Almansa
Albacete · Castilla–La Mancha
DO AlmansaDO Valencia24.615inhabitants
1244first mention
1915wine documented
A town in south-eastern Albacete, in the natural corridor between the Meseta and the Levante, overlooked by its castle. Its name is usually derived from the Arabic al-manṣaf (“halfway”); after the Christian conquest it remained on the Castilian side under the Treaty of Almizra (1244).
First mention: Treaty of Almizra (28 March 1244) between Prince Alfonso of Castile and James I of Aragon, which assigns “Almansa, Jorquera and their surroundings along the Júcar” to Castile (according to A. Pretel Marín, 1986).
The legend
tradition: vines since the 16th century (Regulatory Council, no document); documented 1915–1927 (Bodegas Piqueras); DO 1966The bulk wine of Los Aljibes and the lottery of 1927
Almansa, “halfway” between Castile, Valencia and Murcia, was for centuries a land of passage, and the Regulatory Council states that vines have been grown in its surroundings since the 16th century; the Relaciones Topográficas of Philip II, however, record no wine in the area, so that antiquity remains a tradition. The documented story begins in 1915, when Luis Piqueras López began making and selling his own bulk wine in the hamlet of Los Aljibes, some ten kilometres from the town. In 1920 the family opened two shops in Almansa, and in 1927, thanks to a lottery prize, bought a plot on Calle Campanario and built a new bodega there. From that family business, with garnacha tintorera as its hallmark, the designation of origin was born in 1966.
Alive today: Bodegas Piqueras is still active in Almansa with the family’s fourth generation; Almansa gives its name to the DO Almansa (1966), whose Regulatory Council is based in the town, and every April the house wine accompanies the Moors and Christians troupes of the town’s main festivities.
Wineries and their wines
- Castillo de Almansa Blanco Colección
- Castillo de Almansa Tinto Crianza
- Castillo de Almansa Tinto Reserva
- Castillo de Almansa Tinto Selección
- El Abuelo Reserva
- Los Losares Garnacha Tintorera
- Los Losares Monastrell
- Piqueras Black Label
Wine towns nearby