Bodegas Piqueras is again featured in one of the world’s foremost international wine magazines. For this issue, the French magazine Gilbert & Gaillard has chosen our winemaker, Juan Pablo Cantos, as the subject of an in-depth report on the Almansa Denomination of Origin, titled “DO Almansa, a treasure that the world needs to discover”.
In this issue of the magazine, our winemaker highlights the work carried out at Bodegas Piqueras to “show the quality of the wines produced in the Almansa region, an appellation that has established its pedigree and, even more importantly, its own identity”, explains Juan Pablo Cantos The magazine has also highlighted Juan Pablo Cantos’ international experience prior to arriving at Bodegas Piqueras, having also spent time in such iconic names in the world of wine as Ribera del Duero, where he worked at the world-famous Bodegas Vega Sicilia. He has also worked at Bodegas Peñafiel and as far away as New Zealand, where he was part of the most garlanded winery in the country: Villa Maria State.
Juan Pablo Cantos also speaks of what a unique place DO Almansa has become when it comes to displaying the potential of its two native and most representative grapes: Garnacha Tintorera and Monastrell “80% of Spain’s Garnacha Tintorera is found in our area, and we can also find the oldest wholly planted vineyards of this grape variety.. There is no other region in the world that can grow these two varieties together at this level of quality,”our winemaker tells Gilbert & Gaillard.
The text also emphasises the region’s potential for white wines, especially those made with varieties such as Verdejo and Sauvignon Blanc. In this sense, the single vineyard Bodegas Piqueras wine, GEN ONE Blanco, is the harbinger of the potential of the Verdejo variety in the DO Almansa, as a wine that only reaches the market once it has aged for more than 3 years in both cask and bottle.
In sum, the report by Isabell Escande for Gilbert & Gaillard looks at the historic role of Bodegas Piqueras within DO Almansa, as the first winery to seek to export the area’s wines to such significant markets as Canada and Finland, concluding that “the company, founded over 100 years ago, continues to garner medals and awards, and Almansa is (as) seeing its light emerge from under a bushel. It is finally finding its rightful place!”
