Salud to another 30 years of wine appreciation in Jumilla!

A BLIND TASTING OF THE APPELLATION’s wines will be held on 23rd and 24th May in the Jumilla Wine Museum.

The winning entries will receive their awards on 24th may

This year marks the 30th edition of the Jumilla Wine Challenge, and for the occasion the Jumilla DOP has chosen to dedicate the event to the town of Jumilla, which each year warmly welcomes to the town the Wine Challenge’s numerous expert wine tasters.

The 2024 program of activities will showcase the many hidden treasures to be found in Jumilla, a town which has been a crossroads since ancient times, linking the regions of Castilla-La Mancha and Murcia.

The occasion will be coordinated by TV gourmet and wine lover Enrique Calduch, who has overseen the organization of the event’s tastings throughout these last 30 years.

Over the two days of tastings, an 18-strong panel will assess and judge each entry.

The panel will be made up of the following renowned professionals:

• Andrés Proensa, director of Planeta Vino magazine and the Proensa wine guide
• José Luis Casado, head wine taster for Sobremesa magazine
• Jaime Bermúdez, director of Vinoselección
• Mara Sánchez, freelance writer for different publications
• Antonio Candelas, director of MiVino
• Raúl Serrano, head wine taster for Vivir el Vino magazine and the Vivir el Vino guide
• Laura Sánchez Lara, freelance writer for different publications
• Adolfo Fernández, wine buyer at Bodeboca
• Custodio Zamarra, sommelier and wine educator
• Rubén Palomares, wine buyer at Makro,
• Miguel Ángel Martín, wine educator at Enocata Valencia and freelance writer
• Nacho Fernández, wine buyer at Decántalo
• Gerardo Herbás from distributors Mibil (Madrid)
• Jesús Flores, director of Aula Española del Vino
• Álvaro de Miguel, vice-president of the Castilla-La Mancha Association of Sommeliers and president of the Albacete Association of Sommeliers
• Juan Enrique Gil (Restaurante Don Gil, Albacete), Certified Court Master Sommelier of Europe and Best Sommelier of Castilla-La Mancha 2024 and 2023
• Carlos Nicolás (Restaurante El Churra, Murcia), president of the Murcia Association of Sommeliers
• Lucía Marcilla, (Restaurante Arzak, San Sebastián), wine promotor and ex-scholarship holder at the DOP Jumilla wine council.

Each member of the Jumilla Wine Challenge panel will taste the wines blind.

The different awards categories are as follows:

• Whites
• Rosés
• Unoaked reds (vintages 2023 and 2022)
• Oaked reds (vintages 2021 and older)
• Crianza, Reserva and Gran Reserva reds
• Sweet wines

Within the unoaked and oaked reds category, there will be two additional prizes awarded to the highest-scored wines containing at least 85% Monastrell.  An award will also be made to the highest-scoring organic wine from among all the wines tasted at the Challenge.

Poster for the 30th Jumilla Wine Challenge

A poster for this 30^th edition has been created by Jumilla graphic designer Ángela Flores of the “Bootik” agency in Murcia. The work pays homage to Enrique Calduch, the Challenge’s driving force since its inception, and to some of its leading tasters, such as Andrés Proensa, José Luis Casado, Jaime Bermúdez, Mara Sánchez, Custodio Zamarra and María José Huertas, all of whom feature on the poster taking part in the different phases of the blind tasting. The different types of wine produced in DOP Jumilla also feature, together with the treasured Iberian earrings discovered during an archaeological dig in the area.

Click to enlarge

Ángela Flores, born in 1996 and a graduate in Photography and Graphic Design from the Escuela Superior de Diseño de Murcia, gave her personal angle on the event: “Having been part of recent Jumilla Wine Challenges, I realize just how much effort goes into them and how important the blind tastings are. And that’s what inspired me in the creation of this poster”.

Gallery

About the Jumilla Wine Challenge

Currently organizing its 30^th edition, the Jumilla Wine Challenge is one of the oldest in Spain. From its inception it was acknowledged by the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture as a showcase for the quality of the appellation’s wines.

With the vast majority of the Jumilla DOP’s wineries taking part, the event offers a broad view of the wines produced in the region. Over two days of blind tastings, more than 150 samples will be tasted and judged by a panel of expert tasters whose professions require them to assess the quality of wines and make recommendations to consumers on a daily basis.

The aim of the Jumilla Wine Challenge is to reward high quality, highlight the qualities of Monastrell (the region’s star grape) and draw attention to organic farming, which is practiced by the majority of Jumilla’s growers. Special prizes will thus be awarded: one of them to “Best Organic Wine” and another two to “Best Monastrell Wines” –one in the unoaked category and the other in the oaked category.

About the Jumilla DOP and its old vines.

Vine-growing in Jumilla has a long history. Traces of vitis vinífera along with wine utensils and archaeological vestiges found in Jumilla date back to 3000 BC, the oldest in Europe.
Find out more about our rich wine growing history…