A Visit To The Vineyards Of Spain

Although the destination on my ticket was Madrid, my time in the city would be brief. My true destination was the region of Castilla y Leon in northern Spain and the wine country that lies within its boundaries.

Our first stop would be in the region called the Ribera del Duero. The Duero River runs across northern Spain into Portugal where it is renamed the Douro. Ribera del Duero loosely translates to the Duero Valley.

There is no question that the winemaker who helped establish the worldwide renown of the Ribera del Duero is a gentleman by the name of Alejandro Fernandez. He launched his first winery, Tinto Pesquera, in 1975 at the age of 62. The wines soon received great acclaim and the region became known for its reds made from Tempranillo.

Alejandro’s “retirement” project also includes a second winery called Condado de Haza in Ribera Del Duero. They make a wine called Alenza from the vineyard’s finest grapes. We tasted the 2001 vintage along with an amazing lunch at the winery and I found it to be a beautiful bottle of wine. Because five course meals for both lunch and dinner were the week’s standard operating procedure, this was followed by a tour of Pesquera and dinner with the Fernandez family. The wines were uniformly dark, rich, ageable and delicious.

I can’t talk about the wines of Castilla Y Leon without a brief mention of the food. We were treated to a stunning variety of delicious cheeses, hams (Jamon), sausages, breads, and tapas during our visit. It is a natural assumption that all of the region’s wines are made to be consumed with the regional dishes. Even full-bodied reds paired nicely with lighter dishes because of the balance of fruit, acidity, tannins and alcohol.

After a morning stop to consume some “breakfast” wines, the tasty pink rosados of Fuente del Conde, it was on to the region of Bierzo.

The hillside vineyards there are mainly planted with the red grape Mencia. The Mencia wines are medium-bodied reds with ripe blackberry and blueberry flavors.

The wines of Pazo de Arribi and their enthusiastic 25-year-old winemaker Diego provided an interesting contrast to the venerable and well-established wineries of Alejandro Fernandez. Our visit to the western region of Bierzo also provided some interesting geographic and cultural similarities to the old west of the United States. A unique highlight was the literally fiery brew served to us at the end of dinner to protect us from evil spirits.

Finally, I have to mention a farmer and winemaker by the name of Angel Rodriguez. He makes a crisp and flavorful white wine in Rueda called Martinsancho. It is made from the Verdejo grape that is grown on low to the ground bush vines in an incredibly gravelly soil. The vineyards date back to 1780 and Angel is at least the fourth generation to make wine at the winery, with his son and daughter following in his footsteps.

Angel also helped preserve the tradition of winemaking in Rueda as his counterparts moved on to other endeavors. Thanks to Angel, Rueda is once again an acclaimed region for Spanish white wines.

We were also treated to an incredible home cooked family dinner in the winery’s rustic but comfortable tasting room. Family is the key word as we were encouraged to eat and drink while Angel broke out wines from 1994 and 1931 for his visiting “relatives” from the US.

As we traversed Castilla Y Leon by bus, we tasted an incredible array of excellent wines made by committed winemakers. Although their methods vary from very traditional to the ultramodern, the wines were uniformly well made and evocative of the region. Now, if I could just have a few more slices of chorizo!

(Newtown resident and oenophile Steve Small is the general manager at Yankee Wine & Spirits on Queen Street.)