Finding the finest Spanish wines

These wines are still unknown in India, maybe because Spain was exporting mainly bulk wines

Spain is the third-largest wine producer in the world (Italy and France jostle for the first and second spot), having churned out some 3.72 billion litres in 2015, and yet Spanish wines are still almost unknown in India, being outsold by Italian, French, Australian, South African, and even Chilean wines.

Perhaps this is because for many years Spain was exporting mainly bulk wines and was late in marketing branded bottled wines, or perhaps because unlike Italy, Spain was never occupied by foreign troops in World War II (who took a liking for things Italian back home with them when the war ended).

The simplest way of understanding Spanish wines is to divide the country into two regions:

Northern Spain: This entire area stretches from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean and borders France, including Galicia, Castilla y Leon, Rioja/Navarra, Aragon, and Catalonia (the region around Barcelona). The wines in the first four regions are almost entirely still wines; the plains around Barcelona are home to the Spanish methode traditionelle sparkling wine Cava, while the nearby hills of Priorat and Monsant produce some of Spain’s most iconic reds.

Southern Spain: This comprises the rest of the country, including Andalucia, Castilla-La Mancha (around Madrid) and the Valencia regions. Wines from these regions are not very well known internationally,with the exception of the fortified wine Sherry, produced in the Andalucian area around the city of Cadiz (near Gibralta) primarily from the Palomino grape, using the unique solera system by which older wine is continuously blended with young wine in a variety of styles.

Spain’s best-known wine is undoubtedly Rioja, a red wine produced from Tempranillo and Garnacha (Grenache) grapes — like in France, the region gives its name to the wine. Rioja wines have three quality levels: Crianza (two years old, with at least one year in oak barrels), Reserva (three years old/ one year in oak) and Gran Reserva (five to seven years/ minimum two years in oak). Well-known Rioja producers include Marques de Caceres, Marques de Riscal and Bodegas Roda.

Then there are the wines from the Ribera del Duero region (also in northern Spain) where the famous Vega Sicilia winery is located. Its Unico 2005 was rated at 95 points ( and priced at $ 505) by Wine Spectator.

The largest and best-known wine company in Spain is, of course, Torres, located in the Penedes region near Barcelona, which will complete 150 years in 2020. Its flagship wine is the Mas la Plana, a 100 per cent Cabernet Sauvignon (the 2012 vintage is Wine Spectator 93 points/ $70), although the company produces a full range of wines from all regions of Spain and even has wineries in Chile (Miguel Torres Chile) and the US (Marimal Estates, California).

Torres wines are imported into India by Delhi-based Prestige Wines & Spirits, and select wines are available in the metros.

Wines I’ve been drinking: The Torres Priorat Salmos 2014 (“Psalms”) was one of the Torres wines served last Saturday at a dinner organised by the Bangalore Wine Club at the Ritz-Carlton hotel. Not yet available in India, it’s rated at 90 points (release price $35) by Wine Spectator, which says the wine has “notes of olives and brambles mixed with cherry and plums, with zesty acidity and light tannins” — an ode to this still-young Carinana/Syrah/ Garnacha blend from bush vines. 

Salud!

Alok Chandra is a Bengaluru-based wine consultant.