3/6/2024 0 Comments Spanish wine country map![]() ![]() Modern equipment and practices became more widespread, buoyed even further by the entrance of Spain into the EU in 1986. Upon the end of the Franco regime in the mid-1970s, the Spanish wine industry was imbued with new energy. While vineyards were replanted, winemaking technology languished and Spain’s wines largely remained under the radar under the rule of a military dictatorship. Unfortunately, phylloxera soon found its way to Spain’s vineyards, decimating the country’s wine industry. Sherry was a coveted export, and later, the onset of phylloxera in France drove French winemakers to relocate their expertise-and their barricas -to northeastern regions like Rioja and Navarra. Winemaking continued throughout Roman rule, largely centered along the coasts and even exported to modern-day France and England.Īfter a period of decline under the rule of the Moors, wine once again became an integral part of Spain’s culture in the late 1400s. Grapevines first came to Spain more than 3,000 years ago when the Phoenicians planted vineyards in the region now known as Jerez-Xérès-Sherry. Though Spain has really only been catapulted into the international wine spotlight over the past 50 years, its wine heritage is one of the oldest in the world. While Spain’s climate is largely maritime in the north, it becomes more Mediterranean as the land approaches the sea, with an extreme continental climate defining the inland plateau. One of these mountain ranges, the Cantabrian cordillera, separates Spain’s cool north coast and protects the rest of the country from rainy winds. It is also quite a mountainous country, second in Europe only to Switzerland, allowing producers to harness freshness from altitude even in hot areas. One of the country’s most distinguishing geographical features, is the Meseta, a wide plateau that covers much of central Spain. It dominates the Iberian peninsula in southwestern Europe, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, north Atlantic Ocean, Bay of Biscay, and Pyrenees Mountains. GeographyĪs the third-largest country in Europe, Spain’s geography and climate are exceptionally diverse, comprising many distinctive regions making equally distinctive wines. Discovering the many facets of Spanish wine has never been easier. While local winemakers carry on the traditions passed down through Spain’s winemaking history, they also look to push their industry forward, experimenting with styles and increasingly focusing on organic viticulture.įrom well-known icons to energetic up-and-comers, the diverse terroirs of Spain offer something for every palate: still, sparkling, or fortified, white, red, or rosé. More than 200 grape varieties are grown here, from international favorites to the country’s many local specialties, like Tempranillo, Mencía, Albariño, and Verdejo. The sheer number of grape varieties also widens the spectrum of Spanish wines. Vineyards stretch from the lush and rainy coasts of Green Spain to the extreme and arid plains of the Meseta, from the valleys carved by the Ebro River to the volcanic Canary Islands off the west coast of Africa. ![]() This is a country of exceptional diversity, with vines planted across a huge range of climates and geographies. To classify the wines of Spain under a single style or character would be impossible. wine trade and consumers alike, the sheer range of quality wines produced across this Iberian country is often underestimated. But while Spanish wine is no longer unfamiliar to the U.S. Spain sits among the world’s most important wine countries, with over one million hectares under vine across 139 wine-producing regions. Where the River Guadalete flows out into the Bay of Cádiz, just a few kilometres from Jerez, stands the historic town of El Puerto de Santa María, part wine producer and part fishing port, these days a first class tourist resort thanks to the exceptional quality of its beaches and its privileged location right in the heart of the Bay.This content was produced in collaboration with our partner, Wines from Spain. A modern city of around 200,000 inhabitants but one which is well aware and proud of its past heritage in which the wine-growing industry has had an essential role to play, helping to mould both the cultural and architectural characteristics of the city itself. Located upon one of many hills which dominate a wide open landscape of albariza soil, mid-way between the nearby mountains of the sierra and the shining white towns and villages of the coast, Jerez is forceful and dynamic, a place where sherry wines share the stage with other age-old symbols of the city, such as flamenco and horse breeding. Jerez de la Frontera is the largest city in the area and capital of the wine region to which it lends its name.
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