Spain Flashcards
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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
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
-
Aging requirements are longer: 2/3/5 in total for reds with 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, Catayalud and Cariñena.
- Catayalud – 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
Cava DO
- White grapes allowed: Macabeo, Parellada, Xarel.Lo, Char and Malvasia
- Red grapes allowed: Pinot Noir, Monastrell, Garnatxa Negre, Trepat (Trepat only for Rose)
- Cava de Paraje – Single vineyard Cava – are 10yr old vines and wines are on lees for 36mths.
-
Corpinnat – “heart of Penedes” – producers must produce wines from 10yr old vines and must come from the heart of Penedes.
Main goals of Corpinnat as a label is to identify their wines as attached to a certain territory, as opposed to Cava wines that can come from anywhere else in Spain.
Penedes DO
- 3 subregions of Baix (Central), Alt (Superior) and Mitja (Maritim)
- International varieties like PN, Cab Franc, Chenin, Sblanc.
- Vino Dulce de Hielo DO is Ice wine made from Riesling, Moscatel, Gewurz… artificial freezing allowed
- Classic Penedes is 100% Traditional Method Sparkling
- Vi di Mas is single estate vineyard minimum 10yr old vines
- Gran Vi di Mas is single WINE of the Estate minimum 25yr old vines.
Priorat DO
- 2009 was elevated to DOQ/DOCa.
- 12 villages in Priorat: Gratallops, Bellmunt, Torroja del Priorat, Scala Dei, La Morerra, Poboleda, Porrera, La Vilella Baixa, La Vilella Alta, El Lloar, Masos del Terme de Falset, Solanes de Terme de El Molar
- Llicorella a mix of mica schist and quartzite
- Red grapes – Garnacha and Cariyena, also allow Tempranillo, Syrah and other international varieties.
- White grapes – Ganarcha Blanca, Pedro Ximenez and Macabeo
The new Priorat classification
- DOQ Priorat - Regional wine / Regional wine
- DOQ Priorat Vi de Vila (village wine)
- DOQ Priorat Vi de Paratge (lieu-dit) – single site
- DOQ Priorat Vinya classificada (premier cru) – single vineyard – 20 yrs old vines
- DOQ Priorat Gran vinya classificada (grand cru) – 35 yrs old vines
- Old vines – 75 years old or planted before 1945
Red: L’Ermita, Mas de la Rosa, Clos Fonta and Clos Mogador
White: Coma Blanca
Other DOs in Catalonia
- Montsant DO: Similar Llicorella as Priorat soils but less fame
- Tarragona DO: Famous for sweet and fortified wines: Moscatel de Tarragona and Garnatxa de Tarragona. Chartreuse is also from Tarragona.
- Costers del Segre DO: Raimat – Smallest but most famous subzone
- Alella DO: coastal for Garnacha Blanca, Middle part famous for Pansa Blanca (Xarel.Lo)
The traditional wine of the area is sweet and grown on Saulo, a sandy granite topsoil.
Valencia
3 DOs: Valencia DO, Utiel Requina DO and Alicante DO
Valencia DO
- 4 subzones: Alto Turia, Moscatel, Valentina and Clariano
- Alto Turia cultivates a local grape called Merseguera
- Clariano cultivates the red grape Tintorera (Alicante Bouschet)
Alicante DO
- 8 subzones: Vinalopo (most concentrated with Baja, Alto and Medio subregions)
- Fondillon is produced in the town of Monovar. Picked slightedly dehydrated and with 20-50mg RS. Go thru Solera system, taste like Olorosso.
- Doble Pasta is a wine macerated with double the amount of solids and fermented
Murcia
- 3 DOs: Yecla, Jumilla and Bullas DO
- Macabeo is main for whites and Monastrell is primary red grape here.
Central Plateau
3 Main Regions: Madrid DO, Castilla La Mancha DO, Extremadura DO
Madrid DO
- 4 subzones: Agranda (largest), Navalcarnero, San Martin de Valdeiglesias and El Molar (newest in 2019)
- Tempranillo is grown mostly, followed by Garnacha and Albillo.
Castilla-La-Mancha
8 DOs located within: La Mancha, Ribera del Jucar, Valdepenas, Mentrida, Mondejar, Almansar, Ucles and Manchuela.
La Mancha DO
Ribera del Jucar DO
- La Mancha DO: Cencibel (Tempranillo) and Airen is grown abundantly. Vines are head trained in a system called Marco Real, vines are spaced 2.5m for enough water
- Ribera del Jucar DO: Reds from Tempranillo and Syrah. Whites from Sblanc and Moscatel
Extremadura
- Only one DO: Ribera del Guadiana DO
- Tierra de Barros is the largest sub-region
- Local red mostly Bobal
Andalucia
6 DOs: Jerez-Xeres-Sherry, Condado de Huelva, Montilla -Morilles, Malaga, Sierra do Malaga, Granada
Jerez Xeres Sherry DO (1)
- 2 DO in the region: Jerez-Xeres-Sherry DO and Manzanilla-Sanlucar de Barrameda
- 3 main towns: Jerez de la Frontera, El Puerto de Santa Maria and Sanlucar de Barrameda
- 3 Pagos located in Jerez de la Frontera are: Mancharnudo (largest), Anina and Carrascal
- 3 soil types: Albariza (Chalk), Barros (Clay), Arenas (Sand)
- 3 permitted grapes: Palomino, Moscatel de Alejandria, PX
Jerez Xeres Sherry DO (2)
- Palma: Fine delicate Sherry where flor has flourished protecting the wine from oxidation. Become Fino – a current-day Fino of three to four years
- Palma Cortada: a robust Fino which may become Amontillado – biological maturation is less intense, and show light traces of oxidation
- Palo Cortado: Although flor is still present, the wine’s richness leads the cellar master to redirect the wine toward an oxidative aging path. The wine will be fortified after Sobretablas to at least 17% abv, destroying the veil of flor that protects it from oxygen
- After the second classification, the Sherry wines go through the Solera system for a minimum of 2yrs.
- There are rows of barrels each called a Criadera stacked upon each other from 2 up to 14 rows. For every 1litre of wine removed and moved to the next Criadera, 2litres must remain. This movement of wine is called Trasiegos
helping to oxygenate and also add nutrients from older wine to newer wine. - Eventually the wine completes and is sold as Fino, Oloroso, Amontillado, Palo Cortado, Manzanilla (Fina, Pasada, Ananda)
- Sweetening agents – Dulce Pasa is mistela (Spanish Liqueur) produced from sundried Palomino.
- Dulce de almibar is sugar mixed with fino
-
Sancocho is boiled syrup and fresh must reduced to 1/3 whilst Arrope is 1/5.
These add color and form Pale, Cream, Dry and Medium Sherries by adding to Fino, Oloroso or Amontillado’sherry. - VOS and VORS are sherries that have remained in Solera for 20 and 30yrs respectively.
Jerez Xeres Sherry DO (3)
- A Venancia is a tool for serving sherry from a 600L American Sherry Butt
- A Venanciador is a guy who serves the sherry
- A Copita is the sherry glass that it is served in
Condado do Huelva DO
- Similar Albariza soils to Jerez
- Palido wines are pale and aged under Flor like Sherry. Viejo wines are oxidized like Oloroso wines and are higher in alcohol 17-22%
- Palomino, PX, Moscatel… a unique dry white wine made from a local grape called Zalema
Montilla Moriles DO
Makes Sherry styled wines predominantly from Pedro Ximenez and Moscatel.
Malaga and Sierras de Malaga DO
- 5 subzones for Malaga DO: Serrania de Ronda (dry wine zone)
- Sierras de Malaga DO is for dry styles only
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Local grapes:
White: Doradillo, Lairen
Red: Rome
Granada DO
- Latest DO in Spain in 2021
- A unique local white grape Vijiriego is produced here and for Espumoso Granada wines, the minimum amount is 70%
Balearic Islands
- 1 DO with 2 appellations: Mallorca with Pia I Levant and Binissalem
- Red grape: Manto Negro
- White grape: Moll (Prensa Blanc)
- Pia I Levant: a local red grape called Fogoneu makes red, Rosado and sparkling
Canary Islands
- 7 major islands: La Palma, La Gomera, El Hierro, Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura
- White grape: Listan Blanco (Palomino), Malvasia Volcanica (Malvasia Lipari and Marmajuelo crossing)
- Red grape: Listan Negro
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Tenerife is the largest island with Mt Teide – volcano
5 DOs in Tenerife: Tacoronte-Acentejo, Valle de la Orotava, Ycoden-Daute-Isora, Abona and Valle de Guimar
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