With up to seven different soils distributed at different altitudes, from 950 to 1,200 meters above sea level, the Bodegas y Viñedos Laujar (Cepa Bosquet) in Almeria has become the most outstanding project of the Laujar-Alpujarra Wine of the Land Protected Geographical Indication. This IGP, which was recognized in 2004, includes the municipalities of Alcolea, Fondón and Laujar de Andarax. It is a historical area of ??wine production, even with table grape vines, which saw the vineyard reduced to a minimum in the 80s of the last century. Its wines are still largely unknown outside the province of Almería. These high-altitude Andalusian products with great potential, located in the Andarax valley and next to one of the most important horticultural orchards in Europe, are circumscribed between the mountainous massifs of Sierra de Gádor and Sierra Nevada, with Mulhacén as a backdrop (the roof of the peninsula at 3,479 metres).
In Cepa Bosquet there are 50 hectares of vineyards, all of them in Laujar except 4 hectares planted in Fondón. They vinify their wines separately. 70% of its production is red, and the rest is white, rosé and sparkling. The majority white variety is Macabeo, followed by Chardonnay and Viognier. Macabeo, planted about 40 years ago and from which they obtain between 6,500 and 7,000 kilos per hectare, was brought to the area by a neighbor who moved to Catalonia for work reasons. Now they are also recovering the native vigiriego (locally written with g). With this white variety they hope to add a new sparkling wine made using the traditional method. The Syrah, which has adapted particularly well to the area, is its main red variety. They have also planted tempranillo, merlot, cabernet sauvignon and petit verdot red wines. All the production comes from its own vineyards, and all its wines ferment with native yeasts.
The altitude and favorable weather, except for spring hail, allow them to ripen slowly (the thermal difference between day and night is notable, up to 19º Celsius) and minimize treatments in their vineyards. They practically only sprinkle their vines with sulfur to combat powdery mildew. They don’t even have a problem with the vine cluster moth. They work following the principles of organic farming, although only some of their vineyards are certified. They have support irrigation in 40% of their vineyards, planted both in goblet and trellis. They cannot expand the irrigation given the prohibition to carry out surveys in the area. They harvest manually, in boxes of 12 kilos. They produce around 250,000 kilos of grapes per year, which allows them to produce around 300,000 bottles. 90% of its wines are sold in the province of Almería. Outstanding are the sales on foot of its winery, whose store is open every day of the week. In Catalonia they are distributed by MónVi from Sant Pere de Ribes (Garraf).
Autumn 2021 and winter 2022 were characterized by low rainfall (less than 100 mm) and low temperatures. Spring was quite rainy (500 mm) and the temperatures were mild. Summer was marked by high temperatures (33-35ºC) during the day and very mild at night (16-17ºC). The harvest was carried out on August 20. Its Cepa Bosquet Chardonnay Barrica 2022 is the son of a very clayey vineyard planted on trellises. It is a aged white, fermented and aged on the lees in new French oak barrels of fine grain and medium toast, with a capacity of 225 litres, for 4 months. They usually work with long macerations. Its press yields do not exceed 60%. They also do lees work. Production is only 2,000 kilos of grapes per hectare. In this vintage, the 4,000 bottles were not reached.
It is straw yellow, clear and bright. It exhibits notes of tropical (banana) and ripe spring stone fruit (peach) on a vanilla background. It shows a glyceric tactile sensation, good acidity and some volume, with a final slightly bitter almond note. Aging in wood is very well integrated into the wine. It is tasty, and its balance stands out. The oenologist of this winery, Virginia Bosquet, affirms that “it is a white on the nose with a red body”.
From Cepa Bosquet they advise harmonizing it with white meat, poultry or processed fish. Gabriel Bosquet likes it with pandora (pagel) in salt, with some Segureño organic lamb chops in vine shoots or with little parrots (parrotfish). His daughter Virginia prefers to pair it with a red shrimp from Garrucha (from eastern Almeria). It is also ideal with the octopus tentacle with oil ice cream or with the grilled squid from the Mesón Ruta L’Alpujarra de Laujar de Andarax or with the mildly pickled bluefin tuna from Barbate from the Tony García de Almería Gastronomic Space. From the winery it is suggested to serve it at a temperature between 10 and 12ºC.
The Bosquet family, a surname with French origins, began its journey with the Sociedad Agraria de Transformación Bodegas y Viñedos Laujar (Cepa Bosquet) in 2007, although the winemaking history of the family that owns it goes back three generations. The manager and owner, Gabriel Bosquet, founded the former Bodegas Valle de Laujar cooperative in 1992, with nine members. The Cepa Bosquet winery, which is owned by Gabriel, his wife and his three daughters and with the also family member Francisco Sampedro as commercial director, is located in the Paraje del Ferrón de Fuente Victoria, in the municipality of Fondón. The oenologist Virginia Bosquet affirms that “we are not in a hurry” and that they want to go “little by little”. She is well aware that “to make wine you have to buy and pay, and sell and collect.”
The farm, of family origin, consisted of several old buildings, among which a farmhouse for shepherds of Segureña sheep and two ponds for water storage stand out. The winery, the fermentation room and the laboratory have been located in the pastoral farmhouse. The two circular ponds, 200 meters each, were built in 1960 by a mining company in order to transfer water to a mine dedicated to the extraction of lead located in Sierra de Gádor. With the water it was cleaned from earth to lead. In the eighties of the last century, the mines ceased their activity and, in compliance with an agreement signed by the previous family generation with the mining company, the rafts became property of the farm. In the course of the following years, they were used to store rainwater to irrigate the existing olive grove on the farm.
At present, one of the ponds (the one that is underground) has been converted into the barrel aging room and the other is used for the storage of bottled wines and a store. The cover of these rafts has been built respecting the environment. For this, a layer of topsoil has been applied with native plantations of the area such as thyme, rosemary, lavender, jedrea and juagarzos. The family that owns it highlights “the commitment to be respectful of the vineyards, the natural environment and society in order to offer a quality wine, guaranteeing family and traditional values. And betting on innovation with love”.
