The designation of origin for Jumilla wines encompasses the municipalities of Jumilla in Murcia and those of Montealegre del Castillo, Fuente del Álamo, Ontur, Hellín, Albatana and Tobarra in Albacete.
The area is a set of valleys surrounded by mountains and with good orientation to the sun. This layout of the land influences the sugar of the grape and the quality of the subsequent wine.
The climate is Mediterranean with low rainfall and many hours of sunshine a year and a certain degree of humidity. A controlled irrigation and the quality of the waters of the area, favor the vineyards and the production of these grapes that give rise to the fantastic Jumilla wines .
The set of regions consists of about 25,000 hectares. The soils are permeable and aerated with a composition as indicated in the following figure.
Types of Jumilla wines
- Red with grapes from the area, variety Monastrell , mixed with grapes also from the area such as Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Garnacha.
- Rosé with the Monastrell variety.
- White with the Airén, Macabeo and Sauvignon-blanc varieties.
- Sweet of traditional origin.
All pass a strict control to obtain the qualification of Denomination of Origin. One of the oldest in Spain. Its wineries also pass the control of the Regulatory Council.
The variety Monastrell is the most important with 80% of the total grapes in Jumilla wines. It is typical of Murcia, small and bluish-black in color.
The Cabernet Sauvignon is of French origin and very good for red wines.
Syrah is of Palestinian origin and was introduced in Spain by the Marquis de Griñón. The first wines from this grape were produced in Jumilla.
Garnacha one of the most cultivated varieties worldwide and highly acclimatized in Jumilla.
Airén is a variety of white grape of Spanish origin and basic for white Jumilla wines.
Irrigation of the vineyards
The types of soils in the area are adapted to good water retention and moderate permeability.
The climate is fundamentally dry and that makes a controlled irrigation advisable to cover the needs of the plant. The lack of rain is not harmful, because the vineyards are better adapted to a dry climate, but that does not mean that they do not need any water.
The point is that the water that does not come from the rain must be covered with irrigation water. The artisan wells are the best source of irrigation for the vineyards due to their calcareous quality. It is necessary to avoid at all times that the vineyard suffers "water stress", that is, an imbalance between the supply of water and the demand of the plant.
Water stress will have a direct impact on the quality of the grape and when it comes to quality wines and "denomination of origin" this must be avoided. It is not possible to water by eye in current times where technology allows us to control the water that the plant needs from a mobile phone or tablet.
Not only is a deficit of water bad for the plant, but also an excess. Too much water causes the leaves of the plant to grow too much and the fruits will be less illuminated and influences the flavor, density and quantity.
The Jumilla wine zone has quite a bit of climatic stability, there are usually no torrential rains, summers are dry and favor the vineyards if they have a controlled water supply.
Plantae humidity sensors / probes, the best option for Jumilla wines
Plantae is present in this region of Murcia. Our sensors are in many types of crops, given the involvement of this Community in the control of irrigation, intelligent water saving and the use of precision agriculture.
- Humidity probes can measure different types of depth to detect the wet bulb generated by drip irrigation. The information is obtained in real time on the mobile or tablet. With humidity control we can program the irrigation so that the vineyard has the water it needs when the plant needs it.
- The conductivity sensors / probes measure conductive trend of the ground that indicates if there are accumulated salts due to evaporation, especially in dry springs and summer. Measurement of salinity is very important. Excess salts make the soil compact and the plant cannot absorb the nutrients it needs.
- We installed a Hub / receiver powered by a solar panel to collect the information from the probes and send it to the platform, with the latest technology.
- The farmer can view the graphs of the subsoil changes as often as he wishes.
Instalaciones de sondas en los vinos de Jumilla
Acudimos a la finca «Moyca» en Jumilla para instalar sondas de humedad, conductividad y temperatura en dos fincas de uva de mesa. Se instalan los sensores en dos puntos diferentes a profundidades de 20, 40 y 60 centímetros de profundidad.
English 
Spanish