Valencia

Valencia

A port city open to the Mediterranean, Valencia has been sending wine out into the world for a thousand years.

Better known for its orange groves and its rice fields, it hides high-altitude vineyards inland, climbing to 900 metres.

In Utiel-Requena, the lead role belongs to the indigenous black grape Bobal.

Once dismissed as raw material for bulk wine, Bobal has been reborn — thanks to old bush vines and the growers who rediscovered them — as the rising star of the Mediterranean, marrying deep fruit to a vivid streak of acidity.

Along the coast, Moscatel gives up its heady perfume; in the hills towards Alicante, the traditional sweet Fondillón is still quietly maturing away.

Flavours of sun and altitude, honed at the table in the birthplace of paella. We bring them to you along with a thousand years of this port city's story.