WINE & DRINK
by Jean Smullen
Rueda&Ri
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pain has a wine culture as historic as France or Italy and offers a startling variety of wine styles and grape varieties. Spain has a number of things going for it, the climate is excellent for viticulture, and there are plenty of old vines and a lot of indigenous grape varieties. In Spain the Consejo Regulador, the law making body for wine is locally based and not centrally controlled as it is in France and Italy, so they are more in touch with what is happening and up to date. As a result they are more open to change and experimentation than any other European wine country. The key to quality in Spain is their old vines and low yields. The new style Vino del Terra is “New Style Spain” similar to IGT in Italy and IPR in France. In recent years winemakers have been quick to take in new technology to their bodegas and many of the most modern wineries in Europe are now to be found in Spain. In February 2016 I took part in Concours du Sauvignon which took place in Spain’s Castilla y León region, at the Parador in Tordesillas. There are 94 Parador’s in Spain, the first was opened in 1928 by King Alfonso, they are all
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located in beautiful or historical settings. They include former palaces, ancient convents and medieval castles. The Parador de Tordesillas was once a private house, today it is a superb hotel just outside the city of Valladolid. Though we were there to judge Sauvignon Blanc, an important grape in the Rueda DO the trip reinforced my love affair with the region’s indigenous grape Verdejo. Rueda was put on the wine map by Marques de Riscal who moved production of their white grapes from the warmer region of Rioja to the cooler, high altitude climate of Rueda in 1972, because they wanted to make a fresher style of white wine. This started wine making on a commercial basis, the result of which was that the Rueda wine appellation was given its official status by Spain’s Ministry of Agriculture on January 12, 1980, becoming the first officially established wine appellation in the Castilla y León region. At the time the DO status was to try to gain recognition and protection for the region’s indigenous grape variety Verdejo. Today there are 69 wineries and 1,500 vine growers. 85% of the total production is the native Verdejo grape.
