The Spain Trip

I just got back from 2+ weeks in Spain. Even though the focus of the trip was family, friends and sightseeing, I still made sure to find opportunities to learn about Spanish wine. 

Authentic Wine Travel

Writing about wine is only a hobby for me, so I don’t get paid to travel and do winery visits. Therefore, I have to balance wine travel with the desires of my wife and children. Plus, as much as it sounds awesome to taste dozens of wines and visit wineries every day like professionals do, I much prefer limiting my wine tourism and balancing it with other activities such as food, other beverages, museums, music, nature, history, sports and other aspects of local life. 

A large part of the enjoyment of wine is the context from which it comes, so experiencing all of the culture that goes along with the wine is as or more important than only tasting wines in isolation at some winery. Honestly, I could get a similar experience reading about it and tasting a wine at home or in a wine education class in my own country. Therefore, you have to take advantage of experiencing the whole country.

Some wineries combine some of those things for you like having wine with food and music, and going to the winery helps you to understand the terroir and winemaking, but bonding with locals socially in cafes and bars is also what makes wine great. I realized how much I missed that while in Spain, especially after 2 years of the pandemic. Furthermore, solidarity with people outside your national or social group is more needed than ever given the mounting conflicts and global issues.

 

How to infuse wine education into your travel

Just like other aspects of travel, wine travel can be enhanced by doing a bit of research and interacting with locals. Although our main goals were to visit friends and family in Barcelona, Granada and Murcia while doing some sightseeing without specific organized tastings or visits to wineries, I found ways to still explore wine in an authentic way.

Where to start? Of course, Wine-Searcher is one place to start. It has information on the wine regions and sub-regions of Spain. It lists the most popular producers from each region, so that could give you an idea of which bottles to be on the lookout for or which wineries to arrange tastings at if you have a lot of time in that region. Also, a nice English language vlogger that I’ve run across is Spain Revealed. He and his Spanish wife help you experience Spain as a local and he also has some content specifically on wine and food. The Spanish Wine Lover Blog is an excellent blog for wine geeks to get into the nitty-gritty of Spanish wine in English. If you want some inspiration for planning your trip to Spain and want to have a laugh, check out The Trip to Spain. However, a lot of what I discovered in Spain came organically as I traveled the country and hung out with locals. Then, I ended up doing some research afterwards for more details. 

First of all, I try to be observant. While you’re looking at beautiful cathedrals or looking for a nice restaurant, you can look at wine shops and wine menus too. Look at the labels and where the wines come from. I didn’t visit any bodegas, but even while driving or traveling by train, you still see tons of vineyards. In fact, Spain has the highest percentage of land dedicated to growing wine than any other country. Seeing all the vineyards reminded me that wine is grown everywhere and not just the most famous Spanish wine regions like Rioja, Ribera del Duero, Catalonia (for Cava and Priorat), Rias Baixas and Jerez (Sherry). We only visited one of these major wine regions. 

Secondly, the most important thing I did during this trip to explore wine was to simply ask to try a local wine at whatever restaurant, bar or wine shop I went to. Even for an average Spanish person, all they will know is to order Rioja or Ribera (del Duero) as their reds and Rueda (Verdejo) and Rias Baixas (Albariño) as their whites. Ribera is for those who like smoother, riper reds. Rioja is more classic and structured. They both are often well-oaked. However, at the house wine level, you’re generally not going to get higher level wines that require aging. They’re wines that are made to drink now for a great price. In terms of whites, Verdejo has more herbaceous notes and more tropical fruit while Albariño has more acidity and salinity. Both are rather versatile with food, but I’d prefer the latter with raw seafood.   

Hence, a lot of my time in Spain was drinking the above 4 types of wines. Sometimes it’s nice just to drink what most others drink, especially if the focus is the ambiance and the food. At the same time, you can research restaurants and bars that have more extensive wine menus to explore other wines if you’re tired of basic Ribera or Rioja, which you can probably get in your home country anyway. In addition, even non-wine focused restaurants may still have a local wine by the glass that will often be even cheaper if you ask. By the way, prices for wine at restaurants are quite affordable either way. In other cases, I had to go to the local wine shop or even a supermarket to find local wines. Finally, I often ordered local food with local wine because it satisfies one of the basic rules of wine pairing: “what grows together, goes together.”

With all the above in mind, I’m going to list some of my wine (and food) discoveries in each region.

 

Madrid: 

Madrid does have its own DO Vinos de Madrid designation. In fact, I featured one in a review of Garnacha, which is the most popular grape of the region. However, my time was limited, so I was only able to take advantage of a couple of Madrid’s many wine bar and wine shop options. Firstly, I went to La Canibal which features natural wines served from a tap that come from boxed/bagged wine, so you can get the wine by the glass, jug or bag to take away. Most of their options that night didn’t come from too far from Madrid, but are not actually from the DO Vinos de Madrid.

We tasted a Graciano and Garnacha from Toledo. I also got to try two rare varietals I had never heard of called Moristel (from Aragon) and a Prieto Picudo (from Leon). All the wines were fresh, fruity, easy drinking, inexpensive and without any influence of oak. They also have craft beer and a decent selection of Spanish, French and Italian wines by the bottle. The food was also yummy, featuring mostly Galician dishes. I also love that they served their tortilla runny. 

The other thing I did in Madrid was to look for wines to take home with me before going back to Chile. Luckily, there was a fine shop near our hotel called Madrid & Darracott. It was perfect because I was looking for wines I can’t typically find outside of Spain, and they have a wide variety of wines from different regions, producers and varietals that you rarely see outside of Spain or even in an average supermarket or wine shop in Spain. For example, I found a Spanish Pinot Noir. They also do wine tasting experiences in English and Spanish. Both places and several others are listed in Jancis Robinson’s overview for wine lovers visiting Madrid. 

Barcelona:

We stayed on La Rambla, Barcelona’s most famous and touristy street, and there are a few good wine shops around there with plenty of local options and other typical Spanish options. Just use Google Maps. Plus many wine shops sell online these days, so you can find what you’re looking for before you even go there. For instance, I found a 10 year old half-bottle of Viña Ardanza Reserva Rioja which we later used for a casual cheese and cracker picnic. Viña Ardanza from La Rioja Alta is always one of the best wines for your money from Spain year after year. 

At a restaurant, I also got to drink a local Torres Family white with some local Bacalao (cod) fish. It was made from Garnacha Blanca and Parellada, which is a typical white used in Cava. Catalonia is where most Cava comes from. Bodegas Torres is the same Torres who are major producers in Chile too. I also had a Priorat with friends, which is the region’s most prestigious red wine. It’s typically made of Garnacha with some Carignan. However, I would also give Montsant a try, which is generally more affordable.

Lastly, we arrived just at the beginning of Calçot season. Calçot is a typical Catalonian dish. It’s simply a type of green onion which is grilled. Then you peel it and dip it in a special sauce.  It can be quite messy, so restaurants often give you gloves and a bib. It went well with a Sauvignon Blanc from Utiel-Requena, which is in the Valencia community south of Catalonia.

 

Granada:

One thing I learned from my friend in Granada is that some supermarkets sell wines without a label for as cheap as 1.35 Euros. They may have a small sticker showing the bodega and region, but there’s no information on the varietal or vintage. They could be wines that don’t technically qualify for a specific designation, but if they were labeled they’d cost more. At this price, we got what is essentially a Rioja Joven. Joven means it hasn’t spent time in oak. It wasn’t the most profound or complex wine, but it’s nice with basic tapas since it’s fruity, soft and low in alcohol. 

At some restaurants, I also had wines labeled “Roble,” which means it spends up to 6 months in oak, but it’s a step below Crianza (24 months aging with at least 6 in barrels). FYI, Reserva requires 36 months aging with at least 12 in barrel and Gran Reserva requires 60 months of aging with at least 18 months in oak. The requirements for oak aging are longer for Rioja, Ribera del Duero and Navarra specifically (12 months for Crianza and 24 months for Gran Reserva). For Vinos de la Tierra (VT) you might see Noble (18 months in wood), Añejo (24 months), and Viejo (36 months).  

In some small shops, I also ran across local wine and vermouth in barrels with a tap that you can dispense yourself and buy at a rate per liter. As a wine geek who spends too much on wine, I’m reminded that most people don’t spend a lot on wine, and wines without all the make-up of oak that many Spanish wines have is a nice change of pace especially with lighter foods. Oak also makes the wine more expensive. 

Finally, I recommend La Vinoteca in the center of Granada. Again, I simply found them on Google, read some reviews and looked at their wine menu. Once I saw that they featured several wines from Granada, I knew I had to go there for dinner since I had never had wines from Granada, and they aren’t sold internationally. All their wines can be purchased by the glass, so we tried several reds. In addition, the food was tasty and reasonably priced, but not necessarily typical Spanish cuisine. The red wines from Granada are blends that are grown at higher altitude on Sierra Nevada to counter the hot weather. Most have Tempranillo, but they also blend in Bordeaux varietals and Syrah. Honestly, they were not my favorite. The quality was decent given the price and less famous region, but it’s as if they’re trying to be a cheaper version of Rioja or Ribera rather than highlight their terroir because they tasted rather generic with dark fruit and vanilla, despite not spending that long in oak.

I also had my first wine from Extremadura, also not a region known for wine. It was similar to the wines from Granada–a Tempranillo blend that was rather a generic Spanish red. The Mencia from Bierzo we also tried was somewhat different, but still too dark and almost overripe for me. I much prefer Mencia from Galicia, which is fresher and lighter. 

 

Murcia:

Murcia is not the most famous area for wine nor tourism in Spain, but I enjoyed it. It was just everyday Spanish people as opposed to Barcelona where I heard more English and French than Spanish or Catalan in many places. However, there are things to see and some excellent food and wine in Murcia. 

I’ve already written about wines from Murcia when I reviewed La Purisima from Yecla, but in a nutshell it’s known for cheap Monastrell (Mourvedre) based red wines that come from 3 main appellations: Bullas, Jumilla and Yecla. Although it still makes a lot of cheap, simple wines, a lot of them still let the Monastrell meaty, leathery notes come out which may not appeal to some if you’re used to ripe and oaky Tempranillo. However, I like that animal edge it has.

Moreover, more producers are trying to make more expensive, world-quality wines from Monastrell, but they’re still bargains relative to other regions. Producers like Familia Castaña in Yecla and Juan Gil and Casa Castillo in Jumilla are the big names to look for at both the entry, mid and high end level.  The best I had was a 2019 Casa Castillo Las Gravas, mostly Monastrell with a bit of Syrah and Garnacha. It was only 28 euros at the supermarket. It manages to have enough ripe fruit and elegance to please everyone while having some rustic, savory, meaty Monastrell notes too. 

While in Murcia, I also drank a lot of beer. Unlike France which has a lot of rose options, Spain does not. Beer is drunk more often in those situations during hot weather. Murcia has their own major brewery called Estrella de Levante. 

In addition, I saw several vermuterias (vermouth bars) while touring around the country. It’s rather old-fashioned but is making a comeback. Therefore, I decided to try some vermouth while in Murcia. Vermouth is essentially a type of fortified wine flavored with different aromatic plants, roots, seeds and spices. It’s typically served on the rocks with a slice of orange and an olive, It’s typically an aperitif. Some bars make their own house vermouth. Most drink red vermouth which is sweeter, but there’s also white vermouth.

In terms of food, Murcia produces artichokes and lemons, so that’s often featured in the food. In fact, their typical dessert is a dough-dipped, lemon leaf beignet called Paparajote. As an appetizer/tapa, everyone eats Marineras, which is basically Russian salad with an anchovy over a circular shaped bread stick. Finally, Murcia is located close to Valencia, so they have their own form of paella, typically with rabbit. They also make something called Caldero, another delicious rice dish. 

Foodies should also make a reservation to eat at 2 Michelin Star La Cabaña Buenavista in Murcia. They only serve dinner once a week, but it’s special. It’s an experience that combines food with culture, literature and film. Even as you walk in, you go to several stations of amuse-bouches made in front of you and inspired by Spanish poetry and local Murcian food history. The local food theme also carried on into the appetizers, but they also did some deconstructed international appetizers before that. Then we had dessert inspired by the Matrix and other films. That’s in addition to a cheese course and even some tea with baklava while you leave and wait for your taxi.

The whole experience took almost 5 hours. Although it is definitely in the vein of Spanish avant-garde cooking meant to both pleasure you and make you think (like the best wines) in small tiny bites, after 20+ little dishes, you are left stuffed. My wife couldn’t even eat samples of chocolates from around the world after dessert and she’s a chocolate addict. By the way, their wine list was the size of a dictionary although we kept it simple to focus on the food. 

Although it’s technically in the Valencia community, the town of Alicante is close enough to do as a day-trip from Murcia, and they also make Monastrell-based wines. For example, I’m sure many wine lovers have tried Tarima Hill (Bodegas Volver), who make a modern styled Monastrell. In the town of Alicante, there’s a nice hill-top castle overlooking the beach, which was surprisingly warm for a winter’s day with plenty of people sunbathing.

In one of the local liquor stores close to the beach I was able to find some Fondillon. Fondillon is a non-fortified late-harvest sweet red wine made from Monastrell akin to sweet Pedro Ximenez (PX) in that it comes from dried grapes (but dried on the vine) and is allowed to oxidize slowly in large old barrels for at least 10 years. Like Pedro Ximenez, they have solera and vintage versions. It has over 500 years of history with writers like Shakespeare and Alexandre Dumas mentioning it. It was a favorite of some European royalty. Now, it’s rare to find outside of Spain or even outside of the region. The one I found was at least 25 years old. It’s similar to PX with some dried fruit, coffee and nutty notes. It also maintains good acidity to avoid being cloying. In fact, it’s quite savory and woodier than PX. Some of that could be the Monastrell. It’s not as syrupy or sweet as top old PX though. It was interesting. It’s sort of in between PX and really old red wine. To pair with the Fondillon, I had some Turron de Alicante, which is a type of hard almond nougat. 

Castilla-La Mancha 

Before going back to Madrid from Murcia, we stopped in Cuenca, Toledo and Segovia–places known more for sightseeing and certain foods rather than wine. Segovia is part of Castilla y León, which includes well-established wine regions Ribera del Duero, Toro, Rueda and Bierzo, so I didn’t look for local wines there but tried their famous roast suckling pig.

On the other hand, Cuenca and Toledo are part of Castilla-La Mancha, a large Spanish community known for cheap wines that don’t often make it outside of Spain despite growing a majority of the country’s wine grapes. Each sub-region has their own local wine. The overall quality of the Castilla-La Mancha is improving though. In fact, when looking for a wine from Toledo in Toledo, I found a wine from Marqués de Griñón (Dominio Valdepusa), which is Spain’s first Vino de Pago (VP). This means that a certain estate is considered high quality despite coming from a less-prestigious region or not following the rules of their DO. This allows estates to have more freedom in the styles and varietals they use without worrying about having their wine being designated as a lowly table wine or a less famous DO. Therefore, Valdepusa is produced in Toledo, but it’s not a major part of its labeling. The estate itself is its own DO although they are still required to maintain certain criteria of quality specified for their estate. The particular cuvee I got, called Caliza, uses Syrah, Petit Verdot and Graciano rather than Tempranillo like in much of Spain. I like the balance with less oak, more freshness despite the ripe, high alcohol, full-bodied style.

I also had some Castilla-La Mancha wines from Ucles, Castilla VT (vino de la tierra-so not a specific DO from Castilla-La Mancha) from Albecete and Ribera del Jucar, which is near Cuenca. I particularly liked the Ribera del Jucar wine we found since it featured Bobal while many of the wines from the regions I mentioned still feature mostly Tempranillo (or one of the various local names for it like Cencibel, Tinto de Toro, Tinto Fino and Tinto del Pais). Bobal is Spain’s third most grown variety, but it’s still rarely seen as a monovarietal wine. I like it for it’s tannic structure and high acidity while having more of a dark fruit profile. The one I found only cost 4 euros and was a food-friendly wine.

Conclusion

Overall, I enjoyed discovering lesser known regions, varietals and producers in Spain. Although I appreciate Ribera and Rioja, there’s a lot more to Spanish wine historically and currently being done by innovative winemakers. However, many of the lesser-known regions are still making wines similar in style to Rioja and Ribera with pronounced oak, which I think is a mistake because it’s harder to distinguish themselves and their terroir. However, that’s me as a wine geek. Perhaps they sell more that way though by making something similar to what average Spanish people know. On the other hand, I’m always about expanding people’s minds and palates, so I hope you experiment with Spanish wine beyond Rioja and Ribera just like I’ve been promoting trying different Chilean or California wines on this blog. I found a few rare Spanish wines that I took home with me and will include them in future posts, so look out for those.