The Wines of Spain

Spain and its wine are a pattern of riddles. It is the country with the most land under vines in the world, but only the third biggest wine producer. (Its average yield of 23 hectolitres per hectare is half what France allows for its finest wines.) Of all the countries in Europe Spain was the first to have laws defining quality, yet its entry into the quality wine market is no older than California’s. A decade ago it had only half a dozen regions with any pretensions to quality: today it has twenty - and most of them are still so young in the business that an apt comparison is to New Zealand.

Where was Spain in the centuries when France, Germany, Hungary and parts of Italy were defining and refining their tastes and traditions? With the exception of the export-driven centres of Andalucia, Jerez and Malaga, it had slipped back almost to the Middle Ages. Rioja evolved out of trade with Bordeaux in the phylloxera years. But the proud traditions of Castile and the Duero had sunk into stupor, Catalonia was a downtrodden province, and the rest of the country either made double-strength wine for bulk export or swigged its own produce uncritically - often from goatskins. 

The first signals of new self-awareness came in the late 1950s, from Rioja. The brilliantly aromatic, delicate and clean wines from this region were a challenge to all others. In 1970 the government put in place the machinery of Denominaciónes de Origen (DOs). In 1978 Spain’s new constitution grouped the country’s 50 provinces into 17 ‘autonomies’, stimulating regional self-regard and rivalry. In 1986 Spain (and Portugal) joined the EEC and became eligible for technical and financial assistance on a vast scale, as well as having to match EC standards of definition and regulation of their wines.

The detailed results are still unclear in the frenzy of investment and upgrading, but the pattern is not difficult to see. Most of Spain is now technically equipped, at least in part, to make wines as good as its grapes will allow, and several of its varieties have inherent qualities as positive as any in the world. Like Italy, Spain sees the perils, as well as the benefits, of joining the international Cabernet club. Spain’s contribution to the variety of the world’s fine wines will expand all our horizons.

The map shows what a large part of the country is already demarcated either into full-fledged DOs (the nearest equivalent is Italy’s DOCs) or the apprentice category of DE (Denominación Especifica) where aspiring regions must wait for promotion. Already nearly half the nation’s total vineyard area, which approaches 1.5 million hectares of vines, is classed as DO, producing almost a third of Spain’s wine (a third of which is exported). The top rank, equivalent to Italy’s DOCG, is DOC (Denominación de Ongen Calificada). The first was granted in 1991 - very properly to Rioja.

Spain is customarily divided into seven geographical macro-zones which are helpful in grasping the complexity of its multitude of physical vanations and their consequent denominaciónes. 

The smallest in terms of wine-production is the north-west, the ‘green Spain’ of Galicia, the Asturias and the Basque country, with the western part of León, El Bierzo. Traditions here are celtic and Christian with almost no Moorish influence. The sea, the hills, the wind and a good deal of rain (see the centre small map) are the chief physical factors. Wines are mainly white, light, dry, ideal for seafood, and range from the extremely tart Chacoli of San Sebastian to what is perhaps Spain’s most exciting new kind of wine: aromatic and silky white Albariño from Rias Baixas. What was formerly (and can still be) no more than the Spanish version of Portugal’s vinho verde has been dramatically upgraded. Old stories of Albariño really being Riesling abound. It does not need to be. This is an important original that challenges Spain’s best white wines.

The Ebro is the river that flows southeast from the Cantabrian Cordillera on the north coast to the Mediterranean in Catalonia. The Upper Ebro embraces Rioja, Navarra and Aragón, with its one long-established red, Cariñena. Contact with France (Navarre and France were one kingdom) has its influence here, but only Rioja really showed it until recent years, when Navarra rosados made of Garnacha Tinta (French: Grenache) began to make their mark. 

Things have moved fast here, too, especially on the technical front: top Navarra reds will soon challenge Rioja as more Tempranillo and Cabernet invade the Garnacha vineyards. Meanwhile the new-fledged DO of Somontano in Aragón with its almost sub-alpine climate, red earth and green grass, is already making fine whites of Viura (also Chardonnay) and clean fresh reds of good tight structure and acidity from Tempranillo, Cabernet and the local Moristel. The dominant producer is the cooperative of Barbastro.

The high, landlocked Duero Valley in Castile is discussed here. The east coast of northern Spain is its very opposite: Catalan rather than Castilian, softly Mediterranean rather than harshly continental.  The wines of Catalonia are on this page.

South down the east coast the vineyards inland from Valencia and Alicante have only modest traditions and no singularity of style - except strength. Valencia, Utiel-Requena, Almansa, Yecla, Jumilla and Alicante constitute the Levante; accustomed to providing potent bulk blending wine for an export market that is rapidly disappearing. Its salvation lies in diversification and as much lightening of style as it can manage in such a hot climate.

Most central of all to Spanish life is the Meseta, the high plateaux south of Madrid whose endless flat vineyards weary the eye. The extent of La Mancha, its chief DO, is clear from the map. The town of Valdepeñas traditionally gave its name to a large part of this production; strong (about 13%) but pale red made largely from the Airén, Spain’s most-planted white grape. There are over a million acres (450,000 hectares) of Airén and only half a million of the next favourite, Garnacha. In La Mancha Airén is blended with an increasing proportion of Cencibel (alias Tempranillo). At best the result is fruity and almost delicate, despite its strength. Technology here is rushing straight from the antique (huge clay amphora-like tinajas) to stainless steel and oak, with very palatable results.

The southern quarter of Spain is dominated by sherry (Sherry Country) and brandy (Jerez de la Frontera) and the apéritif and dessert wines of Montilla and Malága. Over 700 miles (1,150 kilometres) from the mainland the Canary Islands, once famous for sweet ‘sack’, are starting to revive a similar style There is one exception in the remote Tierra de Barros in Extremadura near the Portuguese frontier. The majority of its production goes into Brandy de Jerez, but Lar dos Barros suggests that some of the table wine potential of the not-distant Alentejo may be there.