WSET diploma : Unit 3: Spain > Spain > Flashcards
Spain Flashcards
When did Ribera Del Duero achieve DO status?
1982
What is the main river in Rioja DOCa?
The Ebro, however, it is names after a small tributary called Oja.
What are the main synonyms for Tempranillo in Spain?
Tinto Del Pais Tinto Fino Tinta Del Toro Ull De Llebre Cencibel
What are the wine regions of Nth Central Spain?
Rioja DOCa, Navarra DO, Campo De Borja DO, Calatayud DO, Carinena DO, Somontano DO
When were DO regulations approved in Spain?
1970
When were the Consejos Reguladores established? Which were the first?
1930s. Rioja, Jerez, Malaga
How was the introduction of Barrcas different in Rioja?
Because Of their American colonies, Spainards bought back American oak.
What was the effect of odium and phylloxera on Spain?
Many Bordeaux winemakers came to Rioja to bridge the interruption in their own v/ yards introduced grape varieties, Barricas and estate bottling
Are whites and rosados produced in Ribera Del Duero DO?
Rosados yes, but whites no
What is Penedes DO?
Area for Cava in NE Spain on the Catalan coast
What are typical Vinification procedures in Priorat DOCa?
Blending Garnacha and Carinena with French varietals.
Managing alcohol.
What are the traditional varietals in Priorat DOCa?
Garnacha
Carinena
What types of wine are produced in Priorat DOCa?
Red, white and Rosado
Describe Tempranillo
Means Temprano (early) is country’s premier black grape appears throughout N/ Spain. Likes chalky soils, grows well in cool climates. Strawberry scented, low in acidity shows it best when blended. Ages well.
Key regions of Spain
Upper Ebro: Navarra, Rioja, Somontano
Catalonia: Catalonia, Costers Del Segre, Penedes, Priorat, Tarragona
Duero Valley: Ribera Del Duero, Rueda, Toro
Levante: Valencia
Castilla- La Mancha: La Mancha, Valdepenas
Is there red Rias Baixas DO?
Yes, but 90% of the acreage is devoted to Albariño
What are the labelling stipulations of Rias Baixas DO?
If it says Albariño it must be 100% Albariño if labelled with a subzone, must be @ least 70% Albariño
What is the main grape of Rias Baixas DO?
Albariño
What are the DO regions of green Spain (NE Spain)?
Rias Baixas, Ribeira Sacra, Valdeorras, Monterrei, Getariako Txakolina, Bizkaiko Txakolina, Arabako Txakolina
When was Rioja elevated to DOCa?
1991
Describe Albariño
White grape, Basque and Galician parts of Altlantic. Light, crisp, aromatic variety
Describe Malvasia
White grape, makes full- bodied heavy whites, usually main component of very best, traditional style Riojas, it’s richness can balance lightness of Viura.
Describe Viura
Macabeo, white grape, Rioja, gives whites with good fruit and acidity but yields must be restricted
Describe Monastrel
Mourvèdre, black grape, grown in South- Eastern DOs ie Yecla and Jamilla gives very dark, powerful spicy wines.
Describe Mazeuelo
Carignan, black grape, named in Rioja, wines high in acidity, tannin and colour. Small proportion makes ideal blend with Tempranillo
Describe Graciano
Black grape, Plantings now very limited because of low yields. Grown mainly in Rioja, used for finest wines. Small quantities used for powerful aromas, body and tannins help wines age.
Describe Garnacha
Grenache. Most widely planted black grape in Spain, big yield, high in alcohol, matures early. Widely used for Rosados.
What is the largest demarcated wine DO in Spain?
La Mancha
What are the aging regs for wines labeled Crianza?
Red must age a minimum of 2 yrs with @ least 6 mth in cask.
White and Rosados must age a minimum of 12 mths with @ least 6 mths in cask.
Describe Carinena
Cardigan, black, named in Spain except Rioja (Mazuelo), wines high in acidity, tannin and colour. Small proportion makes ideal blend with Tempranillo should not be confused with Carinena DO
Describe Macabeo
White grape, Catalunya, gives whites with good fruit and acidity but yields must be restricted. In Catalunya blended with Parelada and Xarel- Lo.
Name the subzones of Rioja
Alta, Alavesa, Baja
Describe San Antonio Valley
With Leyda. Newer area closest to the Pacific. Water resources scarce. Cool morning fogs and hillside vineyards. Sauv Blanc, Pinot Noir, Riesling
Grapes of Spain?
Red: Local: Temp, Grenache, Monastrell. Inter: C/ S, Merlot
White: Local: Airen, Viura, Verdejo, Albariño. Inter: Chard, Sav Blanc
Climate and weather?
North: Maritime or Continental.
Continental in the Centre and away from coast
South and East: Mediterranean.
Little variation in vintages
Vini of Spain?
Traditional ferm and use of old wood.
Modern ferm w/ Temp control and use of stainless and new oak
Viti of Spain?
Largest area under vine, third in volume. Vines are trained on wires in better regions. Low bush trained, widely spaced in arid regions.
Many small holders sell to merchants or co- ops
What are the blends for Rosado Toro DO?
Saignee blends of Tinto De Toro (Tempranillo) and Garnacha
What types of wine does Toro DO produce?
Red wine and rosado
What are Espumoso wines from Rueda DO?
Sparkling wines, both Rosado and white.
Brut requires min 85% Verdejo.
What are the blending requirements of Rosado Rueda DO?
Min 50% red grapes
What are the blending requirements of white Rueda DO?
Minimum 50% Verdejo, often blended with Viura.
Can also be varietally labelled as Verdejo or Sauv Blanc
When did Rueda receive its DO?
1980
What is the DO surrounding Priorat and what kind of wines are produced there?
Montsant surrounds Priorat and uses the same blend; Grenache, Carinena, Cab Sauv, Syrah, Merlot and Tempranillo
What kind of wine does Toro DO mainly produce?
Dry red wines based on Grenacha and Tempranillo
Where is Vega Sicilla located?
Ribera Del Duero
What is the traditional wine style of Tarragona?
Tarragona Classico Licoso which is a sweet red fortified wine matured in Oak
Where is Montilla Moriles and what kind of wine is produced?
Montilla Moriles is located in Spain and it produces strong white wines made from PX and blended in Solera system.
According to Spanish wine law of 2003, the term Anejo refers to a wine that has been aged for how long?
24 months in cask or bottle
What was the first DOCa?
Rioja
What are the aging regs for wines labelled Reserva?
Red wine must age for 3 yrs with a minimum 1 yr in cask. Whites and roses must age 2 yrs with a minimum 6 mths in cask.
What are the aging regs for wines labeled Gran Reserva?
Red wines must age for 5 yrs with a minimum 1.5 yrs in cask. Whites and roses must age 4 yrs with a minimum 6 mths in wood.
What are the 3 DOCa of Spain?
Rioja
Priorat
Ribera Del Duero
DO that makes good quality reds from Monastreil
Jumilla
What is Valdepenas and which varietals are used?
Valdepenas is a DO in Spain.
Cencibel (Temp) for Reds.
Airen fro whites.
Roses and light reds from a mixture.
How are the sweeter style wines in Montila Moriles produced?
Fortification
What usually happens to dry white wines in Montilla Moriles?
Dry white wines are attacked by Flor
What are the most highly rated wines of Navarra DO and which varietals are used in its production?
Roses made mostly from Grenache
Name 2 sub- districts of Navarra
Baja Montana Ribera Alta Ribera Baja Tierra Estella Valdizarbe
Soils of Spain?
North- West: Granite
South- East: Sand
North- East: Centre
South- West: Limestone/ Chalk
Crianza?
2 yrs aging, 6 must be in cask (12 mths in cask for Rioja)
Gran Reserva?
Red: 5 yrs min, 18 mths in cask (24 in cask for Rioja)
Rose/ White: 4 yrs min, 6 in cask
Key regions of Spain
Upper Ebro: Navarra, Rioja, Somontaro,
Catalonia: Catalonia, Costers Del Segre, Penedes, Priorat, Tarragona
Duero Valley: Ribera Del Duero, Rudea, Toro,
Lavante: Valencia
Castilla- La Mancha: La Mancha, Valdepenas
Reserva?
Red: 3 yrs min, 12 mths on cask
Rose/ White: 2 yr min, 6 mths in cask
Spanish wine laws: 4 categories
Vino De Mesa
Vino De La Tierra
DO
DOCa (only Rioja, Priorat)
What are the DOs of Castilla- La Mancha?
La Mancha, Mentrida, Menchuela, Almansa, Ribera Del Jucar, Valdepenas, Monejar, Ucles
What are the DOs of the Levant (Murica and Valencia)?
Jumilla Yecla Bullas Valencia Alicante Utiel- Requena
What is the main white varietal of Navarra?
Viura
Where is Cava located?
Penedes
What are the 3 sub regions of Penedes?
Baix- Penedes
Medio- Penedes
Alt- Penedes
What are the two main grapes used for production in Cava and which sub- region are they mostly grown?
Xarello and Macabeo are mostly grown in Medio- Penedes
Where are top quality grapes grown in Priorat?
In slate soils on the slopes of the Priorat Mtns.
What are the varietals used to produce Priorat red wines?
Grenache, Carinena, Cab Sauv, Syrah, Merlot and Tempranillo
What is Licorella?
Mix of Black Slate and Quartlite.
Found in Priorat DOCa.
How much of Cava’s total production done in Penedes DO?
95%
Where and why is Penedes DO suited for Cava?
Al- Penedes is one of Europe’s highest wine growing regions and great for Parellada.
What are the sub- zones of Penedes DO?
Baix- Penedes
Medio- Penedes
Alt- Penedes
What are the DOs of Catalonia?
Costers Del Segre, Priorat, Monstant, Tarragona, Penedes, Alella, Emporda, Pla De Bages, Conca De Barbera, Terra Alta
What is special about Cava DO?
Only DO that covers a style rather than a region
What are the DOs of the Balearic Islands?
Binissalem Mallorca
Pia Illevant
What are the DOs of Extremadura?
Ribera Del Guadiana
What are the DOs of Madrid?
Vinos De Madrid
How much time must Cava spend on the lees? Riserva? Gran Riserva?
4 mths
15 mths
30 mths
Beside Parellada, Xarel- Lo, Macabeu, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Monastrell, What grapes are allowed in Cava?
Garnacha Tinta
Trepat
Malvasia (Subirat)
Who introduced Mt to Spain? when?
Jose Raventos of Codomiu in 1872
What types of wines are produced in Baix Penedes?
High- alcohol reds and Rosado from Garnacha and Monastreil
What are Dorado wines from Rueda DO?
Dry fortified, oxidised wines
What are the blends for white toro DO?
Verdejo or Malvasia
What are the DO regions of Castilla Y Leon?
Ribera Del Duero, Rueda, Toro, Tierra Del Vino De Zamora, Arribes, Tierra De Leon, Bierzo, Arlanza, Cigales
Mistela (SP)
Unfermented grape juice combined with the addition of alcohol
Lias (SP)
Lees
Hollejo (SP)
Grape skin
Heces (Sp)
Sediment found in an aged bottle of wine or found in a tank after fermentation
Granvas (Sp)
Tank fermented sparkling wine
Doble Pasta (Sp)
Wines made with twice as many Black grape skins as normal fruit
Cosecha (Sp)
Harvest or vintage
Casca (Sp)
Leftover grape skins and seeds
Bodega (Sp)
Winery
Anada (Sp)
Vintage
Andana (Sp)
A stack of wine casks, usually 5 tiers high
Almacenista (Sp)
Producers and growers who make and age their own Sherry to be later sold to a licensed Sherry house.
Aguja (Sp)
Wine that has naturally dissolved Carbon Dioxide and gives a slight prickle on the tongue
Vendimia (Sp)
Vintage or harvest
Vino Generoso (Sp)
Fortified Wine
What are the varietal regs. for Rueda Espumoso and Rueda Superior?
Must contain a minimum of 85% Verdejo
What are the varietals used to produce white wines from Rioja?
Viura
Malvasia
Grenache Blanc
Name 3 subzones of Rias Baixas?
Val Do Salnes Condado Do Tea O Rosal Soutomaior Ribera Do Ulla
What are the varietals used to produce Ribera Del Duero red wines?
Mostly Tempranillo with the rest of the blend smaller amounts of Grenache, Cab Sauv, Merlot, Malbec
Spain possesses the largest grape average in the world, True or False?
True
What is the name of a high quality red wine in Ribera Del Duero made from 100% Tempranillo?
Pesquera
What is the largest category within Spain’s wine quality pyramid?
DO wines, Vinos De Denominaciones De Origen
Give three synonyms for Tempranillo
Tinto Del Pais (Ribera Del Duero), Tinta De Toro (Toro), Cencibel (La Mancha)
Most of the wine produced in Bairrada is red, True or False?
True
How does Spanish wine law differ from French wine law?
They rank individual estates, as well as have aging requirements.
Where is Albarinos home?
Rias Baixas
Does Albariño have thick or thin skins? How does this help/ hurt where it’s grown?
Thick skinned. Helps withstand damp coastal climate of Rias Baixas. Produced high alcohol, high acid and high aromatics
Min alcohol for Priorat
14.5%
What is the main red grape of Bierzo?
Mencia
What are the 3 main provinces within Ribera Del Duero?
Valladolid, Burgos and Soria
What is the main river in Rioja?
Ebro
In which Spanish DO is Fondillon produced?
Alicante
What are the subzones of Vinos De Madrid?
Arganda, Navalcarnero, San Martin De Valdeiglesias
What is Vino De Aguja?
Spanish semi- sparkling wine
Dominio De Pingus is produced in what Spanish DO?
Ribero Del Duero
Capital of Province Rioja
Logronon
Navarra vineyards, where and climate
Downstream from Rioja, extend from the valley floor to foothills of the Pyrenees, results: broad variation in soil and climate
Explain training in Rioja
Generally bush vines, wires- training only permitted for experimental purposes only.
Name 1 key white grape of the La Mancha DO wines of the Messeta region of Spain. Name 1 of 3 key Black grapes.
W- Airen
B- Tempranillo, CS, Syrah
Key grape of the Ribera Del Duero and Toro DO wines?
Tempranillo
Name 2 of the 4 key Black varietals of the Priorat DOC region?
Grenache Carinena
Cab Sav
Syrah
Pinot Noir
What grape dominates in Rioja Baja?
Garnacha
Where is the label term DOCa used and what does it mean?
Highest level of quality in Spain (only Rioja and Priorato)
Castilla- La- Mancha
La Mancha, Valdepenas
What region is Valencia?
Levante region
What region is Rias Baixas in?
Galicia Region
Ribera Del Duero, Rueda, Toro
Duero Valley Region
Catalonia
Catalonia, Costers Del Segre, Penedes, Priorato, Tarragona
Upper Ebro Region
Navarra, Rioja, Somontano
Spain
Weather effects on vintage
North and Atlantic- Varying vintages affected especially by rain
Where is Verdejo mostly grown?
Rueda
Where is Puerto De Santa Maria?
Jerez
Red wines from Rioja are made from which varietal?
Tempranillo
What is Valdepenas DO?
Valley of Rocks. Surrounded by La Mancha. Whites and Rosado from Airen and Cencibel
What are the DOs of the Canary Islands excluding Tenerlife?
La Palma, El Hierro, La Comera, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Monte Lentiscal (formerly a DO, absorbed into Gran Canaria)
What are the DOs of Andalucia?
Jerez- Xeres- Sherry, Manzanilla Sanlucar De Barrameda, Malaga, Sierras De Malaga, Montilla- Moriles, Conado Du Huelua
What is the main red varietal in Ribera Del Duero?
Tinto Fino
What grape dominates Plantings in Rioja Baja?
Garnacha
Name the subregions of Rias Baixas?
Val Do Salnes, Ribera Do Ulla, Soutomaior, O Rosal, Condado Do Tea
What are the subregions of the Douro Valley?
Cima Corgo, Baixo Corgo, Douro Superior
Where are wines labeled summum produced?
Ribera Sacra Do
What is Vino De Aguja?
Spanish semi- sparkling wine
What is the principal grape of Pamela DOP?
Castelao
What is Rueda DO best known for producing?
Best white wine producing regions in Spain made from @ least 50% Verejo plus Viura
What are the grapes typically found in Ribera Del Duero DO red? Rose?
Tempranillo, Cab Sav, merlot, Malbec, Garnacha Tinta, White Albillo In Rosado
History- Spain
Long production history, important wine producer in Roman Times, supplying most of the wine drunk in Rome.
Important influence of French wine making techniques (especially barrel ageing) introduced in mid 19th Century.
Many recent changes in viticulture, winemaking and laws while keeping of the traditions.
Wine Laws- Spain
Continuously developing. Hierarchy is:
Vino de Mesa- Table wine, no geographical name on label
Vino de la Tierra (VdlT)- Equivalent to Vin de Pays, approximately 40.
Vinos de Calidad con Indicación Geográfica (VCIG)- Stepping stone to higher quality levels. VCIG areas must wait five years before consideration for promotion.
Denominacion de Origen (DO)- Equivalent to AOC, approximately 60. Must satisfy a minimum quality. Grape varieties, viticultural method, location and style specified. Must wait ten years for consideration for DOCa.
Denominacion de Origen- Pago (DO Pago)- New Category. Outstanding single estates that fall inside or outside DO areas, using only own grapes to make wine.
Denominacion de Origen Calificada (DOC, DOCa, DOQ)- Defined very high quality regions. Only two areas with this distinction, Rioja and Priorate. DOCa wines are controlled by Consejo Regulator that test and guarantee the quality.
Vino Joven (Young Wine)- Spain
May or may not have spent time in oak cask. Bottled in year following vintage for release.
Crianza- Spain
Red aged at least two years when released. Minimum six months cask ageing. White and rosado one year before release with six months in ageing.
Riserva- Spain
Reds aged three years with one year in oak before release. White and rosado aged two years with six months in oak.
Gran Reserva- Spain
Made in exceptional vintages. Reds aged five years before release with two years in oak. Whites and rosado’s aged four years with six months in oak. Gran Reserva not often seen through for whites and rosado.
Riserva and Gran Reserva wines often aged much longer than the minimum period
Additional labelling Terms- Spain
Noble- One year ageing minimum, no requirement for ageing in oak
Anejo- Two years ageing, no requirement for ageing in oak.
Viejo- Three years ageing, no requirements for oak, but the wine must display a marked oxidative effect.
Viticulture- Spain
Spain has the greatest area under vine but is not the largest producer of wine. Low yielding, still predominately low density planting, bush trained vines. New v/yards are planted with wire trained vines.
Vinification- Spain
Traditionally partial carbonic maceration, or fermented free run juice with solid pulp pressings added back to give colour and tannin.
Modern practice for quality wine is to ferment on skins with controlled pumping over to extract colour and tannin. When the wine is part fermented it is drained, the pulp sent to the press and the press wine is wholly or partial mixed back with the free run depending on factors such as harvest and style or price expected.
Whites picked carefully for balanced sugar and acidity. Limited handling to prevent oxidation. Quality whites are temperature controlled during fermentation. Cool maceration used for delicate whites to extract aromatics. Some barrel fermentation used.
Rosa’s are fermented to dry from juice fermented on skins for 12-24 hours then pressed off. Fermentation is temperature controlled.
Tempranillo- Spain
Premier red grape. Panted variety in Northern Spain, synonyms include Cencibel, Tinto Fino, Ull de Llebre. An early ripening variety that prefers chalky soil and a moderate climate. Wine produced is strawberry scented and high in acidity, blends and ages well.
Garnacha (Grenache)- Spain
Most planted black grape. High yields with high alcohol and wine matures early. Used for rosados.
Graciano- Spain
Plantings limited, mainly in Rioja. Used in the finest wines, low yielding producing powerful aromas, full body and tannins. Ages well.
Mazuelo (Rioja), Carinena (rest of Spain) (Carignan)- Spain
Produces wine high in acidity, tannin and colour. Blends well with Tempranillo.
Monastrell (Mouvedre)- Spain
Grown in the south east. Produces dark, powerful, spicy wines.
Viura (Rioja), Macabeo (Catalunya)- Spain
Macabeu from Southern France. Good fruit and acidity when grown with low yields. Blended in Rioja, and used in the blend for Cava production in Catalunya.
Malvasia- Spain
Full- bodied whites. Used for traditional oak aged Rioja in a blend with Viura where it contributes richness.
Albarino- Spain
Grown along Atlantic coast in Galicia. Produces crisp, aromatic wines.
Verdejo- Spain
Mainly in Rueda. Oxidses easily, but when carefully handled can produce powerful aromatic whites.
International Varieties- Spain
Often well suited to the climate/ soil type. High quality potential, produced varietally or in a blend with local grapes. Commonly grown are Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Chardonnay.
Consejo Regulador
Spanish term meaning ‘regulating council’. Spanish wine law is administered through a network of Consejos Reguladores representing each and every do. They comprise vine-growers, wine producers, and merchants who between them decide on the ground rules for their region.
DOCa
Denominación de Origen Calificada, is the highest Spanish wine quality denomination, the elite of do/dop, reserved for regions complying with certain conditions including above-average grape prices, and particularly stringent quality controls. rioja was the first Spanish region to be awarded DOCa status, in 1991, followed by priorat in 2002.
DO
Stands for Denominación de Origen, the name of Spain’s pdo denomination, which is now widely called dop, Denominación de Origen Protegida.
Cataluña
Catalonia in English, a proud and industrious region on the Mediterranean coast which encompasses a part of southern France (see roussillon) and a part of north east Spain (see maps under france and spain), some of whose inhabitants do not consider themselves French or Spanish, and even if they do, think of themselves as Catalan first. Cataluña is one of Spain’s 17 autonomous regions with Barcelona its capital. Barcelona and its densely populated hinterland is a hive of enterprise and industry and it is therefore no coincidence that Cataluña was at the vanguard of Spain’s 20th-century winemaking revolution. The region began to stir in the early 1870s when José Raventos began making sparkling wine by the traditional method in the small town of Sant Sadurni d’Anoia. He founded the giant codorníu firm, and his foresight generated the cava industry which earned its own Denominación de Origen in 1986. In addition to most of Spain’s Cava, Cataluña produces an eclectic range of wines from traditional, powerful reds to cool-fermented dry whites. Much of the credit for the transformation of Cataluña’s wine industry in the late 20th century must go to the late Don Miguel Torres Carbó and his son Miguel A. torres, who imported international vine varieties to plant alongside indigenous varieties such as garnacha, monastrell, and tempranillo (called Ull de Llebre in Catalan), and the Cava grapes, parellada, macabeo, and xarello. The climate in Cataluña is strongly influenced by the Mediterranean. The coastal belt is warm and equable with moderate rainfall but conditions become progressively more arid and extreme further inland. There are ten do regions: alella, empordà, conca de barberá, costers del segre, montsant, penedès, pla de bages, priorat, tarragona, and terra alta plus the new, controversial catch-all DO catalunya. Of these, Penedès is the most important in terms of quantity, although the late-20th-century transformation of Priorat resulted in some of Spain’s highest wine prices. Cataluña has long been an important centre of cork production and is a particularly important source of corks for sparkling wines.
Penedes
Sometimes spelt Penedés or Panadés, the largest and most important denominated wine zone in cataluña in north-east Spain (see map under spain), producing an innovative range of wines from 15,200 ha/36,500 acres of vineyard in 2013. With its proximity to Barcelona, Penedès has always had a ready outlet for its wines. In the 19th century, it was one of the first regions in Spain to begin mass production and France, stricken by phylloxera, became an important market. The phylloxera louse reached Penedès in 1887, by which time José Raventós had laid the foundations of codorníu and the cava industry. Vineyards that had once produced strong, semi-fortified reds were uprooted in favour of white grapes for sparkling wine. Cava has subsequently developed a separate nationally organized do. Penedès underwent a second radical transformation in the 1960s and 1970s largely because of Miguel Torres Carbó and his son Miguel A. torres, wine (and brandy) producers in the heart of the region at Vilafranca del Penedès. They were among the first in Spain to install temperature control and stainless steel tanks. Miguel Torres, Jr, who studied oenology in France, also imported and experimented with such revolutionary vine varieties as Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Riesling, and Gewürztraminer, which were planted alongside and blended with native varieties. Other growers followed in the Torres family footsteps and Penedès was in the 1980s one of the most dynamic and varied wine regions in Spain. By the late 1990s, however, the region was failing to confirm the high hopes placed in its red wines, which were increasingly overshadowed by those of priorat. Penedès rises from the Mediterranean like a series of steps and divides into three distinct zones. Bajo, or Low, Penedès reaches elevations of 250 m/825 ft away from the tourist resorts of the Costa Daurada. This is the warmest part of the region which traditionally grew Malvasía and Moscatel de Alejandría (muscat of alexandria) grapes for sweet fortified wines. With the expansion of the resort towns and declining sales of such wines, these vineyards have either been abandoned or replanted with garnacha, cariñena, or monastrell making sturdy reds. The second zone, Medio Penedès, is a broad valley 500 m/1,600 ft above sea level, separated from the coast by a ridge of hills, the Garraf chain, which has ambitions to be a separate subappellation. The Medio Penedès is the most productive part of the region providing much of the base wine for the sparkling wine industry at Sant Sadurní d’Anoia (see cava). macabeo, xarel-lo, and parellada are grown for Cava, together with increasing quantities of Chardonnay and red varieties such as tempranillo (often called here by its Catalan name Ull de Llebre) and Cabernet Sauvignon. Penedès Superior, between 500 and 800 m above the coast, is the coolest part of the region where some of the best white grapes are grown. The native Parellada is the most important variety here, but Riesling, Muscat of Alexandria, Gewürztraminer, and Chardonnay are also successful.
Consejo Regulador
Spanish term meaning ‘regulating council’ (see comité interprofessionnel). Spanish wine law is administered through a network of Consejos Reguladores representing each and every do. They comprise vine-growers, wine producers, and merchants who between them decide on the ground rules for their region.
Bodega
Spanish term for a wine cellar, a winery, or a tavern or grocery store selling wine.
Finca
Spanish for estate. Finca Élez is a Spanish do created especially for the high-elevation estate of Manuel Manzaneque.
Vinedo Vina
Spanish word for vineyard.
Vino de Mesa
the old Spanish term for table wine, the most basic category of wine now known as wine without geographical indication.
Vino De La Tierra
wines from legally designated zones in spain which have not qualified for dop status. With changes to eu denominations (see pgi), this category is now known as IGP or Indicación Geográfica Protegida, a term which can also be found on Spanish labels and which may eventually replace it.
DO
stands for Denominación de Origen, the name of Spain’s pdo denomination, which is now widely called dop, Denominación de Origen Protegida.
DOCa
Denominación de Origen Calificada, is the highest Spanish wine quality denomination, the elite of do/dop, reserved for regions complying with certain conditions including above-average grape prices, and particularly stringent quality controls. rioja was the first Spanish region to be awarded DOCa status, in 1991, followed by priorat in 2002.
Joven
Spanish for young. Some wines destined for early consumption are sometimes sold as a Vino Joven.
Crianza
Spanish term used both to describe the process of ageing a wine and also for the youngest officially recognized category of a wood-matured wine. A crianza red wine may not be sold until its third (second for whites and rosés) year, and must have spent a minimum of six months in cask. Crianza white and rosé must be aged for at least 18 months, including six months in wood. In rioja and other regions such as ribera del duero, where the term is most commonly used, the wine must have spent at least 12 months in oak barricas. An increasingly frequent, albeit unofficial, category now is semi-crianza, or roble (meaning oak), for wine aged in cask for less time than the crianza minimum. With the term joven fully accepted for fruity young wines without cask ageing, the slightly derogatory description sin crianza had all but disappeared by the late 1990s.
Reserva
Term used in both Spain and Portugal to distinguish wines from a supposedly good vintage. In Portugal, a Reserva is a wine from a good vintage with an alcohol level at least half a per cent above the regional minimum. In Spain, a red wine labelled Reserva will have had at least three years’ ageing in cask and bottle, of which a year must be in oak cask (barricas are stipulated for Rioja). The wine may not be released until the fourth year after the harvest. Spanish white and rosé wines labelled Reserva must spend a total of at least two years in cask and bottle to qualify, with at least six months of this period in oak.
Gran Reserva
Spanish term for a wine supposedly from an outstanding vintage which has been subject to lengthy ageing, the exact period varying from do to DO, before release. Rioja produces the great majority of all Gran Reservas and here red wines must spend a minimum of two years in barrels of approximately 225 l. The wine may not leave the bodega until the sixth year after the vintage. White and rosé wines must spend a total of at least four years in cask and bottle, including at least six months ageing in barrel, to qualify. For much of the 20th century, Gran Reservas represented Spain’s finest and most expensive wines, but many of the country’s most celebrated winemakers are nowadays concerned to preserve more fruit in their top bottlings and do not necessarily equate quality with time spent in wood.
Pago
Spanish term for a vineyard, used particularly in jerez and castilla y león.
Vino de Pago
Special Spanish category of supposedly exceptionally high-quality, single-estate wines, granted their own appellation. By 2014 there were 15, arguably too many.
Bulk Wine
Or wine en vrac, as the French call it, is wine that is ready to drink, but has not been put into smaller containers such as bottles. This may be because it is about to be packaged, or because it will be sold to another producer. Most of the wine that is sold in bulk is marketed at less than 10 US dollars per bottle, and is not meant for long term ageing. bulk transport is by far the cheapest way of moving wine and it is common for wine to move in bulk between producer and blender or bottler, possibly between continents and hemispheres.
In Europe, Germany has emerged as the major importer of bulk wine from the New World, buying mainly red wine from Chile, Argentina, California, Australia, and South Africa. Most of this is sold through importers/bottlers in Germany and then bottled for various discount chains. China has emerged as a significant buyer of bulk wine, sourced wherever it is cheapest. The UK remains a significant market for bulk wine, both for brands and for private labels, a continuation of the country’s wine bottling tradition.
When surplus production became an increasingly geographically widespread phenomenon in the early 21st century, the bulk wine market became an important feature of international wine trade, helped considerably by online trading.
Brokers of bulk wine have become inceasingly important and their business is strongly influenced by factors such as the weather during flowering where large quantities of wine are grown, currency movements, and fashions in varietals (see sideways, for example). They follow the bulk markets daily and provide information to their client base. The internet has been a significant tool in managing and communicating up-to-date market information but few of the companies formed in the internet boom days, in the hope of replacing more traditional brokers, survived because ebuyers need more information than simply price and location.
Bulk wine may even be sold in measured quantities drawn off from some form of bulk storage. In southern Europe it is still commonplace to take a container, perhaps a bonbonne or large plastic container, to be filled with bulk wine, which is charged by the litre.
Torres SA, Miguel
Spain’s largest family-owned producer of premium wine and Spanish brandy, based in penedès in north-east Spain. The present company was founded in 1870 by Miguel and Jaime Torres with the fruits of a chance investment by Jaime in a Cuban oil company. A winery was established at Vilafranca del Penedès near Barcelona and its produce was shipped to Cuba in a fleet also belonging to Torres. Miguel’s son Juan expanded the business within Spain and left a thriving family business to his son, another Miguel, in 1932. After confiscation, disruption, and even winery destruction during the Spanish Civil War, Miguel rebuilt the business and as early as the 1940s decided to concentrate on selling wine in bottle rather than in bulk.
Perhaps the most significant development in the history of Torres came in 1959 when Miguel’s son Miguel A. Torres went to study in dijon. This resulted in experimental plantings of vine varieties imported from France and Germany such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Riesling, Gewürztraminer, and Sauvignon Blanc. Torres also introduced vine trellis systems. A modern laboratory was established, temperature-controlled stainless steel fermentation vessels were installed, and red wines were bottled after just 18 months’ barrel maturation in cool cellars hewn out of the hillside. All of these techniques, and a host of other innovations, were then quite unknown elsewhere in Spain.
Vindication of Miguel A. Torres’s achievements came in 1979, when, in the well-publicized ‘wine olympics’ organized by the French gastronomic magazine Gault-Millau, Torres Gran Coronas Black Label 1970 was voted winner of the top Cabernet class. In 1982/3 he spent a sabbatical year at montpellier, and has since introduced higher vine densities, increasingly organic methods, mechanical pruning, and a programme to recuperate Catalan indigenous varieties. About 75% of all Spanish wine produced by Torres is exported.
On the death of his father in 1991, Miguel A. Torres became president of the company with particular responsibilities for winemaking. He has also been one of Spain’s most prolific wine writers, and was one of the first wine producers in the world to take sustainability issues seriously. In 2004, the company invested in Ribera del Duero, Jumilla, and Toro and by the mid 2010s, Torres owned about 2,000 ha of vineyard in Penedès, Priorat, and other areas of Spain, 400 ha in Chile, part of which belong to the estate near Curicó in chile which he established in 1978, and 32 ha in California. His sister Marimar is a food writer based in San Francisco and manages Marimar Estate in sonoma county’s Russian River Valley. In 1997, a decade earlier than most of its peers, the Spanish company embarked on a joint venture in China involving a bottling plant and viticulture experiments. In 1999 Torres founded its own distribution company in Shanghai which today employs 300 people and has become the second largest wine distributor in China. Since September 2012 Miguel A.’s son, another Miguel, has been general manager of Torres group while his daughter Mireia directs the Jean Leon winery which Torres acquired in 1994 and the winery in Priorat that was built in 1996.
Codorniu
One of the world’s largest producers of sparkling wines made by the traditional method. The Codorníu group incorporates the Spanish cava brand Codorníu, and Masia Bach and Raimat (see costers del segre) which make both Cava and still wine. Cava is responsible for more than half of the company’s turnover and Codorníu is particularly strong on the Spanish market. The history of Codorníu dates back to 1551, when the Codorníu family established their first winery in Sant Sadurní d’Anoia in penedès in Cataluña. In 1659, the heiress to the Codorníu winery, Anna Codorníu, married a member of the Raventós family. A direct descendant, Josep Raventós, decided to produce sparkling wine, uncorking the first bottle of Spanish wine made in the image of champagne in 1872. Within ten years, the style was popular across Spain, and Codorníu claims as a result to have founded the Cava industry. Codorníu was the first to use Chardonnay and Pinot Noir as well as the traditional Catalan grapes Parellada, Macabeo, and Xarel-lo in its Cavas. The company’s first Chardonnay-based Cava, named Anna de Codorníu, was launched in 1984 and Chardonnay has since become a common ingredient in many Codorníu Cavas. Raimat, in Costers del Segre, is the viticultural and research and development centre for the group. In 1991, the group opened Codorníu Napa, a new winery in the carneros district of California, since renamed Artesa. In 1997, Codorníu acquired the traditional Bodegas Bilbaínas winery and 200 surrounding hectares in rioja Alta, then in 2000 it acquired a controlling stake in Cellers de Scala Dei, the oldest winery in priorat. In 1999, the company built the Septima winery in Mendoza, Argentina and in 2000 built the Legaris winery from scratch in ribera del duero. Other wineries in Spain include Abadia de Poblet in conca de barberá and Nuviana in Valle del Cinca in Aragón.
Freixenet
The largest producer of traditional method sparkling wine and most significant exporter of cava in the world. The brand was born at the beginning of the 20th century when Pedro Ferrer Bosch and his wife Dolores Sala Vivé decided to concentrate on sparkling wines. The company, still family-owned, was named after an estate in Mediona, penedès, which had been in Pedro Ferrer’s family since the 13th century, known as La Freixeneda, meaning a plantation of ash trees. His wife’s grandfather founded the former Sala company, which started exporting wines to the usa in the second half of the 19th century. The company was initially keen to establish export markets, a policy which has paid off in the latter half of the 20th century. It now has four production centres in San Sadurní d’Anoia: Freixenet SA, Segura Viudas SA, Castellblanch SA, and Torrelavit SA, as well as wineries in a number of do regions around Spain: Solar Viejo in Rioja, Morlanda in Priorat, Garbó in Montsant, Valdubón in Ribera del Duero, and Vionta in Rías Baixas. The combined production of Cava alone is now more than 140 million bottles per year. Best-known brands are the medium-dry Carta Nevada, launched in 1951, and Cordon Negro, a brut Cava in a distinctive black bottle. Freixenet’s overseas interests include the Bordeaux négociant Yvon Mau, Henri Abelé in Champagne, the Wingara Wine Group and Katnook Estate in Australia, Gloria Ferrer in the carneros district of California, Finca Doña Dolores, a sparkling wine estate in mexico, and Finca Ferrer in the Uco Valley of Mendoza in Argentina.
Pernod Ricard
French spirits company whose wine portfolio is styled Pernod Ricard Winemakers. The company’s first significant wine acquisition was in 1989, the Orlando Wyndham Group of Australia which included the brand jacob’s creek. Etchart of Argentina, owner of Graffigna, followed in 1992, and then in 2005 Allied Domecq which included not just an array of spirits, but Montana (now brancott estate), and Stoneleigh in New Zealand, Campo Viejo in Rioja, and Mumm and Perrier-Jouët champagnes. In 2013 the company invested in the Chinese wine brand Helan Mountain of Ningxia and in 2014 acquired Kenwood Vineyards of California. A project in georgia begun in 1993 was abandoned.
González Byass
The largest producer of sherry, still run by the family that founded the house. In 1835, 23-year-old Manuel María González Angel set up business as a shipper in jerez in southern Spain. Within months he had joined forces with D. Juan Dubosc to make their first large shipment to London: 48 hogsheads and a quarter cask, sent to Robert Blake Byass, who was to become their UK agent. In 1844, the company purchased its first vineyards, and in 1846 the first wines were bottled in Jerez. The fino brand Tio Pepe was born by the mid-1800s, named after Manuel’s uncle José Angel y Vargas (tío being Spanish for uncle), who helped his nephew establish the solera. In 1855, Robert Blake Byass became a shareholder in the business, but it was not until 1870, when his sons and the sons of the founder entered the firm that it became González Byass & Co. The company remained in the hands of the two families until, in 1988, the González family financed the purchase of the 45% of shares held by the Byass family, later placing most of these with IDV, the British drinks subsidiary of the conglomerate Grand Metropolitan. The family bought the shares back from IDV in 1997, also the year in which Mauricio González Gordon, from the fourth generation of the family to work in the company, retired as chairman. His successors were Chon Gómez-Monche, another fourth-generation family member in the company and, from 2001, family friend Carlos Espinosa de los Monteros. In 2006, Mauricio González Gordon, fifth generation, became chairman.
By 2014 the company owned 1,372 ha/3,390 acres of vineyards throughout Spain, and controlled a further 1,893 ha owned by independent farmers. In the mid 1990s, the company began releasing expensive vintage-dated dry sherries, renewing a Jerez practice from the days before the solera system was adopted. The company also produces brandy, its most renowned brand being Lepanto.
In the early 1980s the González Byass began to expand and diversify, buying wineries Bodegas Beronia in Rioja, Cava producer Cavas Vilarnau, Viñas del Vero in Somontano, Finca Constancia in Castilla-La Mancha, and Finca Moncloa in Cádiz. In 2001, the company acquired the Spanish interests of croft.
Vega Sicilia
Concentrated and long-lived red wine that is Spain’s undisputed equivalent of a first growth, made on a single property now incorporated into the ribera del duero denomination. The wine was being made long before the present do region took shape in the 1980s. This 1,000-ha/2,500-acre farm either side of the main road east of Valladolid has been making wine in its present form since 1864 when Eloy Lacanda y Chaves planted vines from Bordeaux alongside Tinto Fino, also known as Tinta del País (a local strain of tempranillo). The current style was defined around 1910, when the winery was leased by Cosme Palacio, a Rioja grower. A succession of different owners has since managed to maintain the quality and reputation of Vega Sicilia as Spain’s finest red wine. However, Vega Sicilia fell on lean times at several junctures, and was able to make a substantial leap in quality and, more importantly, in consistency after being bought by the Alvarez family in 1982.
The more than 200 ha/500 acres of vineyard on limestone soils overlooking the River Duero (douro in Portugal) are planted mainly with Tinto Fino but cabernet sauvignon, merlot, and a little malbec together make up about 20% of the total production. A tiny quantity of old-vine white albillo remains.
Bodegas Vega Sicilia produces three wines, all red. Valbuena is a five-year old vintage-dated wine aged in American oak. Vega Sicilia Unico, which is restricted to the best vintages and is often released after spending about ten years in a combination of wooden tanks, small, new barriques, large, old barrels and bottles, attracts the most attention. The best vintages of Vega Sicilia Unico and the third wine produced here, the rare multi-vintage Reserva Especial, last for decades.
In 1991, Bodegas Vega Sicilia acquired the nearby Liceo winery and created the immediately acclaimed Bodegas Alión, which makes much more modern reds from 100% Tempranillo grapes, aged in new French oak. In 2001, Pintia, Vega Sicilia’s bodega in the toro region, produced its first vintage. Then, in a joint venture with Benjamin de rothschild, Vega Sicilia created the Macán estate in Rioja. As the bodega celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2014, tensions between different members of the Álvarez family who accquired it in 1982 were widely publicized.
Galicia
Spain’s wet, Atlantic north west and one of the country’s 17 autonomous regions encompassing the do wine regions of rías baixas, ribeiro, ribeira sacra, monterrei, and valdeorras. Separated by mountains from castilla y león, Galicia has developed in isolation from the rest of Spain, the region being geographically and culturally closer to northern Portugal than to Madrid (see map under spain). The locals, many of whom are of Celtic descent, speak Gallego, a close relative of Portuguese. The wines also used to share an affinity with the light, acidic vinho verde produced south of the Miño (Minho in Portuguese), the river that divides this part of Spain from Portugal, but they have become fuller and more substantial with the recovery of indigenous varieties and the use of modern winemaking techniques.
Wines were exported from Galicia as early as the 14th century, but northern European merchants quickly moved on in search of fuller-bodied wines from the douro in northern Portugal. The progressive fragmentation of agricultural holdings left the region with a subsistence economy and in the 19th century the countryside suffered from depopulation as people moved away to find work. Many of the magnificent terraces in the port vineyards of the Douro were constructed by itinerant labour from Galicia. Since Spain joined the eu in 1986, however, Galicia has benefited from a massive injection of funds which has transformed its wine industry.
Galicia is one of the wettest parts of Iberia. On the coast, rainfall averaging more than 1,300 mm/50 in a year is compensated for by an annual average of over 2,000 hours of sunshine. Vines flourish in these humid conditions and yields in excess of 100 hl/ha (5.7 tons/acre) are unequalled anywhere else in Spain. Most of the vineyards are to be found towards the south in the provinces of Orense, Pontevedra, and also in Lugo to the east. Rías Baixas, with its prized albariño grape, was the engine of Galician rebirth and its vibrant, dense wines can command high prices. But success has also meant, in the case of some producers, excessive yields and an abusive reliance on such techniques as the use of selected yeasts. On the Miño River, wines are often blends of Albariño, Loureira, and Caiño. Inland, the Ribeiro DO is making impressive progress.
Local whites are based on complex blends, dominated by Treixadura and Torrontés, while reds from native varieties are making a timid comeback. In the inland Valdeorras and Ribeira Sacra DOs, light reds from the Mencía grape are prevalent, but the appley, white Godello grape is their main asset. The newest DO, Monterrei, has historic significance and it, too, has joined Galicia’s dramaic improvement in wine quality.
Rias Baixas
The leading do wine zone in galicia, north west Spain (see map under spain), producing some of the country’s most sought-after dry white wines. Between 1987 and 2012 the DO’s vineyard area grew from 237 ha/570 acres to 4,050 ha/9,700 acres with the number of wineries rising from 14 to 177. Named after the flooded coastal valleys, or rías, that penetrate up to 30 km/19 miles inland, the zone’s reputation is based on the white albariño grape. Wines were exported to northern Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries but, after the ravages of phylloxera, many of the traditional vine varieties were abandoned, and by the 1900s the region’s vineyards were largely planted with high-yielding hybrids and by Jerez’s palomino, producing poor-quality wine. The revival began in the late 1970s, when growers were encouraged to replant native vine varieties and producers were given incentives to invest in modern winemaking equipment. The metamorphosis gathered pace with the application of eu funds following Spain’s accession to the EU in 1986.
Rías Baixas has five separate subzones, all within the province of Pontevedra. Many of the purest Albariño wines come from Val do Salnés zone centred on the town of Cambados on the west coast. The two further subzones, O Rosal and Condado do Tea, are on the northern slopes of the river Miño facing the vinho verde region in Portugal on the opposite bank. A fourth, small subzone, Soutomaior, was admitted in the late 1990s, to be joined later by Ribeira do Ulla in the far north. All five zones share the same granite-based subsoils and relatively cool, damp, maritime climate. The Atlantic influence is strongest in Val do Salnés, where annual rainfall averages 1,300 mm/50 in. Vines were traditionally cultivated on pergolas (see tendone) to protect grapes from the constant threat of fungal diseases, although modern vineyards are planted on a more practical local variant of the geneva double curtain vine-training system.
Twelve different vine varieties are officially permitted in Rías Baixas although Albariño accounts for 90% of the vineyard area. Other white grapes which may be blended with Albariño according to local regulations include caiño blanco, as well as treixadura, and Loureira (see loureiro; locally known as Marqués), both of which are found in the Vinho Verde region. (torrontés and godello are also permitted.) On its own, Albariño produces a fragrant, intensely fruity, dry white wine with a natural minimum alcohol often above 12%. Yields used to be low, which made the wines expensive, but abusive yield increases began to occur in the 1990s, sometimes aggravated by over-reliance on selected, aroma-enhancing yeasts. There have been experiments with oak. The six permitted red grapes, including mencía, espadeiro, and Caiño Tinto, were planted on a total area of just 190 ha/455 acres in 2012 but were beginning to make waves thanks to the work of some growers, particularly Eulogio Pomares (Zárate) and Gerardo Méndez (Forjas del Salnés).
Priorat
One of Spain’s most inspiring red wines made in an isolated zone in catalunya inland from Tarragona (see map under spain) that is one of the country’s only two to qualify as a doca. (Its Spanish rather than native Catalan name is Priorato.) In the 1990s, a true revolution engulfed the region, where production methods for Priorat had barely altered since the 12th century when the Carthusian monks first established the priory after which the wine is named. Priorat is one of the world’s few first-class wines to be made from Garnacha (grenache) and Mazuelo/Cariñena (carignan) vines. The age of the vines and concomitantly extremely low yields, which average just 5 or 6 hl/ha (0.3 ton/acre), undoubtedly contribute to the intensity and strength of Priorat.
Poor, stony soils derived from the underlying slate and quartz, called locally llicorella, support only the most meagre of crops. mechanization is almost impossible and many steeply terraced smallholdings had been abandoned as the rural population left to find work on the coast. The success of new wave Priorat has been reviving viticulture, however.
The region was long dominated by co-operatives but there is an increasing number of well-equipped estates, traditionally led by Scala Dei, while De Müller makes some good generoso. In the 1980s, René Barbier, the scion of the Franco-Spanish winemaking family (whose eponymous firm in Penedès belongs to freixenet), recognizing Priorat’s potential for top-quality red wines, located some particularly promising vineyard sites, renaming them clos. Such French vine varieties as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, and some Pinot Noir were planted. A group of private growers took over. The wines of René Barbier (Clos Mogador), Costers del Siurana (Clos de l’Obac), Álvaro Palacios (Finca Dofí, L’Ermita), Mas Martinet (Clos Martinet), and Clos & Terrasses (Clos Erasmus) had won worldwide acclaim by the late 1990s with L’Ermita one of Spain’s most expensive wines. Complex blends including small proportions of French varieties, careful winemaking, and ageing in new French oak barrels were the key innovations. Other small estates jumped on the bandwagon and by the mid 2000s there were more than 50 bodegas in Priorat, with a growing number now producing white wines too from Garnacha Blanca, Macabeo, Pedro Ximénez, and some Viognier.
Tarragona
Mediterranean port in Spanish cataluña which has played an important part in a flourishing wine industry since Roman times (see spain, history, and map). Until the 1960s, wines called Tarragona were predominantly sweet, red, fortified, and drunk as a cheap alternative to port. Awarded do status in 1976, Tarragona continues to ship communion wine all over the Christian world (see eucharist). Over 70% of Tarragona’s wine production today is white, however, a large proportion of which is sold to the cava houses in penedès. The montsant DO created in 2001 was carved out of the original Tarragona zone.
Costers del Segre
Small wine zone in north east Spain in semi-desert near the Catalan city of Lerida (see map under spain) and in the lusher mountains bordering the Priorat DO to the east. The climate is severe. The thermometer often dips below freezing point in winter and exceeds 35 °C/95 °F in high summer. rainfall barely reaches 400 mm/15 in in a year. The River Segre, a tributary of the Ebro after which this fragmented do is named, is little more than a seasonal stream.
The history of Costers del Segre was initially the history of one estate: Raimat, which covers 3,200 ha/7,900 acres of arid country 15 km/9 miles north west of Lerida. When Manuel Raventós, owner of cava producer codorníu, first visited the property in 1914, he found infertile salt plains abandoned by farmers. An irrigation artery, the Canal de Aragón y Cataluña, since transformed the estate into an oasis but it took over 50 years of planting cattle fodder, pine trees, and cereals before the soil was fit for vines. Today the Raimat vineyard covers 1,250 ha, which amounts to a third of the Costers del Segre DO. A labyrinthine irrigation system starts automatically whenever the temperature rises above 35 °C, and provides frost protection when the thermometer falls below 1 °C. As a result, imported vine varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir, and Chardonnay flourish alongside indigenous varieties such as Tempranillo, Parellada, and Macabeo.
Elsewhere in the region, which splits into four separate subzones—Raimat, Artesa, Vall de Riu Corb, and Les Garrigues—other quality-conscious producers include Castell del Remei, Celler de Cantonella, Tomàs Cusiné, and L’Olivera.
Castilla y León
Castile and León in English, is the largest of the 17 autonomous regions of Spain. This northern part of Spain’s central plateau, rising to between 880 and 1,000 m (2,900–3,300 ft) above sea level, takes up about a fifth of the entire country. Centred on its capital, the university city of Valladolid, most of Castilla y León is thinly populated table land almost encircled by mountains. It is separated from the hub of Spain (madrid and castilla-la mancha or New Castile) by the central mountain range which rises to over 2,000 m near Avila and Segovia (see map under spain). To the north, the Cordillera Cantabrica, which peaks at over 2,600 m, deflects the maritime influence of the Bay of Biscay.
The climate here is harsh. Short, hot summers are followed by long, cold winters when temperatures can drop to −10 °C/14 °F. Under often clear skies, temperatures drop quickly after sunset and, even in summer, nights are cool. frost continues to be a threat until mid May. Rain falls mainly in winter and amounts to between 400 and 500 mm (15–19 in) a year. Much of the land is poor and unable to support anything other than nomadic flocks of sheep. However, the river Duero (known as douro in Portugal), which cuts a broad valley in the rather featureless plain, provides a natural water source. Grain, sugar beet, and vines are grown along its length.
A regional variant of the red tempranillo vine, variously called Tinta del País, Tinto Fino, Tinto Aragonés, and Tinta de Toro, is the chief good-quality grape variety in four of the nine do wine regions in Castilla y León. The largest of these is ribera del duero, which extends for about 100 km/60 miles either side of the river and is internationally known for its red wines. Downstream of Ribera del Duero, since the 1990s rueda has established itself as Spain’s leading white wine region while neighbouring toro, straddling the Duero near the Portuguese border, gained worldwide recognition a decade later. cigales, north of Valladolid, specializes in rosé wine. bierzo, abutting galicia in the north west, shows promise with its fragrant, characterful reds from the mencía grape.
Ribera del Duero
Important wine zone in castilla y león in north-central Spain that challenged rioja as the leading red wine-producing region in Iberia towards the end of the 20th century when it grew substantially. By 2012 it had a total of 21,500 ha/51,500 acres of vineyard, a third as much as Rioja. Ribera del Duero spans the upper valley of the River Duero (known as douro in Portugal), starting some 30 km/18 miles east of the city of Valladolid (see map under spain). Although Bodegas vega sicilia on the western margin of the denomination has been producing one of Spain’s finest wines since the mid 19th century, the region was awarded do status only in 1982. Since then more than 200 private estates have emerged.
At first sight, the Duero valley is not the most congenial place to grow grapes. At between 700 and 850 m/2,800 ft above sea level, the growing season is relatively short. frost, commonplace in winter, continues to be a threat well into the spring. Temperatures, which can reach nearly 40 °C/104 °F in the middle of a July day, fall sharply at night—a phenomenon associated with wine quality elsewhere (see temperature variability).
The potential was recognized by Alejandro Fernández, who played a key role in the considerable development of the region in the 1980s. Pesquera, his wine vinified from grapes growing around the village of Pesquera del Duero a short distance upstream from Vega Sicilia, was released in the early 1980s to international acclaim. Other growers (many of whom had previously sold their grapes to the co-operatives) were thereby encouraged to make and market their own wines, soon challenging Rioja’s traditional hegemony inside Spain. In the 1990s, consumption of top-quality Ribera wines soared within Spain, causing deepening concern in Rioja. Several Ribera producers attained quality levels not much below those of Vega Sicilia and Pesquera. The leading challengers included Dominio de Pingus, Alión, Pérez Pascuas, Pago de los Capellanes, Emilio Moro, Aalto, Hermanos Sastre, Alonso del Yerro, Goyo García Viadero, Hacienda Monasterio, and Cillar de Silos. Several of these growers are in the east of the region, near Aranda de Duero, where a tradition of cheap rosés had previously inhibited production of top-quality reds.
The region’s principal vine variety, the Tinto Fino (also called Tinta del Pais), is a local variant of Rioja’s tempranillo. It seems to have adapted to the Duero’s climatic extremes and produces deep-coloured, occasionally astringent, firm-flavoured red wines without the support of any other grape variety. White wine made from the albillo, a white variety enjoyed as a table grape by the locals, is not entitled to the DO but may occasionally be blended into the intense red wine to lighten the load and add glycerine content. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Malbec, introduced by Vega Sicilia 130 years ago, are now allowed throughout the denomination. Garnacha is used in the production of rosé.
Toro
Revolutionized Spanish red wine zone in castilla y león (see map under spain) whose wines were famous within Spain in medieval times. This wild and remote zone spans the Duero valley east of Zamora. It was accorded do status in 1987. At an elevation of between 600 and 750 m/2,000–2,800 ft, growing conditions are severe. The dry, stony soils can support cereals or vines. The region’s principal grape variety, Tinta de Toro, is a local variant of Rioja’s tempranillo which has adapted to the climatic extremes of this part of Spain. The grapes need careful handling. Left to their own devices, they will easily ripen to a potential alcohol level of 16%. Local regulations permit a maximum alcoholic strength of 15% but the best wines usually have a strength of around 13.5. A small number of producers have fostered a move away from the heavy, bulk reds of recent times, a move which gained notable momentum when some of the greatest names in Ribera del Duero, Rioja, and even Bordeaux were awakened to the region’s potential and launched their own estates, particularly Vega Sicilia’s Pintia, Mauro’s San Román, Sierra Cantabria’s Numanthia-Termes (subsequently acquired by lvmh), Michel Rolland’s Campo Elíseo, Telmo Rodríguez’s Pago La Jara, Jacques Lurton’s El Albar, in addition to the home-grown Bienvenida Sitio del Palo, Paydos, and Quinta Quietud. By 2010, Toro’s 5,700 ha/14,000 acres of vineyard supplied nearly 50 bodegas.
Rueda
Historic Spanish white wine zone named after the unprepossessing town which straddles the main road from Madrid to León in castilla y león (see map under spain). In the Middle Ages, vineyards flourished on this bleak Castilian plateau and cellars were hollowed out of the limestone under the town, but after phylloxera ravaged the zone, Rueda went into rapid decline. The high-yielding palomino grape was used for replanting, a move that in this case was justified since the main local styles were fortified wines in the image of sherry.
For much of the 20th century, the local verdejo grape was Rueda’s sleeping beauty. It was awoken in the 1970s, when Bodegas Marqués de Riscal of rioja recognized the area’s potential for dry white wine and sold a fresh Rueda white alongside its Rioja reds. Rueda was awarded do status in 1980 and the local Consejo Regulador succeeded in relaunching the native variety of which there were nearly three times as much as of Palomino in the mid 2000s, a radical reversal of the previous situation. Fortified wines are hardly made today and modern Rueda is a light, fruity, dry white wine. It may be made from a blend of Viura (macabeo) and Verdejo, the latter accounting for at least 50% of the blend, or it may be a sauvignon blanc varietal. Rueda Superior must contain at least 85% Verdejo and, as more farmers convert their vineyards, there are ever more varietal wines. Sauvignon Blanc was introduced by Marqués de Riscal in the early 1980s. Some fine, elegant wines have resulted, including one from one of the lurton family of Bordeaux.
tempranillo produces some typically firm red wine in the zone. In 2002, red wines were admitted in the Rueda DO but are rarely seen.
Bierzo
Increasingly fashionable small do region in north west Spain (see map under spain) which administratively forms part of castilla y león. However, the River Sil, which bisects it, is a tributary of the Miño (Minho in Portugal) and the wines have more in common with those of galicia than those of the douro 140 km/88 miles to the south. Sheltered from the climatic excesses of the Atlantic and the central plateau, Bierzo shows promise as a wine region. The mencía grape is capable of producing balanced, fruity red wines in well-drained soils on the slate and granite of this part of Spain.
In the late 1990s, a group of small, mostly young growers reproduced in Bierzo the same ‘miracle’ which had happened in Priorat one decade earlier—they resurrected a moribund wine region. One of the protagonists, Álvaro Palacios, was indeed one of the Priorat pioneers as well. With his nephew Ricardo Pérez Palacios, he reclaimed small, old vineyards on slate slopes and produced wines with no resemblance to the light quaffable reds traditionally produced from fertile valley vineyards. Other top names are Paixar, Pittacum, Dominio de Tares, Estefanía, Luna Beberide, Mengoba, Raúl Pérez, Peique, Gancedo, Losada, Casar de Burbia, and Castro Ventosa.
Navarra
Known in English as Navarre, autonomous region in north east spain which also lends its name to a denominated wine zone with 11,500 ha/27,500 acres of vineyard in 2012. The kingdom of Navarra once stretched from bordeaux to Barcelona but today this extensive denomination is overshadowed by the neighbouring do zone rioja, a small part of which extends into the province of Navarra (see map under spain). The wines share a common history.
Pilgrims en route to Santiago de Compostela fuelled the demand for wine in the Middle Ages. Later, in the mid 19th century, both Rioja and Navarra benefited greatly from their proximity to France after it was invaded by the phylloxera louse. Because northern Spain was affected considerably later than south west France, vineyards here were expanded and large quantities of Navarran wine were sold to producers in France until phylloxera arrived in Navarra itself in 1892. The region recovered fairly quickly but the area under vine in 1990 was less than a third of that a century before.
The region splits into five subzones according to climate, from the cooler slopes of the Baja Montaña close to the Pyrenean foothills and the slightly warmer Valdizarbe and Tierra Estella districts in the north of Navarra, to Ribera Alta in the centre of the region, and Ribera Baja round the city of Tudela in the south. Rainfall totals range between 600 mm (23 in) in the north and 400 mm in the south and east, while summer temperatures become correspondingly warmer. With over 30% of Navarra’s vineyards, Ribera Baja has traditionally been the most important of the five subzones, although most of the new planting in the late 1980s and early 1990s took place in the cooler north.
The Garnacha grape (see grenache) has dominated Navarra’s vineyards but plantings of tempranillo increased considerably in the 1990s. Garnacha lends itself to good, dry rosé, which Navarra continues to make in large quantities. Some distinctive sweet whites are made from Moscatel de Grano Menudo (Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains) grown in the south. This century the region’s wines have suffered on both domestic and foreign markets, being penalized for the widespread planting of imported varieties, which include Tempranillo in these parts, plus a reliance on high-yielding young vineyards. The new varieties and technical improvements have been largely promoted by the oenological research station, EVENA, set up at Olite by the consejo regulador and the regional government.
Rioja
La Rioja is the oldest winemaking province in argentina but Rioja is probably best known in the wine world as the leading wine region of spain, producing predominantly red wines in the north of the country. Named after the río (river) Oja, a tributary of the river Ebro, most of the Rioja wine region lies in the autonomous region of La Rioja in north east Spain, although parts of the zone extend into the neighbouring basque country to the north west and navarra to the north east. Centred on the regional capital Logroño, Rioja divides into three zones along the axis of the river Ebro. Rioja Alta occupies the part of the Ebro valley west of Logroño and includes the winemaking town of Haro. Rioja Alavesa is the name given to the section of the zone north of the river Ebro which falls in the Basque province of Alava. Rioja Baja extends from the suburbs of Logroño south and east to include the towns of Calahorra and Alfaro. In 2013, Rioja had 63,500 ha/152,400 acres of vines.
Rioja- History
There is archaeological evidence that the Romans made wine in the upper Ebro valley (see spain, history). Wine trade was tolerated rather than encouraged under the Moorish occupation of Iberia, but viticulture flourished once more in Rioja after the Christian reconquest at the end of the 15th century. The name Rioja was already in use in one of the statutes written to guarantee the rights of inhabitants of territory recaptured from the Moors. Rioja’s wine industry grew around the numerous monasteries (see monks and monasteries) that were founded to serve pilgrims en route to Santiago de Compostela, and the region’s first wine laws date from this period.
For centuries Rioja suffered from its physical isolation from major population centres, and the wines found a market outside the region only in the 1700s, when communications improved and Bilbao became an important trading centre. In 1850, Luciano de Murrieta (subsequently the Marqués de Murrieta) established Rioja’s first commercial bodega in cellars belonging to the Duque de Vitoria and began exporting wines to the Spanish colonies. The Rioja region benefited unexpectedly, but substantially, from the all too obvious arrival of powdery mildew in French vineyards in the late 1840s. Bordeaux wine merchants crossed the Pyrenees in large numbers and in 1862 the Provincial Legislature in Alava employed a French adviser to help local vine-growers. Shunned by smallholders who were concerned only with the requirements of the local Basque market, Jean Pineau was finally employed by the Marqués de Riscal, who set about building a bodega at Elciego along French lines. It was finished in 1868, four years before Murrieta built its own similar installation at Ygay.
When the phylloxera louse began to devastate French vineyards in the late 1860s, yet more merchants came to Spain in search of wine. French duties were relaxed and Rioja enjoyed an unprecedented boom which lasted for nearly four decades. New bodegas were established, among them the Compañía Vinícola del Norte de España (CVNE), López de Heredia, La Rioja Alta, and Bodegas Franco-Españolas, all of which were heavily influenced by the French. During this period the 225-l/59-gal oak barrica, or barrique, was introduced from Bordeaux, and these influential maturation containers are still sometimes referred to as barricas bordelesas in Rioja (although American oak was the popular choice). Helped by a new rail link (see railways), Rioja sometimes exported 500,000 hl/13.2 million gal of wine a month to France in the late 19th century.
Phylloxera did not reach Rioja until 1901, by which time Bordeaux had returned to full production with vines grafted onto phylloxera-resistant rootstocks. Spain also lost its lucrative colonial markets and Rioja’s wine industry declined rapidly. A number of new bodegas were established in the period following the First World War and Spain’s first Consejo Regulador was established in Rioja in 1926, but the Civil War (1936–9) and the Second World War which followed put paid to further expansion. Recovery came in the late 1960s and 1970s, when, encouraged by growing foreign markets and the construction of a motorway connecting Logroño and Bilbao, a number of new bodegas were built in the region, several with the support of multinational companies, which later sold back the wineries to Spanish firms.
Rioja- Climate and Geography
Rioja enjoys an enviable position among Spanish wine regions. Sheltered by the Sierra de Cantabria to the north and west, it is well protected from the rain-bearing Atlantic winds that drench the Basque coast immediately to the north. Yet Rioja’s wine producers rarely experience the climatic extremes that burden growers in so much of central and southern Spain. It is difficult to make climatic generalizations, however, about a region that stretches about 120 km/75 miles from north west to south east. Indeed, Spanish critics argue that within this single DO there are several entirely different wine-producing regions.
The vineyards range in elevation from 300 m/984 ft above sea level at Alfaro in the east to nearly 800 m on the slopes of the Sierra de Cantabria to the north west. Average annual rainfall increases correspondingly from less than 300 mm/12 in in parts of Rioja Baja to over 500 mm in the upper zones of Rioja Alta and Rioja Alavesa.
Rioja Alta and Rioja Alavesa share a similar climate and are distinct from each other for mainly administrative reasons, although there are soil differences between the two. Many of the best grapes are grown here on the cooler slopes to the north west around the towns and villages of Haro, Labastida, San Vicente, Laguardia, Elciego, Fuenmayor, Cenicero, and Briones. These zones share similar clay soils based on limestone. Downstream to the east, the climate becomes gradually warmer with rainfall decreasing to less than 400 mm at Logroño. Where the valley broadens, there is a higher incidence of fertile, alluvial soils composed chiefly of silt. Around Calahorra and Alfaro in Rioja Baja the climate is more mediterranean. In summer, drought is often a problem here, and temperatures frequently reach 30 to 35 °C/ 95 °F.
Rioja- Viticulture and vine varieties
The number of permitted grape varieties was increased in 2009 to 14 (five red, nine white), and their distribution varies in different parts of the region. The most widely planted variety is the dark-skinned tempranillo, which ripens well on the clay and limestone slopes of Rioja Alta and Rioja Alavesa, where it forms the basis for the region’s best wines and in 2012 was planted on 48,000 ha/115,000 ha, more than thee-quarters of the total vineyard surface.
Most Riojas are blends of more than one variety, however, and wines made from the garnacha vine, which after phylloxera superseded native varieties in the Rioja Baja, are often used to add body to Tempranillo, which can taste thin on its own in cooler vintages. Two further red varieties, Mazuelo (Cariñena or carignan) and graciano, are of relatively minor importance. Owing to its susceptibility to disease and its low productivity, Graciano fell from favour with Rioja’s vine-growers before a strong revival in the 1990s, when the area devoted to this variety grew back to 200 ha/500 acres and varietal versions are no longer oddities.
The cabernet sauvignon vines which arrived with the French in the 19th century are allowed as ‘experimental’ grapes and may be used, as merlot is too, in blends as minority components, but may not be mentioned on the label except as ‘other varieties’.
The fifth red wine variety, authorized in 2009, was Maturana Tinta. But, in a chaotic turn of events, a different variety has actually been planted under that name which can be found on labels. When regional viticulturists began recovering old, minority grape varieties around the turn of the 21st century, several red ones showed good potential. Maturana was one. It was later identified through dna profiling as Galicia’s Merenzao, which, in turn, is the Jura’s trousseau—present for centuries, under several names in Spain, Portugal, and the Canary Islands. Another red grape was named Maturana Tinta de Navarrete, as it was recovered and reproduced from a few vines in that Rioja village. Although the ‘Trousseau’ Maturana was the one registered with the Ministry of Agriculture, the deep-coloured, peppery one from Navarrete was preferred by growers and planted commercially. The Consejo Regulador looked the other way when it was identified as just ‘Maturana Tinta’ on labels. In 2011 it was shown to be Castets, an almost extinct member of the Bordeaux grape family.
Historically, until phylloxera arrived, Rioja’s chief white grape variety was called malvasía, a synonym for the lowly alarije of west central Spain. On its own, it produced rich, alcoholic, dry white wines which responded well to ageing in oak. However, Viura (known elsewhere in Spain as macabeo) took over as the most planted light-berried variety in the region and from the early 1970s, fresher-tasting, cool-fermented, early-bottled white wines were in fashion all over Spain. By the 1990s, most white Riojas were made exclusively from Viura, and Malvasía vines were extremely difficult to find, although some of the traditional oak-aged whites and new barrel-fermented wines are blends of Malvasía and Viura.
A third traditional grape, Garnacha Blanca, was legal but rare. In 2009, Verdejo, Sauvignon Blanc, and Chardonnay were also permitted but may not be a majority component of blends. There has been very little interest in them. Also legalized then were three recovered white local varieties that have attracted considerably more attention: Tempranillo Blanco, a relatively recent mutation of Tempranillo; Maturana Blanca, which is not related to either one of the Maturana Tintas; and Turruntés, a local name for the albillo Mayor which is more common further south, around the Duero/Douro River.
Vineyards in Rioja tend to be small, especially in Rioja Alta and Rioja Alavesa, where vines are often interspersed with other crops. Vines used to be free-standing bush vines trained into low goblet shapes (see gobelet), but of the thousands of hectares of new vineyard which have been planted since the 1970s, most are trained on wires. This resulted in a marked and alarming increase in yields in the region in the 1990s, even before irrigation was legalized in the late 1990s. Official DO limits are 63 hl/ha (3.5 tons/acre) for white wines and 45 hl/ha for reds.
Rioja- Winemaking
Grapes are usually delivered to large, central wineries belonging either to one of the co-operatives or to a merchant’s bodega. Most wineries in Rioja are reasonably well equipped with a modern stainless steel plant and facilities for temperature control.
Rioja winemaking is characterized not by fermentation techniques but by barrel maturation, however, and the shape and size of the 225-l barrica bordelesa introduced by the French in the mid 19th century is laid down by law. The regulations also specify the minimum ageing period for each officially recognized category of wine. In Rioja, red wines labelled crianza and reserva must spend at least a year in oak, while a gran reserva must spend at least two years. In common with other Spanish wine regions, American oak has been the favoured wood type for wine maturation. New American oak barrels give the soft, vanilla flavour that has become accepted as typical of Rioja, but a similar effect can also be achieved by slow, oxidative maturation in older barrels. French oak is used increasingly, however. Over 40% of all Rioja falls into one of the three oak-aged categories above (the rest is either white, rosé, or sold as young, unoaked joven red, much of it within Spain), and the larger bodegas therefore need tens of thousands of casks. Most bodegas renew their barricas on a regular basis; new oak use is on the increase and the number of traditional producers who pride themselves on the age of their casks is dwindling. Some new producers are also spurning the tradional categories and bottling their oak-aged wine with a basic, generic Rioja back label. This enables them, among other things, to use different sized barrels or larger oak vats.
After the widespread adoption of cool fermentation techniques in the 1970s, the amount of oak-aged white Rioja progressively diminished. López de Heredia, Marqués de Murrieta, and only a few other bodegas upheld the traditional style by ageing their white wines in oak barricas. For whites labelled Crianza, Reserva, or Gran Reserva, the minimum wood-ageing period is just six months with a further year, two years, or four years respectively before the wines may be released for sale. By the mid 1990s, a large number of producers had switched to fashionable barrel fermentation, however, in effect reviving the region’s traditional white wine vinification method.
Some reds as well as whites may occasionally need acidification.
Rioja- Organisation of Trade
Rioja’s vineyards are split among nearly 20,000 growers, most of whom tend their plots as a sideline and have no winemaking facilities of their own, although in Rioja Alavesa they have been financially encouraged by the Basque regional government to acquire them. Many growers have an established contract with one of the merchant bodegas, whose numbers rocketed from about 100 in the mid 1990s to more than 500 a decade later. Others belong to one of the 30 co-operatives that serve the region and receive around 45% of the grapes. Most co-operatives sell their produce, either as must or as newly made wine, to the merchant bodegas, who blend, bottle, and market the wine under their own labels.
In the 1980s, a number of bodegas bought up large tracts of land to plant their own vineyards, although few have sufficient to supply their entire needs. A number of single estates, such as Contino and Remelluri, have also emerged, with the distinction, rare for the region, of growing, vinifying, and marketing their own wines.
Like other Spanish dos, Rioja is controlled by a consejo regulador. Based in Logroño, the Consejo keeps a register of all vineyards and bodegas and monitors the movement of stocks from the vineyard to the bottle. The Consejo also maintains laboratories at Haro and Laguardia where tests are carried out on all wines before they are approved for export. After a long debate dating from the 1970s, Rioja was granted doca status in 1991. The qualifications have little to do with absolute quality, the single most important being that Rioja’s grape prices are at least 200% above the national average. The Consejo Regulador set itself the target of mandatory bottling within the region, was defeated in the eu court in 1992, but finally won on appeal in 2000.
Alicante
City on Spain’s Mediterranean coast long associated with strong, rustic wines which now gives its name to a denominated but shrinking wine zone of 9,100 ha/21,800 acres. This do in the levante extends from the city towards yecla on the foothills of Spain’s central plateau (see map under spain) and allows eight different styles of wine including doble pasta, fortified wines, and a solera-aged wine called fondillón, a speciality of the region made from very sweet, deliberately overripened grapes. A coastal subzone, the Marina Alta, produces mostly white muscat-based wines. The climate becomes progressively hotter and the landscape more arid away from the coast and yields rarely exceed 20 hl/ha (1.1 ton/acre). The principal grape variety is the red monastrell (Mourvèdre). Other red varieties well suited to the mediterranean climate include garnacha and bobal. Ninety per cent of the region’s wine is produced in co-operatives. The Bocopa co-op at Petrer and such private firms as Gutiérrez de la Vega, Bernabé Navarro, Salvador Poveda, Enrique Mendoza, Sierra Salinas, El Sequé, Celler de la Muntanya, Volver, and Bruno Prats Ibérica have made noticeable strides in quality.
Alicante is also a synonym for Garnacha Tintorera, or alicante bouschet, in Spain and is even sometimes used as a synonym for grenache.
Andalucía
The southernmost of Spain’s autonomous regions, encompassing eight provinces and the do regions of jerez, málaga, montilla-moriles, sierras de málaga, and condado de huelva (see map under spain). Andalucía is the hottest part of Spain and has traditionally been associated with strong, alcoholic wines which have been exported from the Atlantic port of Cádiz since the phoenicians first established their trading links around 1100 bc (see spain, history). Wine continued to be produced during seven centuries of Moorish domination when Andalucía became one of the most prosperous parts of southern Europe. Since the 16th century, however, when cities such as Seville, Granada, and Córdoba were stepping-stones to the new colonies in south america, Andalucía has become one of the most impoverished regions of Spain.
Many wines of Andalucía bear a strong resemblance to each other, and particularly to sherry, which has fashioned the region’s wine industry since the city of Jerez was won back from the Moors in 1264. Most are fortified, although grapes from the arid plateau around Córdoba and Jaén are often so rich in natural sugar that they do not require the addition of spirit to reach an alcoholic strength of between 14 and 18%. Until laws were tightened up following the foundation of the Jerez Consejo Regulador in 1934, wines from other parts of Andalucía would frequently find their way into sherry blends. Prince Alfonso de Hohenlohe’s groundbreaking venture up in the Ronda hills, with an estate devoted to producing red and rosé table wines that first won acclaim in the late 1990s, opened up new perspectives for Andalusian wine which have been most convincingly confirmed in Granada province, where fine-wine estates have sprouted on the slopes of Sierra Nevada and around Ronda.
Carinena
Town in north-east Spain which lends its name to both a denominated wine zone and a vine variety, widely grown in southern France as carignan. Although it is thought to have originated in the area, the vine (officially known as Mazuelo in Spain) has been widely abandoned here in favour of garnacha, which seems better suited to the arid growing conditions in this, the largest of the four do zones of the aragón region (see map under spain). But Cariñena, like so many other regions of Spain, is trying to break with the the viticultural and winemaking flaws of the past. The minimum alcoholic strength permitted by DO regulations for red Cariñena was reduced from 14 to 12% in 1990. Tempranillo and Cabernet Sauvignon have also been planted, and the local red wine rarity Vidadillo rediscovered. Among the white vine varieties that cover a fifth of Cariñena’s total vineyard area, Macabeo and Garnacha Blanca have been joined by Parellada from Penedès. The co-operatives, led by San Valero, have been fully modernized, and some noteworthy private producers have joined them, notably Solar de Urbezo, Pablo, Bioenos, Añadas, and Grandes Vinos y Viñedos.
Arribes
On Spain’s border with Portugal, the Douro River flows through deep canyons and vineyards grow on the slopes and at the top of the steep hills. The indigenous dark-skinned juan garcía dominated the 750 ha/1,852 acres of vineyards, with 14 wineries in operation in 2013.
Basque
country produces wines in Spain and France on either side of the western Pyrenees.
Basque: Spain
The Basque country (País Vasco in Castilian, Euskadi in Basque) is the most ferociously independent of all Spain’s 17 autonomous regions. This densely populated, heavily industrialized strip of country facing the Bay of Biscay is not normally associated with wine, even though the important rioja region stretches north of the River Ebro into the Basque province of Alava where the Rioja Alavesa subregion is located—home to such important estates as Marqués de Riscal, Contino, Artadi, Martínez Bujanda, Remelluri, and Remírez de Ganuza. The three wholly Basque dos are the tiny region of Getariako txakolina on the coast 25 km/15 miles west of San Sebastián, the smaller Bizkaiko Txakolina around Bilbao, and the newest one, Arabako Txakolina.
Campo da Borja
promising Spanish wine zone in the undulating plains around the town of Borja (after which the Borgia family was named) in the aragón region in the north east (see map under spain), producing fairly alcoholic red wines. This is one of the most arid parts of the country and the 6,800 ha/16,300 acres of low-yielding vineyards, planted predominantly with garnacha vines, produce intensely sweet, dark grapes which are made into heady red wines. The Borsao Borja co-operative has revolutionized the region with its young, intensely fruity reds that have won a large following on export markets and shown the way to the future for the do. The best wines, notably the result of an Australo-American joint venture, can command prices that would not even have been dreamt of in the late 1990s.
Vinos de Madrid
The Spanish capital Madrid is much less well known as the name of a wine denomination. The do Vinos de Madrid forms a semicircle around the southern suburbs. Of the three officially recognized subzones, the most important is round the town of Arganda del Rey to the east of Madrid. White wines are made from the Malvar and airén. Reds are produced from Tinto Fino (tempranillo), also known (in east central Spain, but not in Madrid) as Tinta Madrid, Garnacha (grenache) and, increasingly, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, and Merlot. A handful of producers have shown real potential, particularly those in the western part of the region
Cigales
Small wine zone in northern Spain, north of Valladolid in castilla y león (see map under spain), higher and cooler than toro, with impressive average vine age. This do has traditionally produced dry rosé wines made from Tinto del Pais (tempranillo) and some garnacha grapes, but an increasing number of dry reds show real potential and, so far, value.
Conca de Barberá
Small but promising wine zone in Spanish cataluña, sandwiched in between penedès, costers del segre, and tarragona (see map under spain). At around 500 m/1,600 ft above sea level, this do experiences cold winters, and hot summer days are tempered by cool winds from the sea. Miguel torres of Penedès recognized the grape-growing potential of the limestone country around the Castillo de Milmanda and makes two of his most ambitious single-vineyard wines there: the white Milmanda and the red Grans Muralles. Some interesting rosé, and now red wines are also made from the local trepat vine. Most of Conca de Barberá’s grapes are used to produce cava, however, and consequently few wines carry the name of the DO on the label.
Monterrei
Relatively new do in southern Galicia, on Spain’s border with Portugal. Most of the wine is still sold in bulk, and the recovery of local grape varieties is less developed than elsewhere in Galicia. This is still more a project based on distant glories, than a current reality. But one vigneron, José Luis Mateo of Quinta da Muradella, whose vineyards straddle the Portuguese border, has attracted international attention to this fledgling region with terroir-rich wines made with a bevy of red and white indigenous varieties, including the aptly named Monstruosa, with its huge berries.
Montilla- Moriles
Southern Spanish denominated wine zone in andalucía, 40 km/25 miles south of Cordoba (see map under spain), producing both fortified and unfortified wines in the style of sherry, usually known simply as Montilla. For many years wine from the country around the towns of Montilla and Moriles found its way into sherry soleras. The practice largely ceased in 1945 when the area was awarded a separate do, although wines made from the pedro ximénez grape, some of them very fine, are still legally exported to jerez and neighbouring málaga for blending. Since it became a region in its own right, Montilla has had to contend with a popular image as an inferior, cheap alternative to sherry.
The soils in the centre of the region associated with lower yields and better wines resemble the chalky albariza of Jerez, although most of Montilla-Moriles is sandy and parched. The climate is relatively harsh with summer temperatures rising to 45 °C/113 °F and short, cold winters. The Pedro Ximénez vine, which accounts for over 70% of production, seems to thrive in the hot conditions, yielding extremely sweet grapes. The wines therefore achieve alcoholic strengths between 14 and 16% without fortification. Other grape varieties include lairén and muscat of alexandria, which tend to produce lighter wines for blending. The palomino vine, which is the basis for most sherry, has not been successful in Montilla.
Wine making practices in Montilla parallel those for sherry. Pale, dry fino and amontillado style wines are made from free-run juice, while heavier styles similar to oloroso are made from the subsequent pressings.
Pale Dry Montilla matures under a film of flor, initially in cement or earthenware tinajas, then in a solera similar to those in Jerez. However, in the hot climate of Montilla-Moriles, far removed from the cooling winds of the Atlantic, the flor is usually less thick than in Jerez and the wines tend to have less finesse as a result (see sherry). Heavier oloroso styles are fortified and aged for longer in soleras, where they become dark and pungent. Around half the region’s wines are not fortified, which puts them at an advantage in certain markets where duties are levied on alcoholic strength. The region is now most celebrated for its very sweet but not that strong PX wines, of which some producers are now making young, vintage-dated examples.
Ribeiro
Means ‘river bank’ or ‘riverside’ in the Galician language and is the name of a red and white wine do zone in galicia, north west Spain (see map under spain). Ribeiro spans the valleys of the river Miño and its tributaries and Arnoia downstream from Orense. In the 16th and 17th centuries wines from Ribeiro were exported as far afield as Italy and England but they disappeared from international markets until recently. phylloxera put paid to the region’s prosperity at the end of the 19th century. As in rías baixas, for example, farmers, seeking a quick return to profit, replanted their holdings with the sherry grape palomino. Over recent years, growers have been encouraged to uproot this productive but unsuitable variety in favour of treixadura , torrontés, Lado, and other indigenous varieties which perform well in the damp maritime climate of north west Iberia and can be made into aromatic, crisp white wines. But it is the red wine explosion that has been notable this century, with the recovery and discovery of local Brancellao (alvarelhão), Caiño Redondo, Carabuñeira (Portugal’s Touriga Nacional), and Ferrón varieties, and the rediscovery of the better vineyards planted to the long-reviled, post-phylloxeric Garnacha Tintorera (alicante bouschet). With help from eu funds, wineries have been updated and the traditional, labour-intensive pergolas (see tendone) are being replaced by lower vine-training systems. Emilio Rojo, Manuel Formigo, Luis Anxo Rodríguez, Antonio Cajide (Sameirás), Xosé Lois Sebio (Coto de Gomariz), and Casal de Armán are the new stars.
Terra Alta
Spanish for ‘high land’, is the highest of the do wine zones in Spanish cataluña (see map under spain). Its recent development parallels that of tarragona, which adjoins Terra Alta to the east. As in Tarragona, growers are following the lead of priorat, notably recovering and relaunching their formerly despised garnacha blanca grapes and making some impressive red blends.
Tierra del Vino de Zamora
dop just west of toro with 800 ha/2,000 acres and just eight wineries. Tempranillo dominates terrain similar to its better-known neighbour.
Utiel- Requena
Large, workmanlike Spanish wine region producing some sturdy reds, and mostly rosés, in the hills inland from valencia in south-east Spain (see map under spain). Utiel-Requena is the coolest of the five wine regions of the levante and was once famous for its heavy doble pasta reds. Consequently the region is dominated by the sweet, dark bobal grape variety although the tempranillo vine has become important this century, followed by Syrah, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon. Utiel-Requena produces large amounts of grape concentrate.
Valdeorras
Easternmost wine zone in galicia in north-west Spain (see map under spain). Steeply terraced vineyards are planted predominantly with inappropriate but productive vine varieties such as Garnacha Tintorera (alicante bouschet) and the white palomino. The indigenous white godello, which had all but disappeared from Galicia in the wake of phylloxera, is being aggressively replanted. This moderately productive variety is susceptible to disease, but Valdeorras is protected from the Atlantic by mountains immediately to the west. If carefully vinified, it can produce an aromatic wine with an alcoholic strength of 12 to 13%. In the late 1990s, some of Spain’s most acclaimed barrel-fermented whites were Godello wines from Valdeorras made by the Guitián family, who pioneered this style, now artfully practised by the likes of Rafael Palacios and Valdesil. The mencía grape, which makes fruity reds, is similarly respected by a new wave of producers in Valdeorras.
Sangria
A mixture of red wine, lemonade, and, sometimes, spirits and fresh fruit, served with particular gusto in Spain’s tourist resorts. In 2014 the eu ruled that the name should be restricted to the produce of Spain and Portugal.
Alella
town near Barcelona in cataluña which gives its name to a small Spanish denominated wine zone making mainly white wines in increasingly urbanized countryside. To compensate for the loss of agricultural land, this tiny do was extended northwards in 1989 but by 2012 there were only 315 ha/750 acres of vineyard left, a fraction of the area planted in 1956 when Alella was first awarded DO status. The zone used to be known for its old-fashioned, cask-aged, medium-sweet white wines. The chief grape variety is Pansa Blanca, the local name for xarel-lo, which is now grown along with some chenin blanc and chardonnayto make both cava sparkling wines and dry, still white wine. The reputation of Alella was salvaged by Parxet/Marqués de Alella, which pioneered these new styles of wine. Alta Alella is an important new 21st-century producer.
Almansa
Denominated wine zone in the eastern corner of castile-la mancha in central Spain (see map under spain) with 7,100 ha/17,050 acres under vine. The Almansa do borders the levante regions jumilla and yecla, which produce similarly strong, sturdy red wines, traditionally used for blending but increasingly sold in bottle, principally from monastrelland garnacha tintorera grapes, although syrah is increasingly planted. The climate is extreme. Temperatures rise to 40 °C (104 °F) in summer but can dip below 0 °C (32 °F) in winter. Bodegas Almanseñas, Hacienda El Espino, and the Tintoralba co-op are the leading producers.
Empordà
do in the extreme north east corner of Spanish cataluñaseparated from roussillon only by the French border (see maps under spain and france). The zone has a long history of wine production, which was nearly extinguished when phylloxera swept through the vineyards in the 1900s. Many of the terraces that climb the low foothills of the Pyrenees were never replanted. The climate is mediterranean, although strong year-round winds protect the vineyards from frost and vine diseases, but can subject vines without windbreaks to severe stress. Empordà used to produce heavy rancios, sometimes called Garnatxa, the Catalan name for the grenache grape. This vine variety and Cariñena (carignan) still account for 80% of production, although for long they were mostly turned into bulk rosé for the local market. Inspired by the quality-conscious Castillo de Perelada estate however, smaller producers such as Mas Estela, Masia Serra, and Mas Oller have significantly changed the perception of a region that used to be known as Empordà-Costa Brava.
Binissalem
Wines from Spain’s first offshore do on the Mediterranean island of mallorca are mostly destined for the Balearic holiday resorts. Binissalem’s dominant grape, Manto Negro, is certainly capable of making well-balanced reds, although they can lack structure and character. The most common white variety is Moll, also called Prensal Blanc, which produces bland, neutral wines.
Bullas
Growing wine-producing zone in Spain’s levante, now a do. It shares many features with neighbouring jumilla and yecla, including the predominance of the monastrell grape.
Canary Islands
Spanish islands in the Atlantic ocean off the coast of Morocco which were famous in Shakespearian England, as witness Sir Toby Belch’s call for ‘a cup of canary’ in Twelfth Night. The mediocre wines for the tourist trade are being replaced by much more interesting products, much subsidized by the regional government, including young reds from negramoll and the indigenous listán negro grapes, and whites from Listán Blanco (Palomino), traditional and dry malvasíasfrom La Palma and Lanzarote islands, and vijariejo, marmajuelo, and Gual (which is the same as Madeira’s Boal/bual). vine age is high, soils often volcanic. Although construction is encroaching on vineyards, the number of denominated zones has ballooned, and by the mid 2000s included one for each of the islands of la palma, el hierro, lanzarote, and gran canaria, and no fewer than five for the island of Tenerife (abona, tacoronte-acentejo, valle de güímar, valle de la orotava, and ycoden-daute-isora). Suertes del Marqués of Valle de la Orotava is one of the most ambitious producers.
Cebreros
Wine zone in castilla y león in west-central Spain, little known despite its outstanding feature, very old garnacha vineyards on steep slate slopes.
Chacolí
Castilian spelling of the Basque wine txakoli. Chacolí de Guetaria is Getariako Txakolina, Chacolí de Vizcaya is Bizkaiko Txakolina, while Chacolí de Alava is Arabako Txakolina.
Condado de Huelva
Spanish denominated wine zone in andalucía, close to the city of Huelva between the jerez region and the Portuguese border (see map under spain). Nowadays few of its wines, which have typically been fortified and made in the image of its neighbour sherry, are exported but the region has a long history (see spain, history). In ‘The Pardoner’s Tale’, Chaucer refers to the wines of Lepe, a small town just outside the modern Condado de Huelva do and a notorious source of blending wine, and by the early 16th century the wines of Huelva were being exported to northern Europe and the emerging colonies in South America. But from the 17th century, much of Huelva’s production was sold to Jerez, where it was blended anonymously into sherry soleras. Huelva became a DO in its own right in 1964. The principal grape is the rather neutral zalema along with a little palomino (15% of the vineyard area).
Four styles of wine are made. Condado Pálido is a pale, dry, fortified wine matured in a solera under a blanket of flor so that it resembles a coarse fino sherry. Condado Viejo is a rancio style of wine aged in a solera and resembling a somewhat rustic Jerez oloroso. Vino Naranja, literally ‘orange wine’, is Spain’s only aromatized wine (through maceration with orange peel) with an appellation of origin (and bears no relation, therefore, to orange wine). Vino Joven, finally, is an unfortified dry table wine that now accounts for about half the regional production, and which can be a little fruitier than similar white wines produced in the Jerez area.
El Hierro
Spanish do covering the whole of the eponymous island in the canary islands, with just 190 ha/450 acres of vineyards. The dominant grape is the white Vijariego, but it’s the red Baboso Negro (alfrocheiro preto) which has won the Tanajara estate some international recognition.
Garrido
Minor speciality of the condado de huelva region in southern Spain.
Montsant
DO created in cataluña in 2001 which used to be known as the Falset subregion of the tarragona do. Its 1,900 ha/4,700 acres of vineyards were given their own identity in order to highlight its superior quality. It has less of the schist soils of its neighbour priorat but otherwise its old Garnacha and Cariñena vineyards on steep slopes enable it to produce wines of very similar style and quality at much lower prices.
Bullas
growing wine-producing zone in Spain’s levante, now a do. It shares many features with neighbouring jumilla and yecla, including the predominance of the monastrell grape.
Jumilla
Denominated wine region in the levante north of Murcia in central, southern Spain producing mainly strong red wines. The climate is arid, with rainfall amounting to just 300 mm/11.7 in a year. The principal grape variety in this do is the red Monastrell (mourvèdre), which ripens in the summer temperatures of around 40 °C/104 °F to produce wines that can reach a natural alcoholic strength of 18%. Average yields of 12 to 15 hl/ha (0.7–0.8 tons/acre) have been uneconomically low, but more recent planting of grafted vines has improved prospects.
About half of the region’s much-reduced total area of 27,000 ha/64,800 acres lies in Castilla-La Mancha and the rest in the region of Murcia. For this reason, Jumilla is one of the three DOs in Spain regulated by the Agriculture Ministry and not by regional authorities.
Much of the wine from Jumilla was traditionally produced by the doble pasta method and used for blending with lighter wines from other parts of Spain. The vast San Isidro co-operative dominates the region’s production, although since the mid 1980s a number of smaller, private producers such as Carchelo, Casa Castillo, Finca Luzón, El Nido, and Hijos de Juan Gil have been striving, with some success, to tame Monastrell, often by blending it with Tempranillo or Merlot. Jumilla’s recognition on international markets, notably thanks to the wines of Casa Castillo and El Nido, is not matched in Spain so that most of the best wines are exported.
Yecla
Denominated wine zone in the levante, south east Spain. Sandwiched between jumilla, alicante, and almansa, Yecla is dominated by La Purísima, the single largest co-operative in Spain. The red monastrell represents 85% of all grapes grown in the region. The private Bodegas Castaño is pioneering more ambitious wines by adding Cabernet Sauvignon, Tempranillo, and Merlot to Monastrell.
Valencia
Spain’s biggest port and third largest city, also lends its name to an autonomous region and one of five wine denominations in the Comunidad Valenciana region. The vineyards are well away from the city, inland from the fertile market gardens and paddy fields bordering the Mediterranean. Production of white wine exceeds red. Neutral dry whites are made from the merseguera grape, although the local Moscatel Romano (muscat of alexandria) produces some good, pungent dessert mistelas. monastrell and the dark-fleshed Garnacha Tintorera (alicante bouschet) together produce rather coarse red wines, although the latter can produce some fresh, dry rosé. Five large producers dominate Valencia and the surrounding DOs.
Rainfall
a component of climate which affects grapevines in many and conflicting ways.
For vines depending directly on rainfall, there needs to be enough rain, at the right times, to promote adequate growth and to avoid severe water stress during ripening. On the other hand, more than enough rainfall can lead to excessive vegetation growth and a poor canopy microclimate, especially on soils high in nitrogen. It can also cause waterlogging on soils prone to it. Similarly, rainfall can promote fungal diseases such as downy mildew and botrytis bunch rot by wetting foliage and fruit.
The effects of irregular rainfall are moderated to the extent that the soil has sufficient depth and water-holding capacity, and is well enough drained for the vine roots to survive at depth.
Alternatively, insufficient rainfall and/or insufficient soil water-holding capacity can be overcome by irrigation. This is especially important in mediterranean climates where the summer is dry. Under all these regimes the practical minimum annual rainfall for commercially adequate yields is somewhere around 500 mm/20 in in cool viticultural climates, rising to about 600–750 mm/24–30 in in warm to hot climates.
Hot regions with full irrigation typically have 300 mm/12 in of annual rainfall or less, and mostly depend on rivers, aquifers, or wells to provide water. The normal unreliability of rainfall means that full wetting of the soil profile seldom occurs naturally, and frequent heavy watering is usually needed throughout the growing and ripening season.
No particular upper limit of rainfall is apparent for viticulture, provided that the soils are well drained, leached soil nutrients can be replaced, sunlight is enough, and humidity is not so high that fungal diseases cannot be controlled. Some successful viticultural areas, such as the vinho verde region in northern Portugal, and parts of southern switzerland, have annual rainfall totals exceeding 1,700 mm/67 in.
Heavy rain close to and at vintage is nevertheless nearly always detrimental to wine quality, especially if it follows water stress. The berries then swell suddenly and often split, resulting in fungal and bacterial infection of the bunches. At a minimum, the juice and its flavour are diluted. hail at this time is especially disastrous.
Evaporation
Conversion of water (or other liquids) from the liquid to the gaseous or vapour state, brought about by the input and absorption of heat energy. It has important implications for both growing vines and maturing wines. High evaporation is favoured by high sunlight, high wind speed, and low humidity.
Viticulture -Evaporation
There are three sorts of evaporation in the vineyard. First, there is evaporation from the soil, which is especially significant while the soil surface is wet. Then there is evaporation from the vine leaves, and lastly from other parts of the vine (bunches wet from rain, for example), which can have important disease implications.
The power of the atmosphere to evaporate water is related inversely to its humidity and directly to its temperature. Unfortunately the direct climatic records of evaporation, or potential evaporation, are sparse. The records are further confused by the fact that different countries use different instruments for measurement of evaporation. Nevertheless broad averages for regions can be estimated with fair accuracy, and these allow calculation of irrigation requirements, for example.
Evaporation from the soil reduces the amount of water available to the vine and so can encourage water stress. It also creates humidity in the vineyard.
Evaporation out of grapevine leaves (a process known as transpiration) takes place mainly through pores, or stomata, which form openings in the waxy leaf surface. It is regulated by opening and closing of the stomata, with partial closure taking place at night. Transpiration from individual leaves is increased by their direct exposure to sunlight, which provides the energy needed for evaporation. The combined water loss from a vineyard is the sum of the evaporation from the soil and transpiration from the vines (and possibly a cover crop or weeds), and is called evapotranspiration.
Inadequate evaporation from wet leaves and bunches is, of course, a factor in fungal disease infection. Vine-growers in many climates deliberately trim vines and remove leaves from the vicinity of the bunches, partly to allow in more light, but partly also to encourage evaporation, and thus avoid diseases such as botrytis bunch rot
Wine Maturation- Evaporation
Evaporation also causes a loss of liquid stored in tight wooden containers, such as wine undergoing barrel maturation. water, the principal component in wines, diffuses through small pores of oak, eventually reaching the outer surface of the stave, where it evaporates into the atmosphere. alcohol also diffuses through the stave, but at a rate considerably slower than that of water.
The atmosphere in contact with the barrel stave contains many molecules of water vapour (more when humidity is high, fewer in dry conditions) but relatively few molecules of alcohol. This diffusion–evaporation process means there exists a concentration gradient of water across the barrel stave which is determined by the relative humidity. Accordingly, high humidity slows the net transfer of water from the barrel interior to the atmosphere. Whilst the rate of alcohol transfer is not affected by high humidity, alcohol loss is enhanced relative to the decreased water loss. To summarize, wine subjected to barrel maturation in a high-humidity storage cellar will decrease in alcoholic strength whereas that stored in a dry cellar will increase.
This is why, in the low-humidity sherry bodegas of jerez, it is common practice to sprinkle water on the earth floors to raise the relative humidity and therefore prevent the alcoholic strength of the wine under flor film yeast from increasing to the point at which the yeast would be killed.
Evaporation makes regular topping up of a barrel necessary. The space left by evaporation is called the ullage.
Temperature variability
a characteristic of climates referring to the short-term variability of temperature between night and day (diurnal temperature variation or thermal amplitude), and from day to day. It is unrelated to annual temperature range, as described under continentality, and clearly distinct in its viticultural and oenological implications. Temperature variability plays an important role in determining the risks of frost damage to dormant vines in spring and autumn, and of heat stress and direct heat damage to the vines and fruit in summer. Gladstones speculates that restricted temperature variability is important for improved wine quality in cool regions since it may influence the formation of pigment, aroma, and flavour in the vines and ripening berries: these processes being favoured, relative to the mere accumulation of sugar in grapes, by a narrow daily temperature range and minimal temperature fluctuations from day to day. However, in warm to hot regions, a greater temperature variability may be an advantage for wine quality as it implies cooling effects at night.
Commercial experience around the world does not always support Gladstones’ view. Indeed, much is made in certain regions (e.g. wachau in Austria, the Uco Valley in argentina, much of chile, napa Valley and the santa cruz mountains in California) of the beneficial effects of a wide diurnal temperature variation (night temperatures must be lower than 15 °C)—often due to elevation—but it is not clear whether this is simply because the ripening period is thereby extended, allowing grapes to reach phenolic ripeness without losing the desired sugar/acid balance, or whether the variation has some more complicated, as yet unidentified, influence on the ripening process and the accumulation of phenolics.
Drip
A form of irrigation in which water is applied literally as drops to each vine from a pressure-reducing plastic device (the dripper) attached to a plastic pipe. The technique was developed in Israel and Australia in the 1960s, and has been widely adopted wherever irrigation is permitted. Drip irrigation has transformed viticulture since, unlike flood irrigation, it allows irrigation of vineyards on undulating land, and uses a limited water supply to maximum advantage. The technique requires extensive filtration of irrigation water and now soluble fertilizers can be added directly to it, a process known as fertigation. Refinements include burying irrigation lines, which usefully reduces evaporation from the wet soil surface (and has obvious applications in regions where irrigation is prohibited).
Doble Pasta
Dark, full-bodied Spanish wine produced by running off a proportion of fermenting must after two days and adding more crushed grapes to refill the vat. The ratio of skin to pulp is effectively doubled, producing wines with a deep, black colour and very high levels of tannin. Doble pasta wines have traditionally been made in jumilla, yecla, utiel-requena, manchuela, and alicante, where they are used for blending but they are being superseded by grape concentrate.
generoso
Is a Spanish and Portuguese term for a fortified wine.
tinaja
large, earthenware vessel, probably developed from the Roman amphorae, occasionally still used to ferment and store wine in central and southern spain and southern chile. Tinajas are used by some producers in La mancha, valdepeñas, and montilla-moriles, although modern versions are mostly made from reinforced concrete. They are relatively cheap, but have the disadvantages that they are not very efficient in terms of space, are difficult to clean, especially if the neck is narrow, and offer relatively poor temperature control unless they are buried underground like qvevri. Increased interest in amphorae in winemaking has led to a certain reprise, however.
Barrica
Spanish term for a barrel or barrique. A barrica bordelesa is the specific term for a Bordeaux barrique, the most common barrel type used in Spain.
Spain- Levels of Production
Vino
Vino con Indicación Geografica Protegida (IGP) aka PGI Regions aka Vino de la Tierra (VdlT)
VCIG Regions (Vino de Calidad con Indicación Geográfica)
Vino de Pago Calificado
DO and DOCa Regions
Castilla y Leon- DO
Arianza DO Arribes DO Bierzo DO Cigales DO Ribera del Duero DO Rueda DO Tierra de Leon DO Tierra del Vino de Zamora DO Toro DO
Castilla y Leon- VCIG
Sierra de Salamanca VCIG
Valles de Benavente VCIG
Valtiendas VCIG
Asturias- VCIG
Cangas VCIG
Cantabria?
None
Basque Country/ Pais Vasco
DOCa
Rioja DOCa
DO
Arabako Txakolina/ Chacoli de Alava DO
Bizkaiko Txakolina/ Chacoli de Bizcaia DO
Getariako Txakolina/ Chacoli de Guetaria DO
Cava DO
Rioja DOCa- Subzone:
Rioja Alavesa (Pais Vasco)
La Rioja
DOCa
Rioja DOCa
DO
Cava DO
Rioja DOCa- Subzones
Rioja Alta (La Rioja)
Navarra
DOCa
Rioja DOCa
DO
Navarra DO
Cava DO
Navarra DO- Subzones:
Ribera Alta Ribera Baja Baja Montana Tierra Estella Valdizarbe
Rioja DOCa- Subzone
Rioja Baja (Navarra)
Aragon
Campo de Borja DO Calatayud DO Carinena DO Somotano DO Cava DO
Castilla-La Mancha
Almansa DO La Mancha DO Manchuela DO Mentrida DO Mondejar DO Ribera del Jucar DO Ucles DO Valdepenas DO
Madrid DO
Vinos de Madrid DO
Vinos de Madrid DO- Subzones
Arganda
Navalcamero
San Martin de Valdeoglesias
Valencia
DO Alicante DO Until- Requena DO Valencia DO Cava DO
Valencia DO- Subzones:
Alto Turia
Clariano
Valentino
Moscatel de Valencia
Murica
DO
Bullas DO
Jumilla DO
Yecla DO
Extremadura
DO
Ribera del Guadiana DO
Cava Do
Ribera del Guadiana DO- Subzones:
Tierra de Barros Ribera Alta Ribera Baja Montanchez Matanegra Canamero
Andalucia
DO Condado de Huelva DO Jerez-Xerez- Sherry DO and Manzanilla Sanlucar de Barrameda DO Malaga DO Sierras de Malaga DO Montilla-Moriles DO
VCIG
Granada VCIG
Lebrija VCIG
Malaga DO- Subzones:
Axarquia Montes de Malaga Manilva Norte Serrania de Ronda
Sierras de Malaga DO- Subzones:
Serrania de Ronda
Montilla-Moriles DO- Subzone:
Montilla-Moriles Superior (higher concentration of Albariza)
Balearic Islands- Spain
Binssalem DO
Pla i Llevant DO
Canary Islands
DO
Tenerife
Other Islands
Tenerife
Abona DO Tacronte-Acentejo DO Valle de Guitar DO Valle de la Orotava DO Ycoden-Daute-Isora DO
Tacoronte- Acentejo DO- Subzone
Anaga
Communes of Anaga:
La Laguna Santa Cruz de Tenerife
Tegueste
Canary Islands- Other Islands
El Hierro DO Gran Canaria DO La Gomera DO La Palma DO Lanzarote DO **The Island of Fuerteventura does not have an appellation
La Palma DO- Subzones
Hoyo de Mazo (Buenas)- Communes: Santa Cruz de la Palma Brena Alta Brena Baja Villa de Mazo
Fuencaliente- Communes: Fuencaliente Los Llanos El Paso Tazacorte
Subzona Norte (Puntallana- Barlovento)- Communes: Tijarafe Puntagorda Garafia Barlovento San Andres y Sauces Puntallana
Vino de Pago- Aragon
Approved
Ayles, 2011, Carinena, Aragon
Vino de Pago- Castilla-la-Mancha
Approved
- Dominio de Valdepusa, 2003, Castilla-la-Mancha
- Finca Elez, 2003, Castilla-La Mancha
- Guijoso, 2005, Castilla-la-Mancha
- Dehesa del Barrizal, 2006, Castilla-La Mancha
- Campo de la Guardia, 2009, Castilla-La Mancha
- Pago Florentino, 2009, Castilla-La Mancha
- Casa del Blanco, 2010, Castilla-La Mancha
- Pago Calzadilla, 2011, Castilla-La Mancha
Vino de Pago- Navarra
Approved
- Senorio de Arinzano, 2007, Tierra Estella, Navarra
- Prado de Irache, 2008, Tierra Estella, Navarra
- Bodegas Otazu, 2009, Valdizarbe, Navarra
Not Yet Approved
- La Finca Bolandin, 2014, Navarra
Vino de Pago- Valencia
Approved
- El Terrerazo, 2010, Until-Requena, Valencia
- Los Balagueses, 2011, Utiel- Requena, Valencia
Not Yet Approved
- Pago de Chzas Carrascal, 2012, Valencia
- Vera de Estenas, 2013, Valencia
Bobal
- Spanish, dark skinned
- South east Spain, can be used for grape concentrate and also for bulk wind production, but can also be used for fine wines
- Second most planted red grape behind Tempranillo
- Has become popular again as modern winemakers make silkier versions from the region of Utiel- Requena
- Retains acid better than Monastrell and can be lower in alcohol
- Allowed in 4 areas: Valencia, Manchuela and Ribera Del Jucar
- Drought resistant and always grown as unirrigated bush vines
- Sensitive to springtime cold spells, young vines ripen unevenly
- Can have better colour, a beautiful dark berry component and an ability to transmit terroir (sometimes even better than Grenache and Monstreill)
Bobal Blanc
- know as Tortosi, grown in Valencia.
What was Spanish wine used for in the early days?
It was used to strengthen wines from France
What was the first wine that was shipped to North America and England from Spain?
Sherry. This is despite the Spanish Armada in the 15th Century.
What prevented Spanish colonies from producing wine in the 17th Century?
Laws from the Spanish government. This protected Malaga and Sherry. It also prevented and slowed New World wine production in Spanish colonies.
When did wine quality change in Spain and came up to the same quality as the rest of Europe?
In the 1850s and 60s when French winemakers came to Rioja
Which famous w/ maker returned back to Spain in the 1860s?
Marques De Riscal and Marquis De Murratta came back with Bordeaux grape varieities and barrique aging (called barricas in Spain), plus estate bottling
What Oak did the Spanish use for their “barricas”?
American Oak due to trade restrictions
What were some of the famous wineries that got their start in the end of the 19th Century?
Lopez De Heredia, CUNE, La Rioja Alta and Berceo
What sparkling wine style in Spain started in the late 19th Century?
Champana- cava (as it is now known) at San Sadurni d’Anoia
When did Phylloxera hit Spain?
Dawn of the 20th Century in Rioja
When was Consejos Reguladores?
1930s to maintain quality. The original were Rioja, Jerez, Malaga
What caused quality to go down in Spain from the 1930s to 1975?
Francisco Franco’s rise to power in fascism until his death. This hampered developments. But Miguel Torres bought stainless steel in 1960s, and DOC laws were finally approved in 1970.
What are the two highest tiers in Spanish Winemaking?
DO and DOCa (Denominacion De Origen and Denominacion de Origen Calificada. Vinod de Calidad con Indicacion Geografica (VCIG)- once considered a stepping stone to DOP in the near appellation scheme.
What is the lowest level of quality wine made in Spain?
Vino de la Tierra (VdlT)- IGP scheme in the EU
DO Pagos- Spain
Theoretically superior to DO. An estate within an existing DO must surpass the basic DO requirements in DO Pagos legislation, through lowered yields and other measures suggestive of quality production. This level of quality is not used much in Rioja, Ribera Del Duero, due to big brands in these areas.
What is disappointing from the front of labels in Spain?
Aging categories and terms seen as old fashioned. In Rioja and Ribera Del Duero there is more stringent conditions.
Crianza- Spain
Red Wine: 2 years (including 6 months in cask
White/ Rosado: 18 months (6 months in cask)
Reserva- Spain
Red: 3 years (1 year in cask)
White/ Rosado: 2 years (6 months in oak included)
Gran Reserva- Spain
Red: 5 years (including 18 months in oak)
White/ Rosado: 4 years (including 6 months in cask)
Other terminology used in DOP Wines in Spain………..
Noble: 18 months in cask of less than 600L or bottle
Anejo: 24 months aging in cask of less than 600L or bottle
Viejo: 36 months aging, demonstrates marked oxidative character
What is Spain’s largest autonomias?
Castilla Y Leon (“The Land Of Castles”). It has many fortifications to protect Spain from the Moors
What is the climate of Castilla Y Leon?
Continental, moderated by its proximity to the Atlantic and Mediterranean
What does Castilla Y Leon consist of?
Meseta Central (an arid central plateau of Spain) and the Mountains surrounding it
