Manchuela, one of Spain’s newest wine regions, granted a do in 2000, with vineyards totalling more than 55,000 ha/130,000 acres (although only 3,700 ha of these were registered for DO wines in 2014) on the eastern border of castilla-la mancha, straddling Cuenca and Albacete provinces. This is the home of the Bobal grape, which is mainly used for rosés and unoaked young reds, with Tempranillo growing in importance for oak-aged reds. At least one private estate was making a name for itself by adapting Syrah to the local clay-limestone terroir and making blends with the best local varieties Monastrell, Garnacha, Garnacha Tintorera (alicante bouschet), and Bobal. The white Macabeo also produces very drinkable fragrant whites in northern Albacete, while the local Albilla de Manchuela has been rediscovered as a good quality grape. Overall, this high plateau, which reaches an elevation of more than 1,000 m/3,280 ft in western Cuenca shows great potential but has mostly lacked the investment required to develop it.
