Our Winemakers

“THE ARTISANS BEHIND EVERY BOTTLE”

With a deep understanding of viticulture and a tireless passion for excellence, our winemakers ensure that each wine we offer is unique, reflecting the richness and diversity of our vineyards.

See Juan Pablo's interview

See Javi's interview

JUAN PABLO CANTOS

BIOG

His interest in gastronomy and culture led him to explore the science behind winegrowing and winemaking, leading to a fascination with all this that would change the course of his career.

He began his winemaking career in 2006. His talent and dedication did not go unnoticed, and he soon began to work with well-known wineries, doing internships at Bodegas Castaño in Yecla and at Bodegas Vega Sicilia in Ribera del Duero. From there he made the international leap to New Zealand to work in one of the most highly regarded wineries in the country: Villa Maria Estates, and two years later he started working as technical director at Bodegas Peñafiel in Ribera del Duero.

His long and varied career has seen Juan Pablo emerge as an internationally renowned winemaker, known for his ability to combine science and art, instilling excellence in every wine he produces.

How and when did you start your career in the world of wine?

In 2006, when I began my winemaking degree at Miguel Hernández University. I didn’t come from a family of winegrowers, I was simply a curious-minded biologist who was interested in developing my career by making a product relevant to my training.

This approach has helped me to make wines for all types of wine drinker. Also, as someone born in Almansa, I was surrounded by vineyards from the start, which led me to first becoming interested in this sector and ended up with me being beguiled by it and then falling in love with it.

What is your personal winemaking philosophy?

I don’t have a particular philosophy, but I do have some guidelines that define what the wines should be. Starting from the classic styles, I always like to make wines that attract the attention of young people, as they are the wine drinkers of the future.

Wine must be accessible for everyone to understand and enjoy from the moment the bottle is opened. Both entry-level wines and the single vineyard vines.

What are the most important things to keep in mind when making good wine?

The most important thing is always to start with good raw materials. Nowadays, with climate change, it is necessary to start from winemaking areas that are somewhat cool (like Almansa), as this is very helpful in terms of the ripening of the grapes.

Good winegrowing is also important, which includes limiting fruit production to obtain grapes with more added value, and starting from nutrient-poor soils so that the grapes become more concentrated. Careful selection of specific vineyards allows us to group the grapes according to quality.

All this without forgetting the field work, which is also essential for the grapes to reach the winery in the best possible condition.

What grape varieties do you prefer to work with and why?

I don’t have favourite grapes as I have worked in different regions and the best grapes tend to be those native to a given place. In the case of Almansa, the queens are Monastrell and Garnacha Tintorera, two very interesting grapes that are resistant to drought, elegant and, above all, when blended they achieve something that is one of a kind and is 100% Almansa.

What is the biggest challenge you face as a winemaker?

Climate change is the biggest challenge facing the wine industry in general, in my opinion.

It is a complex process that can be detrimental to the quality and survival of certain vineyards. Therefore, it is necessary to focus on varieties that are resistant to the extreme climatic drought conditions that seem to be occurring and to optimise water resources to make the best use of them in the vineyard.

What aspects of the winemaking process do you think are least understood by the general public?

Overall, many people don’t know what a winemaker really does, and perhaps don’t know that we are involved at every stage of the winemaking processes, from the control and cultivation of the raw material in the field to sales support for the end product.

It’s a very complex, multidisciplinary and seasonal job. During the grape harvest season we put a whole year of work on the line over a couple of months and we are pushed to the limit, we have no days off, and many people outside the sector don’t realise this.

What is your favourite wine and what makes it special to you?

Perhaps the Piqueras V.S., because it was a wine that marked a turning point in my career at the winery. All in all, it was a gamble to create a high-end wine within the Piqueras range.

It was a great challenge to make a wine capable of expressing the very best of the winery year after year.

When all is said and done, whenever you do something new, even if your gut feeling tells you it’s going to work, you’re never entirely sure. In this case, the wine was a success and the first vintage sold out quickly, which allowed me to make more the following year.

What is your opinion of current trends in wine consumption?

It’s a very diverse picture, nowadays consumers have become more curious, they want to try new things, and there is no single trend. I would say rather that there are various trends and that all of them can coexist.

It’s very important to know the state of the market and to appreciate that the market today is dynamic. Our strategy is to have different brands to cover every niche and for a single winery to cater to most of the current market trends.

When you’re not working, where are we likely to find you …

Taking part in sport, enjoying a good meal with wine, or perhaps a trip to an interesting historical city.

JAVIER BONETE PIQUERAS

BIOG

Born and bred among vineyards, Javi took his first baby steps among casks and vines, inheriting his passion for and dedication to the world of wine from his Piqueras forebears. His grandfather, a winemaker of great renown, was his first teacher and passed on his love of wine.

He studied winemaking at the Félix Jiménez School of Viticulture and Oenology. Throughout his career, he has combined tradition and innovation, introducing modern techniques without losing sight of the traditional methods that have been the hallmark of this family winery.

How and when did you start your career in the world of wine?

You could say ever since childhood, as our house was on the top floor of the old winery. My grandfather always took me out with him to the vineyards and told me about the winery and the wines, passing on his passion for this world.

In 2010 I started working at the winery, and in 2020 I completed a higher degree in Viticulture and Oenology at the Félix Jiménez School of Viticulture and Oenology in Requena (where Juan Pablo Bonete Piqueras, my uncle and winemaker at the winery for more than 40 years, also trained).

What is your personal winemaking philosophy?

I believe that knowing the different elements that surround you (climate, altitude, type of soil) is essential to extract 100% of the potential of a place and at the same time ensure that your way of making wine is truly unique. Also, following in the steps and absorbing the knowledge and expertise of the 3 generations who preceded us at Bodegas Piqueras.

What are the most important things to keep in mind when making good wine?

It is essential to know the history of the area where you make the wine, which grape varieties work best, to know the surroundings, the soil, the climate… but the winemaking process is just as important. To watch over everything carefully, leaving nothing to chance and knowing at all times how the wine is doing.

What grape varieties do you prefer to work with and why?

Garnacha Tintorera and Monastrell, two varieties that separately have a lot to offer, but when combined form the ‘perfect couple’. Our Garnacha Tintorera is unique, it has loads of colour and is very good for ageing in oak, producing wines with plenty of structure and tannins.

Monastrell is a more Mediterranean grape variety, one that works very well in the Almansa area as the altitude brings out its elegance, aromatic potential and freshness. In short, the two varieties complement each other to make (in my opinion) the best wines that the area has to offer.

What is the biggest challenge you face as a winemaker?

The biggest challenge I face, like all winemakers, is being dependent on so many external factors that are impossible to control, the severe droughts we are experiencing nowadays, which, together with the very high summer temperatures, make our job increasingly difficult.

What aspects of the winemaking process do you think are least understood by the general public?

I think what is least understood by the general public is that the work of a whole year is compressed within just two months. We live those months intensely, and sometimes it is difficult to convey just how vital this work is.

What is your favourite wine and what makes it special to you?

Gen One red, we are very satisfied with the end result after years of work. It’s a wine where everything is done by hand, the selection of the grapes, the manual pumping over, the pressing … it is a way of returning to those traditional hands-on techniques and then savouring the results in every bottle.

What is your opinion of current trends in wine consumption?

There is a feeling that people are leaning more and more towards higher quality wines and are more open to trying new things. There are also other trends, such as sustainability, organic wines, and even in terms of labelling, more and more information is being provided for consumers who want to be informed about what they are drinking.

When you’re not working, where are we likely to find you…

My great passion apart from wine is sport, I love bodybuilding and motor sports, so there’s a good chance of finding me in the gym, on a race-track or on my bike up in the mountains.

Some weekends you might find me up on stage or in the audience as I’m also a music lover.

Our Winemakers

“THE ARTISANS BEHIND EVERY BOTTLE”

See Juan Pablo's interview

See Javi's interview

JUAN PABLO CANTOS

BIOG

JAVIER BONETE PIQUERAS

BIOG

Bodegas Piqueras

Address

Telephone

Email

Online orders email

User links

Legal notices

Nosotros tenemos más de 100 años ¿y tú? ¿Cuándo naciste?

Cart0

Cart0

Cart0

No te ibas a dejar el carrito así, ¿verdad?