So good evening everyone welcome to Mediterranean spain with myself Lauren i work at wset school in london I’ve been teaching online now for quite Some time i teach Spain at the diploma level that’s our Level four qualification that we do in Mind but also teach It happy at other levels as well and i Do have a big passion for spain one of The reasons for that was A level three scholarship that i got Through during my um My wset level three and i won a trip Across northern spain so i will be Actually using some photos And that i took on that trip as part of This presentation And um yeah it really ignited a passion For me About spain so i’m very pleased to be Sharing that with you this evening Now i’ve cheated a bit i did um i hoped To have a glass of mediterranean spanish Wine with me But i didn’t have any um so um i have Actually something from spain but it Isn’t mediterranean A bit further in but this is um from Rawada and it’s everyday Which is also very lovely but Unfortunately i won’t be going into Detail about what wine and where it’s Made
So let’s see what i mean by Mediterranean spain Okay so i’m gonna have a little little Overview just a little bit of background And put it into context wine wine making Um great just a kind of overview but Then look at specifically at some Regions And we’re going to really focus in on What makes them different what makes Them Unique and why we should be seeking out These wines from these particular parts Of the world so we’ve got a map of spain Here Not every single um Nomination is on here but i will be Zoning in and looking at looking at some Specific ones But um if you’ve ever done a spanish Lecture with me um i do talk about the Topography And the fact that it is such an Incredible country with regards to the Diversity And actually its own unique um styles of Wines and great varieties that they grow So it is the second most mountainous Country In europe after switzerland and a lot of That is the messita In the central centre here so going from Madrid and All the way and further north we’ve got
The foothills of pyrenees That will be quite important when i’m Talking about mediterranean spain in Just a bit Um you can see a lot of it’s very very Mountainous And there are loads and loads and loads Of different great varieties grown there And we’ll notice Actually that you see generally see more In the kind of north east that are Our international grape varieties and Then as we go further south and further Inland You’ll see that we’ll have more native Grape varieties but There’s a little chart here so the top Six grape varieties and actually it’s Quite surprising because the most Planted Grape variety though with over 20 Percent is eren And aaron is a white grape variety and We’re not going to talk about aaron very Much Because it’s mostly grown in la mancha Which i’m not classing as mediterranean And but it is actually used a lot for Distillation for um and for brandies to Herif for example so Um it’s grown a lot and but it’s not Really a wine you’ll see Outside of spain very much i do make Some sort of more table wines with it
But it’s it’s not the most exciting Great variety Um emperor neo on the other hand um lots Lots of tempranillo it’s got many many Different synonyms i’ll talk about a Couple of those synonyms when we go to The particular places And it makes a whole range of styles of Wine so Um we should be fairly if you’re into Spanish wine you should have heard of Tempranillo It is like the main great variety in Places like rioja robert aguero Oro etc but we are actually going to Parts of spain where it’s not Main grape variety but it is still grown In many many parts About now you may not have heard of Bobel but look at the third most planted Grape variety And we would definitely be visiting Regions where that is Grown and we’ll be thinking about how That is made into some really quality Wine Now it used to be mass more sort of Mass-produced More table wines but there’s some really Exciting expressions Coming out at the moment on nature you Might thought garnacha might be further Up the list there but that is the fourth Most planted
Grape variety third most planted the Black grape variety and we’ll definitely Be going to some very important regions For garnacha Macabao all over so this is our white Grape variety It’s all over spain and we’ll see how It’s treated differently in The different kinds of styles of wines That it makes then Monastrel as well so those are our six Top grapes but i will be showing you Lots and lots of different great Varieties But i probably won’t talk about Too much detail because some of them are Very very small small Small plantings right um so i’m just Going to Mute there we go um right So stars of wine well if you have um Again if you’ve had any lectures with me You’ll know that i’m a big Fan of sparkling wine so we will be Discussing the sparkling wines coming Out of spain And particularly mediterranean fame so There’s a few labeling perms to get your Heads around which i will introduce you To if you don’t know them already or Maybe if you’re a diploma student A bit of recap there for you and So we’ve got sparkling wine lots and Lots lots of sparkling wine
We’ve got white wines we’ve got roses Reds we’ve got Big big alcoholic big alcoholic reds We’ve got lighter reds We’ve got aromatic whites we’ve got oak Whites We’ve got um we’ve got fortified wines As well so if you’ve ever had sort of Muscat from the Um iberian peninsula you’ll you’ll know That it’s very popular great variety Made In a sweeter style and fortified as well So we’ll be looking at where we can find Those and these are all I’m talking about all in the Mediterranean side so What am i talking about when i say Mediterranean spain well let’s have a Look So i figured that it kind of has to have More of a mediterranean climate The mediterranean spain and generally Along the mediterranean So i’m going to be focusing on catalonia Very much focusing on catalonia And of course you can’t talk about Catalonia without talking about Carver so i’ll be explaining about the Car That comes from catalonia in particular I am going to include someone plano Because montano I think has got enough mediterranean
Influence to be classed as a Mediterranean And i think it’s really interesting and I’m nothing on dora In spain as well so i’d like to talk a Little bit about that I will be going into quite a bit of Detail in catalonia there’s lots and Lots of videos and Eoq so i will explain a little bit about Those And then we’re going to come down south Here um and i’m going to talk about the Valencia and the murcia Um wider areas and we can see including Um buchel recrenia alicante yes And then i thought well why not you know If you’re going to go on holiday In spain and you want to go to the Mediterranean you may well go to the Balearic islands So majorca as well i’ll have a little Little Talk about what you can expect to find There So yeah we’re just basically doing a Little trip all the way around Here now i do class ref as a Mediterranean climate Even though it is on the atlantic but I’ve not done a session on that so if You want to know about Jerry wines from herath then you can Watch um a video that i’ve done
Previously Okay so i’m going to start with carver Because i always think it’s nice to Start With a sparkling wine and then i’m going To talk a little bit about the Reputation And behind carver um the future of Carver And it’s always i think it could i think Was a really interesting Debate because there’s quite a lot to Talk about with it It suffered its reputation had suffered But there’s lots of things happening at The moment which i think will bring it Back up but it’s going to be interesting To see what actually happens now I can see the title here is traditional Method sparkling wines Because carver isn’t the only Traditional method sparkling wine That i’m going to talk about and i’m Just going to do a quick recap of what Traditional method means The traditional method is when you do a Second fermentation to make a broccoli Wine in the Bottle okay so you make your base wine Say like a dry wine That will go into a nice thick bottle You will add Yeast and sugar to start a second Fermentation and that will be sealed if
You have a look here That you can see that we’ve got these Crown caps on these bottles so that’ll Be sealed And then a second fermentation will take Place it usually takes place Um over a few weeks after that second Fermentation you’ve got the red yeast Cells in the bottle and given enough Time they will give off characteristics Of pastry bread oh these yeasty notes And that’s what we call autolysis Because it’s the breaking down of the Dead yeast cells in the bottle Now you need quite a lot of time for That to happen okay and after that then You have to go through this process Of riddling um and disgorgement which is Basically getting the dead yeast cells Into the neck of the bottle and then Out of the bottle and then you will Probably add some sugar Right at the end to make the wine nice And balanced Now that’s the traditional method so It’s quite a complex method it’s the Most labor-intensive method But it’s the way they make carver it’s a Way they pretty much make Um all of the sparkling wines in this Part of the world Now i’m being very specific about where We are in this part of the world and san Sadoni dannoya
Is uh is one of the most important towns In penades Where many of the wineries are Um so 95 of What you get for carver wise is from Penades which is within Um within the larger phenomena So pretty much very very Vast majority of your carver come from Toluna more specifically more Specifically Than sadoni danoya okay now Father and there’s two big big producers You’ve probably heard of them Called on yeah okay they Make millions and millions and bottles Of wine And the quality level can range from Very easy drinking quite simple Okay so not very expensive all the way Up to Quite expensive complex wines and the Reason they can become more complex well The fruit but you want really good fruit To make um the better wine But also the amount of time after the Fermentation when the bottle Is in contact with those dead yeast Cells now the thing about Harvard is there’s a minimum aging Requirement on The leads which is nine months and i’m Going to talk about that on the next Slide
So um what i’m just going to look at Some of the great varieties That they grow to make carver because Local grape varieties are generally Most of what is being used so mcabell is Also known as fiera if you’re in rioja That’s 36 they tend to grow that Um at slightly lower altitudes and i’ll Talk a little bit more about um A little bit more about pennades and Where they grow certain grapes In just a bit um so mac about 56 Generally growing a little bit lower Down it has kind of apple and citrus Notes Okay um cherilo which is Tends to be grown a little bit higher And that can have quite Floral note but also can give an Earthiness Um to the wines and if it doesn’t ripen Quite well enough it can give almost a Slightly rubbery note So um you might find that in the in the Less expensive carvings Um perriada is growing quite high up and That’s Pretty floral okay and it’s got some Finesse and To have good acidity particularly when Growing quite high up Because we are in quite a warm part of Spain you generally need to Harvest these grapes a little bit
Earlier to retain Acidity but it isn’t uncommon to acidify Later down the line so that’s your kind Of Your main group varieties particularly In Penades okay and but they are permitted To use chardonnay so you can get um Chardonnay a hundred percent chardonnay Carvers is absolutely possible They are also permitted to use gonotrope And pinot noir and they make white wines As well with those like they do in Champagne they use black grapes To make white wine and trap they use Um to make rose carver thought we might Call Rosado now the difference is well i’ll Talk about this on the next slide but Just to Point out the pictures here so we’ve got Um We’ve got some bottles here that’s going It’s just the end of the um traditional Method process Um so they’re getting ready to it’s Taken off And the um and And basically the cells to come out And go out go out to market really and Then here So this is you can see they’ve got Sherlock vineyards you see that written On the sign there this is from a
Producer called villanow You can actually buy a lot of their Wines in in in many um Merchants supermarkets included and this Is the one quite a modern Um setup there so um and very very Lovely And harvard they produce so Um i’m just gonna go through some of the Um please excuse my photo though i Couldn’t help myself when i was Wandering around the um The winery um so we’ve got some labeling Them here So cover for your basic carver Is nine months minimum requirement and So usually is About nine months okay now nine months Aging on the lease Before you um you riddle and you get Scored At nine months um is not going to give You Autholitic character you’re not going to Get lots and lots of Bready biscuity notes you’re probably Going to get more of a fruity Quite a light intensity fruity Style of wine okay not going to be very Expensive that’s your basic carver Interestingly with carver you can have Vintage and you have non-vintage But most of it tends to be vintage even Though it’s not stated on the label
Because unlike in places like champagne Where they have vintage variation The years are quite different and you Can get years that are really good and Years where you don’t get such healthy Grapes You don’t really get that problem so Much um in In this part of spain so they tend to Really use The grape harvested and also it cost a Lot of money to keep Wine in in them in the cellars and those Reserved wines for a long time And there’s no real need to do that so Much So that’s your carving our carver Reserver Okay is 15 month minimum aging So you can see we’re now going to should Start get a bit of that authentic Character it’s a bit light Light author assist there so a little Bit of that yeast evenness And then gram reserve is the 30 month Minimum aging so we’re definitely going To start seeing More of that kind of bready biscuity Notes the kind of things we might Expect more from champagne and but They’re not allowed To add a lot of sugar these aren’t Allowed to be sweet styles Of car and the ground reservoir must
Always be the dryer style So i’m having a look now at the labeling Plant you would expect so brew So typically with cava would be around Seven or eight grams per liter of sugar And that’s what they add at the end okay So it’s not very much And it’s just there to kind of give a Bit of balance enhance Some of the fruity characteristics Coming through but it should be Perceived as dry on the palate Semi second now we are talking about Adding quite a considerable amount of Sugar to make a sweet Style but it’s not overly popular Semi second moore’s germany they like Style And fruit nature is no sugar added Whatsoever So there’s more of that coming out at The moment but to be honest These wines aren’t as acidic as your um Your champagne wine or your english Sparkling wine They don’t really need to add that much Sugar in the first place so brute nature I think will probably be a growing Category Um with carver now Because carver have got or has had A bit of a bit of a solid reputation Because you do get these very Inexpensive ones particularly in this
Country i don’t know what it’s like Where you are because i know you’re Based All over the place in the uk we have a Thing where you’ll go into Um a supermarket and you’ll see carver For like Four pounds of bottle sometimes it’s on Offer even less than that i can’t Believe how pink that is And i mean if we think about four pounds It’s probably the equivalent of Around five euros okay so it’s really Not expensive And then um i think what they do a lot Is like What we call a loss leader so they try And get people to come into the shop Buy this car because it’s so cheap and Then hopefully they’ll buy some other Stuff as well So that just doesn’t help with the Reputation for carver at all because you Just think oh because it’s When we think the two keep we we we do We’ll question it don’t we And it loses its value as well you just Think well it’s it must be Really not very good it must be a very Easy way to make it and we know it’s the Traditional method so You know it’s a bit worrying so it has Really suffered there and then when Things are priced too cheaply
Who wants to spend more on them not Necessarily saying well you know it was Too cheap i’m happy to spend another Four pounds on it and that’s not going To happen So and when you start selling things Cheaply it’s very difficult Um to get the prices back where they Should be So having these other categories should Help with that you can see that you’re Gonna have to have much better fruit In order to withstand further aging Um so i’ve missed out rosado here so Risada basically means Rose and rose rule four carver are much Stricter than in champagne in champagne You can blend white wine and red wine Together Make a rose absolutely not like a rose In Carved cover and you have to have skin Contact Okay so you have to get that color Coming from the skin of the red grape You can’t just blend Red and white wine together so Another labeling term which recent the 2017 is carbon Um and covered basically means from a Specific place Okay so we’re talking about a bracket is An estate or a lead Or like a named place and it has to be
Made there Bottled there and you can see that the Aging requirement there is even Higher than your grand reserve so They’re really saying look We’re going to have premium really top Quality Stuff out there and make it clear what It is So 10 year old vines as well so they Have to be Really quite old vines getting right Down the road down there and to get the Water And be a bit more concentrated so There’s generally lower yield And you’re not allowed to acidify so With your general karma you’d identify But with these No acidification they must be picked at A time when you’re going to get really Good acidity In the first place these also can’t be Sweet either so that’s your commodore Right now this was Produced this labeling plan and as a Response to The satisfaction of a lot of carver Producers However it wasn’t enough so we will see That um there’s a couple of other Labeling them For traditional method sparkling wine so One is classic benedict so coming away
From the wider area Of um of carver actually being specific Classic benedict and that has to be Organic and 15 months minimum aging i haven’t had One of these ones i’m going to look out For them but There’s not that many of them out there And This was kind of in response to Ravenclaws Who broke away from carver and they Refused to call themselves carving they Wanted to Create um and to nominate Um but it’s a bit of a mouthful so and That hasn’t really um Happened but what has happened is a Group And it’s around 10 producers and even Those Small producers they’re smaller um on a Bigger scale of small And and they came together and they Created their own Term and you can see it on this label Here corporate and that means the heart Of benedict And they’ve gave their own rules and Regulations Around how they’re wanting to be so if You pick up a bottle of Gramonas this is one one notable Producer recordo
Is another one um the same bottle of Wine um before 2019 i think in fact no Probably before about 2018 Would have carver written on it because They were under that i’m not Ahead but now no that’s got corporate There’s no mention of carver On that bottle anywhere okay so it’s Completely different category But these have always been pop producers The loads of integrity not saying others Don’t but They often have been um using grapes um That are from particularly great sites Doing lots of manual stuff as well very Manual Um hand harvesting because actually with Carver it’s not a requirement for hand Harvest Most of it is handheld but i’m seeing More and more Where they’re using machines um but Some of the um the stipulations for this Style of wine is Ninety percent of the local grape Varieties Those great varieties maca bell faralo Periada i mentioned before um they’ve Got a different Minimum aging requirements it’s a bit of A headache really 15 months here and nine months there and They got 60 months so within their Portfolio they will have
Different levels of um of carvers Again has to be organic and like i said These are hand harvested now i think These Um you know cover you pick and food You know if you’re in in spain if you’re Lucky enough to be in that part of spain And you can go to some merchants even Some really nice supermarkets You can get some really top quality Stuff for not very much money and this Is another reason why i’m really Enjoying talking about mediterranean State is because the value for money in Spain um is fantastic Okay it is so it you get world-class Wines in vain and i will show you some Of the regions where we can really see Some of these and Compared to what you’d pay equivalent in France or in italy it’s just so much Cheaper and the same thing with Quality cars so this i think this car Here Actually um i think that costs around 15 euros in in spain so You know that’s not bad at all and you Can it’s 2014 And uh it’s hand harvested organic You know everything quite manual and They’re brilliant wines Absolutely brilliant really and they got That and that’s had quite a bit of time On the leads i’m pretty sure it’s
Probably Around four years or something though That’s got really nice auto lifting Character so yeah Um and they have a sense of place as Well you do pick up those kind of Slightly Like cheryl kind of fill herbie notes um You get the citrus from the maca bell You’ve got the floral from the periyada Maybe there’ll be a Chardonnay in there as well give it um Again Some sort of structure structural Elements anyway great wine So that’s carver that’s my carver ran Over Um and just you know be very very aware That not all carvers are equal But now i’m going to talk a little bit About catalonia now catalonia Um is really rather large i’m not sure If the people catalonia would be upset I’m calling this mediterranean spain When Catholic is vying for independence but I am going to talk quite a lot about Catalina because i think it’s incredibly Very important Um wine region and i haven’t listed Every single um video or in fact it Wasn’t It’s actually a capital o apologies but I’m going to talk about the ones that i
Think Are probably the most important Um and some of the stunning wines that You can get from them and You’ll see that they’re on this map here So costa del segre Is at not continuous at all it’s got Three sort of separate parts i’m talking About one in particular It’s a fascinating region then um I mentioned before because it’s really The home of harvard Okay and you can see that some of it’s By the coast and some of it’s in the Hills of the pyrenees which is really Important and i meant to talk about that Monsant so that’s this kind of funny Little ring There um and then inside of monsant We’ve got priyara So i’ll be talking about both um four Regions in particular there are others Um so importer which is actually right Here it’s on the border of france Okay and i’ll talk about that a little Bit um We’ve got jada um Um terra alter but to be honest with you A lot of what’s produced in these areas Um is for cover As well so they do make some lovely wine But i want to talk about um another Region Those other four regions more because i
Think they’ve got a little bit more Interest there but all very good value i Mean you can get lovely wines from All of these regions but let’s go into That in a moment So costa del segue now crosstalk Segregate is A really interesting video because It was basically the majority of it well Just under the majority of it is owned By um Called anya and so the juventus manuel Reventos Um is the founder of called on yeah and Um they basically Founded this site um and their winery is Roma And rimac um are a really exciting Interesting winery and they have got Some elevation as you can see so 200 to 700 meters Um and we are going further inland As well so we’ve got those kind of Slight foothills of the pyrenees there Now because it doesn’t retain water when It rains there it is quite tricky place To grow grapes and when they first kind Of It was i think it was beginning of the 20th century when um they started Thinking about Growing grapes here but it was really Difficult and in fact they completely Changed the landscape and from
Ugg lakes and man-made lakes which are There For the irrigation so you’ll see that um They are watering their plants a lot Another note just to talk about Irrigation in spain it’s not been that Long Um since they were actually actually Allowed to irrigate so And it really depends on the regulatory Body so every doe In spain has what you call a consejo Regular door and they Determine what you can and cannot do so The great varieties you can grow Whether you can irrigate or not now Generally you can irrigate but there is Usually some stipulation so when during The growing season you can Irrigate um you can only irrigate if The weather conditions mean that you Have to that kind of thing but Before it was it was a firm no and now There is Um some movement there so raventos was Established in 1980 and so very much Rimac rather was established in 1978 And then they’ve been making some Fantastic wines ever since and they’re Very Easily available in the in that part of Spain not so easily available in the uk So much And they make wines from your very sort
Of basic Easy drinking um red blend so let’s save Pork cabbage sauvignon Great varieties that are grown here And all the way to some really top Oak styles of wine and what i really Like about Um producer This company is that they are very Innovative and they are Always trying new things so they were Kind of growing these international Great varieties which you can see More in catalonia because of the Proximity to france But they were also looking at when to Actually grow grape varieties and when To harvest them but This was in october i was in october Now these are great that are close to Being right Okay um but they haven’t been harvested Yet because What they were doing there so this is Really fascinating if you’re a bit of If you’re doing the kind of high level Studying or you’re a bit bit Wine geeky um you’ll probably Understand that there’s a usual growing Period for grapes okay so in the Northern hemisphere And we have you know the springtime so Coming up from April march april and then you get um
Your juke growing And then in the for the summertime you Get the the ripening of the grapes and Then you’re harvesting Um at the end of summer beginning of the Autumn And but what they decided here was they Wanted to completely change the growing Season for this great variety because They thought that actually The growing season wasn’t quite right For this great frightening cabernet Sauvignon so they decided that they were Going to Sort of prompt it to start ripening Later and then extend the rifling period Pick it back later anyway it was all Um all quite revolutionary stuff really So i think it’s fascinating that they’ve Gone there You know quite a long time ago plug out Lakes And make sure they can irrigate then They’re thinking about How they can actually change the cycle Um of design And to produce wine so you know Maybe you think oh well come on that’s a Bit too much interference but i i think It’s quite fascinating So the great varieties they’re growing So they are growing in macabre the Perriada cherylo we would expect that in Many parts of catalonia
Chardonnay is embraced yeah i think Dardane from um catalonia can be Absolutely fantastic i’ve had some Really really stunning examples Garnacha blanca i guess i’ve gone Actually blanca also grown Um in rioja growing up um in um in France i know it would be called Grenache blanc um and we’ve also got it Being grown Um in this part of the world as well and That gives you um A blanket gives you kind of sort of Peachy melony characteristic Acidity is around medium and but it Gives some nice thickness to the wine And then sauvignon blanc um send Actually being very much um appreciated And Grown in rioja as well as in rural So you know it’s not not just here and Then our black grape varieties garna Tempranillo cabernet And often they blend these great Varieties not to say they won’t do a Single varietal ones but there is Blending going on So um that was our costume So look out for them they’re not Expensive wine generally but i think um Very well made but not expensive now Penides so If you go back to that map quickly i Will they said just
Briefly we have got this region here and We’ve got The mediterranean coast we’re playing on The mediterranean coast here Now when you’re close to the sea you are Quite low down so bear that in mind And then as you come away from the sea You’re starting to climb up Until you’re getting into the foothills Of the pyrenees there so we Are going to have quite diversified Diversity of climates and as you go Higher up it gets Cooler so we can actually split it into Three benedez maritime which is By the sea benedict central which is Around 500 meters and then above that We’re headed there’s superior And so our our great varieties of carver Are grown at different heights Um i mentioned that before um Tending to be lower than the geralo Followed up high with the perriada But what they also do is they make wines Um they grow the grapes that need cooler Climates Higher up and because of that you’ve got This real diversity of grape varieties Being grown Um so at the bottom Um you are going to grow your grape Varieties Mostly because it’s warmer there so more Of the
Monasteril they do grow quite a bit more Down there Um your cabernet sauvignon your merlot Maybe some tempranillo As you go higher up um tempranillo again More moderate climate pinot noir Um and um we’re looking at you know Again those um Varieties chardonnay um And then as we go really high up about 800 meters we’re looking at the works Trauma and riesling So amazing if you think about it there Was a question Asked on the master of wine paper a While ago and they said can you grow Cabernet sauvignon and riesling in the Same region Well yes if repented are riesling at the Top Your cabinet saving them at the bottom So i mean it’s an incredible diversity And i just want to talk a little bit About why we might have this diversity And why we’ve got some really exciting Wine making happening in penalties Because one of the pioneers And actually changed the face of spanish Winemaking basically from the 1970s With miguel torres so milgal torres is From benedict He went learnt um about wine in dijon Came back and started using things like Stainless steel
Introducing great varieties and And just really modernizing the Spain and because it’s been had it had a Bit of a checkered past with wine you Know if we go back to um There was a civil war there was a second World war you know there was economic Um issues under franco there’s been A lot of problems and then a lot of wine Was being made but not particularly Fantastic wine i mean spain Makes a lot of wine about third um Biggest wine making country Has been and it’s got loads and loads And loads of land on the Divine the most um of any country but Partly because A lot of the vines are grown at a Distance from each Phase of photos in just a bit but yeah So it’s a bit of a checkered past but You get this this um One man coming back and just saying look At what we can do And really that has changed um the way Um We see wine in spain even though it’s Got a very very old history and lots of Tradition If you think about places like herrera Um Even though even because of that if even Though we have that Actually what we’re seeing now is quite
Modern Really it’s not like in france where You’ve got these regions Like burgundy border road and they’ve Been doing things the same for So so so long it’s not really like that In fame So that’s why one of the reasons i find It very very exciting yeah penalties i Think a fantastic Region a fantastic go for showing you What can happen But of course we are in the north and we Do have altitude so This isn’t going to be something you can Do all over spain Right so now we’re going to move a bit Further down A bit further south in um And over a little bit to the east in Catalonia and i’m going to talk about Monsant Um the next one okay Now monster um is right next to priera And i’m going to go into quite a bit of Detail with prior Um in just a moment one sec Circles um freer act It does get some mediterranean influence From it it’s not quite as warm As as some parts of um of prairie axis That are quite a bit further away And from the mediterranean but it’s i Think a very overlooked
Yo in catalonia because it produces some Fantastic wines And not at high prices and if you like The words of prayer out which i’ll talk About in a moment Then i think you will like the whites of Montant because they’re not Similar when you can get high up so Above 300 meters or so then we do start To see More acidity in the in the wines and Wines are a bit better for longer aging Um the soil types are really varied They’ve got Clay they’ve got sand they’ve got this Icorea which i’m going to talk about a Bit in the next slide Um which is a shiny um Mica based soil type and where they’ve Got parcels of that And where they’ve got a bit more Altitude they are making some fantastic Fantastic wines and their great Varieties are very similar to what we’re Going to see in the next slide as well So they’ve got the garnacha being sort Of raining here karen yana I’ll talk about in a moment for new And then they do make some white but It’s predominantly red So you can see very beautiful part um of The world there Monsanto so i’m going to talk really More about pre-rap because monster
Is a bit like i kind of see monster as Sort of the younger sibling If you like um of of peru So priyara here we go priorato um it’s a Eoq so i’ve been talking about Nominations So you might have heard of the Nomination Um so that would be an eoca so rioja is A doca And prior is what we might call it the Oca but we are in catholic So we call it a different language so Word really um but beginning with q Now it became a doq in 2009 It was an area that was abandoned Particularly during the civil war and Then in catalonia there was a big Textile business and it just made more Sense people can move into that rather Than Sort of slave um over these very very Steep Slopes and rocky terrains um it was not Really the Nicest or easiest thing to be winemaker In prior so it’s kind of abandoned and Then was Re-um rediscovered in i think 1989 By a group of winemakers and it’s kind Of a little gang And so one of them was renee barbier Who’s one of the pioneers You have relatives in london not far
From me who stole his wine Nice i’ve met met the cousins and the Renee barbier there’s alvaro palacios You may have heard of him so these are Two particularly well-known winemakers Making Some um absolutely stunning wines in Peru And there’s christopher cannon as well An english gentleman and in fact this is His seller one of his fellows there Cloudy vigorous um beautiful wine so Um there’s a group they kind of Pioneered started it and then You know it was clear that there was Some fabulous wine to be made and This fabulous wine it wasn’t easy Because like i’ve mentioned before we’ve Got this Quite difficult terrain it’s very steep In places i don’t think i’m playing in The streets They’ve got these um paris is still Inherited Uh you just use donkeys so trying around There Um and also the vines are really really Old Okay so like they encourage these very Old ones like 75 year old what vines And how much fruit are you going to get Off a 75 year old vibe so you the Yields are ridiculous i think the Minimum requirement is quite low anyway
It’s not like 39 At least a hectare but we’re looking More at like five Six hectares okay you know barely a Bottle of fine so Very very very small yield And again we’ve got about the eukarya Soil so they love their yokorea soil And it has got this kind of a quartzy Shiny you know Glimmers and shimmers all that kind of Stuff But they do have quite a bit of altitude Going up seven hundred 750 meters Um so taking you fairly high quite a lot Of it is quite high it’s very hilly And you get these mists as well so you Get these kind of myths coming in from The mediterranean Which really helps to cool down um over The early morning and keep the acidity So what you get from these wines Um is just an incredible concentration And acidity which gives you a style of Wine Unlike pretty any other you’re going to Get when it comes to garnacha So i’m going to talk about the style of Wine in just a moment Because it’s a particular style of wine Which i think is really really wonderful Now i’ve just got here the rainfall now You’re going to be interesting if we go Further south we’re going to notice that
The rainfall becomes less and less than That so 500 millimeters of Average rainfall yeah that’s that’s That’s okay That’s good um you know we we probably Don’t need to irrigate Too much um but we’ll see how it goes Down as we go further And south so glen actually being the Main great variety followed by karen Yana so karen yana you might know as Karen young and so that is also grown in France So generally in the south of france Carrying on and garnet And garnacha need hot quite hot climates So it does work quite well here and this Proximity to the mediterranean And they do grow some they have Incorporated some international grape Varieties not Too much you don’t see too much of the Blend um And then about six percent of what is Made um it’s white wine and don’t Overlook White wines of um of pre-rap Now they do like their oak as we can Probably see from this photo Okay so quite a bit of new oak is being Used i think that didn’t Used to be so much the case but it can Make it and what you get a very Concentrated
High tannin high acidity um Baked fruit fried fruit um wines with Huge huge aging um capacity Really really cool one so lemita One of the most expensive ones in spain In fact um Now they have got their own um kind of Classification As well so we’ve got v Now we did um is is a is a labeling term Which refers To the twelve subtones of um Period so the twelve substance and you Can put the name of that sub zone On there rather than if you’re blending Across something but the name of that Then we’ve got vida now we’ve seen that Word before because that was with the Carver so this actually A specific place and named site okay so Like In france they call that a name place And there’s quite a lot of those there’s Um 459 Then we get to this this is kind of a Burgundian thing and if you Saw the rioja one i did a while ago we Were talking about the future of rioja And they’re kind of going down that road A little bit there Then we’ve got vineyard now Classificator Is now sort of from a specific vineyard Um and so that’s what we would call a
Crew okay So kind of a crew level and then grams Of neoclassical Is like your grand cru levels so we’re Very much getting very begun With our labeling terms and of course These are going to become more expensive Than Site specific they become so um a little Bit about Priya wrap there and uh yes beautiful Beautiful place um And fantastic wine okay So i can see the questions coming thick And fast and i hope that Um julia is able to help there or make a Note and i’ll try and answer them at the End if possible So i mean i do have a bit of a bias I think possibly called catalina if you Go there when i can Um in the summer um i try to go every Year And i actually stay Near in the importer area so i’m A bit of a fan again they grow lots of Different great varieties in porter you Know it’s not Similar a bit further down um in penades And one of the bigger producers there as You can see Is um perilada i’m not to be confused With the great variety Periada and they actually make beautiful
Carver and they make some really Stunning red wine i think this is one of Their more entry level Reds but look at that funky bottle Really lovely it shouldn’t touch a wine By its labels but yeah this is cool and They’re That pretty um but no they make some Very very serious wines as well so they Do the whole jabang you know Big garnet wines um and when they Sauvignon blends often Also carver and um they like make Them very light white wines that are Made there as well using Malvercier and so you know lots and lots Of interesting stuff going on there and Not expensive and lovely with the Seafood i mean you buy the sea you want These light whites um as well Um but you know you’ve got gordon’s Tapas as well let’s not forget Uh very nice meat pictures as well i Mean you know the opportunities for Pairing are endless As i mentioned before a lot of these are To do with um for carver production and I’ve had some beautiful carvers chat From yada and alaia For example um and con um concord Barbara um is uh the great variety that They use to make a lot of the rosado Styles so yeah each each have got their Own thing going on um
But probably not quite as exciting as The reasons i’ve already shown you Right so i did say that i wanted to talk About someone thano Um so this is not in catalonia this is Neighboring aragon But in aragon there are some other um Theos so we’ve got campo de borja Paranienna and colossae Very confusing because of course we’ve Seen that carry-on is the name of a Great variety And whitley and caranona they don’t Really plant much karinaena but that’s By the bike I’m not talking about those regions i’m Talking about someone’s whanau and Someone as you can see is actually Pretty close to catalonia therefore a Bit more mediterranean And i just feel like someone kind of Deserves a bit of attention because it’s Overlooked And it makes some lovely wines lovely Clean pure Wine from again a range of different Great varieties including Quite a few of these um International grape varieties but also Can we see we have Our canon morris dell and paralletta Which are all native grape varieties And two natives who saw montana and were Nearly
Um became extinct particularly after all Those troubling times Um with civil war and um and world wars Etc So they have got specific great Varieties Just for those regions but they are very Small production Um but what i would say is one of the Things they do Very very well are the international Great varieties so they’ve got both Sides of the coin there But the international grape varieties They do incredibly well like i said Before in penades as well they do them Really really well The problem is you are in competition With the rest of the world when you Start growing Gardening and riesling and feminine Black and works coming up although there Are streaming up Let’s win quite a lot of medals very Very varietally defined Really really lovely but when you taste It are you going to go This is from montano no because it’s not Really that kind of region and that’s Something that needs to be Worked on a bit getting them a little Bit more of an identity But the wines that are made are really Really lovely
They’ve got some fantastic um Producers there and a lot of growers and They’re doing some really great stuff But it just kind of overlooks because of Just The mass competition around the world Really so If we’ve got 500 millimeters of rainfall So you know Decent amounts there um sandstone mainly Soils and some good altitude We are in actually some montana actually Means under the mountain So we are really by those pyrenees there Um pinot noir as well um there’s some Really nice range of wines And these are blends some of these are Varietal but yeah one one to look out For Okay so now i am traveling quite a bit South So jumping down a little bit um and We’re in the kind of Overriding area of valencia um So valencia now we can see we’ve got a Drop In our rainfall so 450 millimeters of Rainfall so it is quite important to Irrigate Um at this level we’ve got within Valencia actually a subdome called Altoturia can i think of the south of Spain in the south east coast of spain i Think of big alcoholic red wines
But actually there’s quite a lot of White wine produced there And um this sub zone um the main great Varieties are taguera if not the most Exciting great variety to be honest but It does make you know some nice Pleasants and white wines and macabao Which we know about because that’s a Great variety that we’ve grown For carver production and has a Nice happily city notes So um that’s one but Otherwise um in valencia Um we do have a lot of monastrelle which I’m going to talk about Um in just a bit so um We’ve got moscatel valencia so moscatel In its own glio’s and the muscat which Is muscat Now if you’ve had muscat before a muscat Is A very very aromatic grape varieties It’s very grapey Floral peachy and they make a 15 Alcohol wine there so 45 and It’s really cheap i was i was i haven’t Had it before I knew i’d heard that they did do this Monthly so i was a bit of a Bit if you’re wondering what it would Like you know is it going to be similar To the kind of Muskets you get in the south of france So if you’ve ever had you know your reef
Salt Must get that kind of thing and i think It probably is quite similar so it tends To be A youthful style of fortified wine and 15 Alcohol and but it’s so inexpensive so I’ve seen you can buy it in the Supermarket here for like around six Pounds of bottle Um but yeah so that’s something that’s Unique to that Particular part of staying there and Then we’ve got your children There now with a child with caner um is I think better um it has been seen to Have a reputation For fairly basic bobal wine Now bobale you saw was um the Third most planted grape variety in Spain And most of it is growing down in this Part of spain and Actually next floor um We’ve got another region uh montreal but Um it’s we’re not really mediterranean Yet but bow bal Um i think the old vine robot is getting A lot more attention It makes nice roses and you get a nice Rose but Actually and it makes them very nice It’s got acidity Good and in it doesn’t always look dark
Interestingly but it can make some very Lovely wine So it’s working out for mobile and it’s Not expensive at all There’s some really good producers doing Some really good stuff there Um then we’ve got alicante dio which is Kind of cutting around And again we are talking monastral Mostly um like with actually the red Valencia wine they’re mostly monostrel Monastrelle is a great variety more Petra is also known as it’s also one of The great varieties you’re allowed to Use Um for carver um to make white Carvers in um and and the roses But they’re not very much of it is used For carver but down here It can make really big wines because the Alcohol levels can get Pretty high um but uh we’ll have a look At the next region And for those particularly high alcohol Levels And we’ve also got some other great Varieties which you might think well We’re in alicante you’ve got a candy Bouquet alicante purchase a really Interesting grape variety It is a black grape variety the skin is Black and the inside Is black as well so that the pulp um is Black
And well it’s got um sort of ready Colorful um hulk which you don’t usually Get next time you have a grape Which is black grape peel the skin and You’ll see the inside it looks green and It’s got Apparent liquid not the case of a canopy Booster what that can do is add real Color Um for wines um so we call that a great Variety Where it means the inside and hand got Color And then of course garnacha and volvell I mean they all Um come from neo actually down here is Called Sensible so c-e-n-c-i-b-e-l And then up in catalina it’s got another Name it’s called Which means eye of the hair doesn’t like Rabbit hair Um so yeah some interesting synonyms Around spain for tempranillo Okay and have a look at this look how Widely apart and these vines are you can See these kind of sandy soil This is very low density planting and That’s why spain has got a lot of land Under the vine but doesn’t actually Produce The most wines it’s got the most land on The vine which is most wine because The vines are so far apart but that’s so
Necessary in this part of the world Where it’s getting more and more arid Less water to fight for that water Um and you don’t want to have loads of Divines they’re all fighting together And not getting what they need Like here as well and can you see that Here we’ve got some very limestoney pale Um soil type as well looks a little bit Like um therefore you get in here Um that’s um alvarez oil Now here 300 millimeters of rainfall so You can see why they need to plant these So far apart i think we’ve got a bit of The metis Over there and you can get up 18 alcohol Wines with monostrel grown in hamir Which is crazy it really is a challenge To try and not Have an alcohol level in your wine Because uh No one wants big alcoholic soup as my Colleague michael buryak might say um so You want to bring that those levels down And probably pick a bit earlier um so Yeah i mean i’ve had some Easily i’ve had some 15 consensus that Was quite high enough thank you very Much but that doesn’t mean you get these Very rich full-bodied wine Lots of fake fried fruit character um And they can have really can be um Very very well so juan jill our um the Family khan jill they have
Wineries all over spain and they do some Fantastic Um humila wines um with at different Levels Of oaking um with their top wide in Their portfolio having spent quite a few Months on oak and that’s a very nice Wine Another thing they’re doing in humilia And actually in the south of um spain Is growing more and more and syrup Usually i wouldn’t expect it to grow so Well in such a hot climate Um but it does pretty well down here and I’m seeing it more and more kind of Labeled as Shiraz they’re giving the australians a Run for their money that’s uh that’s Definitely the case because that’s the Kind of style you’re looking at it’s not Your own kind of style It’s more of a new world style very Fruit forward Lots of lovely black fruit and Licorice-y and chocolatey note coming Through there Um so yeah club right next to mia it’s Very similar to hamiah um But they don’t sell a lot of their wine Domestically A lot of that gets exposed 95 percent Quite high amount And that’s again monostrel um and then Gulas um which again is very very
Similar but Maybe not quite as exciting um as what’s Going on in humilia and lots of fun Stuff Um happening in him as well like Festival for wine and Yeah really nice part of the world it’s Definitely to go on holiday Maybe not in bang in august but just Outside those Those times of the year um now if i’m Going to talk about mediterranean Spain i have to mention the island don’t Hide so Um and this is a bit of a learning thing For me because i’ve actually Not been to the lyric island and i Really want It just haven’t hasn’t happened um and i You know island wines are really Interesting you see these Parts of the world like santorini greece Where they’ve got their Vines made into baskets you’ve got the Canary islands Where you’ve got stone walls On these volcanic soils protecting the Grapes As well so you know and sand dunes and All sorts of Amazing stuff would look like they’ve Been great and all sorts of amazing Stuff I’m always excited by um these kind of
Ones and also of course because they’re Islands we get a lot of Indigenous great varieties so we’ve got Mance minegrow And kellet for example um which makes Very nice fragrant wine so Um it’s simply blended together but Again you know these are native grape Varieties And making something a little bit Different um and other Native or white grapes you’ve got mole Or what it’s also called prince al Blanc who um i don’t know much about Them because there isn’t much Out there um but all i know is quite Fragrant and light And blended with montenegro and then We’ve got again the other great Varieties That we’d expect and then two quite them There’s there’s a few do’s in the Valerico’s but these are the two most Important ones Referring to the levant um parts of Spain and that That drying wind that comes through so That’s um pretty much a little whittle Top which will stop Poor from the north mediterranean to the South mediterranean of course there are Many other do’s but You know just to give you an idea of the Diversity and the range
Of wines um i hope that that was Interesting And um i’ve got i’ve ready for some Questions now Just if you haven’t seen this before We’ve got lots of handles there so if You want to talk about this or Anything else um please feel free to use Them Okay so i will stop sharing My screen And i’ve got the recording as well