D.O. Uclés: Calling all tasters!

On June 19th, one of Spain's newest Denominaciones de Origen, the D.O. Uclés will be hosting its first tasting competition in the town of Uclés, Spain. The organizers plan to make this an annual event.

The competition will test the abilities of the competitors to identify wines by vintage, grape variety and coupage, among other aspects of wines. In addition, the judging panel will be looking for the taster's "originality" and abilities to describe the facets of the wines. Top prize is 1,800 euros.

About the D.O.
The D.O. Uclés is located in central Spain and was created as a D.O. in 2005. The entire area under vine is 175,000 hectares, but of this only 1,500 hectares of vines are qualified for use in the wines of the D.O. The varieties approved for use are: Cencibel (yet another alias for Tempranillo), Garnacha Tinta, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah. Only red wines can be certified as D.O. Uclés wines, that is to say that wineries are not prevented from producing white or other types of wines, but these other types will not receive D.O. certification.

The D.O. is divided by the Sierra de Altomira mountain range. The eastern half of the D.O. has an altitude ranging for 500 to 800 meters, and the western area ranges from 600 to 1,200 meters. Rainfall averages less than 500 mm per year.

Wineries: at present, there are just eight wineries in the D.O., of which I have tasted the wines of just one, Finca la Estacada: their 6 month Oak aged Tempranillo, which I found to be a very lively and attractive younger wine.