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Wine Routes
Wine route, wine
trails, roads of wine.... wine please, or beer, anything will do. Groan. Hands up if
you're a teetotaller?
When you visit Spain on
vacation, and
alcohol is relatively cheap, it's a happy medium, because
even though you draw the short straw for being the
driver along a wine route, you can always
compensate by having the biggest and most expensive dinner.
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On a
vacation where the gastronomy is as superlative as the wine, ideas will
spill right
out of you.
We've
heard that red wine
is good for you. Others says that white wine is as
good as red wine for health.
It's the red colour that makes the
difference. We enjoy either, as long as they are drunk in moderation
and along with a very tasty dish.
Spain is
the most widely planted wine producing country though it is
only the
third largest producer of wine in the world. There are a lot
of native grape varieties planted here, with
over 600 varieties planted throughout the country.
When
you are here in Spain on vacation, and it's a trifle hot, red
wine
is possibly the last drink you might consider.
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Actually,
there are three perfectly civilised ways to drink red wine in the dry
heat, starting with the 'Latino'
which is like a Spritzer with red wine, then tinto
verano
which is similar.
And of course the headline Spanish mixer
drink sangria,
which is red wine, and possibly brandy, rum or
vodka
(depending who makes it), triple sec, soda water or
lemonade, then topped
with lots of
fresh fruit and lime and ice.
It is said
there are quite a few wine regions in Spain, which is a
classic understatement; there are lots of them, each with their own
distinctive product. There is no doubt they all have unofficial wine
routes, that stay unpublished. If all the roads with wine links
in Spain were connected, it would be the grand daddy of
all wine routes.
Your liver would probably give out before you finished them.
A quick trip through some of the names:
The
Rioja,
famed for its rich
spicy, earthy red wines and Ribera del Duero which is known for their
Tempranillo production, full-bodied and fruit-driven.
Jerez de la Frontera, the home
of the horses, flamenco, and the fortified wine, sherry.
Jerez, is the
capital of sherry production in Spain. The climate of
Jerez, along with the chalk-heavy soils that glaze over in the
heat of the summer to trap in the moisture from the spring, creates
perfect conditions for the grape varieties: Palomino for dry
sherries, and Moscatel and Pedro Ximenez for the sweet sherries.
Rias
Baixas in the
northwest region of Galicia that is known
for its white wines made from Albarino, pale golden lemon, they are all
crisp, elegant and fresh. |
"Sherry
tastes better by the barrel"
Jerez
de la Frontera
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And that's
not all the wine routes there exist. Catalonia includes the Cava region, the 'sparkling
wine' of Spain. The capital of Cava
production is the
village of Sant
Sadurni D’Anoia in the Penedes region, which is said to produce 85% of
the total output of the wine and still wine
producing regions. They celebrate the end of the harvest in late
August, where the whole town shuts down, and the cava producing estates
have an open day, with free tastings. Visitors from Barcelona take a
early train out to Sant Sadurni village and join in the feasting and
local celebrations.
We
have our historical list of wine routes, from Australia to France to
here - a mini trail led us from a town near Barcelona to San Sadurni
and the Codorniu and Torre wineries, plus a few tastings at some
bodegas and a restaurant stop on the way back. Wine trails
can be short or long - always enjoyable.
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The
Priorat region, one of the oldest and also one of the least densely
populated districts of Catalonia, and although it is only one hundred
miles from Barcelona, the characteristically concentrated wines of the
region, which have great tannins, deep colour and high alcohol content
(13.5-15.5%).
Most
vines are on steep slopes of slate of
volcanic origin which confer a mineral character to the wines, and also
preclude large automation of the picking process, thus making it a very
manual affair. If you are a fan of the delicacy and nuances found in
mature Bordeaux or Burgundy, Priorat's power will overwhelm you.
And
the Alicante
region:
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In recent
decades, Alicante and its wines have made a
strong reappearance on the
winegrowing scenario.
The parties behind this success have been on the
one hand,
winegrowers, who have cultivated their vineyards using technology and
more careful
methods, and on the other, the wineries, with their continuous
renovation, improved
infrastructures and processes and their constant adaptation to
modern-day requirements
and the preferences of consumers.
Another reason is the excellent
price-quality
ratio of the wine.
The wines
of Alicante are currently in a good
position and
the outlook for the near future is excellent.
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This
situation is also
ratified by
the number of international awards Alicante wines are winning,
as well as the recognition they are receiving from professionals and
the end consumer
alike.
Whatever it
is, how you like it (as a deep,
gutsy, red wine full-bodied
or Cava - sparkling wine, similar to champagne), when you like it (as
an aperitif, on a hot summers' day, or sherry or dessert wine), wines
from Spain have
come a long way... and it's relatively reasonably priced on the whole.
Though,
while you are on a Spain vacation, why not have a bit of fun,
and try a few wine tasting ideas? You
could start with a wine tour and then stay for a few days or a
week at
Perleta
Magic...
Or, at
the end of your stay at Perleta
Magic, have a
few wine tasting
days before you go home taking a selection of good wines from
Spain back home with you. There are many bodegas to choose
from, you might like to visit
'bodegas' in/around Monovar, Novelda, Yecla, Villena etc.
Or
go for a few days inland, or go for a few day-trips to close-by
bodegas, the
choice is up to you on your vacation in
Spain.
Wine routes don't have to exist per se; they depend on the individual to follow
their nose, and create their own route. It's what route means: a path
needs someone to make it first. Failing that, do the next best thing
and grab someone elses list of bodegas and wineries to visit.
May 2010: Out and about in May... hit the vineyards!.... see Jacq's Musings 23 for the full write-up.
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