Viña Memorias and Spain’s Forgotten Grapes
- 3 days ago
- 9 min read
By Joshua E. London
On a high, wind-swept plateau west of Valencia, where clay soils hold just enough water to sustain old vines through long, dry summers, a Jewish family is quietly reshaping expectations of what Spanish wine from this overlooked region can be.
Bodegas Viña Memorias is a small, family-run estate in DOP Utiel-Requena that farms 18 hectares of organic old-bush vines. Their youngest vineyards were planted in the 1950s; the oldest bobal and macabeo parcels date from 1904, more than a century old. All are en vaso (in a vase)-trained, self-supporting, goblet-shaped bush vines in ancient Roman fashion. They are rain-fed and deeply rooted in limestone-rich clay at around 745 meters above sea level (2,400-plus feet).
The family team is Enrique Caracena Murciano and his wife, Annie Molco, and their three sons: Ramiro (“Rami,” based in London) and twins Armando (based in Tel Aviv) and Victor (based in Peru).
“Everything is discussed endlessly on our WhatsApp group,” Rami said with a wry laugh. “It’s a family winery, and everything needs to be a consensus—very challenging sometimes, but we love it.”
His brother Victor is a commercial pilot for LATAM Airlines so the flight from Peru is “no big deal,” and since London and Tel Aviv are not so far from Spain, travel to the winery for Rami and Armando is also not especially challenging.
The parents back in Spain remain hands-on and central: Enrique is “the landman,” in sync with the rhythms and dictates of the vineyards, while Annie holds the operation together as the driving force behind logistics and the business. Their sons plug in from wherever they are in the world, each with a defined role as well as pitching in to do anything else as needed, and they keep decisions moving through constant, sometimes relentless, family communication.
The wines are, of course, certified kosher by the OU and Rabbi Akiva Osher Padwa’s MKL, with Rav Shalom Ber Binshtock of Valencia supervising. But the more compelling story is the wines themselves, made from very old vines, in an ancient region, by a Sephardi family, deeply rooted to their Spanish land.
The Land of Bobal and Macabeo
Viña Memorias is based in Utiel-Requena, an inland, hilly wine region in the province of Valencia classified as a Denominación de Origen Protegida (DOP). It is the oldest documented center of wine production in Spain, with archaeological evidence suggesting that wine was being produced there over 2,500 years ago.
Utiel-Requena is a broad transitional plateau—though with many valleys and hills— between the Turia and Cabriel rivers, some 70 kilometers from the city of Valencia. The non-irrigated vineyard soils are dark, poor in organic matter and high in limestone; the climate is one of the most severe in Spain, with very hot, dry summers and cold winters, tempered only by the tension between Mediterranean breezes from the east and dry continental winds from inland.
Due to these growing conditions, Viña Memorias’ vineyard parcels are oriented mainly south and east, soaking up around 2,800 hours of Mediterranean sunlight a year, but only around 450 millimeters of rainfall, which is why the estate adheres to strict rain-fed farming—no irrigation. Yields are tightly controlled and all grapes are hand-picked.
Out of a conviction that, as Armando put it, “a great wine is the reflection of the land that nurtured it,” they maintain sustainable, organic viticulture, prioritizing biodiversity and eschewing herbicides and insecticides.
Two indigenous grape varieties dominate their vineyards: bobal and macabeo.
Bobal is the predominant grape of the Utiel-Requena DOP, native to the region and its defining red variety. Its name is often traced to the Latin bovale (“in the shape of a bull’s head”), a nod to the bunches’ distinctive form. With thick skins and a marked ability to withstand drought, bobal thrives in Utiel-Requena’s high-elevation continental climate with Mediterranean influences. Hot, dry summers and cold winters, along with warm days followed by cool nights, lock in acidity and keep the fruit bright, under conditions that would be too extreme for many grapes.
Macabeo, known as “Viura” when grown in the Rioja region, is likewise a native Spanish variety but here shows a particularly compelling side. Over time, deep root systems help the vines withstand drought and produce grapes of great complexity and concentration. The thick skins of these older vines contribute relatively high tannins for a white variety, while balanced sugar and acidity reflect even, slow ripening. Well-grown macabeo makes fresh, crisp dry white wines with beautiful citrus, pear, apple, and almond aromas, and enticing fruit flavors.
The estate also has an old nearly forgotten parcel of Tardana, and in some years have used sauvignon blanc and shiraz sourced from a local grower, but bobal and macabeo remain very firmly the core of Viña Memorias’ identity.
From Legacy to Family Project
Viña Memorias began with an inheritance and a decision.
After the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), Marciana Caracena farmed mixed land near the small town of Cuenca, halfway between Valencia and Madrid. She farmed grape vines, almonds, walnuts and other fruits, and ran a small grocery shop.
The Spanish Civil War and the long Franco dictatorship that followed pushed much of rural Spain into a survival economy. Quality winemaking was sidelined in favor of volume, with cooperatives absorbing old vines into anonymous blends. Many of Utiel-Requena’s bobal vineyards survived not through investment, but through neglect—an inheritance that would later prove invaluable.
Viña Memorias is part of Utiel-Requena’s broader revival, particularly of bobal.
Marciana’s land eventually passed to her son Enrique Caracena-Murciano and his wife, Annie Molco, a French-born Sephardi Jew of Tunisian heritage. Enrique has always had an abiding love of agriculture and Annie and the boys often joined him to work the harvest together. The commercial side of land management was outsourced, and the grapes were mostly sold off to producers and cooperatives.
By the early 2010s, their bobal vineyards were well into their anecdotage. Yields had dropped significantly, and the grapes, though high in quality, were still being sold to the cooperative, disappearing anonymously into large blends. There was no real money left in harvesting and selling grapes of this high quality in such low quantities, and finally in 2015 some firm decisions needed to be made.
Neighbors were ripping up heritage bobal to plant more productive vines and often more fashionable varieties altogether. Economically, following suit would have been the easy and financially “smart” move. Another popular local option at the time was to sell up altogether.
Instead, Annie thought of her family dynamics rather than the family investment portfolio. Her children were, by now, adults making their own way in the world, scattered far from home. She proposed a family venture: Establish a winery and make their own wine from their unique heritage vineyards. Instead of absentee landlords flirting with agriculture, they would become hands-on, commercially viable winemakers aiming to produce high-end wines from their old-vine, high-quality grapes. As a nod to their Jewish heritage, Annie also insisted that their winery be fully kosher.
As the only Jewish family in Cuenca, a mountain town of roughly 50,000 in east-central Spain, the Caracena-Molco boys grew up proud of their heritage and celebrating Jewish holidays but were largely cut off from communal Jewish life. A family trip to France in their teens proved a turning point: Seeing cousins celebrate bar mitzvahs prompted an exploration. For the next year they made the weekly two-hour drive to Madrid for Torah study, and they ultimately marked the milestone together—Ramiro at 18, Armando and Victor at 16—at a ceremony overseen by Spain’s Chief Rabbi Moshe Den Dahan.
They ventured off in different directions—Ramiro became an oil trader in London, Armando pursued a career in finance before settling in Tel Aviv, Victor became a commercial pilot eventually in Peru but not before serving in Israel’s IDF—but all the while stayed deeply connected to their Judaism. Coming together as a family to produce kosher wine in Spain from their grandmother’s land was an unexpected but entirely welcome adventure.
“My mother basically stitched the whole thing together,” explained Armando. “She insisted that everything had to be kosher. We said OK, but realized that this would really be a new journey. We know about nature and viticulture, but kosher wine is something quite particular for us—and it brought us back together as a family, to our origins, and to where we wanted to be.”
Thus Viña Memorias was founded in 2016, with the express aim of preserving family heritage and connection to their land while also helping to shape the future of their appellation’s wines. They produce 45,000 bottles annually.
When it came time to name their initial flagship line, the family turned naturally to a Jewish name with deep resonance in Sepharad (Spain): Rambam (Maimonides)—the medieval Sephardi rabbi, philosopher and physician whose life spanned Cordoba, Fez and Cairo, and who famously recommended wine, in moderation, for health, insisting that wine for kiddush and mitzvot be of genuine quality. The Memorias del Rambam wines carry a popular artistic likeness of the Rambam and serve as a bridge between the family’s Spanish and North African Jewish roots.
Clay, Stars and Old Vines
In keeping with their commitment to producing authentic and expressive wines from their region, Viña Memorias has invested particular care in producing their higher-level bobal and macabeo wines using traditional tinajas, large amphorae crafted from Spanish red clay.
Veteran winemaker Daniel Expósito, long respected in Utiel-Requena for his award-winning work with Cava and still wines, serves as Viña Memorias’s technical director. Expósito shares the family’s fascination with tinajas and reviving this ancient Mediterranean technique. Grapes from their oldest parcels are fermented and aged in these neutral clay vessels, with no oak influence, allowing the varieties and terroir to speak with purity and clarity.
Armando described this choice as a deliberate return to deeper regional history: “That was a technique brought by the Phoenicians and used here for over 2,500 years, until modern barrels and steel tanks pushed it aside. We use tinajas not out of romance or novelty, but to be as genuine to our region, history and terroir as possible.”
The production of tinajas today is limited to a handful of artisan families. After testing several, Viña Memorias settled on Tinajas Moreno León of Torrejoncillo, producing clay vessels since at least the late 18th century using clay from Las Mesas.
The Moreno family’s historic maker’s mark, since at least 1783 (the earliest work they’ve found), is a Star of David. The Moreno family are not Jewish and never have been, so far as they know, but every generation for which they have records has used this mark on their tinajas.
“My mother noticed the Magen David stamped into the clay,” Armando recalled. Told it was simply the artisan’s signature, they took it as a good sign and looked no further.
The symbolism sits quietly in fired clay, while the wines do the talking.
The Wines
One of Viña Memorias’ most striking wines is its Cava, Memorias del Rambam Brut Reserva, a reminder that sparkling Spain extends well beyond Catalonia. Around 5%-10% of Spain’s Cava is produced elsewhere, and Requena’s hard-won designation has been justified by quality-focused producers.
Made by the traditional method from high-altitude, old-vine macabeo and aged at least 24 months, the wine is given depth by extended aging and mature vines. Crisp green apple, hints of almond pastry, and saline freshness make it an elegant aperitif.
At the accessible end of the range is the Alenar line—Blanco, Tinto and Rosado—from organically farmed bush vines planted in 1950 at 745–767 meters.
“Alenar,” a Valencian verb meaning “to breathe,” is described poetically as taking a conscious breath and sharing life’s essence.
The Alenar Blanco (Macabeo) shows pale straw with green highlights, offering citrus, floral lift and orchard fruit over a dry, bright palate with stony tension.
The Alenar Tinto (Bobal) is vivid cherry-red, with ripe berries and Mediterranean scrub. Medium-bodied and fruit-forward, lively acidity keeps the finish crisp and savory.
Alenar Rosado offers ripe strawberry and summer berries with a brisk, dry, mouth-watering snap.
Alkunya, Ladino for “family name,” is the estate’s more serious still white, aged six months in tinaja and six in bottle. Pale straw in the glass, it moves aromatically from clay tile and sea spray to peach and almond. Bone-dry yet textured, it finishes with saline precision and a faint almond-skin bitterness.
Bobal’s Many Faces: Yunikko, Finca Zerezal, Magus Duopole and Rambam
Viña Memorias explores bobal through several distinct offerings:
Memorias del Rambam Crianza, aged in American oak, offers vanilla, dark fruit and soft tannins.
Magus Duopole marries barrel-aged bobal with tinaja-aged shiraz, producing a savory, aromatic, mevushal wine that remains agile and food-friendly.
Finca Zerezal, from 100-year-old “pie franco” (ungrafted roots) bobal, is refined rather than forceful, with black fruit, florals, fine tannins and a long limestone-fresh finish.
Perhaps their most distinctive offering is their aptly named Yunikko, a pure, high-altitude expression of century-old pie franco bobal, fermented and aged in tinaja to allow for a pure unoaked expression of the grape. This is complex and delicious, starting with a dark cherry and blueberry depth accompanied by a wild Mediterranean herb lift and a faint earthy mineral undertow. The body is medium-plus and structured, and stays fresh on its feet thanks to lively acidity and polished, savory tannins. The finish is poised and quietly persistent.
Olds Vines, New VoiceIn the end, the most distinctive thing about Viña Memorias isn’t the kosher certification, the altitude or even the century-old vines, though all of that surely matters. It’s the family’s insistence on staying rooted—to each other, to their heritage, and to their land—and working together to let the vineyards speak.
Their bobal and macabeo do the rest. Shaped by weather, history and clay, these vines carry Utiel-Requena’s past forward without sentimentality. This is honest, serious winemaking—and it happens to be delicious.
Joshua E. London is a well-known wine writer and contributor to the Jewish Link Wine Guide. See more of his articles at https://joshuaelondon.substack.com/.
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