Utiel-Requena sits on a plateau at 700 to 900 metres in the west of the province of Valencia, nine municipalities of limestone and clay drained by the Magro, cut off from the Mediterranean by the hills and therefore far more continental than its distance from the coast suggests. Winemaking here is old enough to be archaeological: amphorae have been found at the Iberian site of Kelin, near Caudete de las Fuentes, dating from the seventh century before Christ.

This is the home of Bobal, a thick skinned red grape that covers most of the vineyard and grows in quantity almost nowhere else. For most of the twentieth century it was used for deep coloured blending wine and for rosé, and the region shipped it in bulk. The work of the last twenty years has been to show what old Bobal vines can do on their own, which is a red of high acidity, firm tannin and dark fruit. Tempranillo and Garnacha are also planted.