EL VINO COMO POESÍA – LA TIERRA DE UVAS, GAUDI Y LORCA, PARTE DOS

Finally getting back on task, the last time we talked about Spanish wine, in commemorating Spain’s victory at the 2010 World Cup, I mentioned the wine regions Bierzo and La Mancha, two up-and-coming regions whose wines are not to be missed. This time, I want to mention two more great, young wine producing areas, as well as talk about what could arguably be Spain’s most recognizable area, Rioja.

But first, let me spend a bit of time on the wine region Rueda D.O., which is located in the provinces of Valladolid, Segovia and Ávila, in the region of Castile-Leon. There are but 52 vineyards residing within the D.O., with only 8,000 hectares under vine.

While there is significant land dedicated to Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Grenache (Garnacha), here the region is chiefly known for its white wines, comprised from grapes such as Verdejo, Viura (also known as Macabeo in other parts of Spain), Sauvignon Blanc, and Palomino Fino. Its continental climate with slight maritime influences lend to the whites sometimes emulating those of Graves in Bordeaux and the Anjou in the Loire Valley.

Some great examples from this region include the wines of Telmo Rodriguez, Jose Pariente, Bodegas Naia and Jorge Ordonez’s new project called Shaya.

Next, the Montsant D.O. is a terrific appellation to check out if you want to know more about Priorat D.O.Q., but can’t afford to do so. Priorat (which I’ll get to next time) is often very pricey, and also very difficult to come by. Montsant, many wine geeks refer to the wines from this area as “the poor man’s Priorat”, actually surrounds the entire Priorat D.O.Q., and its reds are primarily of the same composition as Priorat.

Found in the province of Tarragona, a more southwestern region, there are only 50 vineyards currently inhabiting this area, with only 2,000 hectares dedicated to vineyards, producing 7 million liters of wine. The principle grape varieties included Cabernet Sauvignon, Cariñena, Garnacha Tinta, Garnacha Peluda, Merlot, Monastrell, Picapoll, Syrah, Mazuela and Tempranillo for red, and Chardonnay, Garnacha Blanca, Macabeo (the aforementioned Viura in Rueda), Pansal and Parellada for white.

Some of the most notable wines of this region come from Capçanes, Celler Can Blau and Venus La Universal.

And then of course, there is Rioja, which could possibly be most wine drinkers’ first exposure to Spanish wines. The Rioja D.O.C. (Denominación de Origen Calificada) is named after the autonomous community La Rioja in Spain, which also encompasses parts of the provinces of Navarra and Álava. Rioja is also divided into the three subregions of Rioja Alta, Rioja Baja and Rioja Alavesa. There are around 1200 vineyards within the region, producing over 278 million liters of wine from over 63,000 hectares of vines.

Some of the top bodegas in Rioja include Muga, Marqués de Murrieta, LAN, Cvne, Benjamin Romeo, Finca Allendé, Marqués de Grinon, Campos Viejo and Artadi, just to name but a few. In fact, I hope to have my tasting notes from the Campos Viejo Tempranillo Rioja 2006 up in the next day or two.

Coming up this week as well, more Spanish primers, plus a report from Vanguard’s trade show in Columbus, a Duval-Leroy seminar at Cincinnati restaurant Hugo, and the usual tasting notes from this week’s cavalcade of sales reps.