North West Spain

W

hile for years the quality of Spanish wine in the more established regions and DOs had been acceptable it could also have fairly been said that the real potential in the country remained untapped. However, the past half decade or so has seen dramatic change both in fine-wine production and in lesser regions. There are new-wave Riojas and an abundance of great reds from Castilla y León, but other, smaller regions like Priorat have also been providing some remarkable and striking wines in recent years. Further south, in the great centre of the country, relaxation of the regulations governing irrigation and a desire to harness the potential of the best hillside sites as well as some fine, old bush-vine plantings of regional varieties has brought increasing change. It remains depressing, however that despite all this there is still a sizeable amount of sometimes very mediocre wine being produced in almost all the established regions.

The wines of north-western Spain are produced in Castilla y León and Galicia. Immediately to the west of Rioja is Ribera del Duero which, along with exceptional examples in Rioja and Priorat, produces most of the finest reds in the country. The historic Vega Sicilia bodega is based here and top reds are produced in and around the region as Vinos de Mesa and Vinos de la Tierra (VdT) as well as DO. While the greatest Ribera del Duero wines are both magnificent and pricey, too many remain depressingly mediocre with baked and often dried out fruit and hard tannins. The wines are based on Tinto Fino (Tempranillo) but may also include Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Malbec in the blend.

To the north-west is the small DO of Cigales, where some good, structured reds are made, and to the west the white-wine DO of Rueda. Interesting barrel-fermented and single vineyard wines from both Sauvignon Blanc and the local Verdejo are produced. The latter can be responsible for some very striking and potentially ageworthy whites. Immediately west of Rueda and also centred on the Duero river towards Zamora and Portugal is the warm red-wine area of Toro. The vineyard area here has always promised much but it is only relatively recently that wines of real depth have begun to emerge, some world-class. A local strain of Tempranillo, Tinto de Toro, is the mainstay of blends but Garnacha is also permitted and old vines contribute much to quality. A number of very impressive wines are also produced under the VdT (Vinos de La Tierra) Castilla y León classification. Look out also for the recently established DOs of Arribes and Tierra del Vino de Zamora. In the far west of the Castilla y León region is the small, visually striking DO of Bierzo which now produces both easy-drinking and truly exciting reds as well as a little white. On a note about classification VdT labelled wines are gradually being moved to the new IGP (Indicación de Origen Protegida) like France. Wines labelled VC (Vinos de Calidad) are from regions due to be upgraded to full DO status. In the south of Castilla y León is the newly established Sierra de Salamanca DO producing stylish reds from the indigenous Rufete.

Virtually adjoining Bierzo but in fact in Galicia is Valdeorras. Reds are produced, like those in Bierzo, from Mencía but of particular note are the whites produced mainly from the unusual, indigenous Godello. The best are floral, ripe and respond well to handling in oak. Some attractive, fruity as well as more structured whites are also produced in Ribeiro but the greatest concentration of bodegas are found in the coastal vineyards of Rías Baixas. Their strikingly aromatic whites are generally best enjoyed young but the odd example is successfully barrel-fermented and will keep in the short to medium term, not dissimilar in this respect to more structured examples from Condrieu in the northern Rhône. Some exceptional mineral, elegant and nervy reds also emanate from the, at times near vertiginous, slopes of Ribeira Sacra. Fine reds and whites are also found at Monterrei on the Spanish/Portuguese border.

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Arlanza Bodega La Colegiada Arribes Almaroja Bodegas Ribera De Pelazas Bierzo Casar de Burbia Castro Ventosa Cuatro Pasos Descendientes De J.Palacios Bodegas Estefania Gancedo Godelia Losada Mencia de Dos Paixar Bodegas Peique Raúl Pérez Pittacum Dominio De Tares Cigales Balvinar Bodegas César Príncipe Emeterio Fernández Lezcano Lacalle Traslanzas Monterrei Quinta da Muradella Quinta do Buble Rías Baixas Agro de Bazan Alma Atlántica Bodegas As Laxas El Jardín de Lucia Adega Eidos Bodegas Fillaboa La Cana La Val Lagar de Besada Lagar de Cervera Lagar de Condesa Lagar de Costa Mar de Envero Bodegas Martin Codax Gerardo Mendez Viña Nora Orowines Mar de Envero Palacio de Fefinanes Pazo Baion Pazo das Bruxas Pazo San Mauro Pazo de Señoráns Pazos de Lusco Eulogio Pomares Santiago Ruiz Terras Gauda Vinos Trico Adegas Valminor Vinum Terrae Zárate Ribeira Sacra Dominio do Bibei

Adegas Guimaro Pena das Donas Tolo do Xisto Ribeiro Coto de Gomariz Casal de Armán José Estévez Fernández Adega Manuel Formigo Lagar do Mérens Adega Manuel Rojo Emilio Rojo Sameiras Sanclodio Viña de Martin Viña Mein Ribera del Duero Aalto Alión Alonso del Yerro Arrocal Ismael Arroyo Arzuaga Navarro Bodegas Aster Baden Numan JM Burgos Felix Callejo Bodegas Cepa 21 Condado de Haza Bodegas Conde Conde de San Cristobal Dominio de Atauta Dominio de Pingus Alejandro Fernãndez O. Fournier Gallegos Zapatero Garmón Continental Hornillos Ballesteros Hacienda Monasterio Bodegas La Horra Los Astrales Montebaco Montecastro Emilio Moro Pago de Carraovejas Pago de Los Capellanes Pérez Pascuas Pesquera Bodega Rodero Torremilanos Trus Vizcarra-Ramos Vega Sicilia Finca Villacreces Rueda Belondrade y Lurton Hermanos del Villar Loess Hermanos Lurton Bodegas Menade Naia Viña Sila Ossian Palacio de Bornos José Pariente

Sitios de Bodega Shaya Terna Bodegas Vega de La Reina Bodegas Vidal Soblechero Yllera Sierra de Salamanca Cámbrico Tierra de León Leyenda del Páramo Bodega Margon Pardevalles Tierra del Vino de Zamora Viñas del Cénit Toro Dominio del Bendito Bienvenida de Vinos Bodegas Burdigala Caro Dorum Dos Victorias El Albar Bodegas Estancia Piedra Liberalia Enologica Bodega F. Lurton Matarredonda Maurodos Bodega Numanthia Termes Pintia Quinta de La Quietud Rejadorada Rompesedas Teso La Monja Toresanas Vetus Valdeorras Avanthia Bodegas Godeval Rafael Palacios Santa Marta Bodegas Viña Somoza Bodegas Valdesil VdT Castilla y León Abadía Retuerta Bodega La Colegiada Dehesa de Cadozos Dehesa La Granja Dominio Dostares Haciendas Durius Garnacha Alta Alberche La Mejorada Leda Vinas Viejas Maldivinas Mauro Rodriguez Sanzo Quinta Sardonia Bodegas Triton Zerberos Hacienda Zorita VdM Galicia Lagar de Sabariz