Chozas Carrascal

Chozas Carrascal is the estate Julián López and María José Peidro bought at San Antonio de Requena in 1990. The name carries the nickname of Julián's grandfather, Chozas; Carrascal refers to the carrascas, the oaks that grow on the land. They spent two years studying the soil before planting: a thin, calcareous loam over a limestone layer about 30 cm down, at 750 to 840 m. The site is exposed to cold north winds from the Sierra Juan Navarro and is one of the coldest in the district, and its slow ripening pushes the harvest up to two weeks behind.

Next to old Bobal, the oldest rows dating from 1928, they planted Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Monastrell, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Macabeo on trellises from 1992, with Garnacha added in stages until 2000; with Tempranillo the estate grows eleven varieties. For a decade they sold their grapes. The first wine was made in 2003, in a new cellar joined to the estate's 19th-century house, with the oenologist Michel Poudou advising, and each variety is still vinified separately. The farming went organic step by step: no herbicides from 2002, sheep manure from 2004, certification in 2010.

Their Cabernet Franc did not fit the rules of DO Utiel-Requena at the time, and in 2012 the Valencian government approved Vino de Pago Chozas Carrascal, an appellation of its own covering about 30 hectares of the estate, with its own rules; the EU registered it in 2020. The range follows a counting logic: Las Ocho is eight red varieties, Las Tres three whites and Las Cuatro a rosé from four, while Las Dosces takes its name from the two Cs of Chozas Carrascal. The second generation, Julián and María José López-Peidro, now run the cellar and the sales.