Land of Bobal, a variety for a sustainable future
Wines of its own
The revival and reappreciation of Utiel-Requena’s flagship red variety is part of a much wider effort to preserve the region’s viticultural and winemaking heritage while creating new opportunities for future generations.
Although in terms of area under vine it is one of Spain's top three most-planted varieties, Bobal is certainly not among the country's best known red grapes. Yet, DO Utiel-Requena’s flagship variety is quickly attracting the attention of both sommeliers and younger consumers thanks to its ability to produce vibrant, balanced wines, across a range of styles.
The variety’s plasticity and structural vibrancy were on full display at an event at Decanter’s London Tasting Suite on 24 September 2026. The different wines presented by the session’s co-hosts – Spanish wine expert Sarah Jane Evans MW and Ines Salpico, Decanter’s regional editor for Spain – showcased Bobal’s ability to adapt to different winemaking philosophies, while retaining clear varietal character and great sense of place.
From clay-fermented and aged iterations to broody, age-worthy examples, the session offered an eye-opening overview that surprised attendees, most unfamiliar to Bobal.
PHOTOS: LOLA GARCIA PHOTOGRAPHY (event photos) & Utiel-Requena (all other photos)
Thursday 29th October 2026
Bobal’s standing as DO Utiel-Requena’s flagship grape variety is neither obvious nor straightforward. The variety was, for a long time, overlooked – and highly underestimated – and mostly seen as a ‘variedad mejorante’ (improving variety) used to ‘improve’ the fruit profile and acidity of more famous – and more tannic and alcoholic – counterparts.
The turn of the 21st century opened new possibilities. A shift in market demand, on the one hand, and climate change, on the other, played crucial roles. Increasingly looking for lighter, more drinkable wines, consumers started to look beyond more classical styles and regions.
Tradition 2.0
Today, Bobal is among a palette of varieties that offer a way forward. Its ability to retain acidity and keep a delightfully crunchy fruit profile, ultimately delivering wines with balanced alcohol and moderate tannins answers the dilemmas of consumers and winemakers alike.
The reappreciation for Bobal is part of a wider, renewed understanding of Spain’s viticultural and winemaking heritage. As the country’s ‘New Wave’ swelled, interest for indigenous varieties and their respective terroirs led an exploration of wines and styles produced before the dominance of the country’s modern classics. Among these newly appreciated wines are the deep hued rosados and claretes, as well as the early drinking, unoaked reds for which Bobal is an ideal raw material.
Vinification in clay has also seen a passionate revival, again placing Utiel-Requena and Bobal centre stage. The region has a long historical tradition of tinaja manufacturing; the production of these huge clay vessels, which peaked in the 16th century, is informing the reinterpretation of Bobal.
Many Utiel-Requena producers are crafting iterations of the variety either partially or fully vinified in clay, creating contemporary styles with a nod to tradition.
Vera de Estena, Rosado de Estenas 2025 91pts
A perfect example of the vibrant, moreish and crunchy pink wines that Bobal can yield. Aged for two months in clay amphorae, this has a juicy core of red cherry, cranberry and pomegranate cloaked in basil, sage and thyme. The lively acid keeps it vivid on the palate. A grown-up rosado, with a very youthful energy.
Alcohol 13% | Drink 2026-2029
Tasting Notes
Vera de Estenas, Bobal de Estenas 2025 90pts
An enjoyable, everyday Bobal, aged for four months in clay amphorae. Quintessentially Mediterranean, the luscious cherry, plum and mulberry fruit is sprinkled abundantly with sage, thyme and basil. A thin lining of liquorice and aniseed adds further energy. Fresh and fluid throughout. Best enjoyed slightly chilled.
Alc 13% | Drink 2026-2029
Coviñas, Veterum Tinajas 2022 93pt
At once traditional and exceedingly modern, this Bobal – hailing from the oldest plots of Coviñas’ members and aged in 1,000-litre clay amphorae for three to six months – carries the intensity of the fruit with ease. The depth and concentration of the blackcurrant and blackberry fruit is perfectly offset by vivid acid and poised tannins. Voluminous on the midpalate and with a nuanced, fresh finish of currant, wet stone and wet soil. Alc 13.5% | Drink 2026-2029
Sentencia, El Indulto 2024 93pts A wine with an alluring rusticity and great sense of place – it’s as if you’re walking the hills of Utiel-Requena, stepping on fragrant rockrose and thyme over mulberry and greengage fruit. It hails from organically farmed vineyards, more than 90 years old, and is spontaneously fermented in stone lagares before ageing for 12 months in French oak barriques.
Alc 12.7% | Drink 2026-2032
Vibe, Parsimonia Viñas Viejas 2024 91pts
Classical and deep, leveraging the concentration and muscle of the Bobal grapes – from plants with more than 80 years of age – and balancing it with a fragrant herbaceousness. The plum, black cherry and blackberry fruit rests on a bed of black olives and wet soil. Fermented and aged for eight months in French oak barrels, this is a quintessential food wine with its moreish savouriness, grippy texture and broody intensity.
Alc 14.5% | Drink 2026-2030
Bodegas Hispano-Suizas, Bobos Finca Casa La Borracha 2023 93pts
Bobos has long been a benchmark for deeper, more extracted styles of Bobal. Produced from a single plot, farmed organic and over 80 years old, it is fermented in 400-litre French oak barrels and then aged for 10 months in first-use 300-litre barrels, also French. Unapologetic in its intensity, with deep cherry, plum and mulberry fruit, coated in liquorice, dark chocolate and Turkish coffee and sprinkled with oregano and thyme. The tannins are polished and support the wine’s long, tarry length. Great ageing potential.
Alc 14% | Drink 2026-2040
Nodus, Nodus Bobal 2023, 92pts
This Bobal, aged for six to eight months in 225-litre French oak barrels, has a distinct, surprising drive that balances the intensity of the cherry and plum fruit. The core is luscious and deep but the firm acid allows the wine to travel through the palate with ease. At once intense and fresh, this is a characterful, dynamic wine that invites you for a second glass. Organic certified.
Alc 13.5% | Drink 2026-2032
Raíces Ibéricas, Bercial 2024, 94pts
Smart blend of Bobal (65%) and Cabernet Sauvignon (35%), aged for 18 months in first-use French oak barrels. Balanced and alluring, it makes the most of the two varieties, adding a welcome herbaceous touch to Bobal’s fleshy plum, cherry and plum fruit. Touches of black pepper, oregano, tarragon and blueberry leaf add nuance and dynamism. The tannins are well-honed, with a firm, savoury, elegant grip. A harmonic blend that highlights Bobal’s potential to produce fine, ageworthy wines, either on its own or with companions. Organic certified.
Alc 14% | Drink 2026-2036
Discover more: utielrequena.org
Utiel-Requena
A people’s grape
DO Utiel-Requena’s self-assertion as the ‘land of Bobal’, is much more than a strategic gimmick. It conveys a realignment with the region’s history while also placing the variety as an asset for the future.
Bobal accounts for 63% (19,531ha) of the total area under vine in Utiel-Requena, making it the DO’s most planted grape variety by far. Of those 19,531ha, 43% (8,487ha) are more than 45 years old, while 11% (2,139ha) are over 75. Utiel-Requena is thus among the wine regions in the world with a greater percentage of old vines, a living asset that DO Utiel-Requena is determined to value and preserve.
To do so, it has created Valora Bobal, an 11-year research project with the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), to catalogue and preserve the variety’s different clones and identify their affinity with specific terroirs.
The development of activities with local secondary schools within the programme’s framework also adds a social component to these efforts. Their aim is to promote viticulture and oenology as a viable professional route avoiding the exodus that has plagued the Spanish interior for decades.
Such an holistic approach merely underscores the way in which, for over a century, Bobal has been at the core of the people, landscape and economy of Utiel-Requena.
sponsor content created with
Ines Salpico, Decanter’s Regional Editor for Spain, and Spanish wine expert Sarah Jane Evans MW
‘The reappreciation for Bobal is part of a wider, renewed understanding of Spain’s viticultural and winemaking heritage.’