Upper Ebro Flashcards
Rioja
Named after Rio Oja, a tributary of the Ebro. Area protected by mountains on all sides. Importance first increased when large numbers of Bordeaux winemakers, growers and merchants relocated here after the phylloxera devastation in Bordeaux. Periods of ageing in oak and bottle longer than other regions. Crianza must spread 12 months in oak, rather than 6 months in other regions. Move towards single estate or single vineyard production rather than co-operative cellars.
Rioja Alavesa
West of Logono on the river Ebro. Cool maritime influence from the Atlantic. Relatively high rainfall. Chalk rich soils produce lighter bodied wine with finesse.
Rioja Alta
West of Logrono and south of the river Ebro. Clay soils or red soils with high iron content. Virus suited to clay, Tempranillo to the iron rich soils. Small area of alluvial soil where Malvasia is grown. Warmer and drier than Alaveas, but still maritime.
Rioja Baja
East of Logrono, south bank of the Ebro. Continental climate with hot summers and severe winters. Heavy clay soils, Garnacha dominant, largest producer of Vino Joven wine.
Rioja- Red
75% production. Tempranillo dominates with Graciano and Mazuelo (Carignan) for expensive reds, Garnacha a large component in the cheaper wines. Large range of styles. Traditional Riserva and Gran Reserva have a long ageing period, resulting in development of savoury characters such as meat and caramel that complement soft strawberry fruit. Pale red in colour with a brown rim. Modern wines are darker with more pronounced fruit character of strawberries and plums. Less oxidative character and more obvious oak flavours of vanilla, toast and coconut.
Rioja- White
10% production. Blends of Viura, Malvasia, Verdejo, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc have only recently been permitted, little plantings yet. Traditionally deliberately oxidised and extended oak ageing in American Oak, creating savoury, nutty characters. Only one producer (Lopez de Heredia) still makes this style, though some make a moderately oxidative, oak-aged white. Modern whites fermented at low temperatures in stainless steel to preserve fruit. Experimentation with ageing in French oak. Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Verdejo must not make up more than 49% of a blend.
Rioja- Rosado
15% production. Mainly Garnacha, and most unaged.
Navara
Stretches from Ebro river valley to the foothills of the Pyrenees, broad range of soil types and microclimates. Important region for Rosado in a light fresh style and modern high- quality reds. White production limited. Similar varieties to Rioja, with Garnacha dominating. More open to non local varieties with plantings of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay and Moscatel. EVENA (research centre) has encouraged wire training and mechanical harvesting so these methods are increasing, allowing better canopy and disease management. Recent investment in winery equipment. Temperature controlled fermentation tanks and small new oak barrels now used. Traditional wines are similar to Rioja, some with more colour and black berry fruit from permitted addition of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Varietal wines from local or international varieties permitted.
Somontano
Foothills of the Pyrenees north of Zaragoza. Cool climate with significant rainfall. Predominately international varieties, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc and Gewürztraminer. Local grapes have been almost replaced. Generally modern, clean varietally- labelled wines, white production more common than red.
Carinena
Red/ brown limestone with rocky sub soil. High levels of calcium carbonate and slate in places. Mainly red wines, usually a blend including Tempranillo and Garnacha. Some good quality, inexpensive Reservas and Gran Reservas.
Calatayud
North east Spain, both banks of the Jalon river, a tributary to the Ebro. Continental, arid environment. Brown limestone and loam over slate and gypsum. Garnacha (80% of production) and Tempranillo are the main varieties for rich, powerful reds. Stainless steel, temperature control and new barrel ageing contributing to a more international style.
Rioja White
White Rioja, or rather Rioja Blanco, is a style of wine from the Rioja region of Spain made entirely with white grapes, the most important of which is Viura. This white wine ranges from light to full-bodied and is treasured for its ability to age for 10 or more years. Rioja Blanco wines are exceptionally rare, making up only about 10% of the region’s production. So, if you’re interested in knowing what a serious white wine is all about, look no further, this is your gem.
Rioja White- Tasting Notes
You’ll find 2 primary styles of White Rioja wines based on a difference in aging. Most white Rioja wines are released a year after vintage in a “fresh” style leaving just a few designed to age at least 7–15 years where they develop nutty, oxidative flavors. You can try cellaring a “fresh” Rioja Blanco to see how they change after 4-6 years.
- Aged Rioja Blanco: Aromas are bold and heady with notes of roasted pineapple, caramelized honey, preserved lime, candied tarragon, hazelnut, whisky and horehound candies. On the palate, wines are dry and subtly reveal layers of lemon curd, creamed pine nuts, praline, tarragon and lemonade with a long finish of oily minerals, saline and mouth-watering acidity.
- Fresh Rioja Blanco: Aromas are lean and citrusy with notes of lime peel, lemon verbana, honeydew melon, fresh tarragon, marjoram and a chalky mineral note. On the palate, wines are dry and burst with ample acidity and sweeter fruit flavors of honeydew melon, lemon curd, and honeycomb with a long finish of minerals, saline, and tingly acidity.
Aging Requirements for Rioja White
Young/Joven: Wines are under 15 months with no taking requirements
Crianza: 12 months aging with 6 months in cask (casks are typically 225 liter French oak barrels)
Reserva: 24 months aging with 6 months in cask
Gran Reserva: 48 months aging with 6 months in cask
Rioja White Blend
There are 6 indigenous wine grapes and 3 other wine grapes allowed in Rioja Blanco. The indigenous grapes include Viura (a minimum of 51% of the blend), Malvasía de Rioja, Garnacha Blanca, Tempranillo Blanco, Maturana Blanca and Turruntés de Rioja. The other grapes allowed include Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Verdejo and may be added up to 49% of the blend.
Castilla-La Mancha
Known as Castile-La Mancha in English (historically, Castilla la Nueva or New Castile), the lower, southern half of the plateau that makes up central Spain (see map under spain). At elevations between 400 and 1,000 m (1,300–3,500 ft) above sea level, this is Spain at her most extreme. Winters are long and cold with temperatures often falling below 0 °C/32 °F for days on end. In summer the heat is gruelling. The thermometer regularly rises above 35 °C, even 40 °C (104 °F), and little if any rain falls between May and September. The vast expanse of country which is green in the spring quickly turns to a shade of burnt ochre in July and August as all but the deepest river beds dry up completely. The locals say that they suffer ‘nine months of winter and three months of hell’. Despite these fierce conditions, Castilla-La Mancha produces half of all the wine made in Spain, with drip irrigation having amply compensated for the widespread vine pull since 2000. Around 465,000 ha/one million acres of vineyard yield an average of 20 million hl/530 million gal of wine (averaging much-increased yields of 43 hl/ha (2.6 tons/acre). One of Castilla-La Mancha’s nine (plus eight pagos) do regions, la mancha itself, is planted mainly with the robust white wine vine airén.
Despite determined uprooting, there are still an estimated 180,000 ha of drought-resistant Airén in the zone of La Mancha alone (less than half of them producing do wine), making it one of the world’s most widely planted vine varieties—although Cencibel (alias tempranillo) has been catching up fast. By 2013 there were more than 73,000 ha in La Mancha alone and it dominates in the valdepeñas do, while north west of Toledo, méntrida produces sturdy reds from very ripe garnacha. Although the fourth DO, almansa, belongs administratively to Castilla-La Mancha, the style of winemaking there is closer to that of the levante. monastrell, Cencibel, and the red-fleshed Garnacha Tintorera are grown.
The mountainous DO of mondéjar east of Madrid produces largely undistinguished reds, but the Ribera del Júcar and manchuela DOs further east are producing much more interesting reds from Tempranillo, Syrah, and such indigenous varieties as Bobal, Garnacha, and Monastrell, as well as possibly Spain’s most fragrant renditions of Macabeo whites.
Attracted by the availability of grapes and low production costs, a number of large companies moved to the region bringing new winemaking technology with them. The large co-operatives similarly modernized their production, although much of their bulk wine from Airén still goes into subsidized distillation (see wine lake). So a new generation of cleanly made and often inexpensive red, rosé, and white wine from Castilla-La Mancha is finding favour with buyers both at home and abroad.
Another development that contrasts strongly with centuries of bulk wine production has been a blossoming of distinguished single-estate wines that have vastly outgrown clichés about La Mancha wines, all of them inspired by the pioneering efforts of the Marqués de Griñón at his Dominio de Valdepusa.
La Mancha
Europe’s largest single demarcated wine region in the heart of Spain (see map under spain). By 2012 the vineyards of the do La Mancha had shrunk to 160,000 ha/385,000 acres of arid table land from the satellite towns south of Madrid to the hills beyond valdepeñas nearly 200 km/125 miles to the south. The Moors christened it Manxa, meaning ‘parched earth’, and that is an apt description of the growing conditions in southern Castile, castilla-la mancha. rainfall is unreliable, with annual totals averaging between 300 and 400 mm/12 to 16 in. Summers are hot with temperatures rising to over 40 °C/104 °F, while winters are bitterly cold with prolonged frosts.
The doughty airén vine seems to be well suited to these extreme conditions and is therefore popular among La Mancha’s 18,000 smallholders. It was planted on a grand total of about 180,000 ha of La Mancha, and about 65% of all land dedicated to the do. It is planted at the remarkably low vine density of between 1,200 and 1,600 vines per hectare (485–650 per acre) because of the very dry climate. fungal diseases are almost unknown in La Mancha’s dry growing season and cultivation is therefore relatively easy. Average yields of between 40 and 45 hl/ha (1.9 tons/acre) have increased significantly with the increase in trellis systems and drip irrigation which extended to more than 40% of vineyards by 2014.
Technological development has given La Mancha a new lease of life and opened new and more discerning markets for the region’s fresh, inexpensive, if rather neutral dry white wines. Red wines, made increasingly from Cencibel (tempranillo) grapes, have also improved enormously and a number of enterprising growers are experimenting with other grape varieties, including cabernet sauvignon, syrah, petit verdot, graciano, verdejo, sauvignon blanc, and chardonnay, now admitted and even encouraged by do regulations. Despite the reduction in total vineyard area, annual production has risen from 2 to 7 million hl/185 million gal produced annually, a large part is still distilled into industrial alcohol or sent to jerez to make brandy de Jerez.
Valdepeñas
Wine region in castilla-la mancha in south central Spain producing soft, ripe red wines. The sea of rolling vineyards that is Valdepeñas is really an extension of la mancha (see map under spain), but Valdepeñas has developed a reputation for quality over and above its larger neighbour and has consequently earned a separate denomination, or do. Physical conditions in Valdepeñas are similar to those in La Mancha. The Sierra Morena dividing castile from andalucía immediately to the south is a barrier to the moderating influence of the Mediterranean. At an elevation of 700 m/2,300 ft above sea level, Valdepeñas shares the arid, continental conditions that prevail through much of central Spain.
As in La Mancha, the white, drought-resistant airén is the dominant grape variety but the red Cencibel, as the tempranillo of Rioja is known here, has been gaining ground in Valdepeñas’ 28,000 ha/67,000 acres of vineyard. Much of the ‘red’ wine made in the region is a blend of red and white grapes somewhat lacking in colour and body. The best red wines, however, are made exclusively from Cencibel, which has the capacity to age well in oak and increasingly they include Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, and even Petit Verdot. The best wines have the soft, smooth, vanilla character, although not the price tag nor the complexity, of a well-aged rioja.
