Bodegas Piqueras

Based in Almansa DO in southeast Spain, the estate make quality wines with native grapes such as Garnacha Tintorera and Monastrell.

Their vineyards are located around the Castle of Almansa, with vines that are up to 90 years old that produce grapes high in concentration and quality, perfect for making unique and highly expressive red and white wines.

The estate has been committed to practicing organic vitiviniculture since 2001.

The Team Biography

The winery has remained in the family since it was founded the current owners’ great-grandfather (“El Abuelo”) Luis Piqueras López in 1915. Luis started making wine in the small bodega in the village of Los Aljibes, 10 km from Almansa, and began to sell it in bulk in the village. In 1927 Luis bought 8 pesetas’ worth of tickets in the Christmas lottery and won a prize with which he bought a plot of land in ‘La Calle Campanario’, where he built the new winery in Almansa.

In 1961 Juan Pablo Bonete Piqueras, the current winemaker of Bodegas Piqueras, was born – the same year mechanical bottling began at the Bodega. Facilities began expanding from 1973, the year in which the barrel hall was built, and forty years later in 2003 the new winery was inaugurated with a production capacity of 3 million bottles and a barrel room capable of holding 3,500 casks.

Today Bodegas Piqueras is a large family of 19 professionals, each specialised in their own area of work to meticulously oversee the entire production process. The team looks after everything, from the care of the vineyard, the production of the wine in the winery and its subsequent sale to customer service, ensuring quality at every point of production from grape to glass.

In the cellar

For red wines harvest begins from the beginning of September (for Tempranillo and Syrah) to the end of October (for Monastrell).

For all red wines fermentation begins spontaneously, with a gradual increase in temperature to aid extraction of tannins and colour, before a controlled decrease in temperature to preserve fruity aromas and flavours.

Maceration lasts between 3-4 weeks for all wines. Racking is done by gravity and maturation is carried out for 3-4 months in fine grain 300L American and French Allier barrels of medium toast (El Picoteo) and for 6 months in fine grain, medium toasted American 300L barrels (Marius Crianza).

For white wines, Verdejo and Sauvignon Blanc grapes are harvested from the coolest vineyards at altitude.

Careful selection in the vineyard is carried out before harvest at night during the last two weeks of August (for ‘El Picoteo’) and the first two weeks of September (for ‘El Abuelo’). Fermentation is undertaken at low temperatures for approximately 15 days (for ‘El Abuelo’) and for approximately 30 days (for ‘El Picoteo’).

Ageing for 3-4 months on its fine lees with regular manual bâtonnage.