Spanish wine in 2021: Top trends and the 10 bottles worth seeking out

2021 started in a dramatic fashion in much of Spain with the arrival of storm Filomena. Instagram was full of snowy vineyard pictures from producers full of enthusiasm with the beautiful sight. They were also excited about the way melt water would top up water tables for the year ahead, and the useful effect of the big freeze on vine pests.

Yet it will also be remembered as the year when the roof of Vall Llach’s lovely old winery in the heart of Porrera village in Priorat caved in under the weight of snow, damaging vats and amphoras.

Elsewhere some producers who weather wine in glass demijohns found them shattered by falling branches. Still, if the coming spring and summer bring no more extremes, 2021 may be a vintage to remember, a partner to the outstanding 2001.

Scroll down for the 10 most exciting Spanish wines to try in 2021

The search for altitude

Climate change is driving vineyard purchases in the cooler areas: Jaime and Xavier Gramona, for instance, have bought land at 1,200m in the Pyrenees foothills. You have to adapt to the new conditions; notes Leo Gramona: ‘We took up coolers to wrap round the tanks as we usually do. But we found that what we actually needed was heaters.’

The search for old varieties

The hunt for authenticity continues to deliver results. In Castilla y León a project started in the 1990s to identify local varieties. The most promising were narrowed down to 14 – and from that six.

My favourite is Cenicienta (‘Cinderella’). This elegant red, spotted by a sharp-eyed grower, looks like it could thrive in the white wine region of Rueda, providing a welcome alternative.

Garnacha

Spain’s hitherto much criticised variety – over alcoholic, quick to oxidise, patently rustic – will be continuing its elevation to international status. It’s no surprise that two of my top six reds below are Garnachas, and one gets my highest score.

Palomino

Sales figures for Sherry may continue to look gloomy, but in the shining white albariza soils there’s plenty to excite. The years of formulaic production of brand Sherry are past, and producers are opening up their cellars to make special selections. The highlight is the parallel work of a new generation of growers/winemakers producing still, unfortified wines out of Palomino. (This is echoed to a much lesser extent in Montilla-Moriles too, where Pedro Ximénez is the grape.) Some of these unfortified Palominos spend a short time under flor, but fino Sherry is not always the reference.

Traditional method sparkling wines

The different producers seem further apart than ever. However the new regulations for cava are a definite move in the right direction. Finally consumers can discover where in cava’s multi-zonal DO the wine comes from (if the manufacturer chooses to declare it). The reserva wine categories have longer ageing, and they will be guaranteed from organically grown grapes. The work is on to raise quality across the board.

Organics and biodynamics

Spain has many ideal climates for organic production; it’s the leader in Europe in terms of organic agricultural acreage, and the fourth-largest in the world. In the wine world it’s much more than a fashion fad, as evidenced by the number of producers committed to go one step further and implement biodynamics.

Amphoras

While the world has been focused on Georgia’s remarkable qvevri, Spain has been quietly reviving its own historic heritage of amphoras. They are in use from Catalunya down the Mediterranean coast, where the Phoenicians and Romans landed, inland to Montilla-Moriles, north to Rioja and beyond. Seek them out.

The 10 most exciting Spanish wines to try in 2021

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