New Wave Spanish Wine Awards 2009

This tasting took place yesterday at The Worx in Parsons Green. On show were a selection of 110 Spanish wines which to qualify had to be either imported into the UK or be shown at the Wines from Spain annual generic tasting.

The Cantosan Brut sparkling Verdejo from Grupo Yllera offers fantastic value at £5.99 and is a good alternative to Cava. (See Jancis Robinson's comments on the same here.)

Getariako Txakolina Getaria 2008 is an interesting Basque wine which comes in an Alsace-shaped bottle. Made from indigenous Basque grape varieties, it is slightly Pinot Gris-ish, has a little residual sugar and is only 11% abv. Moving from the eastern to the western side of northern Spain, Galician producer Bodegas Docampo's Vina do Campo is also Alsatian in character and also refreshingly low in alcohol (12%). At £9.95 it is very fairly priced.

The judges (chaired by Tim Atkin MW) seem to have looked for varietal typicity when awarding best of category. The Best White Under £10 went to Castrocelta Albarino 2008, a classic Albarino with tons of apple and green melon. Best Value White was awarded to Frutos Villar's Maria de Molina 2008, clean and crisp citrus flavours and a pronounced nose - outstanding value at £5.99. Best Red Under £10 went to the Luna Beberide Mencia 2007, two years old but still a vivid purple colour and equally young-tasting, with a palate of zippy red cherries.

Some of the reds, especially those from the more traditional regions, were disappointingly over-oaked and tannic. A refreshing exception was Can Rafols dels Caus' Gran Caus 2001, a deep garnet-coloured 'Bordeaux on steroids' with really concentrated fruit (and a lot of sediment in the bottle). Pretty good value at £15.99. Ochoa's Vendimia Seleccionada 2001 was garnet coloured, with a vegetal claret-like nose and some good fruit on the palate (but will it keep much longer?) A Pinot Noir from Ronda was predictably baked and showed why Andalucia's climate is just too harsh for thin-skinned Pinot Noir.

As to price, there seemed to be quite a few good value wines in the up-to-£15 bracket, but in the £30-50 range I would generally have wanted more for my money. There still seems to be a line of thought in Spanish winemaking that quality is directly related to the amount of new oak used. It seems to me that oak should never be used as a flavour component in its own right, but rather to compliment the all-important primary fruit character. If it overpowers the fruit, it is not doing its job.

In the small fortifieds section there was a lovely Moscatel de Grano Menudo (aka Muscat a Petits Grains) from Bodegas Camilo Castilla and a fantastic, delicate Palo Cortado from Fernando de Castilla (which, incidentally, was also the Best Wine of Show and Best Dry Sherry!)

Rutherglen

Rutherglen is a fortified wine grown in the hot, dry, continental climate of North Eastern Victoria in Australia. The soil is water-retaining deep red loam (see below).


The grapes used in the production of Rutherglen are Brown Muscat (a clone of the old world Muscat Blanc a Petits Grains which is found in the classic French Vins Doux Naturels) and so-called "Tokay" (Muscadelle).

Viticulturally, Rutherglen is unirrigated (water being scarce and so strictly controlled by the Australian authorities). The grapes shrivel, concentrating the sugar and allowing the grapes to achieve 20-22% potential abv without botrytis.

The wine is fortified to interrupt fermentation, in the traditional Port manner, leaving a minimum 160g/l sugar. Ageing takes place in a solera-like system. It is oxidative and evaporation takes place. Once bottled, Rutherglen does not develop further.

The 3 styles are Classic (which must be 5 years old); Grand (10 yo); and Rare (15 yo, but is usually much older). These categories also indicate increasing quality, concentration and sweetness.

(Sources: WSET materials, The Oxford Companion to Wine)

Fortified wine comparisons

The following is a comparison of some key features of Port, Sherry and Madeira.

Climate, topography and influences

Port - Hot continental, very dry. Serra do Marao shelters Douro. Sudden heavy rain and hail. Lack of water.

Sherry - Humid, despite low rainfall. Sunny and hot. Mediterranean. Levante/poniente winds.

Madeira - Humid, hot, subtropical, high rainfall.

Microclimates

Port - Cima Corgo best region. Also Baixo Corgo and Douro Superior.

Sherry - Sanlucar sea influence for ageing Manzanilla

Madeira - North/south split (north cooler - Sercial; south warmer - Bual)

Soils

Port - Schist, broken into terraces.

Sherry - Albariza (white, water-retaining, over 60% chalk). Also barros and arenas.

Madeira - Volcanic, fertile. Decomposed red or yellow tufa, with small round iron-rich basalt stones.

Grapes

Port - Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Barroca, Tinta Cao

Sherry - Palomino, PX, Moscatel

Madeira - Sercial, Verdelho, Bual, Malvasia (Malmsey), Tinta Negra Mole

Viti

Port - Guyot-pruned, wire-trained. Terraces. Hand-harvesting on socalcos (6,000 vines/ha); small tractors on patamares (3,500 vines/ha).

Sherry - Vara y Pulgar pruning (similar to Guyot). Bush or head-trained vines. Hand harvesting. High yields (max 80 hl/ha).

Madeira - Tiny plots, small terraces, access difficult, hand-harvested. Trellises. Levadas (irrigation).

Vini

Port - Rapid extraction, lagares (foot/mechanised), fortified early. Vinified in the Douro (but maturation in Villa Nova de Gaia, see below).

Sherry - Free run/press wine (fino/oloroso). Flor. Fortified late spring (i.e. about 9 months after harvest). Mitad y mitad. Solera, in one of the 3 towns. (For PX and Moscatel, raisins, fermentation stops naturally.)

Madeira - Sercial and Verdelho little/no skin contact, fermented until almost dry, then fortified. Boal and Malmsey - fermented on skins for max extraction, fortified early.

Fortification

Before fermentation - Moscatel de Valencia, Samos Doux (Muscat of Samos), Vins de Liqueur (e.g. Pineau des Charentes)

To interrupt fermentation - Port, Boal, Malmsey, VDNs, Samos VDN (Muscat of Samos), Fortified Cyprus Wine, Rutherglen (Victoria), Mavrodaphne of Patras

After fermentation - Sercial, Verdelho, PX, Moscatel, Sherry, Commandaria (Cyprus)

Not fortified - most Montilla-Moriles, Samos Nectar (Muscat of Samos)

Fortified to a:

- low level - Fino, Manzanilla, VDNs

- medium level - Port, good Oloroso and Amontillado (in sherry, ageing increases levels of VA)

- high level - everything else

Acidity

Port - high

Sherry - low (with ageing, can gain sufficient volatile acidity to get up to medium)

Madeira - high

Maturation and finishing

Port - Aged in Villa Nova de Gaia, although some quintas are building warehouses in the Douro - cheaper, easier access. Cask ageing vs bottle ageing. Some Ports are bottle-aged so are not finished before bottling and will throw a deposit (Vintage, Crusted, Traditional LBV); others are filtered and cold-stabilised before bottling (Tawny, LBV).

Sherry - Aged in solera system, the object of which is consistency of style. (The solera system was started in 2nd half of 19th century for commerial reasons - previously sherry was vintage-dated.)

Madeira - The estufa system is central to Madeira viniculture. By heating the wine with hot water pipes for 3-12 months (3-6 in cuba de calor; 6-12 in armezem de calor) the effects of a sea voyage through the tropics are simulated. Vintage Madeiras are aged in the Canteiro system, which uses the heat of the sun, for anything from 20 to 100 years! A small and decreasing amount of Madeira is aged in soleras - known as Solera Madeira, the date indicates the foundation of the solera.

Vintage variations

Port - Vintage Port varies, as does LBV. Crusted is a blend of years so will be more uniform. Colheita (vintage tawny) varies; other tawnies do not - esp Tawny with Indicated Age, where the age indication refers to a particular style. (Beneficio - output prescribed by law.)

Sherry - There is almost no vintage Sherry - the solera system blends out vintage variations (same in Montilla Moriles).

Madeira - Vintage and Colheita Madeiras vary; other styles aim for consistency.

Trade and Legal Structures

Port - Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e Portugal (IVDP)

Sherry - Consejo Regulador Vinos de Jerez y Manzanilla (see website)

Madeira - Instituto do Vinho da Madeira (IVM)

Markets

Port - Portugal, US (now more than UK), UK, France (now more than UK, esp young tawny styles to drink chilled as aperitifs)

Sherry - Spain, UK, Netherlands

Madeira - UK, cooking wine

Principal Producers

Port

Normally labelled under the name of the shipper.

Symington Family Estates - Graham's, Warre's, Dow's, Quinta do Vesuvio, Smith Woodhouse, Martinez, Gould Campbell and Quarles Harris. See website.

Taylor's - independent family company - Quinta de Vargellas (produced first Single Quinta Vintage Port in 1958). See history and website.

Quinta do Noval - owned by AXA. See website.

Sherry

Gonzalez Byass - Tio Pepe Fino (GB website and TP history)

Vinicola Hidalgo - La Gitana Manzanilla, Napoleon range

Also Antonio Barbadillo, Pedro Domecq, Emilo Lustau and Sanchez Romate

Madeira

There are only 6 companies licensed for export:

Henriques & Henriques

Madeira Wine Company (Blandys, Cossart Gordon)

Also Justinhos, D'Oliveiras, Barbeito, HM Borges


White Grapes - Palomino, Muscat/Moscatel, PX, Malvasia, Sercial, Verdelho, Boal, Gouveio

Black Grapes - Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Barroca, Tinta Cao


Oxidised Wines - Oloroso, Madeira, Rancio-style Grenache-based VDNs (eg Banyuls Rancio), Rutherglen, Aged Tawny Port, Amontillado and Palo Cortado (although both start anaerobically)

Not Oxidised - Fino, Manzanilla, Ruby/Vintage Port, LBV, Muscat-based VDNs


Sources: WSET, The Oxford Companion to Wine

Sherry

Here are some essential sherry facts:

Location

Cadiz, Andalucia

Aged in bodegas in Jerez de la Frontera, Puerto de Santa Maria and Sanlucar de Barrameda (below)


Climate

Humid, despite low rainfall. Sunny and hot. Mediterranean.

Winds - from east (levante) hot, dry conditions; from west (poniente) cooler, more humid.

Soil

Albariza - white, water-retaining, over 60% chalk

Barros and Arenas soils are much less important, especailly in these days of reduced demand for sherry - many vines on these soils have now been grubbed up. However, Moscatel is grown in some arenas areas.

Grapes

Palomino, PX and Moscatel

Viticulture

Pruning - vara y pulgar (similar to Guyot)

Training - bush vine (en vaso) or head-pruned (trunk is trained into a knob at the top)

Yields - high - max 80hl/ha

Vinification

For Palomino, there are two distinct pathways - one for free-run juice and one for press wine. The below chart is a bit simplistic but the majority of the free-run juice will end up as fino and the majority of the press wine as oloroso-styles (i.e. matured without the influence of flor - see earlier post on flor). The relatively high fermentation temperature (28 C) is due to the fact that primary fruitiness and fermentation esters are not wanted.



For PX and Moscatel, the grapes are dried in the sun until they shrivel and become raisin-like. The high concentration of sugars means the fermentation stops naturally at about 5% abv, leaving 200-400g/l residual sugar. PX is fortified with mitad y mitad at around 54% abv and is aged oxidatively in a solera.

Styles

Fino - flor prevent the wine from oxidising; "salty", acetaldehyde nose and taste

Manzanilla - fino aged in Sanlucar de Barrameda - climate moderated by sea

Manzanilla Pasada - older than c.8 years - flor starts to die and wine oxidises

Pale Cream - fino sweetened with rectified, concentrated grape must (RCGM)

Amontillado Seco - aged first under flor (min 3 years), then oxidatively (usually by refortifying and moving to new solera, but sometimes by allowing flor to die away); "hazelnut" on palate

Blended Amontillado - sweetened using younger amontillados/fino/other

Palo Cortado - like Amontillado, aged first under flor then oxidatively; fuller-bodied; PC solera wine sometimes not under ullage

Oloroso Seco - aged oxidatively (without flor), sometimes for several decades; "walnut" on palate; although not aged under flor, may have some flor influence as flor forms on all sherry pre-fortification

Oloroso Dulce/Cream Sherry - sweetened oloroso (using PX or other)

PX and Moscatel - 15% abv, solera-aged

Trade/Legal

Bodegas de Crianza y Expedicion - shippng companies which dominate production, located in 3 main sherry towns (Jerez, Sanlucar, Puerto de Santa Maria)

VOS - average age at least 20 years old

VORS - 30 years

Also 12yo and 15yo

See also my post on fortified wine comparisons.

(Sources: WSET materials, The Oxford Companion to Wine)

Madeira

Grown in humid, subtropical heat, and on fertile, volcanic soils, Madeira's "noble" grape varieties are Sercial, Verdelho, Boal/Bual and Malvasia/Malmsey. The majority of Madeira is actually made from the inferior Tinta Negra Mole grape variety. See table below for comparisons.



The gradations in the site climate seen in the above table are mostly due to altitude.

Plots are typically tiny and on small terraces, so mechanisation is impossible. Trellises are used to raise the canopy off the ground and irrigation is via channels known as levadas.

There is a steady increase in residual sugar throughout the styles of Madeira. Sercial typically contains 1.5% residual sugar (NB NOT g/l), Verdelho 2.5%, Bual 3.5% and Malmsey has over 4%.

The diagrams below give an outline of ageing and styles of Madeira.

Above: Estufas

Above: Canteiro - Vintage Madeira maturing in
600L wooden casks, heated only by the sun

Sources: WSET, The Oxford Companion to Wine

See also my post on fortified wine comparisons and Jamie Goode's Spotlight on Madeira.

Port

Here is a summary of the essentials of port viticulture and production - to help me with my WSET Diploma fortifieds revision, but hopefully also of general interest!

Location

Grapes for port are grown in the Douro region of Portugal. The best plots are in the Cima Corgo, from the slopes around the village of Pinhao (see photo below). Lower quality grapes (e.g. for young ruby port) are grown in the Baixo Corgo to the west and the Douro Superior to the east, which stretches all the way to the Spanish border.


Climate

The climate in the Douro is hot continental and very dry, becoming increasingly so further inland. The hills of the Serra do Marao shelter the Douro from the Atlantic influence. Climatological hazards include sudden bursts of heavy rain which can cause erosion and damage terraces and hail in the summer and autumn which can damage crops. Lack of water is a constant problem - weeds are removed from vineyards to remove competition for water.

Viticulture

The soil is schist, which due to the steep slopes is formed into terraces. Vines are Guyot-pruned, wire-trained.

The older, narrower walled terraces known as socalcos are often only two rows wide and are planted densely (c. 6,000 vines/ha). Maintenance of the walls is costly and time-consuming and the narrow gauge means tractor access is not possible, which is why in the 1970s the terracing system known as patamares was introduced. This involved bulldozing wider terraces into the hillsides and replacing stone walls with ramps bound by vegetation. Vertical planting has also been introduced (known as vinha ao alto) to enable mechanisation.



(left, socalcos; right, patamares)


Many vineyards contain long-forgotten mixtures of indigenous grape varieties. Modern regulations permit around 20 grape varieties, the most important of which are:

Touriga Nacional - "quality" - the highest quality Douro grape, low yields, high colour and tannin, very aromatic.

Touriga Franca - lighter, softer, rounder, very perfumed though and good heat- and drought-tolerance

Tinta Roriz (Tempranillo in Spain) - "medium" (colour, tannin, concentration) but adds finesse, good length and good in cooler years

Tinta Barroca - "high" (colour, tannin, acid, mustweight); early-ripening, cooler sites

Tinta Cao - v low yields, but good for ageing

Quintas are classified into Categories A-E (A is best) using a complex points system which rates them according to 12 physical factors including vines, location, aspect, gradient, soil and shelter.

Vinification

Macerated vigorously for only 2 or 3 days, for a rapid extraction of colour and tannin. Traditionally this was done by foot-treading in large granite lagares.

Premium ports use foot treading (or the mechanical equivalent - the "robotic lagar" developed by Symingtons). Cheaper ports use a mixture of roto-vinifiers, vigorous pumping-over, thermo-vinification and (in decreasing numbers) autovinifiers.

Once the wine reaches 6-8% abv (with c. 90-100g/l sugar), it is fortified to interrupt fermentation. One part aguardente (77% abv) mixed with 4 parts wine to give c. 20% abv.

Ageing

Port can be either cask aged or bottle aged. Young ruby port is aged in large concrete or stainless steel vats (20-100,000 litres). Oak is used for more expensive ports, although never new oak.

Wood-matured ports - aged in wooden casks (or sometimes cement tanks) and are ready to drink straight after fining, filtration and bottling. E.g. tawny port (which is aged in wood for so long that it loses its colour and turns tawny).

Bottle-aged ports - aged for a short period in wood and bottled without filtration. May take 20-30 years to be ready to drink. E.g. vintage port.

Styles of Port

Ruby - spend less than a year in cask

Reserve Ruby - aged for up to 5 years, more flavour

White - skin contact, most released while young (made from white-skinned grapes such as Malvasia Fina, Gouveio, Mourisco)

Tawny:

- Fine - basic, can be blend of ruby and white
- Aged - oxidatively for c. 8 years in cask
- with Indicated Age - 10, 20, 30 or "over 40" - refers to a style
- Colheita - vintage

LBV - single year, 4-6 years in cask then cold-stabilised, filtered and bottled. Ready to drink on release, does not improve.

Traditional LBV - single year, but not cold-stabilised and filtered so will form a deposit and improve, although can be drunk on release

Crusted - blend of years, not cold-stabilised and filtered, ready to drink but will improve (fairly recent invention of Symingtons and others to appeal to vintage port market, although this is a blend of years)

Single Quinta Vintage - released in years when a full vintage not declared, to satisfy consumer demand for dated ports (although some producers only ever release sqv's)

Vintage - bottled within 2 years of vintage, ageing takes place in bottle

Beneficio

The beneficio is the annual authorisation of the amount of port that may be produced. Decided in July/August.

Tasting - the Port "Holy Trinity"

(1) sweet; (2) fortified to a high level; (3) high acidity (i.e. high sugar, high alcohol, high acid)

See also my post on fortified wine comparisons.

(Sources: WSET materials, The Oxford Companion to Wine)

Other Fortified Wines

Here is an outline of some less-common fortified wines:

1. Spain - Moscatel de Valencia: made from Muscat of Alexandria and mostly fortified before fermentation to c. 15% abv; simple fresh perfumes.


2. Greece - Muscat of Samos: Muscat Blanc a Petits Grains, grown at altitude on hillside terraces, can be fortified before fermentation (Samos Doux), to interrupt fermentation (Samos VDN) or unfortified (Samos Nectar). It comes from the Greek island of Samos, in the Aegean and is allegedly "Greece's most famous wine" (after retsina).

3. Greece - Mavrodaphne of Patras: a Greek appelation in the Peloponnese which produces a fortified sweet red made from the Mavrodaphne grape, cask aged for a long time, giving a tawny colour.
4. Cyprus - Commandaria: Cypriot wine, made from sun-dried grapes, fortified after fermentation has stopped naturally. Fermentation achieves only a low level of alcohol - about 10% abv (NB PX is even less). Aged oxidatively for at least 2 years in oak at the coast. Static or solera systems can be used.
5. Cyprus - Fortified Cyprus Wine: sherry-style, fortified mid-ferment, cask-aged for a year then sweetened with concentrated grape must (although there are dry styles aged under flor in solera).

6. Australia - premium vintage and tawny styles are made from Rhone varieties (esp Shiraz); to a lesser extent, Madeira- and Sherry-styles; see separate post on Rutherglen

7. California - basic cream sherry-styles, but sweetened; some quality Muscats and Port styles

8. South Africa - Port-style wines using Rhone/Port varieties; Sherry styles; Moscatel

(Sources: WSET materials, The Oxford Companion to Wine)