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Coronavirus lockdown: Welcome to the armchair tasting tour of Spanish wine

In normal times Madrid & Darracott offer wine tastings in the bodega beneath their shop near Madrid's Plaza Mayor, but during lockdown they'll provide free delivery on a half case and the opportunity to join them in a live online wine tasting.

Published: 26 March 2020 15:29 CET
Coronavirus lockdown: Welcome to the armchair tasting tour of Spanish wine
Photo: Adam Rose/Flickr

Here in Madrid we are well into the quarantine season. That lovely time of the year when all the family gets together, and stays put together. We are only allowed to pop to the shops or the pharmacy for necessities, or to walk a dog. 

So what about wine? Now it’s true that every year the supermarkets are improving their selections. The big Carrefour shops are actually rather good. Día’s selection is still utterly hopeless. But of course at Madrid & Darracott we strive to have wines at all prices that are ‘better’ than the supermarket ones. And that doesn’t only mean quality, we are referring to small producers, unknown grapes and different regions. 

So you’re stuck at home but you’re planning to buy some wines either from us (free delivery over 6 bottles) or another fine establishment. Why not take yourself on an alcoholic tour around the country from the safety of your own socially distanced home?

So here’s our line up of the wines you should be drinking to really give yourself a firm and boozy idea of what this country’s viticultural variety is all about. We’ll start off with the six wines that we will be drinking on our upcoming live wine tastings and then dive further into the world of Spanish wine.

Tula Varona (DO Rías Baixas)

Starting off with one of our favourite grapes in the country. A crisp and vibrant Albariño from the western coast of Galicia. Galicia looks a bit like if Ireland and Norway had a baby; a place of dramatic fjords covered in eucalyptus forests, hardy fisherman, the best seafood on the continent and for our money, some of the best white wines in the world. Tula Varona has that zippy acidity of this cool climate grape and has a nice mineral finish. Mature citrus fruits, apples and a saline flourish at the end.

Olagosa (DO Rioja)

We all know Rioja: red wine, tempranillo, crianza, reserva, etc. But what about their whites? Luke still bangs on about the best white wine he ever had being a very old, aged white Rioja. The superstar grape is Viura (also known as Macabeo in other parts of the country). It is a highly textured, citric and flinty grape when young, but takes to ageing better than any other in the country. Olagosa has been fermented in new French oak and then left to age on the lees (the dead bits of grape and yeast) for a further 3 months. The wine is unctuous and rich and wonderfully complex on the nose. Mature pineapple and ripe apples wrapped around in toasty woody notes from the barrels. 

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Massimo (DO Ribeira Sacra)

Back to Galicia, but inland this time away from the rain-lashed coast. Ribeira Sacra is a remote and secret place. Very steep valleys following the courses of the rivers Miño and Sil. Different altitudes, from 60 to 600m and multiple aspects (aspect being in which direction your vineyards are facing; north, south etc) give these hardy winemakers a real variety of planting opportunities. No machines here, all hand picked. Massimo is a delicate and fresh Mencía created by a couple of Italians and which, along with bright red berries, Luke swears smells like watermelon gummy sweets. 

Flor de Goda (DO Campo de Borja)

Now for something a little more powerful. Old school Spanish Garnacha (often referred to as Grenache, but it is a Spanish variety) from its homeland in Aragón. In this case, Campo de Borja. The long sunshine hours and harsh climate means the Garnacha here gets super ripe and that means alcohol and aromatic punch. Flor de Goda has had a few months in oak and is 15.5 percent alcohol. It’s spicy, peppery, dark and swarthy but still has a crisp acidity. It’s dangerously easy to drink and packs a real punch. 

El Salzé (DO Alicante)

Monastrell is one of our favourite grapes at Madrid & Darracott. It gives dark, complex notes of blackberry and blackcurrants. Almost sweet dark fruits. Then, with age, things like chocolate, leather, and tobacco start to appear. El Salzé has all of that, and something a little herbal too. It opens up really well in the glass as well; if you’re not in a rush to finish. Murcia, with its regions of Jumilla, Yecla and Bullas, may be the spiritual home of the grape; but lately we’ve fallen for the intensity and juiciness of the more Mediterranean zones. In this case Alicante. But check out Valencia too!

Fino Granero Manuel Aragon (DO Jerez)

To finish our primary tasting selection we couldn’t not add Luke’s favourite wine: sherry. But with sherry you have multiple wines to choose from. The dry white styles that have been fortified, and blended through their ageing under yeast in large barrels (the yeast is called flor): manzanilla and fino. The brown nutty styles of amontillado (biological ageing under yeast followed by oxidative ageing without) and oloroso (solely oxidative; no yeast). And then the super sweet styles like PX made with sun-dried grapes. It’s confusing, romantic, challenging, delicious, and a whole world to discover. So where better to begin than with a classic Fino; punchy, saline, yeasty, with a little underlay of overripe apple.

Valderiz (DO Ribera del Duero)

How could we not have something famous. A Ribera; everyone loves them. Big, bold reds from the heart of the Spanish meseta. Flat, or undulating at best, and high up. Altitudes up to 1000m. This is a harsh and barren place but that’s perfect if you want to put the grapes to the test. The tempranillos from here give strong and powerful wines that love seeing barrel time. Smoky, spicy, leathery beasts that are perfect for winter. Valderiz – with its 20 months in oak – is our little shining star. We fell in love from first taste. Then, a few months later, it was voted best wine in the world under 50 dollars. Textbook Duero brilliance. 

Adur (DO Txacoli Geteriako)

To counteract all the big reds how about a zesty zinger from the Basque Country. Not traditionally famed for its wines – usually the words cider and pintxos are at the forefront of most culinary conversations – the small Spanish region nonetheless boasts three winemaking areas; mostly focussing on whites given the cold bristling Atlantic climate. Txacoli is the regional speciality; a zippy citrusy wine with the crispiest acidity of any white. They are perfect for aperitifs and bar hopping. This one, Adur, is a belter. The cute story behind it was that when Luke was getting his padrón he fell into conversation with the civil servant dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s. Turns out her cousin was a winemaker of Txacoli. The rest is history. 

Casar de Burbia Blanco (DO Bierzo)

Time to head Northwest again, though just shy of Galicia. This time to the ancient region of Bierzo. Famed as the place that reinvented Mencía and made that grape sexy again, it is also home to Godello. This grape, Albariño’s sassier bolder cousin, is traditionally at its most famed in neighbouring Valdeorras, but recently Roque and Luke fell for this one from Bierzo; a verdant mountainous region of ancient churches, pilgrims and castles. Casar de Burbia make an exceptional selection of reds, but this white with its pungent apple and stone fruit aromas and bright acidity makes this wine perfect for strong cheeses and dishes with white meats like chicken and pork. 

Licinia (DO Vinos de Madrid)

Madrid is a fairly young DO, only since 1990, but it has been coming along in leaps and bounds over the last decade and has been churning out some exceptional vinos. Licinia is the jewel in the crown for us and is the darling of many a Michelin chef (think DiverXo, think Club Allard). A big chewy wine from Chinchón area, Licinia is a multi-varietal blend of Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Merlot. Intense in the nose with black fruits, tobacco, mountain spice and herbs and full-bodied on the palate. The Arganda and Navalcarnero sub zones of Madrid’s south tend towards bold reds with blends being common. The western flanks of the Gredos of San Martin favour more elegant Garnacha for red and Albillos for the whites. We have yet to see the potential of the northern Molar sub zone but I should expect the wines will be lighter too. 

Botani Moscatel Seco (DO Sierras de Malaga)

You say Malaga wine to most people and they will think of sweet moscatel; and why not, they are the classic boozy sweet tipples historically created there. But the real joy, for us anyway, are the very fine and elegant dry whites. Grassy, floral, citrusy, with some peaches, if you’re looking for the offspring of a Chablis and a Sauvignon Blanc, here’s your wine. And Jorge Ordoñez really is the best there is at making them. He’s found old vines, which always give more intensity as the plants need to work harder to produce fruit, and every thing is organic and picked manually. An absolute gem of a wine.

Edetària (DO Terra Alta)

It would be a crime to forget the great Catalan wines. Problem is, which to choose? There are 11 DOs in Cataluña! Priorat, Penedés and Montsant are probably the most famous, but we recently tried this blend (60 percent Garnacha Peluda, 30 percent Garnacha, 10 percent Cariñena) and were blown away by it. Sultry, smooth, complex and with aromas of mint, chocolate, warm spices and mature red fruits. Also, the guy in charge of the winery was bonkers and a real character. Terra Alta is isolated and inland in the mountains but with a handy mixture of Mediterranean and continental climates blending together. The wines aren’t easy to find, but my goodness they’re good!

So during this trying to time, use it as an excuse to find out more about what this great wine country has to offer. We have the majority of Spanish regions available at the shop and are offering free deliveries for orders over six bottles.

We are going to start doing LIVE Instagram tastings so that people have something that is, in our eyes, entertaining to watch, and we prepare a case of the wines too should people want to drink along with us!

Stay safe, stay indoors, and keep drinking. 

Salud!

For more information about Madrid & Darracott visit their website or follow them on Instagram or Facebook

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Why are Spain’s Riojas often not considered fine wines?

It's one of Spain's most famous tipples, and yet there are a number of reasons why Rioja wines are widely respected but not always considered fine wines by international experts and the general public.

Published: 20 September 2023 10:57 CEST
Why are Spain's Riojas often not considered fine wines?

Spanish Riojas are loved across Spain and around the world by wine lovers. They are known for being medium to full-bodied, with a strong structure and tannins, and are often described as tasting like berries or plums.

One thing Riojas generally aren’t generally considered, however, are fine wines in the way that other wines are.

Sure, there are some particularly fantastic and award-winning Rioja vintages that are considered world class, but generally speaking Rioja is viewed as a bit of a bargain: good quality wine but not such high quality that it becomes unaffordable.

So what is a fine wine in the first place? There isn’t an exact science but they tend to be defined as a category that represents the highest quality producers from a wine-growing region, where the highest level of winemaking and viticultural standards are implemented, and quality over quantity is prioritised. And as you might have guessed, it’s wine critics who often have the final say on which fines are fine. 

Riojas’ good value for money

According to wine experts at Enologique, in the wine world (and perhaps in the wine-glugging public imagination too), Rioja is trapped in the ‘good value’ category, meaning it is generally perceived as middle of the road, cost effective, and neither awful nor amazing.

BBC wine expert Victoria Moore sums it up nicely: “One piece of good news for those who love Rioja is that it is one of the wines that supermarkets do best. You can find excellent examples of own-label Rioja just about anywhere you might shop.”

Riojas are seen as good value for money, something that (for better or worse) prevents it being considered among the more prestigious wines by some people.

READ ALSO: Ten facts you probably didn’t know about Spanish wine

High production

Wine critic Tim Atkin argues that one reason Riojas aren’t quite viewed as in the top tier of wines is the fact that Spain’s La Rioja region makes so much vino, up to 300 million litres a year on average.

In Atkin’s words, “there’s always an unspoken fear that the mass-market wines won’t sell, even if the prices are low.”

Of the roughly 300 million litres of wine produced in La Rioja annually, up to 90 percent of it is red and the remaining 10 percent is white or rosé.

Different Riojas

Part of the explanation could also be the size of La Rioja itself and the variety of wines it produces, as although they are all marketed and sold as one type of wine, wines produced there tend to differ from one another than the best-known fine wines from France and Italy.

Rioja enjoys a mixture of Atlantic, Continental and Mediterranean climates with hot summers and cold winters with relatively high rainfall — good conditions for growing grapes that produce quality wines, but with quite a lot of variety.

The four main classifications of Riojas are Genérico, Crianza, Reserva, and Gran Reserva.

The general consensus is that Rioja business bosses favour quantity over quality for economic reasons. (Photo by CESAR MANSO / AFP)
 

Soil studies 

Another ‘black mark’ against Riojas when it comes to fine wines is, Atkin says, that the region would be taken more seriously if it published soil studies.

Despite being drank around the world, there is no authoritative report on Riojas soils, something many other wine producing regions in France and Italy do.

Business monopolies

One more reason Riojas are loved by many but not really considered fine wines is due to the business model: vested interests in the wine industry, namely the companies that make up the so-called ‘Grupo Rioja’, an association of influential and established bodegas that sells around three quarters of all Rioja wine. 

Atkin argues these groups have little interest in changing their business models because, in his words, “flogging large quantities of cheap wine at small but profitable margins suits them fine.” 

If someone wanted to try and recalibrate the production model in the region, or try and market Riojas as fine wines, they’d likely come up against the might of these established monopolies.

Wine politics

As with many things in Spain, politics (and regional identity) could also play a role. As the region is quite large, Rioja’s soils are varied. Yet despite that, most of the top wines come from the north and northwest of the region, especially from Sonsierra.

Atkins says that most of Rioja’s best wine growing areas are north of the River Ebro. As such, many of these high-quality vineyards are in the Alavesa subregion, which is not part of La Rioja region but actually part of the Basque Country.

According to wine website Decanter, there are 63,593 hectares of vineyards in the La Rioja wine making region, divided as follows: La Rioja (43,885 ha), Alava (12,934 ha) and Navarre (6,774 ha).

In recent years, wine rivalry between the Basque province of Álava and La Rioja has threatened to upend the Rioja wine world. Due to the internal politics, some Basque growers could break off from the Rioja name and brand and instead produce and label their own wines as Viñedos de Álava.

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