Spian Flashcards
What is the top Spanish grape variety; also the most planted wine grape variety in the world?
Airen; an undistinguished white variety used primarily for making brandy and commercial bulk wine.
What is the most prevalent red grape in Spain?
Tempranillo
What are 7 synonyms for Tempranillo?
Tinta de Toro (Toro), Tinta del Pais (Ribera del Duero, Cigales), Ull de Llebre (Catalonia), Cencibel (La Mancha, Valdepenas), Aragonez (Portugal), Tinta Ririz (Douro in Portugal), Valdepenas (California)
What two grapes are regionally based in Sherry?
Palomino and Pedro Ximenez
What two grapes are regionally based in Cava?
Parellada and Xarel-lo
What grape is regionally based in Rias Baixas?
Albarino
What two well-respected grape varieties are found in Spain but known in France as Grenache and Mourvedre?
Garnacha and Monastrell
What was the first region designated as a DO and the first one elevated to DOCa?
Rioja
What are the three subregions of Rioja?
Rioja Alta: the high altitude, hilly area covering most of the western half of the region.
Rioja Alavesa: essentially the part of the Rioja Alta north of the Ebro
Rioja Baja: the lower, flatter, eastern part of Rioja
What grape variety covers well over 90% of the vineyard area in Rioja?
Red varieties; tempranillo takes up most of that. Other permitted red grapes are Garnacha, Mazuelo (also known as Carineno or Carignan) and Graciano. White = Viura (Macabeo everywhere else in spain), Malvasia and Garnacha Bianca, Chard and Sav Blanc.
What is the Rioja region most famous for?
Though they make white and rosado (rose), Rioja is most famous for red wine.
What historical incident propelled Rioja into the winemaking world?
When phylloxera hit in the late 19th century, Bordeaux winemakers settled here after their own vineyards had been destroyed.
What must white Rioja’s contain?
A minimum of 51% Viura. They are usually cold-fermented and released young, but there are a handful of oak-aged and barrel-fermented examples.
Where is Cava mainly produced?
In the Penedes region of the Catalonia in northeastern Spain.
Who is legally authorized to make sparkling wine under the name Cava?
160 municipalities
What are the three classic grape varieties for Cava?
Macabeo (Rioja’s Viura), Xarel-lo and Parellada
What winemaking process is used to produce Cava?
the traditional method
Ranging from driest to sweetest, Cava is classified as:
brut nature, extra brut, brut, seco (dry), semi-seco (semi-dry), dulce (sweet). About half of production is brut.
What 3 soil types are found in the Jerez region and which grape variety has an affinity for each?
Palomino prefers the white “albariza” soil, composed of about 30% chalk along with some clay and sand. Pedro Ximenez grows well on “barro” a clay soil with iron oxide and a little chalk and sand. The Moscatel thrives on “arena”, sand.