Castilla y Leon Flashcards
DO’s
Bierzo Toro Rueda Ribera del Duero Castilla y Leon IGT
Bierzo DO Viticulture
Traditionally very rustic wines for locals. Alvaro Palacios and Ricardo Perez in late 1990’s demonstrated Bierzo could make high quality wine.
Northwest of Castilla. Similar to Galicia in terms of climate but as it’s further inland has warmer summers, cooler winters and lower but adequate rainfall. Mountains or hills on three sides, but open to the west for some Maritime. Some years cool and rainy others warm and dry for vintage var.
Flat plain in the middle of the DO and lower slopes of mountains have fertile silty loam. Inexpensive and high yields
Best on hillsides of 500 - 850m. Good drainage, shallow infertile soil for low vigor. Altitude cools and gives large diurnal range. Slows sugar accum, retains acid while flavor and tannin develop. Steepness and age of vines means bush is common. Sig old vines (80% over 60). Yields are low.
Bierzo DO Grapes & Vini
Mencia 75% of plantings. Early to mid ripening, can lose med plus / high acid and accum sugar too quickly for too high alcohol if picked late. Range of styles.
Must be 70% of reds. Alicante Bouschet is remainder (but only 2% of plantings so rarely used).
Godello and other Galician whites.
Inexpensive wine, high yields (fertile soils). Med minus body, tannin, raspberry cherry. May be carbonic or semi. Usually no oak, good quality and mid.
Slope wines; more concentrated, med plus body and tannin, higher alcohol, ripe red cherry and plum with some floral and herbal. Often matured in oak for a spicy character. But care not to overwhelm Mencia flavor. Very good to outstanding and mid to prem and Super prem.
Bierzo Business
Sig producers: Descendientes de J. Palacios and Raul Perez.
3,000ha with 2,000 growers (many small plots).
62% of growers associated with one of 5 coops.
75 wineries, many established past 10 - 15 yrs
2017 Consejo Regulador recognized a new classification based on geographic characteristics. For wine exclusively from villages and vineyards of note. And sig restrictions on yields.
Toro DO Viticulture
Located in the west of Castilla y Leon with the River Duero running through
Far inland with a continental climate with hot summers and cold winters. Altitude of 620m - 750m for a large diurnal range that helps maintain acidity.
Spring frosts can be a problem.
Rainfall low and irrigation not allowed from June till harvest. To manage limited water, many planted at low densities with low bunches per vine (max 2,700 vines/ha).
Bush vines majority. Sandy soils mean phylloxera not a problem and many ungrafted. 25% over 50 years and a number over 100 years.
Toro DO Grape and Vini
Tinta de Toro. Considered by some a form of Tempranillo and others a variety of Toro.
Thicker skins than Tempranillo (due to the intense sun) for greater color and higher tannin.
Reds are min 75% Tinta de Toro. Remaining Grenache. Deep color, full body, high alcohol and tannin, ripe blackberry and blueberry. cool nights deliver med plus to high acid. Max 15% abv.
Inexpensive and mid may have undergone carbonic to boost fruit and lessen tannin. Acceptable to good, fruity easy drinking.
Premium in oak (French or Am). Teso La Monja and Numanthia
Rose from Tinta de Toro or Grenache or whites from Malvasia or Verdejo also.
Ribera del Duero History
First winery Vega Sicilia in late 19th century. And still some of the best.
9 wineries in 1982 and over 280 today.
Alejandro Fernandez Pasquera sparked the change when his wines won acclaim in the 80’s. this inspired others to make and bottle their own (vs coop).
Much investment from Catalunya and Rioja
but rapid investment and expansion could dilute quality
Ribera del Duero Viticulture
Continental climate with hot summers and cold winters.
Altitudes of 750 - 1,000. Frosts occur in spring and autumn limiting time on vine and sig reducing yields in some years. Heaters, spraying with water and helicopters used.
Rainfall of 400 - 600mm. Irrigation can be used at some points but not during ripening.
Range of altitude and aspects. Eastern side higher and cooler. Diff sites used for balance or complexity. and to ensure consistent yields.
Half planted as bush vines. 25% over 50 years and a number over 100. Newer vines planted on trellises.
Vast majority of plots are under 1ha.
Ribera del Duero Grapes and Vini
Tempranillo: here called Tinto Fino or Tinta del Pais
REd and Rose but no white. But vast majority is red.
Reds min 75% Trempranillo with Cab Sauv, Merlot, Malbec, Garnacha, and Albibo (white grape adding freshness but rarely used). But most are almost 100% Tempranillo.
Full bodied, high alcohol, ripe blackberry and plum, vanilla from new oak. French popular but some use American or blend. Top end 50% - 100% new. General trend towards less extraction and new oak for quality producers.
Aging categories are routinely used. Crianza most and Gran Reserva least. Majority has no labelled aging.
Good to outstanding, mid to super.
Vega Sicilia, Pingus, Bodegas Aalto
Rueda DO Viticulture
Continental climate with hot dry summers and cold winters and low rainfall.
700 - 800m altitude for cool nights that help preserve acidity.
Very stony soil with some areas sandy. Both free draining and low in nutrients limiting vigor.
New are VSP trellised. Harvesting at night desirable . Some very old bush vines (some on sandy soils pre phylloxera) about 10%.
Rueda Grapes and Vini
Verdejo - relatively drought resistant.
Med to med plus acid, med alcohol, apple, pear, peach, fennel and slight bitterness
Sauv Blanc is next and either blended with Verdejo or varietal.
Inexpensive are made protectively with cool ferment in stainless and bottled and sold soon after. Cultured yeasts. Acceptable to good.
Mid price have a period of lees aging (few mo to a year) with regular stirring for body and texture. and good quality
Most expensive are fermented and/or matured in oak. body, complexity, toasty notes. good to very good.
MLF avoided to retain acidity
Producers: Ossian and Bodegas Belondrade y Lurton.
Rueda Regulation and Business
To be varietally labelled must have 85% of that grape. Commonly 100%.
Between 1996 and 2006 hectares tripled. and doubled since then. Fruity crisp style along with good price point is popular. But as competition is high producers increasingly looking to higher quality.
Sales increased 7x from 1997 to 2016. 12% exported. Netherlands, Germany, US, UK
60% is made by local wineries, but a number of producers based in Rioja and Ribera del Duero have holdings to complement red wines.
Castilla y Leon VT
Northern part of the meseta and protected from Atlantic influence by mountains in the north.
Continental with summer temps moderated by altitude.
large number of local and international grapes permitted.
9,000ha planted. DO vineyards within it’s bounds are 63,000.
Mostly inexpensive to mid with some prem.
Navarra Viticulture
To the northeast of Rioja covering a large area extending 100km south from Pamplona. Large area with many climatic zones.
Plantings of 11,000ha
Five sub regions:
Baja Montana: hilly zone in the north
Valdizarbe and Tierra Estella: run east to west; cooler and wetter with Atlantic influences; in the north west (diffused somewhat by mountains n the north and the Pyrenees).
Ribera Alta: in the middle
Ribera Baja: in the south; warmer, drier, flatter
Navarra Grapes and Vini
Wide variety of grapes vs other regions and vs historical (which was Garnacha).
Tempranillo now most planted. In the 1980’s Consejo allowed international such as Cab Sauv, Merlot, Chard
Tempranillo often single variety. Cab Sauv and Merlot are often blended with Tempranillo and sometimes Garnacha.
Range of styles from fruity light bodied early drinking to fuller bodied, more concentrated wines matured in oak for a year or two. Aging categories widely used. American oak for Tempranillo and French for Cab and Merlot.
Garnacha grown on old bush vines also high quality. lighter body with red fruit, med plus acid, in cooler Baja Montana, Valdizarbe, and Tierra Estella to fuller body more tannic in Ribera Baja.
Chardonnay is main white; citrus, peach, med alcohol, med to med plus acid, oaked or unoaked. Moscatel de Grano Menudo (Blanc a Petits Grains); Sauv Blanc, Viura, Malvasia also grown.
Sig Rose produced from Garnacha sometimes with Tempranillo, Cab Sauv, Merlot. Grapes mainly from cooler northern regions. DO wines must be made from short maceration on skins (direct press not permitted). Maceration from 3 - 4 hours for paler; 6 - 12 for deeper. Most fermented in stainless and bottled soon after to retain red fruit. Some use barrels.
Overall good to very good; occasionally outstanding. Inexpensive to mid with some prem. Domaines Lupier and Bodegas J. Chivite
Many small holdings selling to coops.
