The Carta Puebla de Benicarló, of 1236, already referred to the existence of abundant vineyards in the municipality. At that time we began to find clear evidence of wine production in the Maestrazgo. In our land of Castellón, it seems that the Knights of the Order of the Temple, the Templars, when they lost their last possession in the Holy Land (San Juan de Acre) and took refuge in Peñíscola, gave a boost to winemaking, incorporating new techniques from other parts of the Mediterranean.
From the end of the fifteenth century onwards, there are abundant references to Carlón wine in historical documents, where it is even said that the discoverer of America, Christopher Columbus, carried it in his cellars during the Atlantic crossing. What allowed it to withstand long journeys was the high amount of alcohol and a marked acidity, qualities that made it so perfect to be distributed all over the world.
After the conquest of America, Carlón wine will become one of the most exported and best known in the world, thanks in part to Philip II's prohibition (1595) of planting more vines in the colonies as a measure to protect peninsular production. so Carlón wine experienced unprecedented growth. His production focused on supplying the American demand and on being on all the tables of the humblest classes, experiencing a great boom in countries such as Argentina, where many Benicarlandos emigrated centuries later. Apart from the New World, and in addition to supplying the King's Armadas in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, it is known that Carlón wine was exported to the most disparate places, such as Orán, Mazarrón and Almería in the sixteenth century; Italy, France and Andalusia in the seventeenth century; Cadiz, Malaga, France, England, Odessa and Sevastopol in the nineteenth century, etc.
Production did not stop growing. The historian Viciana says, in the sixteenth century, that "up to 170,000 pitchers of very good black and white wines" were produced. Also at that time, the historian Escolano mentions "infinite vineyards". In the eighteenth century, the Valencian enlightened Antonio J. Cavanilles already estimated the production at 225,000 pitchers.
If we have to highlight a key period for the prosperity of Carlón Wine, it is, without a doubt, between the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth, when the irruption of phylloxera in countries such as France greatly affected European vineyards, with many producers moving to our regions and contributing their knowledge and techniques to our crops. Wine marked a time of splendour and wealth in Benicarló, with 14 foreign consulates and more than 40,000 hectolitres produced annually. We even have news of Benicarlando producers with awards at international exhibitions.
In that extraordinary century, the progressive politician and future Spanish minister, Pascual Madoz, described Carlón wine as "black and dry, with a lot of body and strength". Also, the painter and historian from Castellón Bernardo Mundina referred to Carlón wine that it had been "from time immemorial, the one that had enjoyed the most fame among the wines of the Kingdom".
A great boost for the entire wine region occurred on November 10, 1894, when a winemaking firm from Benicarland, Pascual Febrer & Hijos (now defunct), received from the Queen Regent and on behalf of her son the King of Spain, the honor of being appointed wine suppliers to the Royal House, being authorized to use the coat of arms of the Royal Arms on their label.
The economic impulse throughout this contemporary era was enormous. As a result, industries such as cooperage were active until 1950. There were distilleries and wineries until 1940. Even the construction of the new port of Benicarló, between 1931 and 1944, was induced by the wine trade, although, due to the arrival of phylloxera to the Iberian Peninsula through the port of Tarragona, the conversion of land into irrigated land and, therefore, the disappearance of the vineyards was never used for that purpose.
The holocaust of Carlón wine had arrived... But not to stay.
In the village, Benicarlanda Traditional House
In the port, in the shipyards, Almacén del mar, through which the wine left for Europe and the world.
Cocons. In the mountains, which were full of vineyards, they used water and cocons to make the sulfur mixture.