Vinos de España - The white wine way (and the art of blending)

Obviously, there weren’t only white wines present, but since my time to taste was limited and the weather very sunny, the idea came up on my way to the tasting, no doubt unintentionally induced by one of the lecture themes: Spain is not only red.

So I obliged, and decided to make this a ‘whites only’ experience. Distilling meaningful impressions from big overview tastings is tough, and this seemed like a good way to narrow down, even when that would mean missing out on the many – and no doubt interesting - reds also on the tasting tables.
I can tell you, I did not regret. Impressions of a trade tasting organised in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, by Vinos de España.

First important impression: fruit is back. There were times when every bottle of wine with some pretense seemed to need at least two years on new oak, but judging from what was shown yesterday, these days seem over. And I’m glad they are. With so many wines consumed as beverage, there is really no need for a manifest oaky touch, and it seems producers are appreciating this more and more too. I’d furthermore call it an advantage for Spain, because they have interesting stuff to offer in this respect. Two wine types stood out in terms of prominence of showing: Rias Baixas albariños and verdejo (blends) from Rueda.

A perfect example of making more complex wine without wood handling was a 2010 Mantel Blanco verdejo from Alvarez y Diez in Rueda. Good fruit combined with sur lie elevage gave this Rueda very nice texture and aromatics that were more serious than your average sip from this region. Pure, honest and delicious.

Next to the Martin Codax albariño that I find a good and widely known example of how this wine should taste, I encountered a nice Terra de Asorei in the more pleasant price department (around €4 ex cellars).
But albariño can be pretty serious too, and a Terras de Lantaño was as serious an albariño as you would like to encounter. Distinct ‘soil influence’ here and perhaps a tad less overtly apricot-fruity than you’d be used to, but this very precisely defined wine really fanned out on the palate in return for that. Makes a wonderful drink on a sunny terrace, but this is also a Rias Baixas that you’d really want to try with food.


Winemakers in Spain also have quite a tradition in the art of blending. This may explain two things. First, why they appear to have little reluctance in going for less traditional blends and second, why they are pretty good at it.

In my quest for interesting whites, I came across a number of examples that were blends done with what I’m inclined to call ‘gastronomic logic’. To explain what I mean, here’s an example I tasted years ago: a gewurztraminer-chardonnay blend from Somontano. The gastronomic logic? Gewurztraminer often lacks ‘zest’. It’s a very aromatic wine, but it can often be a little plump, making it less easy to drink and continue enjoying drinking. The idea to blend in chardonnay makes perfect sense then: this is an aromatically neutral grape, and it has great acidity. The result when done properly? A wine that manages to keep everything that makes gewurztraminer gewurztraminer, with a pleasant acidity to go and thus encouraging taking that next sip.

So, even when we’ve now entered the fields of what the French would perhaps call wine-cultural herecy, this is also a pretty smart idea. Furthermore, those never brought up with Old World wine tradition are likely to not care at all, as long as the result is fine. It’s an approach we mainly see in the New World wine countries, and they do well going by it. In many respects, ‘modern Spain’ can be counted into these ranks as well; their history is in the Old World and Spain still produces very fine traditional wines, but a good part of their production has become consumer oriented wines.

Onra winery in Costers del Segre performs this variation on a theme on garnacha blanca, with sauvignon blanc and chenin blanc to brighten up. The results were interesting, albeit at a more serious price level. The two wines shown would do €22 and €28 (Dutch) consumer price respectively, but this blend is an experience that does differ markedly from the more heavy garnacha blancas produced in Catalunya. Both wines were still very young (2010 and 2009) and not yet displaying full integration of the constituent parts, but this is a winery worth keeping an eye on.

Peñalba Lopez Finca Torremilanos Blanco Crianza was a wine I found even more interesting. British hooligans may accidentally order this while partying in that better known tourist resort, but this Vino de la Tierra from Castilla y Léon is really not a thing for binge drinking.
It’s made from tempranillo blanco with a small percentage of sauvignon blanc blended in. Same story as above: the somewhat plump but nicely earthy and aromatic tempranillo blanco clearly benefits from the sauvignon’s acidity, brightening up the aromatics and making it a very pleasant drink. This was fermented on new French oak - resulting in good wood integration - and had 8-9 months on wood as well, adding backbone, texture and complexity without the wood-handling becoming in any way dominant. Interesting wine at below €6 ex cellars.

Victor de la Serna reported worrying figures in El Mundo Vino last week about many La Mancha wineries being taken out of business by the economic crisis that is hitting Spain particularly hard. And this may not be restricted to La Mancha only. From what I was shown yesterday, I have the impression that many of Spain’s wine producers have a keen eye on the consumer market to produce what is in demand. Let’s hope this will benefit them to make the return.