WINE SOCIETY SPAIN AND RIOJA TASTING
- Wine Society Tastings Events: The Wine Society holds 150 tastings and events throughout the country every year. Society events take several forms, ranging from informal, walk-around affairs to tutored tastings, gastronomic dinners, Saturday morning workshops and monthly lunches at Stevenage. The emphasis of these events is on fun and enjoyment, whilst providing an opportunity to expand your wine knowledge.
- Wines of Spain Tasting: "Spain is a wine country transformed by quality, a fushion between the traditional and the trensetting that delivers incomparable variety and value. With the largest number of vineyards of any country in the world, Spain offers and embarrassment of wine riches, and choosing just 36 from the thousands of samples I tasted this year has been both a challenge and a joy". Pierre Mansour. Head Buyer of Wine Society.
Spain is one of the most exciting wine-growing countries in the world. Neatly blending tradition with innovation, its long-established regions and p roducers are now making their best wines ever, and dynamic new producers are rising swiftly to the top.
We have therefore invited producers that work closely with The Wine Society from across Spain to show their wines, allowing you to get a full understanding of just what Spain has to offer. This evening there is a host of characterful wines made from indigenous varieties, which gives an insight into how much factors such as climate and soil affect each wine.
The wines are numbered on tables around the room and are arranged into five different categories that splice Spain´s wines by style, and demonstrate that there are bargains at every level, from everyday drinking right up to country´s finest wines. Enjoy your tasting and you can order online at www.thewinesociety.com/tasteofspain.
- Urbina Winery: My Spanish trip concluded in the small village of Cuzcurrita in the heart of the sub-district Rioja Alta. It was a first for me and my mission was to learn more about Bodegas Urbina, a family who have been growers in Rioja for over four generations making very traditional, elegant wines.
I was shown around the winery by Pedro Benito Urbina, the young and unassuming winemaker here. His wines are aged extensively in barrel, mostly American oak, then stored in steel tanks before being bottled. The family's vineyards are at the northern limit of Rioja which means the weather is cooler, resulting in tempranillo which ripens beautifully with naturally high levels of acidity. This endows the wines with longevity and finesse. Despite its young winemaker Urbina's reds are some of the region's best traditional style wines, very much in the mould of a classic Rioja. Keep an eye out for the crianza in our Christmas offerings this year!
The Urbina family has four generations under their helm as vineyard owners in Rioja. They own around 75 hectares, all in the heart of the renowned subregion of Rioja Alta which is known to produce grapes with fine structure and elegance. The vineyards, mostly planted to tempranillo, are located around the village of Cuzcurrita which is at the north-west point of Rioja and therefore at the limit of vine production. Here the climate is influenced by the cooler Atlantic weather systems which results in a longer, more gradual ripening period and grapes that tend to show freshness, structure and intensity. The magic of this area is that it makes wines that are amongst somo the longest lived in Rioja.
Urbina Crianza, Rioja 2009: A benchmark example of fully mature Rioja in the traditional style. Pedro Benito Urbina looks for finesse, complexity and savoury flavours. This is pale brick red in appearance with silky texture and enticing spicy aromas. Drinks this year and next. 13.5%. £10.50 bottle. £126 dozen.
Urbina Reserva Especial, Rioja 2001: Graceful, mellow and silky Rioja, made in the traditional way with long ageing in barrel and bottle. The sublime 2001 has reached perfect maturity. Drink now to 2019. 14%. £17.00 bottle. £204 dozen.
- Rioja: The leading fine wine region of Spain, situated in the north of the country, Rioja produces predominantly red wines. The region is divided into three zones along the axis of the River Ebro. Rioja Alta and Rioja Alavesa share a similar climate: many of the best grapes are grown here on the cooler slopes to the north west. The climate of Rioja Baja is more Mediterranean with drought a frequent issue in the summer months.
Member´s fondness for Span´s leading fine-wine area has enabled us to expand our range this year at the Wine Society. This is a selection of smooth, mellow and delicious wines, the majority of which have been matured for you at source and are ready to drink. Their warmth and glow will complement the winter months perfectly.
Traditional Riojas were defined by maturation and blending, and so the Consejo Regulador stipulates more stringent ageing criteria here than the national aouthorities. Vino joven requires no ageing in oak, whilst crianza and reserva must spend at least a year in oak barrels, with crianza then having to spend a further year in bottle and reserva a further two years before release. Gran Reserva must be aged for two years in oak and a further three years in bottle before release.
DO stands for Denominación de Origen, the Spanish equivalent of the French Appellation Controlee system, and the mainstay of Spain´s wine quality control system. Each region awarded a DO is governed by a Consejo Regulador, a body made up of representatives of the regional government, vine growers, winemakers and merchants working in the region. They decide on the boundaries of the region, permitted vine varieties, maximum yields, limits on alcoholic strenght and any other limitations pertaining to the zone. Rioja was awarded Spain´s first DO in 1926.
The slow oxygenation of the wine as a result of spending time in barrel helps to reduce the fresh, grapy primary aromas of young wines and deepens and stabilises the wine´s colour, softens its tannins and increases the complexity of flavours compunds. American oak (quercus alba) generally imparts a more obvious vanilla and conconout flavour to the wine than the creamy, spicy influence of European oak (quercus petrea an robur).
Tempranillo ripens well on the clay and limestone soils of Rioja Alta and Alavesa where it forms the basis for some of the best wines in the entire region. However, most Rioja is a blend and garnacha is often used to add body to wines made from tempranillo. Mazuelo (also known as carignan) and graciano are also used, the latter being particularly prized for adding aroma and structure to the finished blend.
- Fine Reds Beyond Rioja: A wealth of treasures exists beyond Spain´s mos famous red-wine region, with Ribera del Duero and Priorat both producing stunning, bold, intense but elegant wines, and beacons of quality abounding in Navarra and Toro.
A key vineyard technique in Ribera del Duero is to encourage natural competition. Vines are planted in the poorest soil at double the density of many other vineyards in order to naturally reduce production. This gives the wines a brillant concentration and encourages them to transmit more of the essence fo the soil, but crucially it also guarantees a solid, firm skin.
Awarded DO status in 1982, Ribera del Duero in north-central Spain is now challenging Rioja as Spain´s leading red-wine producing region. At altitudes between 700m to 850m above sea level, the growing season is relatively short, frost is commonplace and temperatures can reach up to 40ºC in the summer, falling sharply at night. It is this diurnal temperature variation that is crucial to the quality of wine produced in the area, mostly from tinto fino, the local variant tempranillo.
One of Spain´s most inspiring red wines is made in an isolated DO zone in Catalunya. Priorat is an example of the garnacha and cariñena grapes at their most powerful. The average age of the vines and poor, stony soil, coupled with the hot Mediterranean sun all help to create intense, structured red wines which must meet a minimum alcoholic strength of 13,5% to bear the name Priorat on the label.
Spain is the kingdom of tempranillo, it is the country’s most widely planted red grape variety, and the second-most planted vine after the bulk-wine grape airén. Tempranillo tends to give wines with moderate alcohol, firm tannins and flavours ranging from red fruit and strawberries, to leather and spice when the wine has been aged in oak.
All things being equal, temperature falls by about 0.6 ̊C for every 100 metres climbed. These lower temperatures found at higher altitudes retard both bud break and ripening and have positive effects on vine quality in the world’s warmer wine regions. Elevated vineyards also experience more ultraviolet radiation, which is likely to increase quality because of the stimulation of phenolic synthesis. Many of the wines in this tasting come from high-altitude vineyards.
The principal wine regions in the south include the fortified and dessert wine regions of Jerez, Montilla Moriles (near Córdoba) and Málaga. Elsewhere, the vast La Mancha wine region,
which extends from Toledo to Cuenca, is home to some truly exciting wine estates making terrific-value dry reds. Further south, Alicante and Jumilla show the success of the monastrell grape.
- Every Reds: The value for money available in Spain today is well-high unrivalled. The key is simplicity: healthy local grapes, carefully tended in the vineyard and made in a way that emphasises authentic fruit purity rather than excessive winemaking gloss.
Situated in the south eastern province of Murcia, Yecla, a DO since 1975, is ringed by a series of low mountain ranges which help to give the region its particular microclimate. Monastrell dominates here, representing 85% of all the grapes grown in the region. 85% of the region´s wines are exported.
The town of Cariñena, in the province of Zaragoza, is thought to be the birthplace of the carignan grape, which is known, appropriately enough as cariñena in some parts of Spain. It also gives its name to a DO. Here more than 4,300 hectares of vineyard are spread over the slopes of the Algairén and Pecos mountain ranges, between the Huerva and Jalón rivers. The vineyards, which range between 320 and 850 metres above sea level, form a patchwork of different soil types and climates enabling a vast array of wine styles to be made in the region.
One of the world´s most planted grape varieties, garnacha is believed to be Spanish in origin. Late ripening, it thrives in hot, dry climates and comes into its own in regions such as Chateauneuf-du-Pape in France´s southern Rhone and Priorat in Spain. Stylistically, garnacha can range from deeply coloured, spicy, herbal reds to pale, fruity rosés. Wines made from garnacha tend to have high levels of alcohol, with sweet strawberry and red-fruit flavours.
Spain has by far the world’s biggest vineyard area devoted to monastrell where it is the fourth most planted red grape variety after tempranillo, bobal and garnacha. Typically high in alcohol and tannins, wines made from monastrell often have aromas and flavours of blackberries.
- Spanish Whites: More than perhaps any other Spanish wine style, it´s the whites that have undergone the most dramatic renaissance in the past few years. Winemakers have reignited, reshaped and ramped up quality to dizzying new heights, and the results are as diverse as they are delightful. It´s the coder corners of the country that seem to really excel, turning out pristine, delicate and elegant wines.
Macabeo is a white grape used on either side of the Pyrenees, in the north and east of Spain and the southernmost reaches of France. Known as Viura in Rioja, where it is the principal grape in the region´s white wines, macabeo is also a major component of Cava. Stylistically, wines made from macabeo can be fresh, floral and aromatic when harvested sufficiently early and aged in stainless steel, but weighty, honeyed and nutty when harvested slightly later ans subsequently aged in oak.
The best examples of albariño combine flavours and aromas that are both fruity and floral, ranging from orange and acacia blossom to grapefruit, peach and in some cases green apple. Typically fresh acidity is combined with a delicate texture and a firm structure. In Spain virtually all the albariño grown is in Galicia where it was one of the first Spanish wines to be labelled verietally.
Verdejo is named after the green (verde) colour of the grapes and is the star of the Rueda DO. Wines produced from verdejo tend to be rich, mouth-watering and aromatic, with notes of grass and bitter almonds and fresh acidity.
The winter months are heaven for Spain´s best seafood. with noble Atlantic fish at its best. Halibut, haddock and scallops beckon, or a mixture of all three in a fish pie and if you can get your hands on some decent frozen octopus (freezing tenderises it), so much the better. Thaw, boil until tender, and add smoked paprika and parsley. Delicious!!
- Sparkling: 95% of all cava is made in Catalunya. Cava is traditionally a blend of macabeo, xarel-lo, which gives cava its distinguishing earthy character, and parellada, which lends elegance to the blend. Chardonnay was officially authorised as a constituent of the blend in 1986. In order to be labelled ‘Cava’ the wine must be made according to the local adaptation of the Champagne traditional method, which includes spending at least nine months on its yeast lees before disgorgement.
Catalunya’s highest-quality white grape xarel-lo is prized for producing ageworthy still whites and sparkling cavas due to its combination of power, density, high acidity and relatively high sugar levels. Still wines made from the variety often have aromas of citrus and pear with some herbal notes.
- Sherry: Surely one of the most underrated and best-value fine wines in the world. The region around the city of Jerez de la Frontera in Andalucía in south-west Spain is renowned for its fortified wine. Within the Jerez DO there are three centres for sherry maturation: Jerez de la Frontera, Sanlúcar de Barrameda and Puerto de Santa María, each of which imparts subtle differences to the finished wines.
Sherry is initially made to conform to two main types. There is the pale, dry fino (or manzanilla if made in Sanlúcar de Barrameda) which ages under the influence of a film-forming yeast called flor, and full, rich but dry oloroso. The two anomalies are palo cortado which is a naturally resulting fortified wine in a style somewhere between an amontillado and an oloroso, and pedro ximénez, an intensely sweet wine made from the variety which carries its name.
- Galicia: Situated on Spain’s north-western Atlantic coast, Galicia is one of the wettest regions in Spain with average rainfall of more than 1,300mm a year. Fortunately this is compensated for by an average of over 2,000 sunshine hours a year and some clever vineyard techniques which result in grapes ripening well.
- Rías Baixas: Rías Baixas is the leading DO (Denominación de Origen) in the region, producing some of the country’s most sought-after white wines. Twelve dif ferent vine varieties are officially permitted in the Rías Baixas region, although albariño accounts for 90% of the vineyard area. Of those twelve, six red varieties are permitted, including mencía and espadeiro.
- Valdeorras: Valdeorras is the easternmost wine zone in Galicia, protected from the Atlantic influence by mountains immediately to the west. The indigenous white grape variety godello thrives here, as does mencía, which produces medium-bodied, fruity reds.
- Toro: Spanning the Duero Valley east of Zamora, Toro was accorded DO status in 1987. A wild and remote area, growing conditions are severe with altitudes of between 600m and 750m and dry, stony soils. Here the region’s principal grape variety tinto de toro (a local variant of tempranillo) has to be handled carefully as left to its own devices it could easily ripen to a potential alcohol of16%!
- Ribera del Duero and Neighbouring Regions: Awarded DO status in 1982, Ribera del Duero in north-central Spain is now challenging Rioja as Spain’s leading red-wine-producing region. At altitudes between 700m to 850m above sea level, the growing season is relatively short, frost is commonplace and temperatures can reach up to 40 ̊C in the summer, falling sharply at night. It is this diurnal temperature variation that is crucial to the quality of wine produced in the area, mostly from tinto fino, the local variant of tempranillo. Several of the wines below are not officially Ribera del Duero because the producers choose not to make their wines strictly according the DO rules.
- Navarra: The Navarra region splits into five subzones according to climate, with rainfall ranging from between 600mm in the north to 400mm in the south and east. Summer temperatures also become correspondingly warmer. The southern subzone of Ribera Baja has traditionally been the most important of the five areas with over 30% of Navarra’s vineyards. Garnacha dominates here but since the 1990s tempranillo has been making inroads. White wines account for less than 10% of the region’s production.
- Moncayo: The region was classified as a DO in 1980 and now has roughly 6,000 hectares under vine. The vineyards are situated on the Moncayo massif which straddles the Castile/Aragon border. The already cool conditions as a result of the altitude are exacerbated by large diurnal temperature differences which ensure a long, slow ripening season and subsequently, increased complexity in the finished wine. The soils tend to be rocky, with a large proportion of slate, which suits grenache, the principal variety grown here, perfectly.
- Calatayud: Since gaining DO status in 1990, Calatayud’s development has been rapid. Indeed the region has attracted a lot of interest from consultant winemakers, both Spanish and foreign, who have recognised the potential for distinctive and high quality wines. It is the hottest and driest part of the northern Ebro Valley, and quality vineyards are located in higher altitudes (400-900m) to escape from the scorching heat. The soils are a combination of limestone, marl and slate and the dominant variety grown here is garnacha. The Consejo Regulador divides garnacha vines into four age groups: up to 20 years old, 20-30 years old, 30-40 years old and over 40 years old which is significantly the largest group of the lot. There is also a classification (Calatayud Superior) for wines made from garnacha vines which are over 50 years old.
- Catalunya: Catalunya was at the vanguard of Spain’s 20th century winemaking revolution, although José Raventos (who went on to found cava giant Cordoníu) began making sparkling wine using the traditional method in the early 1870s. In addition to most of Spain’s cava, Catalunya produces a mix of wine styles ranging from traditional reds made from indigenous grape varieties to cool-fermented dry whites. The climate in Catalunya is strongly influenced by the Mediterranean. The coast is warm, with moderate rainfall, but conditions become incre asingly hot and dry further inland.
- Priorat: One of Spain’s most inspiring red wines is made in an isolated DO zone in Catalunya. Priorat is an example of the garnacha and cariñena grapes at their finest. The average age of the vines and poor, stony soil, coupled with the hot Mediterranean sun all help to create intense, structured red wines which must meet a minimum alcoholic strength of 13.5% to bear the name Priorat on the lable. Poor, stony soils derived from the underlying slate and quartz, are known locally as llicorella. Relatively infertile, this type of soil supports only the most meagre of crops, causing the vine to struggle, a pre-requisite for the production of quality wines.
- Tenerife: Tenerife boasts some of the highest vineyards in Europe which are situated on the slopes of El Teide, the active volcano that dominates the island. Tenerife has five different wine appellations and, as phylloxera is yet to invade the island, all of the vines are grown on their own rootstocks. Malvasia is the dominant white grape grown on the island, whilst the indigenous listàn negro is the principal red variety, which produces fruity, peppery reds with lovely freshness.
- Yecla: Situated in the south eastern province of Murcia, Yecla, a DO since 1975 is ringed by a series of low mountain ranges which help to give the region its particular microclimate. Monastrell dominates here, representing 85% of all the grapes grown in the region. 85% of the region’s wines are exported.
- Jumilla: Jumilla and particularly the Penarubia zone, is most famous for its richly flavoured, concentrated monastrell. While known more widely as mourvèdre in France, the grape is in fact native to this region. Despite the proximity to the sea, the continental climate here produces scorching hot summers (there is sometimes a difference of 20 degrees between day and night temperatures) and very low rainfall. However, monas trell is able to resist drought remarkably well, and the predominantly limestone soils retain water, which also helps during the dry seasons.
- The Wine Society: Seminal British memberowned wine club-cum-wine merchant. The international Exhibition Co-operative Wine Society (IECWS), generally known as the Wine Society, was founded in 1874 by an architect, an eye surgeon, and a prominent Customs ans Excise official following a food and wine exhibition in London´s Albert Hall that year. The objects and rules included a membership holding of one share only, no dividends to be paid on these until extinction on the member´s death, and the introduction of unfamiliar wines as well as those in geneeral use. All to be bought "for ready money only" at the lowest possible price. The Society remainded small for many years, and attained its 5,000th member only in 1922, but grew substantially between the two World Wars. The number of shares now exceeds 250,000.
Prospective members are sponsored by existing members and elected by the Committee. A dividend of 5 percent is credited annually to each member shareholder, but is paid out only on the member´s death, although, with the agreement of the Committee, many shares are inherited. Edmund Penning-Rowsell was the Society´s longest-serving chairman, from 1964 until 1987.
The Society´s cellars were under the London Palladium theatre and London Bridge railway station (where the London Auctioneers susequently stored their wine) until the Society moved out of London to purpose-built and regularly extended premises in Stevenage in 1965. In the mid 2000s, the Wine Society was one of a two biggest independent retail wine merchants in Britain (the other being its mail order direct rival Laithwaites) with a turnover exceeding £54 million. The policy of cash-with-order is retained. The Society is distinguished by its far-sighted, even-handed management, the efficiency of its bureaucracy, and the quality of wine storage offered to members.
- One Great George Street: One Great George Street (OGGS) is a four-domed grade II listed Edwardian building used as a conference and wedding venue just off Parliament Square in Westminster, London, England. The building is also the global headquarters of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE). It was originally a venue for ICE members to relax, meet and have conferences, and became available for public events in 1989. It is near the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, and St James's Park. The Great Hall, One Great George Street, London Westminster, SW1P 3AA
The ICE's art collections include works from William Lionel Wyllie (1851–1931), John Lucas (1807–1874) and John Everett Millais (1829–1896) and is the world's largest collection of portraits of civil engineers. The ceiling of the Great Hall has a painting that commemorates the work of civil engineers in World War I. The Telford Theatre also holds a twin fusee Grand Sonnerie Bracket Clock made by the famous clockmaker Thomas Tompion, who is buried in Westminster Abbey.
The ICE commissioned a number of paintings by Glasgow-based artist Jonathan Meuli which have been hung in both the café bar and the lower ground foyer. The project, entitled "Painting a New London" was supported by the Research and Development Enabling Fund. The output of the project is a series of large paintings rather than a report. The paintings' subjects the major construction and infrastructure projects for the 2012 London Olympics. Meuli also has a blog with sketches and photographs from the project.
