Ep. 1009 Map 22 Spain | Jumbo Shrimp Maps

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Wine production has had a long history in Spain, with evidence dating as far back as five thousand years ago. Since then, Spain has had a rich and tumultuous history with wine. Currently, Spain is experiencing exciting developments in wine with a focus on its indigenous grape varieties. As expected from such a large traditional wine producing country, Spain has a wealth of local and indigenous grapes that have characteristics that make them suitable to the regions that they're grown in. For example, In Northwest, Spain, the grape, albirena is particularly well suited to its cool and relatively damp climate with its thick skins and its resistance to disease. So let's dive into the key black varieties of Spain's Mediterranean regions. Gernacha is known as Gernache in France and is the third most planted black grape in Spain. It is made in a variety of styles, from easy drinking fruity wines, to concentrated age worthy wines, to Rosatos. It is useful in blends because of its charming fredic character, but also appears as varietal bottlenings. It is also a later ripening grape. Temporinillo is Spain's most planted black grape. It goes by several synonyms and is made as single varietal bottlings as well as in blended wines. It also can be made in a range of styles, from inexpensive fruity wines to more serious and age worthy wines. It is an earlier ripening grape. And tends to do better with warm climates that have a cooling influence so that it can extend its period of ripening and develop complex aromas and flavors. Karignana, is otherwise known as Carignan or Masuello in Rioja. Karignana has a key role in blends by lending its high acidity, tannins, color, and alcohol to the final wine blend. It is a late ripening grape, and as such, likes very warm environments. It is also an enthusiastic producer of fruit and needs to have its yields curbed to encourage its proper ripening. Monestral, Otherwise known as Muvedrin in France is another grape that needs heat to fully ripen. Some say that this grape likes to have its head in the sky and its feed in the ocean, which seems to describe its location on the Mediterranean coast of Southeast Spain, it is also a very late ripener, which is well suited to its warm growing environment there. Monestrel is a tannic variety and can accumulate high sugar levels leading to wines with high alcohol. International varieties are more important in some regions than others. We will talk about the roles of Cabernie and Merlo in the next sections. Spain is a large country with vast differences in growing conditions depending on where you are in the country. Let's look at some of the regions and see how climate and other factors influence the wines. First, we will head to Catalina in the northeast corner of Spain. The climate is generally warm Mediterranean, but, of course, being a large area, There are variations due to two main influencing factors. The Mediterranean C and altitude. Areas closer to the Mediterranean will have warmer growing conditions, but altitude will provide cooling influences. Let's use pennydays as an example. This d o has three zones or tiers where wine is produced. First, there's a strip of land along the Mediterranean, and the climate is warm here. But moving to the next tier more inland and a bit higher, the heat is less pronounced. The highest tier is located on some inland mountains, so there is a cooling influence and a wide diurnal range at night. So in this deal, we will find a wide variety of grapes grown to reflect such diverse growing conditions. Most of the white grapes are used here for Kava production. We also will find significant plantings of international varieties here. Let's move south and inland of pennatives where we will find Priurat. Priurat is a DOQ, which is the cattle intern for DOCA. Only Priurat and Roha are designed or designated with this top tier in the DOP quality pyramid. Priorat wines are complex, concentrated, and always expensive. Let's find out why by taking a quick look at the climate and growing factors here. Firstly, The wine growing area is on inland hills with altitudes up to seven hundred and fifty meters, which can give relatively more acidity and tenants to wines. Next, let's see what factors can lead to the concentration in the wines. Some vines are very old. They are planted on slopes, and soils are poor. There's also low rainfall. All of these factors will contribute to naturally low yields, which can result in concentrated wines. Keep in mind that a favorite exam question about pre rat is about its special soils called licorella, which has layers of red slate with particles of mica that sparkle and reflect back heat to the vines. Vine roots are able to penetrate deep into these soils, and thus access the deeper water table. Priura wines are made from Garnhatcha and Carangana, with some producers blending in some pepperoni, sauvignon. Let's move further down the Mediterranean coast to the Levante. It is even warmer here than in Catalumia, but the coastal breezes will bring some relief to parts of Valencia. There are also some higher altitude sites in all three DOs here. Read fall is low here, but another example where soils and vines work in tandem. There are limestone based soils here in Humia that act as a sponge to retain water. But irrigation is widely used in this area. Monestrelle is the main grape planted with most wines made as inexpensive bottlings, but with some premium bottlings from Humia too. You can also make the logical connection between grape and climate here since monistratic requires heat and ripen's very late in the season. So this is a perfect spot for it to grow. Some whites are also grown in Valencia, with an interesting sweet wine made from muscat of Alexandria. The wine is aptly named Mosquatell de Valencia, and is made by adding grape spirit to the unfermented grape must. We are now going to move into the interior of Spain to Castilla La Mancha. This area is responsible for almost half of Spain's wine production, which should signal to us that the great iodine is planted here. Item is the fourth most planted variety in the world, and here it is used to make somewhat neutral wine and also brandy production. It is one of the few white varieties that can tolerate the extreme heat and drought conditions here. Templenio is the most planted black grape known as Sensible here. And is made in a fruity style wine. The deals of La Mancha and Vodipenas occupy this vast inland plateau, about five hundred to seven hundred meters high. Here we have an extreme example of a continental climate. Somers are extremely hot with temperatures reaching forty five degrees Celsius and winters getting as cold as minus twenty. It is extremely dry and even though there is limestone in the base soils to retain water, irrigation is very important. So it seems like an unlikely place for Viticulture, but vines are planted at very low density so that they don't compete with each other for scarce water and nutrients. This is a key factor that makes Viticulture possible in such an extreme environment. Fast amounts of inexpensive and bulk wine is made here, but there are also wines on the opposite end of the quality spectrum. As such, This area is home to more than half of the wines that qualify for the Vino de Pago classification. About twenty wines in Spain have received the status and are qualified to add this term to wine labels. Thank you for listening to Italian wine podcast. We know there are many of you listening out there, so we just want to interrupt for a small ask. 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Now in the red category, we already mentioned tempranillo, Karanacho, and Karimiana. Carraciano is a black grape used in the rioja blend, lending high acidity, tenants, and black fruit flavors. Manthia is the key black grape of Biazo, characterized by high acidity, medium tenants, and light to fuller bodied wines. Let's start our exploration of Northern Spain by heading to the northwest corner. Rías Biasas is Spain's most westerly d o. This d o could not be more different than La Mancha. Notably, its main climatic influence is the Atlantic Ocean, which provides a maritime climate. This means the ocean moderates temperatures that make for warm summers and mild winters. It also brings high rainfall. The main growing hazard here is rot and mildew as a result of the wet environment. To combat this, fines are traditionally planted on high pergolas to allow for more air circulation and lessen the threat of disease. Alvarinho is the main grape of verdeus Biaschias. And is well suited to the damp environment with its thick skins that help protect it from disease. Even the free draining soils work in tandem with the climate. Mostly, varietal albirena wines are made here in fresh and fruity styles. Just inland is Baredzo, where red wines are made from Manthea. Being further from the Atlantic, its summers are a bit warmer for this early to mid ripening grape. Grapes are grown on the flat plain or slopes. Thus making wines that are fredier and less structured or more elegant structured wines from those higher plantings. Now we could head into the Daguaro valley, a high plateau with the Daguaro river winding through it. The regions here have a continental climate. Toro, do has hot summers, but also cool nights to preserve acidity levels in the grapes. Wines are mostly tempranillo with garnacha often blended in. Mine styles here are full bodied and intense. Next to total is rueira Dio, which focuses on white production. We can find fresh and fruity wines based on Verdejo with some sauvignon blanc that can be blended in. Vroidal wines from either grape can also be made. Moving further inland, we come to Rivera Delviero, d o, with its recent history of high quality temporary neo production. It is slightly hotter and slightly higher in altitude than neighboring, toro, and rueira. As such, spring frosts can be a serious problem here. Wines can be full bodied with new oak flavors, but can have high acidity as a result of the higher altitude and cool nights. The use of French oak is increasing. Rosay wines are also made here, but it's less important than red wine production. Moving northeast from Rivera Deluero We get to the region of RioHA. Let's start by dividing RioHA into its three subregions. Each subregions has different growing conditions due to different factors. The smallest subregent is RioHA, located in the northwest. It is characterized by its higher altitude and cooler wetter growing conditions. Just under Rioja Alabasa is Prioha Alta. This is a large sub zone with lower altitudes, but has higher altitude areas in the northwest corner and along the Southern Edge. As you can see on the map, Vihuah al Avisa at Yohal Alta are closer to cool Atlantic influences. Although the mountains there act to block much of the worst weather. To the east, we find the rioja horizontal sub zone. It has the warmest and driest conditions in near rioja. The land is relatively open here. And although it is far from the Mediterranean and Sea, it receives some warming influence from it. Now let's connect our sub zones to the black grapes of Rioja. Tampa is well suited to the cooler areas of Rioja. Where it is able to ripen and produce wines with finesse. The next most planted grape is carnacha. It needs a warm climate to fully ripen, and it could tolerate droop. Therefore, Rioja orientaled, is a logical place to plant Corinaca. Corinaca adds ripe, red, varied fruit flavors, and body to rioja blends. Graciano needs a warm location to grow and can land high acidity, black fruit flavors, and tenet to the blend. And, lastly, Masuevo, otherwise known as Karjnana, can contribute high acidity too. We can add one more note about the wide range of growing conditions in RioHA that can result in different expressions of wine. In the past, growers tended to blend wines from the different areas of RioHA to create a certain intended style of wine. Only recently has there been a push to make a bottling that expressed a specific subregen or municipality or even a single vineyard? And in two thousand seventeen, a new classification was approved that allows growers to show this specific origin of the grapes. Redwine production here in RioHA can vary considerably, but the traditional styles to mature wines in American oak. Or French oak or European oak as we see lots of nowadays. The length of time for oak maturation is the basis of the traditional aging categories here. Young Cienza wines have a one year requirement for aging and barrel. While Grand Reserveawines require two years minimum aging and barrel. Notably, the requirements for barrel maturation is higher here in RioHA than for the standard categories of aging in Spain. As we can see on this map. Alongside the traditional style of red winemaking in Rioja. Other styles are made ranging from fruity, early drinking wines made with semi carbonic maceration to heavily extracted styles. That are deeply colored, more structured, with deeper food character, and everything in between them too. White wines are also produced in rioja, just in smaller quantities than red. As mentioned, the dominant grape is Viura. But can include up to eight of the approved white varieties. Traditionally, white rioja was made with lots of barrel maturation to make deep golden wines with nutty aromas and flavors. But a fresh style is also made using stainless steel to heighten the fruit character of these wines. There are also styles in between. Now to Nevada Dio, directly northeast of Rioha Doca. It stretches into the pyrenees mountains, making for cooler and wetter conditions closer to those mountains, but Navara covers a large area, and growing conditions vary accordingly. The northern part experiences some influence from the Atlantic while the southeastern part experiences some influence from the Mediterranean. Most of the production in Navara are red wines made with temporary neo. Rose wine can be made from garnacha. And these are also important for the region. Rosay bottlings generally have deeper color, from more color extraction, and higher acidity from harvesting these grapes early. Lastly, let's head back inland to Canyon, dio, and Calatayu dio. If we use all that we've learned so far about climate factors in Spain, we can correctly guess that the climate is warm continental here. With hot summers and low precipitation. The dos are mostly located on a raised plateau. Therefore, there is a wide diagonal range here that will help preserve acidity in the grapes and slow down the ripening process. Gardenacha is the most planted grape and is traditionally trained as bush vines, a typical vine training method of hot arid growing areas in southern Mediterranean regions. Fines are also planted with very, very low densities. So that each vine has maximum chance of capturing all the available water in the surrounding soil. Wine production here is mainly focused on high volume and expensive bottlings. But there are some old fine garnacha plantings that prompted some producers to make more serious styles of wine that display concentrated fruit and spice. 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