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La Mancha is not just Spain’s largest DO; its 155,000 hectares of vines make it the largest wine producing region in the world. With a winemaking history going back to the Romans, today the region’s 15,000 registered wine growers and 250 wineries, or bodegas, ensure that the wine sector is one of the key motors of the local economy. While still wines make up the biggest chunk of the region’s output, distillation is important too, and the region is a key supplier of spirit for the famous Brandy de Jerez.

Derived from the Moorish term Manxa meaning "parched earth", La Mancha is large, flat and relatively high, with most vineyards between 600 and 800 metres above sea level. Starting on the southern fringes of Madrid, it stretches south about 200km down towards Valdepeñas, and about the same again from east to west. Climate is mainly dry and continental with long, hot summers and bitterly cold winters with frequent frosts. The white grape Airén and red Cencibel remain the most popular grapes, although you’ll increasingly see other Spanish grapes like Graciano or Verdejo, and international varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay.

Albillo Real is a native Spanish grape that for centuries was consumed primarily as a table grape. These days, white wines made from Albillo Real are increasingly in demand although it’s still hard to find it outside Spain.

Albillo Real ripens early and is quite resistant to drought. In the winery, it can be quite oxidative; in other words, the chemical reactions can speed up quite a bit when it comes into contact with oxygen, which means the wine can develop more nutty, sherry-like characteristics if the winemaker isn’t careful.

Wines made from Albillo Real tend to be quite pale in colour, with delicious aromas of quince, pear, orange blossom and jasmine, sometimes with a touch of grapefruit skin. The wines can be quite dense almost oily in the mouth, with good structure and, occasionally, a slightly bitter aftertaste.

The López Montero family have been a key part of the winemaking tradition in the town of Tomelloso in La Mancha since the late 18^th century. The family farm around 250 hectares in total, but in 2005 they launched the Verum project with a clear focus on 80 hectares of the finest vineyard sites and plots on the property.

Verum means "truthful" or "real" in Latin, and it is this search for authenticity in all aspects of the winemaking process that really sets the winery apart.

Key to the winery’s success is son and winemaker Elias López Montero whose philosophy is to work ecologically, respecting natural cycles and the character of the land to showcase the full potential of the different grape varieties. That clarity of focus has brought praise and plaudits from a host of international wine critics like Jancis Robinson or the Wine Advocate in the US.

Following temperature-controlled fermentation at 19ºC, a small amount of the wine is aged in 600-litre French oak barrels and the remainder in 5,000 litre (or 300 arrobas as the traditional unit of measurement is known) clay tinajas. Once bottled, the wine then spends 12 months resting in the winery’s magnificent underground cellar before release.