Bobal is to Utiel-Requena what Pinot Noir is to Burgundy: the grape of the region, covering about six in every ten hectares of vineyard. A black grape, meant for red wine. Vicente Gandía makes three wines from it, in three colours, in the same round bottle. This is the most surprising of the trio: a white wine from black grapes, what the French call a blanc de noirs.

Character

The secret is in the press. Whole bunches go in and only a small part of the juice is kept, so hardly any colour from the skins comes along. Hardly, because the juice then rests cold on its lees for three days and picks up a faint blush in the yellow. You can see it in the glass, and you can taste it: there's red fruit in this white.

Tasting notes

• Colour — yellow with grey and pinkish glints.
• Nose — wild strawberry, white flowers and ripe white fruit.
• Palate — well integrated, with refreshing acidity.
• Finish — long, with a hint of forest fruits.

How I serve it

Well chilled, at 8 to 10 °C. Not too cold, or the wild strawberry goes into hiding.

• With a platter of prawns, langoustines or a few oysters.
• With pan-fried sole or cod in a light butter sauce.
• With a goat's cheese and strawberry salad in early summer.
• As an aperitif, just to make everyone guess which grape it is.

What to do with it

Put it on the table next to its two siblings, the Rosa and the Negro: one grape, three colours, and a conversation that starts by itself. It's also a gift for someone who has "tried everything" — a white from a black grape, from a region few people know, in a bottle that stands out on the rack.

Origin & facts

• Grape — 100% Bobal, a black grape made as a white (blanc de noirs)
• Origin — DOP Utiel-Requena, Spain
• Alcohol — 12% vol
• Volume — 75 cl
• Winemaking — hand-picked and whole-bunch pressed, keeping only a small part of the juice; three days cold on the lees for a hint of colour, fermented at 14 °C and finished in French oak barrels
• Producer — Vicente Gandía, Chiva (Valencia), winemakers since 1885
• Allergens — contains sulphites