Grape varieties : Grenache, Carignan, Others
Alcohol : 14.5%
Guard : +10 years
The history of wine in Spain is so old that no one really knows who brought the first vines to the region. When the Phoenicians arrived some 3,000 years ago and founded the present-day cities of Cádiz and Jerez, viticulture was well established and Spanish wines were widely marketed throughout the Mediterranean and North Africa.
You could say that Spain is a wine miracle. After years spent away from the world of fine wines, she is today a major player. Investment and ambition in the vineyards and cellars results in increasingly rich and complex (often very alcoholic) and spicy reds which are increasingly appreciated by international consumers.
Proud to have more land devoted to vines than any other country, Spain is only beginning to capitalize on this resource consistently. Spain is an anarchic tangle of regions and sub-regions, just as its landscape is an anarchic tangle of incredibly raw landscapes. A glance at a map reveals the climatic diversity among Spain's many wine regions, from the soggy green vineyards of Galicia on the northern Atlantic coast to the toasty vineyards of southeastern the Mediterranean. Spain's saving grace, in terms of viticulture, is the average altitude of its vineyards, above 600 meters. A large part of Spanish vineyards therefore manage to produce grapes of good color and acidity simply because night temperatures are relatively low and the grapes do not ripen until the end of a sufficiently long growing period.
But there is real treasure to be found for those willing to dig and, now that a class of connoisseurs has developed in Spain, all manner of ambitious investors have done their part to change the image of Spanish wine . Today, a new generation of winemakers has quietly begun making spectacular wines and experimenting with grape varieties that would have been unthinkable just a short time ago. Wine remains an important commodity and is an integral part of Spanish culture.
Catalonia
The capital of Catalonia, Barcelona, is the second largest city in Spain and home to one of the largest ports in the Mediterranean. This seaside location has certainly favored the region's wine industry throughout history, as have the millions of tourists who flock to the city each year. Catalonia is considered distinct from other Spanish wine regions due to the versatility of its wine styles. France has a strong influence on two of its best-known wines, Champagne-style sparkling Cava and its red table wines, which have similar characteristics to those produced in Roussillon, just across the Pyrenees. It is not surprising, given its geographical location, that Catalonia's climate is strongly Mediterranean, with warm coastal areas experiencing moderate rainfall. The interior is more like the arid plateaus of central Spain, although there are many cooler areas between the foothills and on the high sites where Cava, the region's trademark, is grown. region. These include Macabeo, Parellada, Xarel-lo and some Chardonnay.
The sub-region: Priorat
Priorat is a small, vibrant wine region in Catalonia, northeastern Spain, whose intense, full-bodied red wines have gained great notoriety in recent decades. The classic Priorat wine is made from old Garnacha and Carignan grapes, and features concentrated aromas of licorice, tar and brandied cherries. The climate is continental, given its relative proximity to the Mediterranean and summers are long, hot and dry with very little rainfall. The hot, dry vineyards of Spain are known for their low yield, but Priorat vines have a yield 5 times smaller than average. This yield is closely linked to quality: if they are low, this means higher quality. Three main reasons explain the very low yields of Priorat: the climate, the nutrient-poor soils and the age of the vines.