Menu Close

Vinos de Valencia

The winemaking potential of the DO Valencia lies in more than 13,000 hectares of vineyards spread over the four production sub-areas that make up its territorial demarcation: Alto Turia, Valentino, Moscatel de Valencia and Clariano. More than 100 wineries and almost 7,000 winegrowers produce red, white, rosé and Muscatel liqueur wines with an average annual production of more than 650,000 hectolitres of wine.

The wine sector plays a fundamental role in the economy of the province of Valencia, not only for its contribution to the generation of income, but also for what it entails at a socio-cultural level. The arrival of new projects has reactivated an area where mountain viticulture is practised, resulting in wines of enormous personality, high-altitude wines, the fruit of exceptionally singular geographical and climatic conditions. The declaration of this area as a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO has helped to reinforce and boost the projection of its wineries.

 

The production area of the DO Valencia is divided into four sub-zones: Alto Turia, Valentino, Moscatel and Clariano. The Alto Turia sub-zone is located in the northwest of the province and offers bright, fresh, fruity and aromatic white wines. Valentino and Moscatel de Valencia, in the central part of the province, offer light white wines and liqueur wines with a particular, fluid and smooth aroma. Further south, in the Clariano sub-zone, they produce light, straw-coloured, aromatic white wines and ruby-coloured reds, with a frank nose, full-bodied aroma and flavour on the palate.

The Valencia PDO has had ENAC accreditation to certify its wines since 2012, being the first Spanish PDO with the largest volume to obtain this certificate. In 2022, the Valencia PDO had 13,069 registered hectares, 85 wineries (67 of them bottlers) and 6,150 winegrowers. At the end of the 2021-2022 campaign, 336,643 hectolitres of PDO Valencia wine were classified.

In terms of exports, the production exported was 190,461 hectolitres, 95.9% of which corresponded to bottled wine and 4.9% to bottled wine and the remaining 4.1% in bulk. European Union countries accounted for most of the volume exported, with Germany (11.5% of total exports), Denmark (6.1%) and Belgium (4.4%) remaining the main destinations. Among non-EU European countries, the main importers were Russia with a volume of 35,117 hectolitres (18.4%) and the United Kingdom with 10,665 hectolitres (5.6%).

The winemaking tradition of the Valencia PDO dates back to the Phoenicians, but it was during Romanisation that viticulture and the wine trade became important in the area, with the city of Sagunto as one of the nerve centres for exports to other parts of the Roman Empire. The origin of the Valencia Protected Designation of Origin dates back to 1932, when the first Spanish designations of origin were recognised in the Wine Statute. In 1957 the Regulations of the Regulatory Council were approved for the wines of the province of Valencia, protected by the Denominations of Origin 'Valencia', 'Utiel - Requena' and 'Cheste'. Nowadays, vine cultivation in Valencia represents an important economic engine and source of wealth for a large part of the agricultural population.
The wines protected by the Valencia PDO are made from grapes of the authorised varieties in each of the four production sub-areas, within the framework of an appropriate technique that allows them to achieve their peculiar organoleptic characteristics, qualified and controlled by the Regulatory Council through its auditing services and tasting panel. Among the most important varieties are the reds Bobal, Monastrell, Tempranillo and Tintorera and the whites Macabeo, Malvasía, Merseguera, Moscatel and Verdil.
Declared a biosphere reserve by UNESCO, the Alto Turia is an area of high peaks, harsh winters and dry summers, where mountain viticulture is practised. The vines grow there in extreme conditions, resulting in high-altitude wines of enormous personality. The warm, sunny climate, bathed by the breeze from the Mediterranean Sea, allows the Moscatel variety to reach its maximum expression, with the Moscatel liqueur wine or Mistela de Moscatel being the most representative wine in the history of the DO Valencia. The orography of the terrain together with the Mediterranean climate offer unique wines, representative of our wine-growing heritage.
Valencianos de origen, mediterráneos de corazón' is the central message of the promotional campaign launched by DOP Valencia to boost awareness and visibility of its wines and encourage responsible consumption. Other initiatives in collaboration with public bodies and organisations such as Valencia Turisme, VisitValencia and ICEX have made it possible to organise trade missions, themed tastings, technical seminars and PR activities (press trips). As part of its ongoing commitment to training, since 2010 the Control Board of the Valencia PDO has been offering a Master's Degree for Specialist Sommeliers in Valencian Wines and training activities on wine knowledge and the tasting panel, which meets regularly 14 times a year.
 
See more figures
More information