La Mancha: the world's biggest vineyard
An exceptionally flat landscape, dominated by farming, that ended up becoming the engine of Jerez's huge demand —at the cost, for decades, of favouring quantity over quality.
Producers of Castilla-La Mancha
The producer from La Mancha we work with:
Vines since Roman times
Although the documented origins of viticulture in La Mancha date from the 12th–13th centuries, after Christian resettlement during the Reconquest, everything suggests the vine was already common since Roman times. The climate is semi-arid continental, with barely 250 mm of annual rainfall, and mostly rolling soils high in lime.
The quiet engine of Jerez
The arrival of the railway allowed La Mancha's wines to reach markets through the ports, and brought in foreign capital that fuelled population growth and industrialisation during the last third of the 19th century. From then on, La Mancha became the engine behind Jerez's huge demand —which is why for many years quantity was favoured over grape quality.
Where we already are, and where we're not yet
At Terroir Radical we work with Esteban Figuerola, who makes the ANTIGVA wines in Pedro Muñoz, in the Mancha Alta, with Veruso. The rest of La Mancha isn't part of the catalogue yet, but in recent years some growers have managed to rise from the ashes to show that, amid so much industrial production, there's a rich, honest La Mancha worth discovering. We follow it closely.
A flat landscape dominated by vast expanses of vines and cereal.
For decades, a bulk supplier for Jerez's huge demand.
Small growers reclaiming quality over quantity.
A territory in exploration
We're starting to get to know it through Esteban Figuerola's Veruso. Meanwhile, discover the rest of our map.
See the whole territory See the current producers