Espagne

Spain is the leading country in terms of surface area, with almost one million hectares of vines in production, and can boast a very long history of winegrowing, the main actors of which were first the Phoenicians, then the Carthaginians, the Greeks and, finally, the Romans, who finished by structuring the vineyard. After the Muslim conquests (beginning of the 8th century) and until the Reconquista (1492), the vine continued to be present in a large part of the country. Five vintages are already attested: Seville, Granada, Lorca, Menorca and Málaga, all of which are prized by wine lovers who, moreover, have no difficulty in obtaining their favourite beverage, as the trade and consumption of wine are not forbidden to Christians and Jews. Even during the Almohad period, which was supposed to be a period of strict prohibition, the Muslim elites continued to practice a way of life inherited from the Umayyad caliphate. There is every reason to believe that wine was also part of this: 'One drinks, in the ḫāṣṣa, by social convention, one drinks for aestheticism, one drinks so that intoxication (not inebriation) opens the heart and loosens the mind. We drink to speak better, to love better, to offer ourselves better to music. To be better in oneself and better with others. (From the beginning of the modern era, in the 15th century and until the phylloxera crisis, the Hispanic vineyard experienced a continuous expansion intended for the production of wines that sometimes travelled around the world, such as the large quantity of sherry wines that Magellan embarked in 1519 on his five ships to complete the world tour. The cost of these barrels of sherry was greater than the budget for arming his soldiers. After the misfortune that befell the great navigator (killed on the island of Mactan in the Philippines), one may wonder if the opposite would not have been preferable? The important development that Spain underwent in the 19th century was accompanied by a major overhaul of the vineyards and oriented certain regions, such as Rioja, towards the production of quality wines. In imitation of the Bordeaux model for the Marquis of Riscal or, in a more identity-oriented way for Rioja, for the Marquis of Murrietta. It was also during this period that Don Eloy Lecandan y Chaves bought an estate in 1848. The latter was located in the heart of the Ribera del Duero and belonged to the Marquis of Valbuena, who was experiencing economic difficulties. Following in the footsteps of the pioneers, Spain underwent a new wine revolution in the early 1980s, with many appellations gaining international recognition and popularity. Robert Parker's infatuation with Spanish wines is no stranger to this. One can only rejoice at this race for quality, which is often accompanied by a noticeable change in style: the wines are gaining in freshness of expression and balance; moreover, the American woodiness is fortunately tending to lose some ground.Located south of the Cantabrian mountains, in the Ebro and Oja valleys, Rioja is one of the main wine-producing regions, even if in terms of surface area, it is far behind La Mancha. It is the best known region, although production is quite heterogeneous. There are three groups: Rioja Alta, which is slightly higher in altitude (400 to 500 m), Rioja Alavesa and Rioja Baja, the warmest. In terms of grape varieties, Tempranillo reigns supreme, along with Grenache, Mazuelo (Carignan) and Graciano.12,000 ha, Ribera del Duero is an aristocratic appellation that owes much to the Vega Sicilia mentioned above. Tempranillo is also in the majority here, followed by Grenache, Cabernet and Merlot. Compared to its prestigious predecessors, its surface area is tiny and its reputation very recent, yet the Priorat appellation (1,000 ha), located southwest of Barcelona in Catalonia, shows tremendous potential. Among the leading regions of Spain, in addition to the great Andalusian appellations, we should also mention the Penedès region, the Jumilla region, east of Alicante, where Mourvèdre expresses itself marvellously, the Bierzo, as well as the Ribeira Sacra and Rias Baixas regions, great terroirs for white wines in Galicia. Not forgetting Priorat which, despite its small size, has some of the greatest red wines in Spain. A real qualitative revolution took place here at the beginning of the 1980s: under the impetus of a few visionary winegrowers (including René Barbier and Alvaro Palacios), the Priorat vineyard, which was probably initiated in the 12th century by the monks of the Cartoixa de Scala Dei, literally rose from its ashes... Today, despite the numerous recent plantings, the Priorat vineyard still includes a significant percentage of very old vines planted on the typical terroir of the appellation, the llicorella, resulting from the disintegration of slate, mainly from the Devonian and Carboniferous periods (between 400 and 300 million years ago). The unique beauty of this region, which also includes the Montsant and Siurana, must also be mentioned. Andalusia: Jerez, Montilla-Moriles and MálagaThe vineyards of Jerez are located in Andalusia, in the south of Spain, between Jerez de la Frontera, Sanlùcar de Barrameda and El Puerto de Santa Maria, and have a very long history of fame. It is located to the south of Cordoba and covers an area of approximately 13,000 hectares. Thanks to its special subsoil of marl with high water retention capacity, the vineyards of Jerez do not suffer too much from the drought that prevails in this region. Some of the famous chalk, albariza, is found in Montilla-Moriles, as well as a mixture of red sands with some clay and limestone. The best areas (Alberos) are similar to those in Jerez. The vineyard can be divided into two areas: Montilla Sierra and Morilles Altoa with a more pronounced character. Three grape varieties are allowed for the production of sherry, but today it is the Palomino that is mainly used. Once the alcoholic and malolactic fermentations have been completed, a first type of classification is used to separate the wines destined for organic maturation marked by the intervention of the flor (the veil) and the wines destined for oxidative maturation.This first classification corresponds to two fundamentally different styles of sherry: Fino (called Manzanilla in the Sanlúcar de Barrameda region), which are part of the crianza de flor; and Oloroso, in which the flor does not intervene and which will benefit from a long oxidative ageing process according to the solera system. After this first classification, these wines are then vinified (encabeziamento) according to their type. Thus, wines destined for organic aging should not exceed 15°, while those destined for oxidative aging should be vinified at 18° to prevent the development of the so-called "flor". In addition to the two previous categories, there is a sort of intermediate category. These are wines originally intended to produce Fino, but due to a reduced flor content were separated, vinified again to reach 17°, and then underwent an oxidative type of ageing for two years. After this period of ageing, the finest of these wines will become Amontillados and the most full-bodied Palo Cortado.The emblematic variety of Montilla-Moriles is Pedro Ximénez (PX). The very warm continental climate leads to the earliest harvest in Spain (around mid-August). The majority of the production is devoted to Fino, which easily rivals that of Jerez. The PX has a very high sugar content and does not need to be fortified at Montilla-Moriles for this type of wine. Amontillado and Oloroso, on the other hand, are lightly fortified. Finally, the other jewel in the crown of Montilla-Moriles production is the great sweet wines produced from PX that are aged on the ground for about ten days after the harvest. The very hot and dry climate of the region favours a natural drying process that is conducive to the production of great vinos generosos. Time only has to do its work and the tasting of a high quality PX Reserva and Gran Reserva remains an unforgettable experience.