He first vice-president of Castilla-La Mancha, José Luis Martínez Guijarrohighlighted the increase in agri-food exports that totaled more than 1,800 million euros in the first six months of 2024, 13 percent more than in the same period of the previous year, “the result of the work of men and women who are at the forefront of this agri-food industry, who at some point realized that they had to conquer these markets and they have achieved it.”
Data that Martínez Guijarro offered during the award ceremony Grand Selection Award ‘Campo y Alma 2024’ at the Albacete Fair, where he highlighted that agri-food products represent more than 35 percent of total exports from Castilla-La Mancha throughout this year, emphasizing that precisely their growth in sales outside national borders is, together with the modernization of processing and production companies, “the great leap that the sector has made in recent years.”
Next to Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Rural Development, Julián Martínez Lizán; the Council delegate in Albacete, Pedro Antonio Ruiz Santos; the vice-president of the regional courts, Josefa Navarrete; and the president of the Provincial Council of Albacete, Santiago Cabañero, first vice-president, reiterated that the agri-food sector is the most important sector in the Autonomous Community, since it represents 18 percent of the total gross domestic product.
For his part, the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Rural Development announced that next November the new call for the Gran Selección Campo y Alma Awards for 2025 will be published, which includes, as a novelty, “the award for the best Nerpio nuts, which since May 2023 has had a Protected Designation of Origin and can therefore already be included this year in the call”, and added that “a recognition for the new quality figure of the Green Asparagus of Guadalajara, the last one obtained by Castilla-La Mancha whose PGI was approved last June.
Martínez Lizán congratulated all the winners from the province of Albacete “who value the high quality of the agri-food productions that we have in our province and in our region, and highlight the effort and dedication of the farmers and ranchers of Castile-La Mancha manufacture the best raw materials that, once transformed, allow us to have excellent food.
Finally, Julián Martínez Lizán recalled that Castilla-La Mancha has 40 quality figurines, all covered under the regional brand Campo y Alma “and our priority is to continue increasing them, in fact, we will soon discover a new designation of origin and we are working to obtain more for products as important as walnuts, Manchuela mushrooms or lentils.”
As every year at the Albacete Fair, the awards ceremony took place for all the winners of the “Great Field and Soul Selection” awards in the province, including the winners in the silver and bronze categories.
Thus, the Gran Selección Campo y Alma award was given to the Casas de Peña Tempranillo wine, from Bodegas Fernández de la Ossa, from Villarrobledo, as the best red wine of the 2022 and 2023 vintages; the Gran Selección Campo y Alma award for the Gold Rupestre wine, from the Santa Cruz de Alpera Cooperative, from Alpera, as the best red of the vintages prior to 2022; the Gran Selección Campo y Alma award for Flor de OPAZ, from the OPAZ Cooperative, from Villarrobledo, in the Saffron of La Mancha category; and the Gran Selección Campo y Alma award for Manchacor, from Manchacor SL, from Lezuza, in the Manchego Lamb category.
In the Silver category, all the prizes were awarded to the wine category, with Finca Hoya Mañas, from Bodegas Cano (Higueruela), receiving the prize in the White Wine category; Corazón Loco Blanco, from Bodega Iniesta SLU (Fuentealbilla), prize in the White Wine category; Santa Cruz Pure Sauvignon Blanc, from the Santa del Cruz de Alpera Cooperative (Alpera), prize in the White Wine category; Laminio, from Bodegas César Velasco SL (Villarrobledo), prize in the Red Wine category for the 2023 and 2022 vintages; Tintoralba Las Casillas, from the Santa Quiteria Cooperative (Higueruela), prize in the Red Wine category for the 2023 and 2022 vintages; Artesones de Cenizate, from the Virgen de Las Nieves y del Rosario Cooperative – Bodegas Artesones, award in the Red Wine category for the 2023 and 2022 vintages; Tintoralba Piedras Coloradas, from the Santa Quiteria Cooperative (Higueruela), award in the Red Wine category for the 2023 and 2022 vintages; Finca El Carril Paolo Andrea, from Bodega Iniesta SLU (Fuentealbilla), award in the Red Wine category from vintages prior to 2022; Crianza Offert, from the Santiago Apóstol Cooperative (Montealegre del Castillo), award in the Red Wine category from vintages prior to 2022; and Tintoralba El Romeral, from the Santa Quiteria Cooperative (Higueruela), award in the Red Wine category for vintages prior to 2022.
And finally, the winners of the Bronze selection were the Altitud 1100 Blanco wines, from the Cooperativa Santa Quiteria (Higueruela), prize in the White Wine category; Altos del Cabriel Macabeo, from the San Antonio Abad Cooperative (Villamalea), prize in the White Wine category; Altitud 1100 Rosado, from Cooperativa Santa Quiteria (Higueruela), prize in the Rosé Wine category; Corazón Loco Rosado, from Bodega Iniesta SLU (Fuentealbilla), prize in the Rosé Wine category; Santa Cruz Pure Monastrell, from the Santa Cruz de Alpera Cooperative (Alpera), prize in the Red Wine category for the 2022 and 2023 vintages; and 1860 Selección, from Bodegas Cano (Higueruela), prize in the red wine category for vintages before 2022.
Already in the Manchego Cheese category, the winners of the Bronze selection were Los Boliches, from Quesera Manchega don Eusebio (Ossa de Montiel), winner in the semi-cured Manchego Cheese category; and Dehesa de los Llanos Curado, from Dehesa de los Llanos (Albacete), prize in the Artisan Matured Manchego Cheese category.
