Finca Sandoval

Finca Sandoval was founded in 1998 by the wine writer and El Mundo editor Víctor de la Serna and winemaker Rafael Orozco, who saw the potential of the high-altitude, limestone-rich soils around Cuenca in Manchuela. The estate first made its name with Syrah and Touriga Nacional. Over time de la Serna concluded that its future lay instead with Bobal, the local grape long dismissed as too rustic, and with the region's other native varieties.

Since 2019 the wines have been made by Javier Revert, whose La Comarcal project also makes Cosecha's Castor collaboration. Only the best Syrah parcels were kept; the rest were grafted over to a massale selection of Bobal and other local red and white varieties, and old-vine Bobal vineyards co-planted with native grapes were added. Farming is certified organic, fermentations use native yeasts and more whole clusters, and ageing has moved toward seasoned French oak, foudres and amphorae.