Spain Flashcards
brief history of spain
- phoenician started winemaking and trading then carthaginians, romans, barbarians, christians (main export fortified sherries)
- Manuel Quintano y Quintano brings barriques from bordeaux, then after the exile the same with Marques de Murrieta and Riscal.
- philloxera attacks France, Spain start exporting wines, stops when philloxera arrives
- civil war and world war, plus franco economic isolation
- miguel torres, brings german and france varieties
- modernisation from mid 70 plus 996 irrigation added
general climate of spain
warm influence from coastline, mountain ranges, and lateau
3 main areas of spain and climate differences
- north west (atlantic - maritime climate, high rainfall, some bits are sheltered by mountains - continental climate)
- south/east (mediterranean, moderate)
- meseta (600-900 high plateau) continental
spain numbers of production
- largest vineyard plantings
- world third largest producer
why? = low bush vines at low density
why spain is full of low density bush vines?
- climate = low annual rainfall 300mm (irrigation is controlled by consejo regulador)
- low production, general high quality fruit
climate adversities in spain
- heavy storms followed by rising temperatures (mildew)
- spring frost in more continetal climates
- grapevine moth (maganed through pheromone traps)
ungrafted areas of spain?
toro rueda sandy soils
why organic practices are not diffused in spain?
not many customers are willing to pay premium for organic certifications
average size vineyards holding in spain
0.66 ha (66%) 3ha (22%)
most planted grapes red/white in spain
airen tempranillo then garnacha, bobal, macabeo, monastrell
airen production
- castilla la mancha - inexpensive neutral white
- brandy de jerez
tempranillo styles
- inexpensive fruity
- prestigious, high quality (rioja, ribera, toro)
why tempranillo can do a lot of styles?
ripening, climate he tolerates
because of yields control (can go medium to high, top producers are going low)
- early ripening
- warm climate with moderating influences (altitude, cool winds)
- both single varietal or blends
bobal
what kind of wine it makes and where
black grape
red/rose in utel requiena
what is garnacha tintoreira
is not garnacha is alicante bouchet
main white variety of rioja
macabeo (called locally viura)
monastrell specs
late ripening
needs a warm mediterranean climate and a late growing season
inexpensive whites in spain general winemaking
protective winemaking: stainless steel tempo control inert gasses cultured yeast fining/filtrering some use carbonic/semi-carbonic
fine wine general winemaking in spain
emperature conrolled stainless stess/wood. concrete. eggs, amphorae oak maturation common, also lees in stainless
general ageing laws
- individual DOs have stricter laws but cannot state lower minimum ageing
- oak vessels need to be 330lt (individual Dos are different from national)
crianza minimum ageing time + barrels ageing
red - 24 months (6 oak) white/rose - 18 months (6 oak)
reserva minimum ageing time + barrels ageing
red - 36 months (12 oak) white/rose - 24 months (6 oak)
gran reserva minimum ageing time + barrels ageing
red - 60 months (18 oak) white/rose - 48 months (6 oak)
controversy on ageing requirements in spain
- suggest a hierarchy; it tells that the more they age in wood the better they are which might not be true,
- no quality level requested (quality and origin of oak) or style indication
many producers are leaving those qualifications as they believe they don’t give benefit on marketing purposes or because they don’t meet law criteria
robie means?
spanish term for oak used on labels for wines with unspecific ageing duration (usually less than crianza)
joven
minimum or no oak at all young wines
oak types
american - cheaper and strong trading in america, still widely used
french - growing now especially in DOs penedes, priorat, ribeira
rose styles in spain
- inexpensive bulk (most production) - pale, provence style, stainless
- very good quality - deeply coloured, skin contact, stain or oak
- traditional (Lopez de Heredia) - mix black and white grapes maceration pressed ferment, oak vessel long ageing
pdo in spain are called
DOs (around 70s)
DOCa/DOQ (only Rioja and Priorat)
how can you reach the DOCa?
- 10 years DO
- estate bottled
- quality regulation
- tasting panel
what is VP?
vino de pago, small single estate high reputation (mostly in castilla la mancha, also navarra valencia and aragon), only own grapes, within PDO
what is grandes pagos de espana
association of prestigious estates some got also vino de pago status
other labeling terms for under pdo categories
vino de la tierra (vt) pgi (largest castilla)
vino - no GI
consejo regulador controls…
- yields
- varietals
- minimum ageing
- packaging (e.g. bottles or bulk shipping depends on laws)
spain general market division holdings
small holdings - mostly co-op
rising negociant (they own some land as well)
estates (only fruit from estate) are small
co-ops
domestic consumption
really low more towards higher quality DO wines
exports of spanish wines
mostly france-italy (inexpensive - lowest price per litre)
56% total production
uk, usa, china also focused on more premium
promotional body for spanish wines
foods and wines from spain
main climatic feature of galicia
atlantic ocean proximity
rias baixas
how big it is and who dominates the market
largest do of galicia (4000ha)
large co-ops (e.g. martin codax) till growers
quick history of rias baixas
after philloxera hybrid varietals and high yield palomino many vineyards are tiny plots
70s/80s push to indigenous varieties and modern equipment
export market rise (because of style, fresh and fruity, and price
rias baixas climate, rainfall and soils
borders arlatinc ocean (maritime climate) - moderating influence
1700mm rainfall - fungal diseases, rain prior harvest
free draining soils (sand over granite bedrock)
albarino (ripening and skin)
early to mid ripening (ripe in most years)
thick skin (less prone to rot)
other grapes in rias baixas and specs
white
loureira (early ripening, medium + acidity citrus, herbal floral)
treixadura (mid ripening, low acidity, apple pear)
caino blanco (late ripening, high acidity citrus)
red
souson (vinhao in vinho verde)
caino tinto
subzones of rias baixas and specs
- val do salnes (oldest, most plantings, concentration of wineries, directly on the coast, coolest, wettest, highest acidity)
- o rosal (river mino, next to portugal also blends with loureira, treixadura, lower acidity primary flavours)
- condado do tea (inland, warmer, ripe peach, drink young)
- ribeira do ulla (new, inexpensive to mid prices)
- soutomaior (smallest subzone)
most famous producers in rias baixas
pazo de senorans
palacio de fefinanes
most commont training system in rias baixas
- parral (pergola)
uses granite soils to support against humidity, originally planted tu support crops under the pergola, air circulation to reduce fungal - vsp for mechanisation
general winemaking of albarino in rias baixas
protective in stainless steel (cool temperatures)
- maceration optional (enhance flavour and texture)
- mlf (sometimes partial to reduce malic with no butter notes)
- lees (not stirred to avoid oxygen entrance)
- ferment oak (expensive)
rias baixas export markets
usa biggest uk after 1/4 of sales
other galician DOs apart from rias baixas
ribeiro
ribeira sacra
valdeorras
monterrei
main climatic feature of other DOs other than rias baixas
further from the atlantic, warmer summers less rainfall mainly godello and mencia
ribeiro DO
western, sheltered but still maritime and high rainfall treixadura, single varietal or blend (expensive in oak)
ribeira sacra DO
influences, soils, varietal
river mino and river sil meeting mainly continental but some exposure are maritime
stony slopes (drainage, heat, hard to maintain and to work), deep valley sides (different altitude and aspect)
mencia as main variety
valdeorras DO
influences, soils, varietals
up the river sil, east continental climate with high rainfall (1000mm), altitude 300mt
range of soils (famous for slate mining)
godello (medium + acidity, wet stones, herbal, premium in oak), and little plantings of mencia
monterrei DO
borders portugal inland continental climate, low rainfall, sheltered from ocean by sierra de larouca mountains
good quality mencia, fruity godello
castilla y leon general climate
continental
high altitude plateau (north of meseta) with mountains on north and south
west have maritima influence
bierzo do story
rustic wine for local market until the arrival of alvaro palacios and his nephew ricardo perez in late 90s, now slowly moving towards quality and higher price
bierzo do climate
similar to galicia but further inland (still adequate rainfall) some maritime influences from the west (it has some cool vintages)
main grapes for bierzo do
- mencia (75% of plantings)
- alicante bouschet (used in blends where mencia is 70% majority by law, alicante is only 2% of plantings)
- godello and other galician whites
mencia ripening and styles
early to mid ripening
can lose acidity quickly and accumulate sugar (picking is fundamental)
- early drinking styles
- concentrated
2 main areas of bierzo
- flat plains (center of the DO, fertile silty loam soils, inexpensive to mid priced)
- hillside slopes (500-850mm, shallow poor slate soil low yield, old vines over 60yr old generally, more concentrated wines matured in oak, (descendientes de j.palacios and raul perez are here)
new regulaton of bierzo
2017 new classification based on geographic specs for villages and vineyards of great note with yield restriction similar to DOQ in priorat
wine business of bierzo
3k ha planted, 2k growers all small plots (mainly selling to co-ops) , 75 wineries mostly established in the last 15 years harvesting by machine is rare
climate and influences of toro do
west of castilla, continental climate
river duero
altitude 620-750mt (large diurnal)
main hazard in toro
spring frost (no moderating influences)
grapes used in toro do and specs
tinta del toro (for some is tempranillo adapted to the climate, for someone another variety) it has thicker skin than tempranillo
75% tinta, remaining is garnacha usually
also rose is produced whites from malvasia or verdejo
planting in toro
usually low density bush vines with low number of buncher (limited water as irrigation is not permitted unti june after the harvest)
1/5 of the vines are at least 50 years old with some going over 100yr
soils in toro do
sandy (ungrafter vines are present)
site selection in toro: most important things
higher altitude
north facing aspect
maximum alcohol for toro do wines
15%
toro do winemaking choices
- inexpesive: carbonic maceration
- concentrated style: oak (new, american and french)
toro best producers
teso la monja numanthia
business in toro
long history but only with the interest in ribeira investors started to rise, from 8 wineries in 98 to 50 today.
ribera del duero do history
vega sicilia in the late 19th century, highest quality alejandro fernande’s pesquera got internation acclaim in the 80’s from them vineries stops selling to co-op to produce wine
rapid expansion also thanks to the proximity of madrid
climate of ribeira dei duero
similar to toro and rueda, summer slightly hotter
altitude of ribeira
750-1000mt
main problem of ribeira and how to solve it
frost (spring and autumn)
heaters, spraying with water and helicopters
rainfall in ribeira
400-600mm irrigation can be used only in ertain times but not during ripening season
grapes in ribeira del duero
tinto fino (aka tinta del pais aka tempranillo)
site selection in ribeira
different altitudes and aspect, usually avoid flat sites north facing, most frost risk
plantings: age and trellising in ribeira del duero
- 50yr old or also 100yr old
- trellises quick to establish
how much a grower owns in ribeira del duero?
1ha
ribeira del duero wine styles
whites (from 19) from albillo mayor 75%
red/rose - 75% tempranillo plus cab sauv, melot, malbec, garnach, albillo (white variety) - in reality is most 100% tempranillo (french and american, 50/100% new oak, less extraction usually)
export of ribeira
20% mainly to switzerland, mexico, usa, germany and china
rueda do history
mostly white (before oxidative fortified) meques de riscal from rioja identified verdejo as a possibility for this area mostly protective winemaking in temp control stainless
climate and soils of rueda
similar to toro and ribeira, 700-800 altitude mostly limestone bed rock with sub-layer of sand and clay with stones topsoil (or sand sometimes) - all soils are free draining and low in organic matter
grape varieties of rueda do
verdejo (drought tolerant - good for the region’s drought) sauvignon blanc (also in verdejo blend)
general agricoltural choices in rueda do
- vsp trellising
- harvesting at night
- old bush vines (on sand is ungrafted) is 10%
winemaking choices in rueda do
- inexpensive - protective, cultured yeast
- mid priced - lees ageing
- expensive - ferment/mature oak
mlf always avoided
best rueda producers
ossian bodega belondrade y lurton
labeling laws of rueda do
to have verdejo or sauvignon blanc needs to be 85% of stated variety (mostly 100%) [it will be labeled as rueda-verdejo, rueda-sauvignon blanc]
many producers use still rueda do
red/roses in rueda
from tempraillo, not much famous because of competition with nearby toro and ribera
vineyard area in rueda
quadrupled from 2000 till now competition from othr regions is pushing high quality
sales of rueda
seven times stronger in the last 20-30 years grown in both domestic and export mostly netherlands, germany, usa, switzerland
castilla y leon vt appellation is used for who?
- for wines in the northern part of the meseta with no atlantic influences for producers outside the do boundaries
- for producers in the do that wants more freedom of production plantings are low and inexpensive or mid-priced wines
how big is rioja?
100km long 40km wide
mountains sheltering rioja
sierra de cantabria - north, shelters atlantic weather
sierra de la demanda - south, shelter from weather from the warmer center of the country
river ebro influence in rioja
- flows towards the open and hence ebro valley
- tributaries in valleys that have various aspects and soils
where is rioja located?
inside the community of La Rioja and Alava in the basque country
3 areas of rioja
- rioja alta
- rioja alavesa
- rioja oriental
rioja alta climate
continental with maritime influences
rioja alta sectors
- around the ebro - lower altitude, warm, alluvial soils
- north west - cool, wet, calcareous clay soils
- south - 700mt altitude, cool fet, ferrous clay
rioja alavesa specs
smallest area cool and wet 700mt altitude calcareous clay soils
rioja oriental original name and why he change
rioja baja negative connotation
rioja oriental specs
low altitude (south is high 500-1000mt) warmest driest calcareous/ferrous clay as cool as rioja alta in high temperature
drought problems in rioja
great problems in low altitudes more people are planting in high altitudes