THE WINERY

A SMALL RARITY IN WORLD´S LARGEST WINE REGION 

 

This is the story of a humble family with proud roots in its winemaking identity and its town, El Toboso. More specifically, that pride is rooted in a father and son’s decision to produce wine of the utmost quality.
The Bodega Campos de Dulcinea winery was set up by this family of farmers and winemakers in 1926. Copying the biggest trend at the time, the winery focused on producing wines that would later be sold in bulk. It was not until 1995 that José Ángel Lozano (a vine grower) encouraged his son, Luis, to take the plunge on a new project. That was when the winery set off down a path that no other winery in the region had ever followed.

Vendimia 2021 - Bodega Campos de Dulcinea

 

A new philosophy emerged that sought to produce wines of the utmost quality using a variety of methods, with the added difficulty of doing so in a wine region where the traditional model was to sell in bulk. Their first task was to restructure their vine stock. They uprooted all the traditional AIRÉN grape vines and replaced them with two more refined varieties of higher quality and prestige:TEMPRANILLO for red wines and SAUVIGNON BLANC for white wines.
José, the father, worked the land on this new project to ensure that all his experience was brought to bear on guaranteeing the quality and utmost care for the vines. Meanwhile, his son Luis embarked on a journey into the world of producing wines professionally. He studied oenology to subsequently take over technical management of the winery.
By combining tradition, experience, professionalism and vines of a much higher quality than those found elsewhere in the region, they reaped the most sublime of rewards in bottle form.

 

In 2004, when the vines began to produce quality grapes after maturing for 10 years, the winery itself was renovated to achieve a perfect balance between traditional and cutting-edge production systems for the time. Throughout this process, their focus remained firmly locked on realising their vision.
Growing at an altitude of approximately 700 metres above sea level, the vines honour the natural process of this limestone soil with limited non-irrigated production of 1.5 or 2 kilos per vine.
Natural irrigation, head-trained and spur-pruned vines, meticulous manual harvesting and selection of the best clusters from the field for the winery all lead to extremely high-quality raw materials.

 

Today, our vines are at the peak of their life cycle and shine with the utmost splendour as they approach 30 years of age, which is when the best grapes of the highest quality are produced. The three pillars of our winery are rain-fed vines, low vine and sustainable soil treatment. We have thus become a one-of-a-kind gem in this region.
In 2010, the winery joined the protected geographical indication of Vinos de la Tierra de Castilla, which allows us to freely adjust the length of our signature winery vinification processes in order to produce higher quality wines.
With a current production capacity in excess of 300,000 bottles per year, the winery produces white wines, sparkling wines, rosé wines, young red wines, crianza wines and reserva wines. There is a clear focus on the tempranillo grape variety and barrel aging, which accounts for 80% of the total wine production from the winery. We use American oak and French oak barrels to give the wine a certain smoothness and a toasted bouquet of premium wood. Company policy is for the winery to renew each one of its 106 barrels every two years because we believe that they can no longer provide what we seek for the wine after this time.

 

Bodega Campos de Dulcinea sits in privileged surroundings at the heart of La Mancha, the region with the most vines in the world in terms of volume and surface area. More specifically, the winery is located in the town of El Toboso. This town is world famous for being the only real town mentioned in the famous “Don Quixote” by Miguel de Cervantes. Besides numerous mentions of Dulcinea del Toboso, the work of Cervantes makes many references to wine because it was an irreplaceable form of nourishment and raised people’s spirits during the Golden Age of Spain. In fact, the author mentions it on 43 occasions in his book.

 

As you can see, little by little and with great effort, the winery has gradually set itself apart from other wine producers in the region to become an exceptional rarity in the most extensive vine-growing region of the world.
The winery produces some great wines, the quality of which has been recognised by the wine-producing community, having received various national and international awards.