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About Spanish Wine
Spain has a long history of producing fine wines, 50 percent of all the EECs vineyards lie in Spain and offers an excellent and memorable selection of Reds, White and Rose wines, which thankfully, are still for the most part inexpensive for the quality on offer. Rioja is rightly Spain's best known wine and available in most shops and restaurants throughout Spain, Cune, Berberana, Marques de Caceres and La Rioja Alta are also brands well worth a try. Another top-drawer and currently fashionable region is Ribera del Duero in Castilla-Le?n which makes Spain's most expensive wine, Vega Sicilia, other outstanding reds to look out for are Pesquera, Vi?a Pedrosa and Senorio de Nava. 
You will find many establishments in Spain offer excellent quality menus for around 6 to 10 Euros, some of which ( mostly those catering for the local clientele ) will even include a bottle of wine for two persons. For the most part the wine included is adequate in quality , most establishments serve Valdepe?as which is a reasonable mass produced wine from the central plains of El Castile , however not all Establishment owners offer the same integrity to their clients and the cheaper brew I have tried has been lets say been bad to horrible and mostly forgettable. Most Restaurants will offer a thoughfull and varied Carta de Vino ( Wine List ), even the smaller establishments, and at very reasonable prices , it is not unusual to see good quality house wines for around 8 Euros. As you would imagine though the better wines are only normally found at the higher class establishments. CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM:
The 72 recognized wine producing regions in Spain grow a wide diversity of grapes, mostly of native origin. The great variety of wines with unfamiliar names causes confusion among many consumers. GRAPE VARIETIES:
Tempranillo: Red Also known as Ull de Llebre, Cencibel, Tinto Fino. Red. Harvested during late September. It has been planted throughout Spain and in the Rioja region. Temparnillo prefers a soil that is rich in calcium and limestone. It is thick-skinned and produces wines of deep-color, but not necessarily high in alcohol. The Tempranillo is lower in acidity wines made solely from this variety will hold back their color but not loose fruit over time. Generally, Tempranillo is blended with small amounts of Garnacha, Mazuelo and/or Graciano to compensate for lack of acidity and longevity. Garnacha: Red. Also known as Garnacha Tito or Tina, This variety grows well in arid conditions; making it a very successful grape throughout the many areas of Spain. d in.) Mostly used for blending purposes, Its must is low in malic acid, which can cause easy oxidation although the wines it produces are high in alcohol , 12- to 16 percent is not unusual. The wines from Garnacha tend to have a more fruity, sweet flavor, which makes them perfect for Ros?s. Red wines produced solely from this grape are not usually produced; although there is a very small handful of bodegas that have vinified 100% Garnacha wines very successfully. Mazuelo: Red. Also known as Mazuelo Tinto, Cari?ena. Originally from Aragon in Spain, this variety is one of the most widely planted in the world. However, it is not extensively planted in Spain due of its easy tendency to powdery-mildew which is a fungus that spreads rapidly. For this reason, the world knows it by Carignan and not by its Spanish name. Mazuelo buds late in the Spring and is susceptible to frost. It produces high yields, is thick-skinned, rich in color and high in tannins and acidity. Viura: White. Also known as Macabeo, Macabeo Alcanol. Generally the wines made from this grape today are lighter in style, drier, relatively higher in acid, not easly oxidized, and are aromatic. In the Pened?s region of Spain (located in the area around Barcelona), Viura/Macabeo is a predominant grape used in the production of cava. There are over 125,000 acres (50,000 hectares) planted in Northern Spain alone. Malvasia: White. Also known as Blanca-Roja (Malvasia Fina in Italy and Portugal) takes a back seat to Viura in Spain and trebbiano in Italy. Believed to have originated in Asia Minor because its name has Greek origins, the true Malvasia is found mostly in Mediterranean countries. The grape is prone to oxidation and rot, but produces a more full-bodied, highly extracted, perfumed wine that is worth aging. It is for this reason that Italy uses it most-notably in its dessert wines. Spain traditionally uses Malvasia for dry, oak-aged wines that are very concentrated.
Parellada: White. Also known as Montonec. A native to Catalonia, it grows best in the cooler areas of Pened?s. It has a fruity quality and high acidity, which makes it pleasant and, therefore an integral part of Cava. Airen is planted throughout central Spain and is drought resistant, occupying about twice as much land as any other variety. Airen traditionally produced base wines for Spain's Brandy industry and oxidized, alcoholic white wines for local consumption. As I said before some of which can only be described as witches brews . However, recently, with careful handling and improved vinification, it has been used to create simple, refreshing, dry wines. The vines are the principal grape variety of La Mancha and Valdepenas. Bobal is a Spanish dark-skinned variety which produces deep colored red wines and even grape concentrate in Alicante, Utiel-Requena and other regions for bulk wine production in South East Spain. It is often grown with Monastrell. Bodal Blanco, also know as Tortosi, is still grown to a limited extent in Valencia. Monastrell performs Garnacha's role in the Levante where it covers around 100,000 hectars. The variety yields dark, alcoholic reds and occasionally dry rose Palomino is a white grape variety which is most closely associated with the making of sherry around Jerez. It is almost certainly of Andalucian origin and is planted now in Jerez, Rueda and parts of Galicia. In France, the variety may also be known as Listan or Listan de Jerez. Pedro Ximenex: Also known as Pedro Jimenez or just Pedro, the white Pedro Ximenex is traditionally associated with Andalucia, Valencia and Extremadura. Because it is capable of producing very ripe grapes, it is particularly popular with Malaga producers, some of whom depend on grapes from the Montilla-Moriles region. Apart from its use in sherry production, it is also used to produce neutral-flavored dry table wines - although some rich, raisiny, sweet fortified wine, called "PX" is bottled. Macabeo, which is also called Viura, is northern Spain's most planted white grape variety . The wine produced tends to have a floral characters and relatively low acidity; it also withstands oxidization well. This is one of the reasons why it has been enthusiastically used by the growers of Rioja, where it has all but displaced Malvasia. Summary of the best Wines on offer in Spain. NORTHERN SPAIN
Moving on across, to the south east of the Rias Baixes is the DO area of Rueda. Had a reputation of producing sherry-like wines although it is now the home of some very fine red and whites, this time made from the Verdejo grape. Coming further across is Ribera del Duero, a region of vineyards situated around the river Duero which, as it flows west through Portugal, becomes the Douro where the famous Port is produced. Although Rioja is undesputely the best known Spanish wine the Ribera del Dueor actually is home to Spains most expensive wine , produced by Vega Sicilia and arguably one of the finest wines in the world. A bottle of Vega Sicilia Unico 1994 will set you back around 225.00 Euros. On a continuing poll at Espavino.com the top two voted wines are both from this region and are the Vega Sicilia Unico 1970 and close in 2nd place is the Pingus 1995. Most of the wines here are based on a mixture of Cabernet Sauvignon and the indigenous Tempranillo grapes. Next on our Northern trip lies Navarra, home to the DO wine regions of Navarra, Rioja and Cava. Home excellent fine red Spanish wines for generations. Rioja region is dicited into three regions , Rioja Alta , Rioja Baja and Rioja Alavesa. It is from the the Rioja Alta estates where the best wine is produced. Tempranillo is th main grape variety used here along with Garnacha Tinto to a lesser degree. The styles here are split up into different categories depending on the ageing process ( in American oak ) and are: Navarra I guess will always be in the shadows of its famous neighbour Rioja, and I imagine many yarn has been spawned and many a village been divided over which one produces the best. Me thinks the majority vote is for Rioja for now although Navarra does produce some I think nice Rose's such as Atazuri made 100% with the Garnacha Grape. Moving east to the Mediterranean shores there a number of DO regions which include Priorato , Somontano, Pened?s. The latter is home of the Miguel Torres Bodegas which produces a really fine selection of wine, including Reds and sparkling Cavas from a number of indigenous and international grapes. CENTRAL SPAINThe main wine producing regions in central Spain include La Mancha, Valdepe?as, Jumilla, Almansa, Valencia, Mentrida, Mondejar, Manchuelo y Pagos. 
Valdepe?as is mostly a red wine producing region, not to my mind in the league of Rioja or Ribero del Duero however there a couple of bodegas ageing their wines in oak that are very pleasant indeed, one being Vi?a Albali Gran Reserva, a very inexpensive Red wine available throughout Spain in Supermarkets and stores offering really good quality at around 24 Euros a bottle. Further to the east are the DOs of Almansa, Valencia, Alicante, Jumilla, Yecla and Utiel-Requena. There are some good value wines to be found here such as Casta?o Dulce, Casta?o Monestrell, Detras de la Casa, Casta?o Syrah. SOUTHERN SPAIN
The wines are produced using the solera system, a tier of barrels containing wine of differing ages, oldest at the bottom and youngest at the top. The wine in the lowest barrel is drawn off and bottled, and each barrel is topped up with wine from the one above. This maintains a steady stream of wine of similar character year after year, and explains why sherry is almost never vintage dated. Although basically the wines come either dry, semi Sherries come in a number of styles. These can broadly be divided into dry, medium or sweet they are classifies in the following manner: Manzanilla
Fino Amontillado 
Palo Cortado Oloroso Cream
Pedro Xim?nez If you ever do visit Jerez I would highly recommend you take one of the tours available at most of the big name bodegas such as Tio Pepe ( Gonzalez Byass ) or Osbourne. I have toured the bodegas on various occasions, each visit as interesting as the first, the overwhelming sweet smell or fermenting Sherry is one never to be forgotten. To end our trip accorss the regons of Spain one should mention Montilla-Moriles and M?laga, which lie east of Jerez, both produce noteable wines very much in the style of Sherry and some very sweet ones. Malaga is a sweet fortified wine originating in the Spanish city of M?laga made from Pedro Xim?nez and Moscatel grapes. The center of Malaga production is Sierra de Almijara, along with Antequera, Archidona, San Pedro Alcantara, Velez Malaga and Competa. Some similar wines, as well as some dry whites, originate from Condado de Huelva, to the west of Jerez. |