For a year now, 25,000 vines, all native varieties, have been growing in the only undeveloped plot of land to the south of Torrevieja – The Universo Ferris project is the creation of a winery located on the coastal plot between Punta Prima and Mar Azul, for the production of fine wine.
It could be an idyllic picture postcard on the Torrevieja coast, a small cove surrounded by dunes, waters carpeted with Posidonia and a hundred-year-old palm grove by the sea. Miraculously, unlike Cala Mosca just a kilometre further south, it is also a corner free of concrete. And it will continue to be so because 25,000 vine trees now grow in this extraordinary landscape which, with a bit of luck in addition to the hard work of Rafael Bernabé Navarro, will soon be producing one of the most unique wines in Alicante.
Rafael Bernabé Navarro, a young agronomist from Bigastro, has launched an unprecedented project in the midst of the capital of residential tourism on the Costa Blanca. At the beginning of 2022, he planted 25,000 vines on eleven hectares of the Lo Ferris farm, in Torrevieja. It is located right on the edge of the sea, next to the iconic centenary palm grove that has withstood the last forty years of concrete maelstrom on the coast. A unique space protected since 2018.
The land that has been leased from the historical owners of the plot, the Murcia family, now allows the opening of a winery integrated into the landscape, where the wines will be produced. It is a winery that anyone who is interested in can visit, to learn about both the farm and the artisan production process, with the possibility of getting involved in the harvest or in the work of treading the grapes to make pie de cuba, a preparation that is made before the first vintages, and of course taste the wines.
Bernabé has named the project Universo Ferris, because the area is in itself a whole different universe, a unique place between Torrevieja and Orihuela Costa. The idea is that it be developed in the medium term, although Bernabé hopes that he will be able to speed up the bureaucratic sluggishness that slows down the construction of the winery. As the development progresses, he anticipates a little more municipal involvement that will create an attractive and exclusive initiative in Torrevieja.
“It really is a world apart. I want to bottle everything that I can see and feel here, the sea, the grass, the salt, the lavender and the dates when they are ripe”.
At the moment there are eight hectares planted with white varieties: meseguera, muscatel, esclafacherre, and there will also be monastrell and garnacha blanca. “We will have the entire range,” he says.
Rafael wants the first harvest to be ready in a couple of years. “The vine has no time and neither does the wine. You can’t hurry it. You have to be patient”, he explains with the clarity of someone who comes from a family of farmers from Campo de Salinas and Bigastro.
“If you water it, it will grow very quickly, but it is not the idea. I don’t want a big production. You have to keep a balance”. And it is clear that the objective is focused on quality and not quantity. No more than 50,000 bottles will be produced from the current cop.
And the project has already generated enormous interest with requests to visit and to enjoy this landscape already pouring in via the Universo Ferris website as it’s popularity grows on the wine tourism circuit. If you would like more information about the winery or join the list for an upcoming visit details are available at http://www.universoferris.com
