DO Valencia: local flavour

Wellness experts say that in order to be loved, you need to love yourself. Arguably, for more than a century Valencia has not been following this advice. It has been chasing the love of others, while not loving itself.

The Phoenicians introduced winemaking to Valencia and it has since been a continuous presence in the region. By the late 19th century, Valencia was a hotspot for the world wine trade, being one of the world’s largest ports for exporting bulk wine to France and beyond. Those wines went on to be anonymously blended into more prestigious wines that lacked substance and colour.

Later, when democracy and the free market reached Spain, and wineries could afford modernisation,