Juanvi
Teruel | Aragón
In Aragón’s remote Gúdar-Javalambre mountains, Juan Vicente “Juanvi” Alcañiz is bringing life back to his native village via an artisanal, high-altitude winemaking project. Working with old-vine garnacha and tempranillo, his wines breathe new life into a region many had given up for lost.
Introducing the Estate
La España Vaciada
There’s a term for the vast swathes of abandoned rural areas in Spain’s interior: “la España vaciada,” or “the emptied Spain.” The country’s mostly rural interior has been losing population for generations as people of all ages move to the cities in search of jobs, and today, 70% of Spain’s population lives in just 30% of the country.
The province of Aragón is the second least populous province in Spain. Dominated by the mountains of the Sistema Ibérico, its rugged terrain is also home to some of Spain’s most remote vineyards. In the small village of Rubielos de Mora, Juan Vicente “Juanvi” Alcañiz is on a journey to recover these nearly abandoned vineyards, bring attention back to the village, and show the world that Aragonese mountain viticulture can make wines on par with the finest Spain has to offer.
History & Origins
Returning Home
In 2008, Juanvi’s father co-founded a winery with his business partner, a local restaurateur, in Rubielos de Mora, a village in the foothills of the Sierra de Gúdar, near the border between Aragón and Valencia. As both men retired, Juanvi decided to take on the winery full-time and bring it to the next level. Today, he works in tandem with his vineyard manager, Melchor Ramos, a master of the local terrain and its native grapes.
The Alcañiz family comes from Olba, a small hamlet close to Rubielos. Though Juanvi grew up in Valencia, the family considered Rubielos their second home, and went to the village often. After getting his start working in wine in Valencia, Juanvi made wine in Ribera del Duero, Argentina, Chile, and New Zealand before returning to Spain in 2011 to work as head winemaker of Bodegas San Alejandro in Calatayud, where he remains to this day.
Region & Terrior
Rugged Mountaintops
Rubielos de Mora sits at 1,000 meters above sea level, surrounded by beautiful peaks and scenic vistas in every direction. It has a strong continental climate, with temperatures that swing from very cold at night to very hot during the day. The area was once considered too high-elevation a place to make wine, but climate change has made it increasingly suited to viticulture.
However, the high altitudes mean there is constant danger of late spring frosts, severe summer hailstorms, and freezing weather during the late fall harvest. To protect the vines from hail, Juanvi uses an ingenious mesh netting system that also deters birds and wild boars from eating the grapes.
Juanvi farms vineyards in the towns of Rubielos de Mora and Báguena, where vines outnumber people by a long shot. His vineyards are planted to garnacha, syrah, tempranillo, and the native grape miguel de arcos, of which it is estimated that no more than 10 hectares are planted in all of Spain.
Soils are granitic, rocky, and shallow for garnacha and syrah (similar to Gredos), and calcareous clay soils for tempranillo. The miguel de arcos for Quercus and garnacha for La Viña de Báguena come from Paraje de La Sierra in Báguena with red-quartz soils.
All the old bush-trained vines are farmed by hand without the aid of machinery, because he feels he gets a better result working manually.
Land & History
Depth Beyond Expectations
The forests surrounding Rubielos de Mora are home to the prized Iberian black truffle, which features prominently in the local cuisine during the fall and winter. The region of Teruel is also renowned for serrano ham, pottery, archaeological sites, classic Mudéjar architecture combining Gothic and Islamic elements, and rock outcroppings that contain some of the oldest dinosaur remains in the Iberian Peninsula.
Products
Wine
Juanvi Viticultor Rubielos de Mora 2024
Juanvi ‘Quercus’ 2021
