Virgen de las Viñas

Virgen de las Vinas is a growers' cooperative at Tomelloso in the heart of Castilla-La Mancha, one of the largest in Spain.

Tomelloso sits at the centre of La Mancha proper, the flat, arid tableland that Cervantes made famous and that produces more wine than any comparable area on earth. The town is known for its cuevas, cellars dug beneath the houses to store wine at constant temperature, and for the tinajas, vast clay amphorae traditionally used for fermentation before stainless steel arrived.

Airen and Tempranillo are the grapes, both suited to drought and heat. El Concierto is the range name, and the wines are made in the modern manner, cool-fermented and bottled young, offering the sort of value that only a region of this scale can.