DO León closes its most crowded wine fair by awarding the best wines of its competition 

The 24th Wine Fair of the León Denomination of Origin closed in Valencia de Don Juan with record attendance, well above 20,000 people, and with the awards ceremony of its annual competition for the best whites, rosés and reds. Pardevalles, Vinícola Valmadrigal and Cooperativa Los Oteros emerged as the big winners, with awards also for Cien Cepas, Tampesta-Andrés Marcos and Gordonzello.

The awards ceremony for the best whites, rosés and reds of its annual competition brought to a close 3 days of intense activity at the Wine Fair of the León Denomination of Origin. The 24th edition of this essential event in the Regulatory Council’s promotional calendar and in the summer programme of the Valencia de Don Juan Town Council closed with record public attendance, well above 20,000 people, and with a predominantly young audience.

Beyond the turnout at the stands of the 14 participating wineries, the fair’s success was driven by its parallel activities, with a continuous programme of live music and family-oriented events such as the now traditional Master Chef Júnior, the graffiti art exhibition on wine barrels, the beauty bar and the glass-personalisation workshop. It also stood out for the charitable collaboration through the stand of Alcordanza, the association of relatives and patients with Alzheimer’s of Valencia de Don Juan and its region, which offered water, sweets and basic food at very low cost to help fund its remarkable work.

Public turnout led the participating wineries —Pardevalles, Cooperativa Comarcal, Melwa, Pobladura, Tampesta-Andrés Marcos, Cooperativa Los Oteros, Margón, Vitalis, Gordonzello, Vinícola Valmadrigal, Solotero, Cien Cepas, Pincerna and the Melgarajo winegrowers’ society— to continually restock their available wine. The low-alcohol semi-sweet wines, which the León Denomination of Origin added 3 years ago to its specifications and list of authorised elaborations, were in especially high demand, precisely because of the very young audience.

The wineries Pardevalles, with 2 first prizes, Cooperativa Los Oteros, Vinícola Valmadrigal and Tampesta shone in the wine competition held at the fair, in which 48 of the more than 80 references offered to the public at the stands took part. 20 of them, 5 in each category of whites, rosés, young reds and aged reds, qualified in the pre-tasting for the final tasting, held on the 1st day of the fair. The winners in each category were:

• Whites: 1. Pardevalles (Pardevalles winery); 2. Cien Cepas (Cien Cepas) and 3. Maneki (Tampesta-Andrés Marcos), all from the 2025 vintage and made with the Albarín grape variety.
• Rosés: 1. Pardevalles (Pardevalles); 2. Viña Bricar (Cooperativa Los Oteros) and 3. Vinea Noctis (Vinícola Valmadrigal), all Prieto Picudo and from the 2025 vintage.
• Reds: 1. Castillo de Valmadrigal (Vinícola Valmadrigal) from the 2025 harvest; 2. Pardevalles 2024 and 3. Pardevalles 2025, all also Prieto Picudo.
• Aged reds: 1. Augusta Roble 2022 (Cooperativa Los Oteros); 2. Tampesta 2022 (Tampesta-Andrés Marcos) and 3. Peregrino Joven Roble 2024 (Gordonzello), all likewise Prieto Picudo.

The Regulatory Council of the León Denomination of Origin thus rounds off an edition that confirms the Wine Fair as one of the great promotional showcases for its wines and for León wine tourism.