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Most white Riojas these days are merely fresh, neutral, inoffensive wines, but Marqus de Murrieta and R. Lopez de Heredia still make a traditional white Rioja that's golden-colored, oak-aged, and made from a blend of local white grape varieties, predominantly Viura. Both of these traditional white Riojas are fascinating: flavorful, voluptuous, with attractive traces of oxidation, and capable of aging. These wines aren't everybody's cup of tea, true, but they sure have character! They have so much presence that they can accompany foods normally associated with red wine, as well as traditional Spanish food, such as paella or seafood. The Murrieta white sells for about $16, and the Lopez de Heredia is about $20.

Ribera del Duero: Drawing New Eyes and Palates to Spain

Ribera del Duero, two hours north of Madrid by car (refer to Figure 1-1), is one of Spain's most dynamic wine regions. Perhaps nowhere else in the world does the Tempranillo grape variety reach such heights, making wines with body, deep color, and finesse. Now famous for its high-quality red wines, this region has helped to ignite world interest in Spanish wines.

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For many years, one producer, the legendary Vega Sicilia, dominated the Ribera del Duero area. In fact, Spain's single most famous great wine is Vega Sicilia's Unico (Tempranillo, with 20 percent Cabernet Sauvignon) - an intense, concentrated, tannic red wine with enormous longevity; it ages for ten years in casks and then sometimes ages further in the bottle before it's released. Unico is available mainly in top Spanish restaurants; if you're lucky enough to find it in a retail shop, it can cost about $300 - a bottle, that is. Even Unico's younger, less intense, and more available sibling, the Vega Sicilia Valbuena, retails for about $100.

Vega Sicilia is no longer the only renowned red wine in Ribera del Duero. Alejandro Fernndez's Pesquera, entirely Tempranillo, has earned high praise over the past 15 years. Pesquera is a big, rich, oaky, tannic wine with intense fruit character. The reserva sells for about $28, whereas the younger Pesquera is $20. The reserva of Fernndez's other winery in the area, Condado de Haza, sells for about $35. Three other fine producers of Ribera del Duero are Bodegas Mauro, Via Pedrosa, and Bodegas Tofilo Reyes, who all make red wines that rival Pesquera.

Mountainous Priorato and Its Rich Reds

Back in the 12th century, monks founded a monastery (or priory) in the harsh, inaccessible Sierra de Montsant Mountains, about 100 miles southwest of Barcelona in the Catalonia region (refer to Figure 1-1), and planted vines on the steep hillsides. As time passed, the monastery closed, and the vineyards were abandoned because life was simply too difficult in this area (which in time became known as Priorat, or Priorato).

Flash forward to the 20th century, specifically the early 1980s. Enterprising winemakers, among them Alvaro Palacios, rediscovered Priorato and decided that conditions there were ideal for making powerful red wines, especially from old vines planted by locals early in the 20th century.

No Spanish wine region has been in the spotlight lately more than Priorato. And yet Priorato hasn't become a tourist destination, because it's so inaccessible. The region's volcanic soil, composed mainly of slate and schist (crystalline rock), is so infertile that not much other than grapes can grow there. The climate is harshly continental: very hot, dry summers and very cold winters. The steep slopes must be terraced; many vineyards can be worked only by hand. And grape yields are very low.

Amazingly rich, powerful red wines - made primarily from Garnacha and Carignan, two of Spain's native varieties - have emerged from this harsh landscape. Many are as rugged as the land, with high tannin and alcohol; some wines are so high in alcohol that they have an almost Port-like sweetness. Because winemaking in Priorato isn't cost effective (to say the least!) and the quantities of each wine are so small, the wines are necessarily quite expensive; prices begin at about $40.

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Priorato reds to look for include Clos Mogador, Clos Erasmus, Alvaro Palacios, Clos Martinet, l'Hermita, Morlanda, Mas d'En Gil, and Pasanau.

Five Other Spanish Regions to Watch

The action in Spanish wines - especially when value is your concern - definitely doesn't end with Rioja, Ribera del Duero, and Priorato (all of which are described earlier in this chapter). Consider exploring wines from the regions described in the following sections.

Peneds

The Peneds wine region is in Catalonia, south of Barcelona (refer to Figure 1-1). It's the home of most Spanish sparkling wines (known as Cava); it also produces a large quantity of red and white wines. Cava is made in the traditional method and fermented in the bottle. Most Cavas use local Spanish grapes. As a result, they taste distinctly different (a nice earthy, mushroomy flavor) from California bubblies (see Chapter 3 in Book IV) and from Champagne (see Chapter 6 in Book II). Some of the more expensive blends do contain Chardonnay.

Two gigantic wineries dominate Cava production: Freixenet and Cordorniu. Freixenet's frosted black Cordon Negro bottle has to be one of the most recognizable wine bottles in the world. Other Cava brands to look for are Mont Maral, Paul Cheneau, Cristalino, Marqus de Monistrol, and Segura Viudas. Juve y Camps, a vintage-dated, upscale Cava, is a worthwhile buy at $16.

Any discussion of Peneds' still wines must begin with Torres, one of the world's great family-owned wineries. Around 1970, Miguel Torres pioneered the making of wines in Spain from French varieties, such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay, along with local grapes, such as Tempranillo and Garnacha.

All the Torres wines are clean, well-made, reasonably priced, and widely available. They start in the $10 range for the red Sangre de Toro (Garnacha-Carignan) and Coronas (Tempranillo-Cabernet Sauvignon) and the white Via Sol. The top-of-the-line Mas La Plana Black Label, a powerful yet elegant Cabernet Sauvignon, costs about $45.

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Freixenet, the leading Cava producer, is now also in the still wine business. Its wines include the inexpensive Ren Barbierbrand varietals and two fascinating wines from Segura Viudas (a Cava brand owned by Freixenet), both $15 to $16. Creu de Lavit is a subtle but complex white that's all Xarel-lo (pronounced sha-rel-lo), a native grape used mainly for Cava production. The red Mas d'Aranyo is mainly Tempranillo.

Ras Baixas

Galicia, in northwest Spain next to the Atlantic Ocean and Portugal (refer to Figure 1-1), wasn't a province known for its wine. But from a small area called Ras Baixas, tucked away in the southern part of Galicia, an exciting, white wine has emerged - Albario (ahl-ba-ree-nyo), made from the Albario grape variety. Ras Baixas is, in fact, one of the world's hottest white wine regions. (Hot as in "in demand," not climate; Ras Baixas is cool and damp a good part of the year, and green year-round.)

This region now boasts about 200 wineries, compared to only 60 in the 1990s. Modern winemaking, the cool climate, and low-yielding vines have combined to make Ras Baixas's Albario wines a huge success, especially in the United States, its leading market. Albario is a lively, (mainly) unoaked white with vivid, floral aromas and flavors reminiscent of apricots, white peaches, pears, and green apples. It's a perfect match with seafood and fish. The Albario grape makes wines that are fairly high in acidity, which makes them fine apritif wines.

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Albarios to look for include Bodega Morgado, Lusco, Bodegas Martin Codax, Fillaboa, Pazo de Seorans, Pazo San Mauro, Pazo de Barrantes, and Vionta; all are in the $16 to $23 range.

Navarra

Once upon a time, the word Navarra conjured up images of inexpensive, easy-drinking dry ros wines (or, to the more adventurous, memories of running the bulls in Pamplona, Navarra's capital city). Today, Navarra, just northeast of Rioja (see Figure 1-1), is known for its red wines, which are similar to, but somewhat less expensive than, the more famous wines of Rioja.

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Many Navarra reds rely on Tempranillo, along with Garnacha, but you can also find Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and various blends of all four varieties in the innovative Navarra region. Look for the wines of the following three Navarra producers: Bodegas Julian Chivite, Bodegas Guelbenzu, and Bodegas Magana.

Toro

The Toro region in northwest Spain, west of Ribera del Duero (see Figure 1-1), made wines in the Middle Ages that were quite famous in Spain. But it's a hot, arid area with poor soil, so winemaking was practically abandoned there for centuries.

In Spain's current wine boom, Toro has been rediscovered. Winemakers have determined that the climate and soil are ideal for making powerful, tannic red wines - mainly from the Tempranillo grape variety - which rival the wines of Toro's neighbors in Ribera del Duero (one of Spain's most dynamic wine regions, as explained earlier in this chapter).

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Toro producers to buy include Bodegas Faria, Vega Sauco, Estancia Piedra, Bodegas y Vias Dos Victorias, Gil Luna, and Dehesa La Granja (owned by Pesquera's Alejandro Fernandez).

Rueda

The Rueda region, west of Ribera del Duero (see Figure 1-1), produces one of Spain's best white wines from the Verdejo grape. The wine is clean and fresh, has good fruit character, and sells for an affordable $9 to $10. The Rioja producer Marquis de Riscal makes one of the leading and most available examples.

Sherry: A Misunderstood Wine

The late comedian Rodney Dangerfield built a career around the line, "I get no respect!" His wine of choice should've been Sherry, because it shares the same plight. Sherry is a wine of true quality and diversity, but it remains undiscovered by most of the world. The upside of that negligence is that the price of good Sherry is attractively low. The following sections introduce you to all the intricacies of Sherry, an underappreciated, little-known wine.

Entering the Jerez triangle

Sherry comes from the Andaluca region of sun-baked, southwestern Spain. The wine is named after Jerez de la Frontera, an old town of Moorish and Arab origin where many of the Sherry bodegas are located. (Bodega can refer to the actual building in which Sherry is matured or to the Sherry firm itself.)

Actually, the town of Jerez is just one corner of a triangle that makes up the Sherry region. Another corner is Puerto de Santa Mara, a beautiful, old coast town southwest of Jerez that's home to a number of large bodegas. The third point of the triangle, Sanlcar de Barrameda (also on the coast but northwest of Jerez), is so blessed with sea breezes that the lightest and driest of Sherries, manzanilla (mahn-zah-nee-yah), can legally be made only there. Aficionados of Sherry swear they can detect the salty tang of the ocean in manzanilla.

Traveling from Sanlcar to Jerez, you pass vineyards with dazzling white soil. This soil is albariza, the region's famous chalky earth, rich in limestone from fossilized shells. Summers are hot and dry, but balmy sea breezes temper the heat.

The Palomino grape - the main variety used in Sherry - thrives only here in the hot Sherry region on albariza soil. Palomino is a complete failure for table wines because it's so neutral in flavor and low in acid, but it's perfect for Sherry production. Two other grape varieties, Pedro Ximnez (pronounced pay-dro he-main-ehz) and Moscatel (Muscat), are used for dessert types of Sherry.

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Excerpted from Wine All-in-One For Dummiesby Ed McCarthy Mary Ewing-Mulligan Maryann Egan Copyright © 2009 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Excerpted by permission.
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