Exciting new wave wines from Spain

Well known for its classic wine regions such as Rioja and established icons like Vega Sicilia, Spain is also home to a huge number of innovative producers who are pushing the boundaries of viticulture and winemaking in the country.

The Viñateros tasting in London was a showcase of their talents. In Spanish the term viñatero signifies a wine-grower, and a focus on viticulture and wines with a sense of place was a theme that united the diverse selection of producers at the event.

The line-up included leading names such as Telmo Rodriguez, who since the 1990s has been focusing on recovering old vineyards across Spain – from Malaga to Valdeorras – and notably resurrected the tiny 1.9ha Las Beatas vineyard in Rioja’s Labastida, to glowing acclaim.

Similarly a group of friends who met studying oenology at Alicante University founded winemaking collective Envínate in 2007, with the aim of creating wines from diverse areas of Spain that all vividly express a sense of place. Roberto Santana, Laura Ramos, Alfonso Torrente and José Angel Marchante started in Ribeira Sacra then expanded into Tenerife, Almansa, Manchuela, Extremadura and Montilla.

In the Sierra de Gredos near Madrid, another group of winemaking friends who met while hiking, saw the potential of this mountainous region, which is now attracting significant attention thanks to its high-altitude plots of old Garnacha vines, many of which had previously been abandoned. The friends – husband-and-wife Javier García and Laura Robles, David Velasco and David Moreno – became the boutique wine company 4 Monos (four monkeys) and now own 5ha of vineyards in the region, as well as working with local growers.

Go your own way

Not yet an official DO, Gredos runs across a series of valleys and takes in three regions: Vino de la Tierra de Castilla, DO Vinos de Madrid and DO Méntrida. Elsewhere, growers with vineyards that are sited within official DOs have chosen to go their own way and make wines outside the DO regulations, in order to find the best expression of fruit from unique individual plots.

Scottish master of Norrel Robertson MW consults and makes wine all over the world, but owns high-altitude vineyards in the rugged hills of Calatayud, where he prefers to makes wines outside the DO system for his aptly named wine label El Escocés Volante: The Flying Scot.

Other winemakers are shedding a new light on established regions. In Ribera del Duero, home to Vega Sicilia, Jorge Monzón and Isabel Rodero eschew the rich and bold styles traditionally typical of the region in favour of more elegant and expressive wines. Their winery Dominio del Aguila was set up in 2010, working with fruit from vineyards that are over 100 years old and focusing on native grapes such a as Tempranillo, Blanca del País, Bobal, Garnacha, Albillo and Tempranillo Gris, all farmed organically and biodynamically.

Their extraordinary Pícaro del Aguila Clarete – a style traditionally produced in Ribera del Duero that’s not quite a rosé, but a mixture of red and white grapes, which are barrel-aged – perfectly demonstrates their focus on creating wines with longevity. At Viñateros I tasted the 2016 vintage alongside the 2011, which is still amazingly fresh and certainly stands out from other premium Spanish rosés.

The list of innovators goes on. Verónica Ortega left her native Cádiz to search out plots of very old vines in Bierzo, where she works with traditional field blends, successfully experimenting with ageing her wines in amphorae. Former wind engineer, Fernando Mora MW, fell in love with wine and decided to become a winemaker, starting out with 28 vines planted in his grandparents garden in Aragón and founding his Bodegas Frontonio winery in a friend’s garage.

Manuel Cantalapiedra makes distinctive natural wines in Rueda, focusing on single plots of Verdejo; while Pablo Calatayud of Celler del Roure champions the local grapes and winemaking traditions of his native Valencia reviving the tradition of making wines in huge (4,000-litre) tinajas (amphorae).

The selection below offers a snapshot of Spain’s dynamic wine scene – but there’s plenty more to discover.

New Spanish Wines to try