Bodegas Volver Tarima Hill

When Rafael Cañizares and Jorge Ordóñez launched Bodegas Volver in 2004, their deliberate target in Alicante was not new plantings but near-abandoned ungrafted Monastrell vines — some dating to 1935 — that co-operative growers had written off as uneconomical precisely because their yields were so punishingly low. Tarima Hill draws from those plots scattered between the Sierra de Salinas, Sierra de Umbría, and Sierra de La Sima at 600–750 m elevation, where shallow, rocky limestone soils with minimal organic matter force roots deep and restrict canopy, concentrating what little the vine produces into each berry.

The altitude delivers the diurnal swings that keep acidity alive in a region better known for heat than freshness. Grapes are hand-harvested and sorted on a selection table before primary fermentation in open-top stainless steel tanks at ~28°C with indigenous yeast — a choice that preserves the site's wild aromatic character rather than imposing a house yeast profile. The Monastrell-dominant blend incorporates Garnacha Tintorera (Alicante Bouschet), adding inky depth to the variety's natural dark-fruit density.

What separates Tarima Hill from the broader Tarima range is the extreme vine age and the 1.5 kg-per-plant yield ceiling — a concentration benchmark that most Alicante producers, working far higher-yielding plots, simply cannot replicate at this price point.