bells ring out in different ways. The white smoke of the thousand chimneys ascends slowly in straight columns. In the whitish streaks of the roads black lines branch out, shift and scatter in the distance, becoming lost on the plain. We can hear the echoes of songs, the rattling of carriages, acute shouting. The bell of Iglesia Nueva church chimes heavily; that of the Niño chimes enthusiastically; that of the Hospital calls out quietly. And far away, jovially, madly, playfully, that of the Monjas sings with fine crystalline strikes…»