TEMPRANILLO GRAPES RIPENING (courtesy of Mikaul of Wikipedia)
Spanish wine grape varieties
Of course, given the sheer size of Spain, there are a whole number of different Spanish wine grape varieties. These are the main ones:
Priorato is the hottest Spanish wine region currently thanks to the Garnacha grape. A decade ago no-one imagined good Spanish wine could be produced here, the vineyards were built on slate and yields were tiny. In fact, these Spanish wines were overloaded with tannin. However, the addition of Syrah, Cabernet and Merlot transformed the resulting wines.
The Verdejo, Albariño and Godello varieties have shown that Spain can produce top-class white wines. It is possible that Godello could oust Albariño having more acidity, or be just blended with Albariño and/or Treixadura.
Verdejo is native to Rioja, but after phylloxera producers replanted with Palomino, Riscal and Griñon looked for an alternative to Viura and chose Verdejo, previously a little-known oxidised local Spanish wine.
Tempranillo remains the best-known Spanish wine grape. It is in Rioja that its relationship to Pinot Noir is the most obvious, above all in the Rioja Alta.
Most drinkers now require wine with more fruit and depth, and this is achieved by giving Tempranillo grapes longer with the skins and gentler handling during fermentation, using French rather than American oak, and adding some Cabernet, or increasingly, Graciano.
It could be maintained that Rioja producers are copying the Duero: the tinto fino (Tempranillo) grapes are grown higher up and the shorter season gives these Spanish wine grapes a harder skin and more acidity.
Garnacha was the basis for many cheap Spanish wines, being high-yielding with high tannin. A lot of it went for rosado. When treated well, this Spanish wine grape improved enormously. Blended with Syrah in Cataluña, it has been a success.
Viura is the main Catalan cava grape. Some Rioja producers have made it into good white wines, eg Herencia Remondo, Cosme Palacios, Martinez Bujanda, Marques de Caceres, CVNE and Soniserra, Murrieta.
Verdejo is actually better suited than Viura in most cases.
In the Valencia region the Monastrell grape is used for Yecla and Jumilla. By picking at the right time, lifting the vines onto wires, reducing the amount picked and gentle handling – it has finally produced good Spanish wines. Any shortcoming it may have, can be compensated for by adding Merlot, Tempranillo or Cabernet, even Syrah.
Needless to say, all these Spanish wine grape varieties are the foundation for the many different wines of Spain, which reflect the wonderful diversity of Spain – and the very disparate culture of Spain itself…
