SPAIN: A fresh approach

Spain’s new wave of wine regions is ushering in a renewed emphasis on terroir and elegance. Lucy Shaw reports.

With more land under vine than any other country, it’s unsurprising that Spain has become a hotbed for viticultural experimentation. It is almost impossible to keep up with the pace of change in the country, whose wine map is frequently revised to accommodate ever-emerging new DOs – five of the current 69 only came into being in the last six years.

Spain’s recent domestic and international success lies in championing native grape varieties, often not found outside specific regions. Shunning international varieties in favour of indigenous ones is creating characterful wines full of terroir expression from the incredibly varied terrains across Spain.

A lot of the most exciting developments are taking place in the north-west corner of Spain, incorporating Bierzo, Valdeorras and Arribes. Outside the north-west, the pace of change has also picked up in the south-east, in regions like Manchuela, Yecla and Jumilla.

Spain is perhaps the most New World of the Old World countries, and a place where modern attitudes and new technology mix with centuries of tradition is leading to some seriously exciting wines. Read on for our round-up of the regions creating the biggest buzz in the UK, and the most exciting wines coming out of them.

Toro

Situated in the north-west of Castilla y León, Toro has made great strides over the past 20 years due to the success of the powerful and expressive Tinta de Toro grape, a local take on Tempranillo. Winemaking in the region can be traced back to the end of the 1st century BC, although Toro wasn’t made a DO until 1987. The region’s reawakening started in the mid ‘90s, when a number of quality-oriented producers set about making stand-out wines.

Today 50 producers are crafting wines from just under 6,000 hectares of vines. Growing conditions are extreme – cold winters and frosts are followed by sizzling summers with over 3,000 hours of sunshine, leading to high alcohol content. But the poor soils and low yields create intensely flavoured wines.

Previously known for producing clunky, inelegant styles, winemakers in Toro are now striving for more refined wines. The region is home to large quantities of old vines, including pre-phylloxera examples over 140 years old. “Toro is an incredibly exciting region with tremendous potential. The wines are slightly wild, and have a feral nature, but this is balanced by upfront fruit and pleasing warmth,” says Alex Canneti, sales director at Moreno Wines.

Investment in the region from the likes of Vega Sicilia has raised the profile of the DO considerably, and a handful of stand-out bodegas, including Vega Sicilia’s Pintia, and San Román, made by ex-Vega winemaker Mariano García, are leading the charge.

Another winery making waves is the 49ha, LVMH-owned Bodegas Numanthia, whose £120-a-bottle Termanthia 2004 was given a perfect 100-point score by Robert Parker.

Portuguese-born winemaker Manuel Louzada believes there has been a recent rebirth of terroir-driven wines in Spain, saying: “Winemakers are being true to terroir and are seeking balance, concentration and elegance in their wines. I think Toro is where Priorat was five years ago. They used to say Toro wines needed to be eaten with a knife and fork because they were so big and tannic, but the region is headed in a new direction.”

Toro’s attention-grabbing wines give immediate pleasure, and so have predictably taken off in the US market, but with producers keen to make more balanced, elegant wines, are they set for UK success? “UK consumers are open-minded and willing to try new things, and Toro’s combination of Old World elegance and New World power is incredibly appealing. The UK is certainly a growing market for us,” says Louzada.

Bierzo

Bierzo is the emerging region garnering the most attention in the UK press, largely due to its native Mencía grape – believed to be a cousin of Cabernet Franc – which has got wine writers rhapsodising about its bright fruit, refreshing acidity and elegant tannins.

According to Olly Bartlett of Indigo Wine: “Mencía from Bierzo is the most important ‘new’ style to emerge from Spain in the last decade. It’s the red Albariño: a fresh style, indigenous to its area, that shows great varietal typicity when treated right.”

Made a DO in 1989, today nearly 4,000ha are planted across the small valleys in mountainous Alto Bierzo and on the wide, flat plain of Bajo Bierzo. Descendientes de José Palacios, Raúl Pérez and Bodegas Pittacum have led the way with trailblazing Parker scores, while Martin Codax’s modestly priced Cuatro Pasos, imported by Liberty, is enjoying considerable commercial success.

Mencía shot to fame when Spanish wine pioneer Alvaro Palacios, spotting Bierzo’s potential, bought plots of low-yielding old vines in the village of Corullón and embarked upon his Pétalos project with nephew Ricardo Pérez Palacios.

“We saw the potential of the old vines and slate soil in Bierzo and set about making a wine that had a delicate balance of freshness, roundness, a touch of bitterness and a silky, approachable style,” says Ricardo Palacios. “But the beauty of Mencía is that while it’s approachable young, it also ages incredibly well. Our 2001s are magical now – the freshness is still there.”

Ten years ago, while Spain was still seeking power and ripeness, Pétalos was an instant success in the UK, while the French also, somewhat surprisingly, embraced it. “Palates have changed,” argues Palacios. “People are looking for lighter, fresher styles, and winemakers in Spain are adapting their wines to suit this trend. There’s a new philosophy of freshness in Spanish winemaking.”

In recent years, more complex, concentrated, old vine wines are being produced by a new generation of winemakers. Mariola Varona Bayolo, export manager for Martin Codax, says: “Mencía is a very special Atlantic grape with bags of character. You get wonderful, bright red fruit from the old vines and minerality from the schist soils. It’s got fantastic acidity, good body, soft tannins and enticing spicy notes. Bierzo could be the next Napa Valley.”

Valdeorras

Kissing Bierzo to the west is Valdeorras – the gateway to Galicia in the east of the region. Like Mencía in Bierzo, white grape Godello is causing a stir among the UK wine press, and has been tipped for great things. Champion of obscure Spanish grapes Telmo Rodiguez is enjoying commercial success in the UK with his Gaba do Xil Godello, represented by Adnams, named after the river Sil, whose gorge divides Valdeorras from Bierzo. He also makes a Mencía in the region.

Godello has a similar stone fruit and citrus character to Albariño, with notes of apple, peach, apricot and honey, but is creamier and more lusciously textured than its northwesterly cousin in Rías Baixas. Godello gurus still seem to be experimenting with oak, and the better examples are invariably the lighter, less oaked styles.

Martin Codax’s Mariola Varona Bayolo says: “Valdeorras is where Rías Baixas was 15 years ago. Godello is the new Albariño. Albariño will always be queen, but I’m excited about Godello. It makes clean, approachable whites with white flower, peach and hay aromas. The fruit character is easy to understand – they’re incredibly attractive wines.”

Bodegas La Tapada, owned by the Guitian family, is one of the leaders in Godello’s resurgence, and a winery to watch in the region.

Meanwhile, near the 12th century monastery of Xagoaza, home to the acclaimed Bodega Godeval – the first winery to make a 100% Godello in Galicia – Rafael Palacios (brother of Alvaro) has set up shop with Bodegas Rafael Palacios, where he makes a pair of premium Godellos: the barrel-fermented As Sortes, and Louro de Bolo, both of which are available in the UK through The Wine Society.

“I believed so strongly in Godello’s potential, it’s one of the reasons I left Rioja in 2004,” says Palacios. “It has the Atlantic influence of Albariño, and the creamy texture of Chardonnay. I began by experimenting with oak and lees ageing, but my winemaking style has changed a lot over the past eight years. I’m achieving more freshness, fragrance and terroir expression in my wines by moving away from oak and letting the terroir speak for itself. I’ve found my way.”

Palacios’ wines are enjoying commercial success in Spain and the UK, along with Russia, Scandinavia the US and South America.

Arribes and Tierra de León

Two incredibly new and exciting DOs that sprung up in 2007 are Arribes and Tierra de León. The former lies on the westernmost tip of the country, where Spain meets Portugal along the banks of the Duero river, while the latter can be found to the south of the Cordillera Cantábrica mountain range in the southern part of León.

Both are gaining international recognition for their indigenous grape varieties: Juan García in Arribes and Prieto Picudo in Tierra de León, which has been tipped as Spain’s answer to Pinot Noir.

Keen to unleash the untapped potential of Arribes, which is still in its winemaking infancy with just 750ha under vine, a small group of producers have invested in the region and are championing Juan García, bringing out its varietal character through a combination of low yields and modern winemaking techniques.

Indigenous to Arribes, Juan García produces terroir-driven wines with notes of cherry, raspberry and spice. Super-premium producer Ribera de Pelazas is making interesting reds from old vine Juan García and the extremely rare Bruñal, currently selling for £88 a bottle in the UK through Fine & Rare wines.

With just under 1,500ha under vine, Tierra de León’s 33 producers are doing interesting things with up-and-coming aromatic variety Prieto Picudo, one of the most promising of Spain’s indigenous grapes. Meaning “dark pointed” and often partnered with Mencía in blends, Prieto Picudo accounts for 50% of the region’s red grape plantings.

The grape’s style seems to fit its name, producing wines with an earthy, red fruit character mixed with crisp acidity. Names to look out for include Bodegas Gordonzello and Bodegas Fernandez Llamazares.

Manchuela

Formerly part of La Mancha, Manchuela lies in south-east Spain between the central sprawl of La Mancha and the coastal city of Valencia, with Utiel-Requena sitting to the east and Jumilla to the south.

With co-operatives accounting for over half of the production in the region, Manchuela is still very much a work in progress, but progress is being made.

While Syrah is showing great promise, indigenous variety Bobal has been singled out as the region’s flagship grape, and now makes up half of the region’s red wine production. Cultivated in low-yielding bush vines, the tricky Bobal is proving rewarding in the right hands.

“Bobal can be a very tannic and over-extracted, high-alcohol variety, but in the right hands it can sing,” says Indigo Wine’s Olly Bartlett. Renowned Spanish wine writer Victor de la Serna is the best-known name in the region. His presence at Finca Sandoval has cemented Bobal’s status as a grape to watch, and put Manchuela firmly on the wine map.

“My wife is from Manchuela, and I saw the untapped viticultural potential in the region,” says de la Serna. “I wanted to make wine in an undiscovered region, and I wanted to do something completely new there, so we broke the ice 10 years ago. I was sceptical about Bobal in the beginning – it’s an extremely difficult variety to work with, as it doesn’t ripen easily, so I had to learn how to work with it, and make it work for me.

“I consider Bobal one of the three most important red varieties of south-eastern Spain, along with Garnacha and Monastrell. It has a rustic, spicy, black fruit character and lovely freshness, which is hard to find in a central region. Now I’ve gotten to grips with it, I’m planting a lot more Bobal. It’s great to see Manchuela coming up, and small, quality wine producers emerging – I don’t feel so alone any more.”

Antonio Ponce, of Bodegas Ponce, is taking a natural approach with his biodynamic, foot-trodden Bobal, made in an almost Beaujolais style with whole bunch fermentation and old oak barrel ageing – watch this space.

Pago Altolandon is another front-runner, while Cien y Pico, run by larger-than-life Australian Zar Brooks and his Bulgarian winemaking wife Elena, is doing exciting things with Garnacha Tintorera from vines that are more than 100 years old.

Lucy Shaw, April 2011