Bobal is a variety of Vitis Vinifera

Vitis vinifera

Vitis vinifera is a species of Vitis, native to the Mediterranean region, central Europe, and southwestern Asia, from Morocco and Portugal north to southern Germany and east to northern Iran....

, a red grape used in winemaking. It is native to the Utiel-Requena

Utiel-Requena

Utiel Requena is a Spanish Denominación de Origen for wines located in the province of Valencia . It takes its name from the two neighbouring towns of Utiel and Requena...

 region in Valencia, Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

. The name derives from the Latin bovale, in reference to the shape of a bull’s head.
It is grown predominantly in the Utiel-Requena DO where it represents about 90% of all vines grown, and is also present in significant quantities in Valencia, Cuenca

Cuenca, Spain

-History:When the Iberian peninsula was part of the Roman Empire there were several important settlements in the province, such as Segóbriga, Ercávica and Gran Valeria...

 and Albacete

Albacete

Albacete is a city and municipality in southeastern Spain, 258 km southeast of Madrid, the capital of the province of Albacete in the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha. The municipality had a population of c. 169,700 in 2009....

. It can only be found in small quantities in other regions of Spain: La Manchuela (Castile La Mancha), selected vineyards in Ribera de Guadiana DO, Alicante DO

Alicante (DO)

Alicante is a Spanish Denominación de Origen for wines located in the province of Alicante ....

, Murcia

Murcia

-History:It is widely believed that Murcia's name is derived from the Latin words of Myrtea or Murtea, meaning land of Myrtle , although it may also be a derivation of the word Murtia, which would mean Murtius Village...

, Campo de Borja

Campo de Borja

Campo de Borja is a Spanish Denominación de Origen for wines located in the Campo de Borja comarca, northwest of the province of Zaragoza...

, Calatayud

Calatayud

Calatayud is a city and municipality in the province of Zaragoza in Aragón, Spain lying on the river Jalón, in the midst of the Sistema Ibérico mountain range. It is the second-largest city in the province after the capital, Zaragoza, and the largest town in Aragón other than the three provincial...

, Cariñena, Valdejalón. Small quantities are also grown in Rosellón (south of France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

) and in Sardinia

Sardinia

Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...

 (Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

).
A rare white variety of the same name also exists.
According to the data from the Spanish Vine Registry (Registro Vitícola Español) of 31 July 2004, Bobal is the third most planted variety in Spain with 90,000 ha (8%), coming behind Airén

Airén

Airén is a variety of Vitis vinifera, a white grape commonly used in winemaking. This grape is native to Spain where it represents about 30% of all grapes grown. As of 2004, Airén was estimated to be the world's most grown grape variety in terms of planted surface, at , although it is almost...

 305,000 ha (27%) and Tempranillo

Tempranillo

Tempranillo is a variety of black grape widely grown to make full-bodied red wines in its native Spain. It is the main grape used in Rioja, and is often referred to as Spain's "noble grape". Its name is the diminutive of the Spanish temprano , a reference to the fact that it ripens several weeks...

 190,000 (17%).

Description

The vine is very vigorous and highly productive, has a natural semi-erect posture, with long, strong, trailing shoots, which makes it a difficult vine to work in the summer. The shoots often completely cover the ground thus helping to conserve moisture during the hot summers.

It adapts well to all types of vine formation but is most commonly grown as a low bush (en vaso) and less often on trellises (en espaldera).

It is perfectly adapted to the local climate and so is resistant to extremes of weather and diseases.

The pulp is colourless and meaty; the hard skin of the round medium-sized berries is intensely and brightly coloured, the smell is fresh, original and fragrant. The taste is pleasantly acidic and tannic. The average bunch is of medium-large size, compact, with an irregular cone shape.

The must is normally high in colorants and tannins and is suitable both for aging and for coupage with other varieties. The must also contains higher than average quantities of resveratrol

Resveratrol

Resveratrol is a stilbenoid, a type of natural phenol, and a phytoalexin produced naturally by several plants when under attack by pathogens such as bacteria or fungi....

.

The wines produced tend to be fruity, low in alcohol content (around 11°) and high in acidity (5.5 to 6.5 tartaric acid)

Synonyms

Also known as bobos, rajeno, requena, espagnol, benicarlo, provechón, valenciana, carignan d'espagne, balau, balauro, tinto de requena, coreana, provechón, tonto de zurra, requenera, requení, requeno, valenciana tinta

History

The presence of Bobal in Utiel-Requena was documented in the 15th century in "Espill o llibre de les dones” by Jaume Roig.

Climate

The region of Utiel-Requena, located at 80 km from the Mediterranean coast, at a height of between 700 and 950 m above sea level has very little rainfall, about 430 mm per annum. There is a mixture of Mediterranean and continental climates, with long, very cold winters. There are late frosts in April and May and extreme daytime and nighttime temperature variations during the growing season.
The Bobal vine protects itself from the frosts by sprouting late. It also ripens late thus allowing it to conserve acidity in the must.
Being such a vigorous variety it has to be pruned back severely in order to limit its production.

External links

• http://europa.sim.ucm.es/compludoc
• http://winesfromspain.es
• http://www.utielrequena.org/html_esp/
• http://www.vimeo.com/3221371 is a trailer of Zev Robinson's 80 minute video "La Bobal and other stories about wine" about the production of Bobal wine in the Utiel Requena region in its socio-economic context.