Guardia Civil officers are investigating the discovery of three dismembered bodies in a property in the town of Las Pedroñeras (Cuenca province) in the central-eastern region of Spain
They are a 30-year-old woman of North African origin and her two children
has been arrested by police as the alleged perpetrator of the triple crime
It was a relative and work colleagues of the mother
who alerted the police on Friday afternoon of the disappearance of the woman as she had not gone to work on that day at the town hall in Las Pedroñeras
When Guardia Civil officers went to the family home they found the three dismembered bodies in a cold room in a room adjoining the house
According to sources close to the investigation
three new cases of gender violence (including the one in Cuenca) were reported in Spain
leaving four women and two children murdered
The alleged perpetrator in the Cuenca case had a restraining order against his partner for repeated abuse that the woman had reported
who worked in the slaughterhouse in the town of 7,000 inhabitants
no longer lived with his family and was due to go to prison after being convicted of the crime of mistreatment by a court in Cuenca
The regional minister of Equality in Castilla-La Mancha
expressed her «utmost condemnation and pain» for this event and her «affection and support for a family broken by an act of such brutality»
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Hilario García has been making some remarkable wines in a rather unusual way
and the results have captured the interest of wine buyers around the world
the farming community of Las Pedroñeras is known more for its garlic than its grapes
But on a small vineyard studded by olive trees and century-old Tempranillo vines
winemaker Hilario García works his magic – literally
For the last 11 years, García has been making some remarkable wines in a rather unusual way. Many of his methods are secret, but the results have captured the interest of wine buyers around the world. Today, a single bottle of García’s AurumRed Gold sells for upwards of €25,000 and is widely considered the most expensive wine in the world
likes to say that he was “born among the vines”
his passion for viticulture along with his career as a tax and financial consultant came to a dramatic halt when he was diagnosed with severe spinal stenosis and became unable to walk
Doctors were unhopeful that he would ever recover
García says he was cured after visiting a clinic in Madrid that specialised in an alternative medicinal treatment known as ‘ozone therapy’
Sometimes used as an experimental way to treat cancer
ozone therapy is purported to increase the body’s oxygen levels and boost its immune system
Although the European Medicines Agency is still researching ozone’s medicinal benefits
and within a month of treatment he had regained full movement in his legs
García wondered whether his vines might benefit from ozone treatment as well
I put together a small laboratory and looked into ways of applying this technique in more efficient ways,” he said
“I used it first on some onions I was growing
García built a machine that enabled him to pump ozone into water and began using it to irrigate his vineyard
were almost as dramatic as his own recovery
Due to the high concentration of oxygen in the water
he believes the plants grew more quickly and the grapes were of a higher quality
the oxygen-saturated water helps the plants extract more nutrients from the soil
García also says the ozone attacks certain harmful bacteria, viruses, fungi and yeast, allowing the plants to grow disease- and pest-free. In fact, ozone’s disinfectant properties are more effective at killing germs than chlorine
and ozone has been used in the treatment of drinking water since the 1800s
Despite using ozone to help his plants resist diseases and pests
García maintains that his vines have always been strong
“My grandfather planted this vineyard 120 years ago,” García said
“It has withstood many hardships over the years.” In the late 19th and early 20th Centuries
invasive insect called phylloxera stowed away on ships from the US to France and destroyed vineyards across much of Europe
But while García says the plague decimated other vineyards in the region
his family’s was one of the very few that survived unscathed
It sells for €25,000 and can stay open for years without spoilingMike Randolph(Credit: Mike Randolph)García harvested his first vintage of AurumRed Gold in 2009
Given its highly unusual cultivation methods
he learned that the wine was being resold by Chinese buyers for roughly €17,000
“It’s the market that has determined the price of the wine,” García said
the price of AurumRed Gold has steadily increased
another reason for the wine’s hefty price tag is its rarity: García produces just 300 bottles each year
The rest are reserved in his cellar in case a client wants to purchase a favourite vintage in the future
Each bottle also comes emblazoned with a medal of two 18-karat gold fish
Since all bottles are hand-delivered around the world
the price is also affected by the country where the purchaser lives and varying import duties and taxes
Garcia also produces a maximum 6,000 bottles of his Silver series each year – a Cabernet Sauvignon blend from much younger vines that
García sells only half of the Silver bottles he produces
Because García treats his vines with ozone
he claims that both his AurumRed wines have several unique qualities
“A bottle of AurumRed can be open for months or even years and not only will it not spoil
Oxygen makes it better.” It’s hard to imagine many of his clients taking the risk to find out if this claim is true
But perhaps an even more unusual characteristic is that García says AurumRed has different flavours and smells depending on whether you swirl a glass of it clockwise or anticlockwise
the culinary critic of Spain’s El País newspaper and one of the country’s foremost gastronomy experts
So he enlisted the help of wine critic Juancho Asenjo and Javier Gila
president of the Madrid Sommeliers Association
to join him in tasting García’s Gold and Silver varieties
After swirling and sipping García’s creations
all three of them agreed: almost unbelievably
there was a difference in taste depending on which way you swirled it
And as I smelled and tasted different flavours depending on how I turned the glass
but I preferred turning the glass to the right to enhance its flavours of intense but well-balanced fruits
Swirling to the left revealed layers of mineral
I wondered whether the power of suggestion could have played a role
What I can say for sure is that further research would be a pleasure
Ozone treatment is one of more than 100 techniques that García uses to produce his wine
He also uses ‘pyramidology’ – a belief of some that the energy of pyramid-shaped metal objects can enhance certain health benefits – and keeps a large metal pyramid over a tank holding his vineyard’s water supply
García is a devotee of Japanese author Masuru Emoto
who claimed that human consciousness can alter the molecular structure of water
Emoto’s experiments have been repeatedly criticised as unscientific
but García remains confident that it’s true
and so he insists on working alone in his vineyard
“Personal energy can be transmitted to the vines and the wine,” García said
“That’s why I want only my energy to be an influence
I don’t want the possible negative energies of others to have any effect on the wine.”
people have doubts when it comes to these new methods
But the proof is in the glass,” García said
García uses French oak barrels to mature his wine
but he doesn’t want the wood itself to have a big impact on flavour
“When average wines taste too much [like] the wood
it’s because the wine wasn’t good to begin with,” he said
“If the wood adds a small amount of flavour
But I use it as a vessel to mature the wine
García is also looking at other methods of maturing his wines
after the primary fermentation in stainless steel tanks
then to glass containers before the final bottling
nine or even 10 years before going on sale.”
he remains much more focused on the process than the price
My dreams are inside that bottle,” he said
“The price of the wine is what matters to me the least.”
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