Publication of an application for registration of a name pursuant to Article 97(4) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council in the wine sector
Date: 2023-11-21
Institutions: Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development, European Commission
Subjects: Castile-La Mancha, Spain, consumer information, designation of origin, labelling, product designation, quality control of agricultural products, red wine








C_202301053EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
Series C













C/2023/1053


21.11.2023






Publication of an application for registration of a name pursuant to Article 97(4) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council in the wine sector
(C/2023/1053)

This publication confers the right to oppose the application pursuant to Article 98 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (1) within 3 months from the date of this publication.
SINGLE DOCUMENT


                     ‘Rosalejo’
                  


PDO-ES-02880


Date of application: 9 December 2022
                  

1.   Name(s)

Rosalejo
2.   Geographical indication type

PDO – Protected Designation of Origin
3.   Categories of grapevine products







1.


Wine




4.   Description of the wine(s)


Red wines

CONCISE TEXTUAL DESCRIPTION
High colour intensity, ruby red colour. Highly intense aromas of red fruit and also spicy and toasted aromas from the barrels. The wines have a good structure and persistence, with balanced acidity and a fresh and young character.






*


The maximum total alcoholic strength by volume must be within the legal limits laid down in the relevant EU legislation.










General analytical characteristics




Maximum total alcoholic strength (in % volume)


 




Minimum actual alcoholic strength (in % volume)


12,00




Minimum total acidity


4,5 grams per litre expressed as tartaric acid




Maximum volatile acidity (in milliequivalents per litre)


16,7




Maximum total sulphur dioxide (in milligrams per litre)


150




5.   Wine-making practices

5.1.   Specific oenological practices

1.   Cultivation method
The vineyards are planted on a north/south-facing slopes, and various green management practices, such as the removal of lateral shoots or suckers and thinning of bunches, are employed.
2.   Specific oenological practice
Various procedures are conducted in the winery, such as cooling the grapes in a cold store as soon as they arrive on the premises, selecting bunches before destemming, removing green parts and green grapes after destemming, and temperature-controlled alcoholic fermentation.
The maximum yield is 68 litres of red wine per 100 kg of grapes.
Alcoholic fermentation must take place at a controlled temperature.
The minimum period of ageing in oak barrels is 6 months.
The wine must remain in the bottle for at least 1 month before it is placed on the market.
5.2.   Maximum yields

1.   Syrah variety

                     6 000 kilograms of grapes per hectare
40,80 hectolitres per hectare
2.   Tempranillo and Garnacha varieties

                     8 000 kilograms of grapes per hectare
54,4 hectolitres per hectare
6.   Demarcated geographical area

The ‘Rosalejo’ PDO demarcated area is located in the municipalities of Anchuras (Ciudad Real) and Sevilleja de la Jara (Toledo). The parcels affected are the following, referring to Spain’s land parcel identification system (sistema de información geográfica de parcelas agrícolas, SIGPAC) and the Land Registry:






—


In the municipality of Anchuras:






—


polygon 5, parcels: 319, 333;










—


polygon 7, parcels: 1 to 4, 70, 71, 73, 78, 87, 98, 99, 100, 108, 109, 111, 135 to 138, 140 to 146, 155 to 157, 1077, 1082, 1083, 60001;










—


polygon 9, parcels: 29 to 32, 34, 44, 46, 47, 49, 50, 51, 54;










—


polygon 21, parcels: 181, 238, 244, 245;










—


polygon 22, parcels: 5 to 13, 15 to 62, 79, 81 to 86, 93, 97, 105, 1074 to 1076, 1078;










—


polygon 23: parcel 56.














—


In the municipality of Sevilleja de la Jara:






—


polygon 13, parcels: 1, 3;










—


polygon 14, parcels: 52 to 55.








In total, it covers an area of 1 338,70 ha.
7.   Wine grape variety(ies)

Garnacha Tinta
Syrah
Tempranillo
8.   Description of the link(s)

8.1.   Details of the geographical area (natural and human factors)


Natural factors

Soils:
The Rosalejo estate is located in the Sierra de Sevilleja mountain range, which is part of the Montes de Toledo.
The Montes de Toledo were not subject to glaciation in the Quaternary era, so their slopes are less steep than other systems of the Iberian plateau, such as the Central System. They consist of a succession of north-west (NW) to south-east (SE) facing mountains and depressions.
The Toledo mountains are characterised by pedrizas or canchales, formed by the erosion of quartzite through frost weathering along the slope. These are large heaps of angular quartzite blocks without any vegetation. Another characteristic landscape feature are the rañas, which are stony plains extending from the base of the mountains.
The Rosalejo raña has not been eroded by rivers and glaciers, giving us one of the oldest soils (biocrusts) in Europe, since this soil was formed in the Pliocene (very dry and cold period) 5 million years ago on silica and granite rocks over 350 million years old.
Its surface horizon has a stoniness of 50 %, giving it good drainage. It is composed of silica sand, highly weathered slate, and various sized pebbles of highly ferruginous quartzite. We also find semi-spherical iron pisolites over 2 mm in diameter. The high concentration of iron ore gives the quartzite an orange/reddish shade, which also gives the surface soil its red colour, while the deeper soil horizon is yellowish in colour.
Its chemical properties are:






—


a soil with an acidic pH below 6, with insignificant levels of calcium carbonate, active limestone and a very low level of base saturation;










—


low levels of calcium, magnesium and potassium;










—


high levels of silicon, iron, aluminium and manganese;










—


low content of trace elements: barium, rubidium and strontium;










—


high content of rare earths: cerium, lanthanum, thorium, yttrium and neodymium.




Its physical properties are based on clayey textural classes and the presence of pisolites, with a greater concentration of clay at greater depths. At greater depths the clays shift from a reddish to a more yellow tone. This characteristic is due to their iron content, which is more oxidised (reddish) in the shallower layers, and more yellow (reduced iron content) at greater depth.
Climate:
Rosalejo is located at the foot of the Sierra de Sevilleja on the south-west (SW) side of this mountainous system. It is the first mountainous barrier encountered by the areas of low pressure moving in from the Atlantic after passing through southern Portugal and Extremadura.
Factors such as the influence of the Atlantic, the 650 metre altitude, and the situation at the foot of the south-west (SW) side of the Sierra de Sevilleja (the highest peak of which – Cumbre Alta – is at 1 279 metres) make the climate more temperate in both winter and summer and produce a significant variation in temperature between night and day. This influences the vine-growing processes and therefore the characteristics of the grapes produced.
The average rainfall in the area is 650 litres per year, concentrated in autumn and spring. During the summer months, rainfall is virtually non-existent, unless there is a storm. The high rainfall during the autumn and spring periods is due to the north-west (NW) to south-east (SE) orientation of the Toledo mountains, and more specifically the Sierra de Sevilleja.
Rosalejo’s climate is also influenced by its proximity to the Cijara reservoir. This reservoir is one of the largest in Spain both in terms of its capacity (1 505 cubic hectometres) and its surface area (6 556 hectares). This large body of water is 2,9 km away from the ‘Rosalejo’ PDO. It has a marked influence on temperatures, making them less cold in winter and less hot in summer.

Human factors

The vineyards are planted on a north/south-facing slope, with the best vegetation. Various green management practices, such as the removal of suckers and the thinning of bunches, are employed to obtain the best grapes.
Work in the winery to obtain the best wines includes various procedures, such as cooling the grapes in a cold store as soon as they arrive on the premises, selecting bunches before destemming, removing green parts and green grains after destemming, and temperature-controlled alcoholic fermentation.
8.2.   Information on quality or characteristics of the wine which are fundamentally or exclusively due to the geographical environment

The wines are characterised by their excellent natural total acidity and a fairly low pH. This is due to the low concentration of potassium and calcium found in these wines. This acidity gives the wines a fresh and young character, despite coming from a fairly southern latitude with a warm climate.
This good acidity means the wines are balanced on the palate.
Another characteristic of our wines is the good colour concentration, and in particular their ruby-red shade, which barely changes over the years. This characteristic is due to the phenomenon already mentioned above, namely the good acidity and low pH, which make the wine age slowly with a clear organoleptic improvement.
8.3.   Link between the characteristics of the geographical area and the quality of the wine

Due to the unique characteristics of the soil composition, i.e. acidic soils poor in cations such as calcium and potassium, the wines’ natural total acidity is very different from that of other wines from the same region. This freshness can be clearly appreciated on tasting. The aroma has notes of red fruit. It is not hot on the palate, but quite the opposite, with a freshness typical of other much more northerly latitudes.
Another common feature we can appreciate is its colour, which has a high intensity, and a much more vivid tonality than usual. This ruby-red tone does not diminish over the years. This characteristic is produced by the low pH of the soil and consequent low pH of the wines.
The wines’ low pH affects not only the colour, but also the wines’ potential for ageing. This can be appreciated in the wines’ taste and round tannic feel even when aged.
The soils of Rosalejo are very poor in mineral elements such as potassium, calcium, sodium and magnesium. Analysis of the leaves from our vineyard also shows a low concentration of these elements. Accordingly, the organic acids, such as the free tartaric acid, derived from the grapes are unable to form salts with potassium in the form of potassium bitartrate and calcium in the form of neutral calcium tartrate, resulting in wines with quite a low natural total acidity and pH. This makes the wine slow to age and gives it a clear organoleptic improvement.

                  ‘Rosalejo’ PDO wines are characterised by their good concentration of both polyphenols and tannins. This characteristic is due to the low yields per hectare of the vineyard and the process of manual harvesting, cold storage and pre-fermentation maceration.
8.4.   Justification of single applicant conditions

The demarcated geographical area has characteristics that differ considerably from those in neighbouring areas, as demonstrated by a study by the Higher Technical School of Agricultural Engineers of the University of Castile-La Mancha on the territorial unit that would form a potential designation of origin, ‘Rosalejo’.
This study shows that, unlike the soils in the neighbouring areas, the soils on the Rosalejo plain originated from Paleozoic materials of the soils of the old raña and rañizo landforms. This factor, together with a predominantly flat topography and the abundance of clay, creates conditions of gleysation that involve redox processes, fundamentally affecting the dynamics of Fe3+ and Fe2+. The study concludes that the demarcation of the ‘Rosalejo’ geographical area is based on the presence of a flat or almost flat territorial plain occupied by the raña and rañizo, and that this area has soils that have developed a number of unique features. These include a marked acidity, clayey or loamy clay textures, high cation exchange capacities, and the presence of concretions of iron oxyhydroxides (pisolites), among other attributes.
As for the wines, although the demarcated area is included within the boundaries of the ‘Castilla’ PGI, the ‘Rosalejo’ wines have substantially different characteristics.







Parameter


‘Castilla’ PGI


Rosalejo




Minimum actual alcoholic strength


10 % vol.


12 % vol.




Minimum total acidity


4 g/l


4,5 g/l




Minimum colour intensity


—


8 (a.u.)




Min. IPT


—


50




Maximum yields (kg/ha)


16 000 


6 000  to 8 000 




Maximum yields (hl/ha)


112


40,80 to 54,40





                  ‘Castilla’ PGI wines, which can be dry, semi-dry, semi-sweet or sweet. All Rosalejo wines are dry, with a maximum total sugar content of 3 g/l, (glucose + fructose). This differentiates them from the dry ‘Castilla’ PGI wines, which have a maximum total sugar content of 4 g/l (glucose + fructose). All Rosalejo wines are red and have a high minimum colour intensity of 8 absorbance units (a.u.) This differentiates them from ‘Castilla’ PGI wines, which can be white, rosé or red. There is no set minimum colour intensity for red ‘Castilla’ PGI wines, so they can have a colour intensity of below 8 a.u. Moreover, ‘Castilla’ PGI wines can be pearling, high-quality sparkling, dessert or late-harvest wines, so they are very different from Rosalejo wines. ‘Castilla’ PGI wines also do not have a set minimum total polyphenol index (IPT) limit, so they can be below the limit of 50 set for ‘Rosalejo’ wines.
The application for the ‘Rosalejo’ PDO is being made by a sole applicant as the conditions for the derogation established in Article 95 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 are met. The person in question is the only producer in the demarcated geographical area. There is only one wine-grower (who is also the winemaker) within the demarcated area described in section 4. There are no other growers or winemakers so there is no possibility of any other participants joining the project for the time being. In future, however, other producers may use the registered name if they set up in the demarcated geographical area, provided they meet the conditions set out in the product specification.
9.   Essential further conditions (packaging, labelling, other requirements)

Legal framework:
In national legislation
Type of further condition:
Packaging within the demarcated geographical area
Description of the condition:
The wines will be bottled in the wineries located in the production area because the wines undergo a second stage of ageing in bottles. There is a reduction process in this period, which enhances the quality of the wines, rounding out their flavour. They are ready for consumption when they attain the organoleptic characteristics set out in the specifications for each type of wine.

Link to the product specification

http://pagina.jccm.es/agricul/paginas/comercial-industrial/consejos_new/pliegos/Pliego_de_Condiciones_Rosalejo_20230829.pdf


(1)  
            OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 671.


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2023/1053/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)