Followers of the Vine,

This week I was asked by national Wine and ‘Foodie’ blogger, Jacqueline Malan, to write a guest blog on her site: (http://www.jacquelinemalan.com/wp/).  I’ve decided to post the same blog on the Spanish Vines blog site as well, mainly because I’ve been getting a ton of requests lately to talk more about Spanish wine basics. These are the questions Jacqueline asked me about Spanish wine varietals, regions, and more.  See below for my answers:

1. What are the Spanish grape varieties?
There are hundreds of grape varieties grown throughout 70 D.O.s and 2 D.O.Ca.s. (keep on reading to learn what these are). In an effort to keep this blog simple, I want to focus this answer on three widely popular grape varieties both in Spain as well the USA: Tempranillo, Garnacha, & Albarino.

• Tempranillo: personally my favorite red grape varietal, it provides a deep, rich color. Dry with moderate levels of acid and alcohol, tempranillo is incredibly balanced, sometimes blended, and can be consumed both young and old.

One of the goals of Spanish Vines is to represent the beauty of this grape through three different styles:

1) Tempranillo Seleccion: young, fresh, bright & jammy fruit- basically an everyday sipping wine meant for casual conversation with friends and family,

2) Crianza Tempranillo: older, more complex, richer and bolder in style; a wine for you cabernet sauvignon lovers!

3) Rioja Reserva: super complex wine combining black fruit flavors with smoke and tobacco, yet still an approachable red keeping you reaching for more! This is definitely a food pairing wine.

• Garnacha: another personal favorite amongst red grape varietals; definitely a blending grape if aging is the winemaker’s intention. Typically higher in alcohol and sugar levels with moderate levels of acidity and very soft tannins, when fruity, Garnacha is an extremely appealing wine to drink, especially if produced from “older vines” equating to more concentration and intensity of the fruit. Our Cinco Joses is an awesome representation of a young, inexpensive, fruity “Old Vines” Garnacha.

Check out a video I was featured in where I discuss Tempranillo and Garnacha in more depth (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9p2lss1si8Q)

• Albarino: a white grape varietal from D.O. Rias Baixas (again with the D.O. thing? Keep on reading!); if someone tries to sell you an Albarino from another region outside of Rias Baixas, then I would be very skeptical! Common characteristics of this varietal are floral, peach, citrus, green apple aromas. This wine displays tremendous levels of acidity (which allow the fruitiness of the wine to come to life in your mouth) in harmony with white fruit making it a perfect candidate for spicy foods a shell fish.

2. What are the Spanish wine regions?

There are currently 70 D.O.s and 2 D.O.Ca.s in Spain. A D.O. is a Denominacion de Origen controlled by a regulatory council located within each region respectively (each region essentially sets their own rules). There are only 2 D.O.Ca.s within Spain – Priorat and Rioja. This is the highest level of quality that a region can receive, and it is a very selective process. Other classifications below D.O. or D.O.Ca. status are Vino de la Tierra (Wine of the land) or Vino de Mesa (table wine).

If I had to pick three classified regions as my top favorites, I would choose D.O. Rias Baixas for my whites, D.O.Ca. Priorat for when my Mediterranean appetite strikes, and Ribera del Jucar for when I want a juicy, red filet or ribeye or just have the urge to relax with a fresh, soft red wine.

3. What are some common misconceptions/stereotypes of Spanish wines?

Rioja is a grape and Tempranillo is a region. CORRECTION! Rioja is a region. Tempranillo is a grape!

4. What are the most popular Spanish Wines?

For red grape varietals, Tempranillo and Garnacha are the most popular. Certainly the regions most famous and internationally well known for producing red wines are Rioja and Ribera del Duero. Albarino from Rias Baixas is definitely becoming a major white grape varietal player as well as Verdejo common in the D.O. of Rueda. On the sparking side of the wine world, Cava, mainly because of its value, has grown tremendously in popularity. The region most well known for producing Cava is D.O. Penedes, just outside of international superstar city, Barcelona.

5. Why did you decide to focus on Spanish wines versus another part of the world?

I lived and studied in Northern Spain, fell in love with Spanish culture and gastronomy and then one day realized this is what I wanted to dedicate my life to.

6. What should one look for when purchasing Spanish wines?

There are a few things you want to keep in mind when buying Spanish wines:

Grape variety – usually listed on the label. Spain is definitely one of the only old world countries that has grape variety listed on the label. As Americans, we’re big ‘by variety type’ shoppers!

Vintage – for most Albarinos, Verdejos, Godellos, Sauvignon Blancs, or in general un-oaked whites (as a rule of thumb) you want the most recently released vintages. For example, Spanish Vines is about to release its 2009 vintage of Sauvignon Blanc. The idea is to keep the fruit and acidity as fresh as possible. The older the white wine gets, the more oxidized it becomes. A great question of comparison would be this: would you eat a banana that is brown and rotten? That’s what happens over time to white wine. You want to drink these style whites upon their release from the winery.

Aging – You will sometimes see various words listed on the label aside from region and grape variety. This is the reference to aging. Listed below is a great rule of thumb and explanation to the Spanish classification system of aging wine:

Joven – usually spends little to know time in oak barrels. This wine is typically fresh, light and is the classic ‘just pop the cork and start drinking’ type of wine.

Crianza – The benchmark is 2 years of total aging. 12 months minimum on oak and another 12 months in bottle before release is the breakdown. Current Crianza release is 2007.

Reserva – The benchmark is 3 years of total aging. 12 months minimum on oak and another 2 years in bottle before release is the typical breakdown, although wine makers typically age wines set to be a Reserva for slightly more than 12 months on oak. Current Reserva release is 2006.

Gran Reserva – The benchmark is 5 years of total aging. 2 years on oak and 3 years in the bottle before release is the typical breakdown. Current vintage release is 2004.

Advice concerning aging: If you start moving 4 years or more away on Jovens and Crianzas and more than 8 years on Reservas and Gran Reservas from the current vintage, and the wine is unusually low in price, you can assume something is probably wrong. For example, a 1999 Joven at $3.99 a bottle is probably garbage. Or a 2001 Crianza at $6.99 is not a wine you want to bank on being solid. Make sense? If you want to shop for the Spanish Reservas and Gran Reservas then I would definitely check with the store’s wine consultant for some advice. There’s always a good deal to be had, but just be careful! And as an FYI, we’re launching our Rioja Reserva this Fall. Vintage on this wine will be 2004 and will be solid through 2016.

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I hope that my Spanish wine session here as been helpful to you. Please post a comment if you have any specific questions about this article or just to say it was helpful! As always, thanks for following me at travelthevine.com!

Entender es Disfrutar!

~Josh