History and Culture

The Utiel-Requena D.O. Wine Route involves 10 municipalities – Camporrobles, Caudete de las Fuentes, Chera, Fuenterrobles, Requena, Siete Aguas, Sinarcas, Utiel, Venta del Moro and Villargordo del Cabriel – all of which offer endless opportunities for enjoying the best wine on your visit to this beautiful part of Valencia.

40,000 hectares of vineyard make up a large, homogenous region at the heart of the wine-growing area of the Valencian Community. Its fabulous cuisine based on traditional recipes and a long wine-growing tradition means that the culture of wine penetrates the most distant corners of this delightful territory.

The Wine

Land of the Bobal variety.

Bobal is the varietymost widely-grown in Utiel-Requena D.O. Particularly suitable for making rosé wines of great freshness and reds produced using carbonic maceration, is undoubtedly the prime variety of the Utiel-Requena D.O. Another is Macabeo, which produces white wines of a greenish straw colour, with an intense and fruity aroma, also used in sparkling wines blended with the Tardana or Planta Nova variety, another local grape but more golden in colour and ideal for blending due to its dry flavour and greater acidity. Particularly fine is the mix of the above varieties with Chardonnay, the final product resembling a cuvee or cava.

Resources

Wine tasting in the open air and at historic sites.

The Utiel-Requena D.O. Wine Route is made up of over 50 establishments: wineries, restaurants, accommodation, museums, craft shops and active tourism organisations, a comprehensive and attractive range with something for everyone.

Visits to wineries with wine tastings, tours of incredible countryside and monuments, and restaurants where you can sample Valencian cuisine are only some of the pleasures that this fascinating land of wine has in store.

Heritage

Mediaeval underground tunnels, walled sites and Mudéjar quarters.

This route invites you to admire a fine historic and artistic heritage, mainly based on the mediaeval architecture of Requena and Utiel; wandering about mediaeval underground tunnels; exploring walled sites and Mudéjar quarters; attending wine festivals and demonstrations of local cuisine; exploring the rich and varied landscape by the River Cabriel, the Chera Geological Park and the Tejo and Negrete Mountains.

Gastronomy

Famous for cavas, sausages and traditional desserts.

The quality and artisan production of some of the typical products of the area have earned it enormous prestige throughout Spain. This is the case with its sausages, sausage pastries and “magras” and typical desserts.

Among the region’s traditional dishes are gazpachos, “gachas” porridge, “ajoarriero” cod, “morteruelo” stew, vegetable soup and “olla” stew. Utiel also has a very unusual dessert: alajú (honey slice) which will delight even the most sweet-toothed visitor.

Activities

In the heart of the Hoces del Cabriel Natural Park.

On the Utiel-Requena Wine Route you can discover how the wines and cavas of this region are made by visiting old wineries, admire the marvellous landscapes or stroll through the streets of towns replete with history, museums created around wine-growing and restaurants that offer a range of delicious dishes. But that’s not all: you can also try out all kinds of active tourism pursuits in an incomparable setting like the Hoces del Cabriel Natural Park.

Festivals

Celebrations linked to gastronomy.

In the region’s main festivals held to celebrate Harvest during the months of August and September wine is king. But there are other important gastronomic occasions, like the Requena Sausage Fair in February and the Utiel-Gastronomic Fair in October, where you can savour typical craft-made local products.