SPANISH WINE MAKING: A BREEDING GROUND FOR INNOVATORS

Despite significant historical setbacks to winegrowing, Spain is still a worldwide viticulture heavyweight. Vitus vinifera is thought to have been planted in southern Spain more than 3,000 years ago by the Phoenicians in what is now sherry country in the Jerez- Xérès region. Then of course the Romans expanded their empire and viticulture was expanded exponentially wherever Vitus vinifera could grow on the peninsula, which, we’ll soon address, is pretty much about everywhere. In 711 AD, the Moors conquered much of what is now Spain and ruled for 800 years during which time wine production stagnated under Muslim rule that prohibited its consumption, but viticulture was just too ingrained by this time to seriously deplete its winemaking and consumption altogether.

Source: https://winefolly.com

Spain’s geography and climate is varied, but most of it is conducive to growing Vitus vinifera, which is reflected in Spain having the largest amount of vineyard acreage planted in the world. However, because significant winegrowing areas are in arid and mountainous areas, where yields are relatively low given water shortage in the latter and difficulty in planting in the former, Spain comes in third in overall worldwide wine production behind Italy and France. Also, Spain’s presence as an international wine producer is relatively new compared to Italy and France, being ninth in world consumption as Spain has had some catching up to do after the economic restraints, mismanagement and stagnation under the Franco dictatorship that finally ended in the 1970s. In a sense, this is great news for the world because Spain’s deeply embedded viticulture is as varied as its myriad microcultures, dialects, ethnicities, and cuisines, so there is a treasure chest of wine yet to be discovered on the international market.

Spain is organized by seven main winegrowing areas designated by their climates and geographies: 1) Green Spain in the mainly Basque country in the northeast; 2) Catalonia where Rhone blends and Cava are prevalent; 3) north central where Rioja is famous; 4) the central plateau for bulk production; 5) Valencia coast for Monastrell, Yecla, Alicante, and Jumilla wines; 6) southern Spain for sherry: and 7) the islands, such as Canary Islands and Majorca.

In 1985, following its admission into the European Union, Spanish wine denominations were made more consistent with other European systems, such as a a five-tier classification system that is administered by each autonomous region. The DOP (denominación de origen protegida) is similar to the AOC and DOC systems in France and Italy, respectively. Most internationals are now familiar with denominations (DO) such as Rioja, Cava, and Txakoli. But as we mentioned earlier, Spain’s wine history is so rich, varied, and steeped in tradition, that these known entities barely scratch the surface of its breadth, and because modernization is relatively recent, the industry is quite tolerant of youth, innovation, and investment even outside the official guidelines and laws. As such, we decided to select wines made by three such innovators.

MAKING ISLAND WINE WITH A GARAGE WINE MINDSET

Francesc Grimalt and Sergio Caballero are literally guided by a “garage wine mindset.” In 2006, they started 4 Kilos winery on a converted sheep farm on the island of Mallorca with a modest investment. In late September they vinified their first harvest in the garage of a fellow winegrower. They macerated and fermented their harvest partly in milk refrigeration units and partly in large open barrels. The wine was rested for fourteen months and was launched into the market in May 2008. Grimalt had already been a highly regarded oenologist and former partner of the Anima Negra winery in Mallorca and is known for rescuing the native varietal Callet from extinction. Caballero is a musician and founding partner and co-director of the Sónar International Festival of Advanced Music and New Media Art (now in its 20th year) and is responsible for the branding and communications aspects of 4 Kilos. Three years after their modest investment, in 2009, Spain’s most famous and comprehensive wine guide, Guia Peñin, named 4 Kilos “Winery of the Year”. Today, their wines have cult-like status in Spain, and their reputation has caught on outside of Spain, especially among natural wine geeks.

Grimalt and Cavallero are anything but conventional

The stated objective of 4 Kilos is to bring out nuances of the varietals they work with in a modern presentation. They practice sustainable viticulture and social responsibility, participating and contributing to the community around them. Although not certified biodynamic, they employ most of its principles, including allowing native to vegetation to share the soil with the vines and natural microbial population to do its natural thing. They now have vineyards in different parts of Mallorca, and have little interest in belonging to any particular official DO. The varietals they work with are Callet, Cabernet Sauvignon, Fogoneu (Frances), Merlot, Monastrell and Syrah.

Featured February Amaro Wine Club Spanish wine: 4 Kilos Motor America Blanc (2022)

VARIETALS: Prensal Blanc

The Prensal grapes grow in Call Vermel soil (a type of clay) that is rich in ferric oxide. The grapes are fermented naturally and then split into three parts to undergo three different types of vinification: 35 percent are put through carbonic maceration in stainless steel tanks, 35 percent are macerated at a controlled temperature, and 30 percent are macerated in clay vessels.The results are blended and bottled unfiltered, unclarified, and without adding sulfites.

FOOD PAIRINGS: seafood, soft cheeses, white fish, lentil salad, smoked duck

RETURNING TO CENTURIES-OLD TRADITIONAL WINEMAKING IN CASTILLA Y LEÓN

Monika, Andy, Patrick, and Pia.

The idea for Bodegas Belote came from the owners watching their home village in the Castilla y León region lose its population as people fled for economic opportunities elsewhere. The winemakers seized on the opportunity of claiming and putting to use abandoned fertile land and revived the 500-year history of using caves in the area between the provinces of Leon, Zamora and Valladolid for storage and winemaking. Caves were and still are an inherent part of the traditional architecture in Roales de Campos where wineries are dug into sloping hillsides to provide a stable environment for winemaking at a constant temperature throughout the year.

In short, Bodegas Belote makes village wines in the heart of caves, in the traditional manner that wines were made at the time these caves were dug, that is with minimal intervention. The winemakers target local varietals that grow naturally in the surrounding land, and the Prieto Picudo grape is prized above all, also being a DO of León.

Prieto Picudo grows in small and compact bunches, and its name is quite literal to how it looks with “prieto” referring to the configuration of the bunch and “picudo” to the shape of the grape that resembles a rugby ball. It is resistant to drought, with lots of pigment, acidity, sugar and tannin. As such, it lends itself to high volume production, but Bodegas Belote employs it differently to make personal wines that are far removed from commercial wine concepts, and they do it with minimal intervention processes.

Featured February Amaro Wine Club Spanish wine: Bodegas Belote Tierra de Leon Prieto Picudo Vino De Cueva Crianza (2019)

VARIETALS: Prieto Picudo

Prieto Picudo grapes are spontaneously fermented in cement tanks, and then the wine is transferred to French oak barrels where it spends 16 months aging. Only 3,500 bottles were made of this vintage. You will want to decant this wine before serving.

FOOD PAIRINGS: lamb, pungent cheese, spicy sausage, vegetable dishes, prosciutto, chili, legume dishes.

Winemaking in a 500-year-old cave

A YOUNG MAN MAKING WINE THE OLD WAY

Eduard at work

Celler Sanromà is a 4th generation family enterprise in the ancient village of Vila-Rodona in the Alt Camp region of Tarragona, Spain. Currently, the family has handed the reigns off mostly to their youngest member, and easily the youngest winemaker in the region, at 28 years old, to Eduard Sanroma Calaf. Ironically, though, despite his youth Eduard strives, in his own words, to “make wine the old way.” The estate works with three native varietals and work with single varietal wines only. Their white wine is made with Macabeo grapes, which are macerated on the skins, hearkening to how white wine was made in the area centuries ago. With Trepat, they make a rosado (rosé), and and with Ull de Llebr, a local clone of the Tempranillo grape, they make their red wine. The land is not easy to cultivate; it is high, dry and rocky and the summers are hot, but it is precisely this terrain that Eduard wants expressed in its wines.

Featured February Amaro Wine Club Spanish wine: Celler Sanroma 125 (2019)

VARIETALS: Ull De Llebre (Tempranillo)

The grapes are fermented macerated and fermented with their skins for 5 days and then induced to undergo malolactic fermentation in stainless steel. Seventy percent is then aged 5 months in 4-year-old American and French oak, and the remaining wine rests for 5 months in stainless steel tanks before being blended into bottles.

FOOD PAIRINGS: rack of lamb, chile con carne, lasagna, polenta, lamb curry, polenta paella

Biodynamic means that Matthias still works a multipurpose farm