Bodega Las Virtudes
A cooperative founded in 1961 by small growers in Villena, in the Alto Vinalopó, built around the native Monastrell grape. It's one of the few bodegas certified to make Fondillón, this province's historic wine.
💡 Local tip: If you're interested in Fondillón, ask about the house's old soleras before buying; not every Monastrell from the bodega has that ageing.
Bodega Las Virtudes was founded in 1961, when a group of small growers in Villena decided to join forces to bring their harvests to market. More than sixty years on it remains a collective project of the town, with the Monastrell grape as the backbone of its wines.
It's one of the bodegas authorised by the DO Alicante regulatory council to produce Fondillón, the sweet, aged wine made from overripe Monastrell grown on registered plots, which requires a minimum of ten years' ageing in the bodega. The house holds soleras dating back to 1972, used to produce special editions of Fondillón aged by the solera-and-criadera method.
Fondillón is a wine with centuries of history in this province — there are documented references to Alicante's Monastrell reds from the late 15th century onward — and it was once one of the most sought-after wines in Europe, before phylloxera and the abandonment of vineyards reduced its production to a handful of certified bodegas.
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