Why it matters
The producer
Bodegas Alejandro works in Alicante with indigenous Monastrell and Merseguera, alongside Chardonnay blends. The Arbui range contains a standard bottling and Arbui V.47, made from the La Solana plot in Manyà. Arbui V.47 is the flagship wine in the range.
Bodegas Alejandro, founded by Alejandro Pérez Martínez, identified the oldest Monastrell vines on La Solana, trained in the traditional goblet form, as worthy of separate bottling. The bodega made a practical decision: those vines were producing distinct fruit quality, setting them apart from younger parcels. It maintains two distinct tiers of Arbui: one from La Solana's vines more than 47 years old, one from separate parcels with vines 35 years or older. Arbui V.47 is produced at 5,000 bottles per vintage.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
La Solana is a plot in Manyà, Alicante, and it supplies Arbui V.47. The wine carries the Alicante appellation, pairing a named plot with the wider regional name.
Monastrell is used for the reds, while Merseguera supplies the whites and Chardonnay enters in blends, giving the Alicante range both a local white variety and a blended white style.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
Arbui V.47 is hand harvested during the first days of autumn, when the grapes reach optimal ripeness. Fermentation takes place in small open top vats with native yeasts. The process is gravity fed, moving the must through the cellar without pumping and reducing mechanical handling.
Malolactic fermentation occurs in barrels before the wine spends 20 months in new French oak. Malolactic changes sharper malic acid into softer lactic acid, while French oak provides wood spice and slow oxygen exchange during ageing.
Wines to know
The range in view
The Arbui range has two red positions. Standard Arbui is 100% Monastrell, aged 15 months in French oak plus 9 months in bottle. Arbui V.47 is the separate La Solana bottling. Alongside these red wines, Merseguera supplies the whites and Chardonnay appears in blends.
Arbui V.47 is cherry red, with vibrant mixed berry flavours that balance bold tannins. In the mouth the wine is full bodied, with firm ripe tannin from the old vine fruit and acidity preserved by the altitude's cool nights. The finish is long.