Why it matters
The producer
Based on Avenida de Murcia in Jumilla, Parajes del Valle has been part of the García Pérez group since 2012. Maria Jover is identified as winemaker. The estate frames its organic work around biodiversity, a commitment that begins in the vineyard and carries into a range where a plain Macabeo, a skin-contact Macabeo and a Monastrell each take a distinct shape.
Parajes del Valle entered the García Pérez group in 2012, joining a Spanish wine business with production elsewhere in Manchuela and Valencia. Its Jumilla winery continues to centre grapes from local plots, with Monastrell carrying the warm-climate red offer and Macabeo making room for both a direct white and a wine changed by skin contact.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
Jumilla sits in Murcia under a continental climate tempered by Mediterranean influence. The combination is physical in the glass: hot summers can ripen Monastrell towards dark fruit and weight, while cold winters and vineyards at altitude help preserve acidity. Parajes del Valle places its Monastrell between 600 and 700 metres above sea level, so the red is not defined by heat alone.
The vineyard names — La Fuente de las Perdices, Cañada de Albatana, Las Puntillas and Término de Arriba — belong to a wider portfolio described as lying between 600 and 800 metres. Soils vary across these plots, and the producer farms them organically; rather than compressing them into one site character, the range lets grape and method show different responses to that dry terrain.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
The plots are cultivated organically, with stated respect for traditional grower knowledge. Manual harvesting puts fruit selection in the vineyard, while the dry climate and low rainfall make vine condition central to the finished wine’s fruit and tannin.
At the Jumilla facility, large tanks serve bulk blends alongside smaller tanks for the bottled Parajes del Valle range. That division gives the named wines their own cellar space without asking the bottles to carry an unproven recipe of oak, ageing or extraction.
Wines to know
The range in view
The range has three useful anchors. Macabeo is the straightforward white expression, while Macabeo Maceración uses skin contact to alter the wine’s body and texture. In the 2023 Macabeo Maceración, citrus and melon meet basil and mint, with subtle tannic grip instead of a purely soft white-wine finish.
Monastrell Ecológico is the red counterweight. The 2023 wine has been described through ripe fruit and spice, with tannin, weight, freshness and a defined finish. Altitude in the Monastrell vineyards matters here: it helps keep the grape’s dark-fruit body from becoming blunt in a region with extremely warm summers.
A useful way in
A bottle to begin with
Start with the 2023 Macabeo Maceración. It is Macabeo made with skin contact, so it explains a central choice in the range rather than simply offering another white. Expect citrus, melon, basil and mint, then a waxy mouthfeel and subtle tannic grip. The finish lingers with fruit, making this a useful first bottle for seeing how a familiar white grape can gain body and dry, lightly grippy texture.