Spain Flashcards
Poniente wind
Blow from Atlantic side
Spain wine classification
DOP: - Vino de Pago (VP)
- DOCa / DOQ
- DO (79 official regions)
IGP: larger regional zones with slightly lower requirements than DOP, sometimes also labeled as Vino de la Tierra (VdiT)
Vino: Vino de Mesa or “table wine”, Many wines are labeled simply Tinto (“red”) or Blanco (“white”)
Ageing requirement: General DO/DOCa
Red (Total + oak)
“ 2+0.5 Crianza
“ 3+1 Reserva
“ 5+1.5 Gran Reserva
White and Rosado (Total + oak)
“ 1.5+0.5
“ 2+0.5
“ 4+0.5
Additional Spanish ageing Terminology
Joven: “young” wine with minimal to no oak influence
Noble: Min 1.5 yrs total in oak or in bottle
Anejo: Min 2 yrs total in oak or in bottle
Viejo: Min 3 yrs in oak and demonstrates marked oxidative characters.
Oak cask max capacity 600L
Vino de Pago: Castilla La Mancha
- Dominio de Valdepusa (2003)
- Finca Elez (2003)
- Dehesa del Carrizal (2006)
Vino de Pago: Navarra
- Prado de Irache (2008)
- Otazu (2009)
Vino de Pago: Valencia
- El Terrerazo (2010)
- Chozas de Carrascal (2020)
Vino de Pago: Aragon
Ayles (2011)
Vino de Pago: Castille Y Leon
- Abadia Retuerta (2022)
- Dehesa Penalba (2022)
Galicia (5 DOs)
Rias Baixas, Ribeiro, Ribera Sacra, Valdeorras, Monterrei
Rias Baixas DO (5 Subzones)
Val do Salnes, Ribeira do Ulla, Soutomaior, O Rosal, Condado do Tea
White grapes used: Albarino, Caino Blanco, Godello, Loureira, Treixadura and Torrontes
Red: Mencia, Loureira Tinta, Caino Tinto
Ribeira Sacra (5 subzones)
Chantada, Ribeira do Mino, Ribeira do Sil, Quiroga Bibei, Amandi (highest quality)
white same as Rias Baixas, red Mencia
Summum is a term on labels for 85% permitted principal grapes
- Valdeorras
- Monterrei
- Ribero
- very good wines from Godello
- Borders Portugal. Makes Red from Mencia and White from Godello
- Aromatic whites with local grapes
Asturias, Cantabria, Basque County
- Asturias: One VCIG of Cangas – “Vino de Calidad con Indicación Geográfica”, which means “quality wine with geographical indication”. Not a DO.
-
Basque County: 3 DOs – Txakoli de Bizkaia (progressive) , Txakoli de Getaria (traditional), Txakoli de Alava (smallest & newest)
- Whites from Hondarabbi Zuri, Folle Blanche, Ugni Blanc, Petit Manseng
Reds from Hondarabbi Beltza.
Duero River Valley
9 DOs:
North of River - Bierzo, Tierra y Leon, Cigales, Arlanza
River - Arribes, Terra Vino del Zamora, Toro, Rueda, Ribera del Duero
Bierzo DO
- Divided into Alto and Baja Bierzo. Based on Mencia
- New system introduced to Bierzo with 5 tiers: Regional, Villa, Paraje ,Vino de Vina Classificada, Gran Vino de Vina Classificada.
Rueda DO
- 50% Min of Verdejo or Sblanc. Reds are Tempranillo based.
- Rueda Pálido – A dry, fortified wine made from the Palomino Fino and/or Verdejo varietals
Ribera del Duero DO
- Tinta del Pais or Tinto Fino (both tempranillo..) for reds 95% min.
- Albillo Mayor is the sole white grape permitted
- Aging requirements for Crianza and Gran Reserva is extra 6mths in wood.
Cigales DO
León DO
Toro DO
Arribes DO
Cigales DO: Rosado wines from Garnacha and Tempranillo
León DO: indigenious grape Prieto Picudo
Toro DO: Either min 75% Tempranillo (Tinta del Toro) or min 85% Garnacha
Arribes DO: Near the Portuguese border with Brunal and Juan Garcia indigenious red grapes
Ebro River Valley
3 DOs : Rioja DOCa, Navarra and Aragon DO
Rioja DOCa
- 3 Subzones: Rioja Alta, Rioja Alavesa and Rioja Oriental.
- Permitted red grapes: Tempranillo, Garnacha, Mazuelo, Graciano, Maturana Tinta.
- Permitted white grapes: Viura, Chardonnay, Sblanc, Garnacha Blanca, Maturana Blanca, Tempranillo Blanca and Turruntes
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Aging requirements are longer: 2/3/5 in total for reds with 1yr in oak for Crianza, 1yr in oak and 6 mths in bottle for reserva, 2yrs in oak and 2yrs in bottle for Gran Reserva.
Whites: 1.5/2/4 with 6mths in oak. - Vino Espumoso Calidad Rioja: 15mths for Crianza, 24 for Reserva and 36 for Gran Ananda sur lie.
Navarra DO
- 5 subzones: Ribera Alta, Ribera Baja, Tierra Estella, Valdizarbe, Baja Montana
- Popular for Rosados that must be Saignee method from Garnacha
Aragon DO
- 4 DOs are housed within Aragon: Campo Borja, Somontano, Calatayud and Cariñena.
- Calatayud – largest DO with major plantings of Garnacha. Vinas Viejas must be 35yrs old min. Superior labelled wines must be 85% Garnacha that are more than 50yrs old.
- Red grapes are mostly Garnacha, Cariñena, tempranillo
-
Somontano
– Local grapes are Alcanon (white), Moristel (red) and Parraleta (red)
Catalonia
DOs: Cava, Penedes, Priorat, Montsant, Tarragona, Conca de Barbera,
Costers del Segre, Terra Alta, Allela, Pla de Bages, Emporda, Catalunya DO