Andalucían Wine

With a tradition of wine-making that goes back more than 2000 years and the largest vineyard acreage in the world, Spain is a wine enthusiast’s paraíso. The Andalucían province itself has the largest number of vineyards in the world and produces a large selection of wines that can be compared to the finest. Blanco (white), tinto (red) or clarete/rosado (rose) wines are invariable accompaniments to any meal.

The Origins of Wine- Making in Andalucía

Given its rather early beginnings, nobody is quite sure when Andalucía was first introduced to wine-making, but credit probably goes to the Greeks who occupied this province 2,500 years ago. Optimum weather conditions and ideal topography boosted bumper crops of fine grapes, and by the time of the Romans, wine-making was a big-time activity in Andalucía. Since then it has only grown in size and quality. Today Andalucía is among the largest wine producers along with France and Italy.

Even the Moors who dominated Andalucía during their time, participated with gusto in making the wine as well as drinking it. “For medicinal purposes” is how they explained away their transgressions against the Koran. In fact, the technique of distilling was introduced to Spain by the Moors and ‘alambique’, the Spanish word for still, is Arabic in origin.

Soon Andalucían wines found their way to other countries and since the 15th century they have been a popular export to other European countries, particularly England.

The best known wines of this region have a 'Denominación de origen' (DO) label. So what exactly is that? 'Denominación de origen' is Spanish for ‘designation of origin’, and is an indicator of the geographical region, production process, personality and quality of each variety of wine.

There are two basic components to the official definition of this term. One is the uniqueness, personality and quality of the wine, which is derived from its geographical origin. This implies the climatic and soil conditions as well as certain growing and manufacturing practices. The second component is recognizing and assigning the value of these differentiating qualities by wine drinkers.

Another component, not including in the definition, but important all the same, is the collective willingness of the wine producers as well as the sellers of the region to voluntarily subject themselves to these regulations and restrictions in order to offer consumers a high quality wine with a unique personality. Before a wine can be labeled 'Denominación de Origen' it has to pass strict procedures and stringent restrictions. A 'Denominación de Origen' label guarantees that the wine’s authenticity and quality is determined by looking into all of the geographical factors that have an influence on the final product.

Some bottles of Spanish wine have ‘vino de la tierra’, which is Spanish for ‘wine of the land’, written on the label. This implies that the wine does not fit into the 'Denominación de Origen' system. Dissatisfied by the overly stringent system of classification and believing that wines can be of high quality without this label, some wine producers rebelled against this system and invented their own. The Vino de la Tierre label does not in any way indicate that the wine is in any way less superior.

Spanish wines are best defined by the terms related to the aging process. Before being sold, ‘Crianza’ wines would have had at least two years ageing including six months in oak casks; Red ‘Reserva’ wines would have had a minimum of three years aging including one year in oak and Red ‘Gran Reserva’ are kept in oak for at least three years and another three years in the bottle. White ‘Gran Reserva’ indicates that the wine has been aged for a minimum of five years of which six months are in oak. Red wines that are young are known as vino jovén, vino del año or vino de cosechero.

The regions best known wines come from Andalucía’s four historical Denominación de Origen including Condado de Huelva, Malaga, Montilla-Moriles and Jerez/Sherry/Manzanilla.

While in the past it was difficult to make quality wines because of the hot Andalucían climate, nowadays, wine makers use temperature-controlled fermentation methods, producing wines of the finest quality.

Tours of Jerez wineries are an exciting interactive experience, and are usually available Wednesday morning. Visit one and you’ll come away feeling you are an expert. Visit more than once and you are sure to feel that there is a lot about winemaking that you did not know.