Celler del Roure Cullerot Blanco, Valencia 2022

Celler del Roure is one of a handful of pioneering properties in Valencia that owe much of their success to respecting tradition and enhancing it, rather than overwhelming it, with modern winemaking techniques.

The property focuses mostly on indigenous grapes that are local to Valencia. This includes garnacha and monastrell but also the lesser-known mandó variety.

The winemaking philosophy here, led by young winemaker Javier Revert, is to embrace the traditional methods of ageing but without the influence of oak flavour. He achieves this by using tinajas – large clay amphorae – to ferment and mature the wines.

Fortunately the property still had many of these amphorae, 87 of them, stored in their underground cellar which had been used by the family for generations. The advantage of these is that it allows the beneficial properties of positive oxidation which gives the wines their brick-red colour, savoury secondary flavours and soft, well-absorbed tannins.

These are wines that are rich in personality and in many ways they are the complete contrary to today's modern fruit-driven styles.

Setze Gallets – a blend made up of mostly garnacha and monastrell with 5% mandó – is a great introduction to the style, while Safra, dominated by mandó, reflects the personality of the grape in its vibrancy and freshness. Indeed, Pablo says that the variety has ‘more of a white wine soul’.