Bullas DO
The Bullas Regulatory Board is located in the well-known 'Bodega de la Balsa', one of the last private wineries to produce wine in Bullas, which stopped operating at the beginning of the 1980s. The offices are located in what was formerly the home of the bodega owners on the first floor of the building.
The building retains its traditional bodega architecture, perfectly integrating the modern area, where the Board's headquarters is located, with the old bodega on the ground floor, which has been refurbished for visitors and is also home to the vinotheque, where all Bullas Designated Origin wines can be found.
Granted in 1994, the Bullas Designation of Origin takes in the districts of Bullas, Mula, Ricote, Cehegín, Lorca, Pliego, Caravaca, Moratalla and Calasparra..
Consejo Regulador de la D.O. Bullas -Bullas D.O. Regulatory Board-
Address: C/ de la Balsa nº 26
Tel: +34 968 652 601
Fax: +34 968 652 601
www.vinosdebullas.es
consejoregulador@vinosdebullas.es
WINE PRODUCING AREAS
Due to the different types of soil, rainfall and climatic conditions, the Bullas Designated Origin area is divided into three geographic sub-zones:
The first sub-zone, the West and North-West, includes 52% of the Bullas wine area's vineyards and is the D.O. Bullas wine-producing area par excellence. It is situated at altitudes of between 500 and 810 metres above sea level at the foot of the mountains. It includes Bullas and Cehegín, part of the Caravaca and Moratalla districts and upland districts of Lorca. Average production is 45 hl per hectare.
In the third sub-zone, the North and North-West, the vineyards are found at altitudes of between 400 and 500 metres and represent just 8% of the total wine-growing area. They straddle the districts of Calasparra, Ricote, Bullas, Mula and Pliego. Average production is 5 to 13 hl per hectare.
HARVEST
As cultivation in this area is focused primarily on the Monastrell variety, with almost 90% of the total, grape picking normally starts at the end of September or beginning of October, depending on the year. Once the appropriate ripeness tests have been carried out, the optimum time for harvesting is decided. Baumé scale analysis is carried out and the maturity of both the fruit and the pips is checked before grape picking begins. Each winery decides when to start harvesting on an individual basis.
