Castilla-La Mancha is the largest
Spanish wine region with over 1,240,000 acres under vine divided into 9 D.O.’s
(Denominaciones de Origen or Wine Appellations) plus the surrounding Castilla
areas in the center of Spain. They have
taken as their symbol the great literary figure of Don Quixote de la Mancha
with a slogan of “Wines from Don Quixote’s Spain.” This area is mainly a vast expanse
of flat, dry land with the temperature extremes of a continental climate. There is a lot of sunshine but limited water,
necessitating dry farming.
This was the last stop of a three
city leg of the 2013 US Tour. Many of the people flew out that evening back to
Spain, some for quick turnarounds to then go to other places in the world. This is besides communicating to their
companies at odd hours while on the road. These are some not quite so glamorous and quite fatiguing aspect of the
wine industry.
