Wines of Spain
Spain follows Italy and France as the 3rd largest winemaking country in the world. (It alone has one fifth of Europe’s vineyards.) Like Italy, Spain enjoyed a renaissance in winemaking during the 1960s and ‘70s—and, to its credit, Spain came from further back.
Not only has Spanish winemaking improved in the traditionally classic areas—Rioja, for example, or Penedès—but wines continue to be favorably recognized by an international audience from what were obscure regions such as Priorato, Rías Baixas and Ribera del Duero.
But what is most impressive is that these changes for the better have taken place in a country, perhaps more than any other, enamored of its winemaking traditions.
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Regions & Grapes
Though stereotyped as sun-drenched and arid, the whole of Spain is in fact more varied—and some of its better wines are born in the more temperate regions. Wine is made throughout Spain, but you need remember only six districts that produce the best wines.
- Rioja: A cool, upland area in north-central Spain where vines grow at altitudes of 1,500 feet. Such a climate, combined with clay/sandstone/limestone soil, produces especially red wines that are elegant, soft, refined and polished. Nowadays, less time in barrel than had been traditional makes for wines with more significant fruit.
Tempranillo is the favored grape here, producing wines that are at once sophisticated and earthy and that taste of cherries and vanilla (when barrel-aged). Unique in the world, Riojas are released after significant bottle age, and in three classifications—crianza, reserva and gran reserva—each corresponding to the time spent in bottle.
- Ribera del Duero: Were Spain to be stretched over the United States, this region would be about where Denver is—and with much the same rugged geography. The country’s longest-lived, most densely concentrated reds come from here (Ribera makes no significant white), yet they are also richly textured and refined. Two of those reds—Pesquera and Vega Sicilia’s Unico—may be the most famous in Spain (they certainly are the most expensive) and are among the world’s greatest red wines.
The major grape here is called Tinto Fino, thought to be a relation to the Tempranillo. It makes wines that taste of licorice, plum, mocha and dark berries, and that is intensely colored, almost black. It takes well to oak barrels.
- Jerez: This southernmost, hot area gives its very name to its best-known wine, Jerez (Sherry), perhaps the one wine most closely associated with Spain as a whole. Oxidized (on purpose) and fortified, Sherry ranges in style from ephemeral and dry, to weighty and sweet.
The major grape of Jerez is the Palomino. It turns out to be rather neutral-tasting, but that makes it perfect for both the oxidation and blending regimen used here.
- Penedès: This and the following district of Priorato are in Cataluña, Spain’s most dynamic province and home to more wine styles than any other in the country. Penedès is widely recognized as the epicenter of Spanish méthode champenoise sparkling wine production, here called CAVA.
Most CAVA is a blend of three grapes indigenous to Spain—Macabeo (for fruit, acidity), Parellada (for delicacy, aroma) and Xarel-lo (for body, acidity)—with Chardonnay making increasing appearances, either in the blend or on its own.
The region also produces a variety of still wines, in the modern, fruity style, many made from Spain’s largest plantings of Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and other “French” varietals.
- Priorato: Spain’s newest up-and-comer, possessed of high-altitude, very low-yielding vineyards (some on terraces). The immense, concentrated red wines (no significant whites are made) are based in Grenache and Carignan, two grapes that, with the exception of Châteauneuf-du-Pape in France, are not elsewhere known for high quality. Here, they shine—intense, juicy, deep, dark, dense.-
- Rías Baixas (REE-ez BUY-shez): This fjord-etched section of Galicia in northwestern Spain has gained a reputation for making stellar white wines, the best from the Albariño grape. This wine is so prized in the region that it appears as the name of the wine on the label, a striking difference from most of the rest of Spain where wines are named after places.
Albariño is crisp and creamy at once and sports flavors of apple, lemon and peach. Some believe that it derives from the Riesling, especially because it is to have been brought to Spain by Benedictine monks from the Rhine.
Some superb—and good-value—wines come from Jumilla, La Mancha, Monstant and Somontano.
Spanish Wine & Food
The Spanish are notorious eaters. They even invent ways to eat—one of their greatest culinary contributions being tapas, food bites of nearly infinite variety that you can nibble while bar hopping. What a fantastic idea, and a fine basis for suggesting Sherry with finger food of any stripe.
Most any Spanish red wine very nicely accompanies the national meat—lamb—cooked in its various ways. For example, few matches match grilled lamb chops and Rioja. In Madrid, a legendary restaurant, Botín, recommends Spanish red with its preparation of roast suckling pig, a dish not often attempted in the American home. But most pork dishes work very well with Spanish reds.
It is healthy to see a country prejudiced toward red wine moving in the direction of its splendid whites, served especially with seafood. Perhaps the best marriage partner—in the entire world—for scallops is Albariño. And do not miss the great white wine and cheese pairings of Rueda blanco with Montenebro, or La Chivita with CAVA, Verdejo or Rioja white.
In fact, because of its crisp profile and modest flavor and alcohol, CAVA is a fine match with dozens of different dishes, whether red or white meat, or heavy or light preparation.