Everywhere Else

Spain recognizes several levels of aging:
Vino Joven, sold with little or no aging in the year following the harvest
Crianza, aged for two years, with at least six months in cask
Reserva, aged three years with at least one of them in cask
Gran Reserva, aged at least five years with at least two in cask

In Rioja, Ribera del Duero and Navarra, Crianzas must be aged at least 12 months in cask.

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It is easy to think of these regions as falling into seven basic areas. The first of these is the Northwest. This is the area bordering the Atlantic, essentially from the French border near Biarritz to the Portuguese border. Here the climate is wet and relatively cool, and this area is often appropriately referred to as "Green Spain." The best known DO in this area is definitely Rías Baixas, producing its characterful Albarino, the same grape as Portugal's Alvarinho of Vinho Verde.

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South of this area lies the large province of Castile y León, and running through the center of this area is the Duero river, which is the Spanish end of the river that becomes the Douro in Portugal. Rueda is a region where Sauvignon Blanc was introduced to complement the white grape Verdejo. Toro and Cigales are DOs where Tempranillo dominates. All these regions lie along the Duero River, as does the most famous DO, Ribera del Duero whose leading estate is Vega Sicilia, founded in 1864. Here they produce legendary wines blended from Tinto Fino (Tempranillo), Cabernet, Merlot and Malbec. Pesquera is another property, whose wines based on Tinto Fino (Tempranillo) are also quite well known internationally. In fact, when American wine writer Robert Parker called the 1982 Pesquera "Spain's Chateau Petrus" in the mid-1980s, more accolades followed from wine publications. The global attention put Ribera del Duero in a spotlight on the world wine scene and the area has seen explosive growth ever since.

As grown in Ribera del Duero, the Tempranillo grape known as Tinto Fino or Tinta del Pais has mutated into a grape that produces significantly more robust, structured wines than those from Rioja. Along with Toro and Priorat, Ribera del Duero wines are some of the biggest red wines from Spain. An apt comparison in style is that Ribera wines show powerful black fruits (blackberries, black currants, black cherries) while Rioja wines express more red fruits (red cherries, wild strawberries, red raspberries) and are a bit softer; Bordeaux as compared to Burgundy. Many Ribera wines that have been exported to the U.S. in quantity have an almost “New World” style (i.e. big, forward fruit and lots of toasty French oak) that has made them easy to understand to wine buyers in the U.S.

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East of this region lies the Ebro River valley, made famous by the wines of Rioja. The area produces both red and white wine. The white, made from Viura, Malvasia and Garnacha Bianca is much less common than the red, made from a blend dominated by the Spanish variety Tempranillo, along with Garnacha (Grenache), and small quantities of Graciano and Mazuelo (Carignan).

Rioja is divided into three sections; Rioja Alta, Rioja Alavesa and Rioja Baja. Rioja Alavesa produces the Tempranillo with more fruit, Rioja Alta gives grapes with more structure and Rioja Baja produces mostly Garanacha but more bodegas are obtaining good results with Tempranillo. Most Riojas are a blend of grapes from all three subregions. These wines show broad, expressive aromas of red and black cherry fruit with spicy, earthy and leathery notes. The wines were traditionally aged in American oak, and though they sometimes show the telltale dill and coconut aromas typical of these barrels, many Spanish winemakers have noted that aging ripe, spicy Tempranillo in American oak is an excellent combination. In the last 20 years, many Rioja bodegas have introduced more powerful, modern-style wines, some blended with Cabernet Sauvignon, some aged in 100% new French Oak, some made from 100% Tempranillo and perhaps most interestingly, some from single vineyards, as in Burgundy. Other regions in this north central area of Spain include Navarra, Somontano, Calatayud and Campo de Borja. Many of the wines are also blends of Tempranillo and Garanacha.

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In the northeast of the country lie several wine producing regions, the best known is Priorat. Grenache is the main grape here, and fantastic wines are produced, with deep, very ripe fruit, full body, supple tannins and generous alcohol. In the northeast is also the Penedes region, where most of the Cava is produced in Spain, although technically it can be produced throughout the country provided that the specified winemaking methods are followed. More information on Cava is available in the first chapter. Other regions in the northeast of note are Montsant and Ampurdan-Costa Brava.

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The center of Spain is referred to as the Meseta, or "the tabletop," a reference to the elevated plain formed by the area's geology. This is a very hot region, and vast vineyards are planted, especially in La Mancha, although the annual rainfall and vine density are both very low. Some quality producers are now beginning to export their wines, particularly from Valdepenas, but the majority of the wine produced is of less than thrilling quality. East of the Meseta is the Levant, and the same can be said of this vast area. Some quality wines are being made in Jumilla and Yecla, although much of the wine is relatively ordinary in character.

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The famous regions of Jerez, Montilla-Moriles, and Malaga are found in the southernmost part of the country. Here the Palomino grape is used for most wines and the Pedro Ximenez grape is cultivated mostly as a sweetening agent, while Moscatel is used to add a grapey character to the nose.

In Jerez, where Sherry is made, the vineyard areas are classified into Pagos or parcels of various sizes, including Anina, Balbaina, Carrascal, Macharnudo, Martin Miguel, Miraflores, Los Tercios and Torrebreva. The grapes are planted in chalky, limestone-rich soils called albariza that provide the vines with the perfect amount of water in this arid region. Barros is another type of soil, composed mostly of clay with some chalk. These areas are not as well suited to production of fine wines. The final type of soil is called arenas. These areas are very sandy, and are usually planted to Moscatel.

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In the production of Sherry, the grapes are destemmed and pressed, although the free-run juice is vinified separately. The vinification takes place at a fairly high temperature, giving wines with low acidity and a lot of extract. The wines are fermented to dryness and fortified only at the end of fermentation. This fortification takes place with a mixture of young wine and distilled alcohol at 95% alcohol.

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The higher quality wines are fortified to a lower degree so that a special yeast, 'flor' will grow and protect the wine from oxygen during aging.

These are the wines destined to become finos and manzanillas, and they are characterized by the yeasty, almondy smell imparted by this aging. Manzanilla is the lightest and freshest. It develops a thick flor since it is aged in relatively cool environment. Amontillado sherry is essentially an aged fino. This is a deeper color than the finos and Manzanillas and has a more pronounced nutty aroma. The best Amontillados can be aged for 50 to 60 years. Oloroso sherry is aged completely exposed to oxygen, giving it a tangy character. This is the richest style with the most body and the deepest color. Palo Cortado is a unique style of Sherry that starts out as a fino, but the flor dies, and it finishes its aging as an Oloroso.

Sweeter styles of sherry are obtained through the addition of sweetening wines made from the Pedro Ximenes or Moscatel grapes. The grapes are first dried on mats in the sun to concentrate the sugar. This causes the fermentation to stop before all of the sugar is used up, resulting in a sweet wine that is added after the fortification, and results in Cream sherries of various types. These are given various names: Cream, Pale Cream, East India, Brown, but these are not officially recognized types, but rather proprietary names.

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These various wines are all aged in a solera. This is the term for a system of fractional blending, where a series of barrels are used. Wine is drawn from the barrel containing the oldest blend of wines and no more than one-third of the volume of the barrel. This barrel also called the Solera is topped up with wine from the next oldest cask, and this continues until the wine in the youngest cask is refreshed with wine that has aged just one year, or Añada. Sherries are then blended, with wines of different characters being used to give complexity to the blend. It is at this point that sweetening wine and/or coloring wine is also added to the blend.

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