Attending the Best Wines in Show event, organised by Guía Peñín in Madrid towards the end of the year to celebrate the release of the print version of this long-standing wine guide, is a unique opportunity to explore emerging wine regions and discover lesser-known grape varieties.
The red wine Ochenta y Siete Cubos Pampolat exceeds all expectations. It is produced by the Viver cooperative in Castellón, a little-known wine-producing region within the Valencian Community in southeast Spain. Historically, most of the vines planted here in the 1970s were hybrids —crosses between vinifera and American vines— rather than pure vinifera.
The Viver cooperative itself is mostly focused on olives (500 hectares) and almonds (450 hectares). With just 12 hectares under vine, its early plantings were international varieties like Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon, alongside popular Spanish grapes like Tempranillo and Garnacha.
Research into the region's wine-growing past revealed its historical connection with Morenillo, a variety already present in Terra Alta, and the lesser-known Pampolat de Sagunto. The latter appears in early ampelography treatises by Valcárcel (1719) and Abela (1885), who placed it in Valencia, while Nicolás García de los Salmones (1914) specifically mentioned its cultivation in Castellón.
Plant material was sourced from Finca El Encín in Madrid —home to Spain's largest collection of grape varieties— and grafted onto 30-year-old vines. This provided grapes of sufficient quality to produce the first vintage in 2023.
Although Pampolat is not a late-ripening variety, the wine aligns perfectly with the new wave of fresh Mediterranean reds. In Viver's vineyards, it ripens earlier than Tempranillo yet retains significantly higher acidity. To preserve the variety's character, the wine was aged in glass demijohns.
The result is a pale red with plenty of herbal notes and crunchy red fruit. On the palate, it is both moreish and lively with ripe, rounded tannins that lend modern appeal and irresistible drinkability —you'll certainly want a second glass.
Just under 50 kilometres from the coast, the vineyards lie in Alto Palancia, Castellón's southernmost landlocked region. Vines grow at around 700m elevation on reddish, quartz-rich, chalky soils.
Production is extremely limited, making the 2023 vintage almost impossible to find, but it's worth keeping an eye out for future releases.
14% vol.
300 bottles
€26
Score: 93
Author
Amaya Cervera
A wine journalist with almost 30 years' experience, she is the founder of the award-winning Spanish Wine Lover website. In 2023, she won the National Gastronomy Award for Gastronomic Communication
