About the Producer
Casa Castillo is based in the DO of Jumilla, in south-eastern Spain’s Murcia region. Like much of this part of the Spanish Mediterranean, Jumilla produces wines with a focus on Monastrell (Mourvèdre in French), a thick-skinned black grape variety well suited to hot, dry climates. Jumilla has previously had a reputation as a source of inexpensive, bulk wines, however, thanks to advancements in viticultural and winemaking techniques, along with an increase of highly skilled, like-minded, and quality focused producers, the region is slowly starting to gain recognition for top-class Monastrell. Although coastal, much of Jumilla is situated on an elevated central plateau, so the region receives little cooling influence from the sea. Rather, the high altitude is a key moderating factor particularly during hot summers where temperatures can reach 40 degrees Celsius; most of the vineyards lie between 400 and 800 metres above sea level. Casa Castillo was purchased in 1941 by the grandfather of current owner José Maria Vicente. At that time, the estate comprised a winery, a cellar and some scattered vineyards dating from the 1870s, established by French viticultural refugees fleeing the plight of phylloxera. In 1985, José Maria and his father began replanting the vineyards with native varieties, focusing on Monastrell. They bottled their first vintage in 1991 and have been improving ever since, with critic Luis Gutiérrez of Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate commenting in 2020 that the estate is making ‘very high-quality wines that I consider the best in the region and among the best in Mediterranean Spain, producing world-class Monastrell’. The practices employed in the vineyard and winery at Casa Castillo demonstrate their focus on quality. Low-yielding bush vines are harvested by hand, grapes are foot-trodden and fermented in small underground stone tanks with a high proportion of whole bunches, and indigenous yeasts are used.
