Spain
The recent implementation of new wine-producing techniques has included a move towards more consumer-lead winecraft. The result is more intense, fruit-driven wine, where the typicity of the grape variety takes greater presidence, and the tendency to “over-oak” gives way to a range of world-class varietal wines from some of Spain’s increasingly popular indigenous grape varieties.
The most notable of these varieties are the renowned Tempranillo and Garnacha grapes, the backbone of many of the country’s most famous brands. The white Albariño and Verdejo varieties are also winning favour among critics and consumers alike, while in an increasingly popular rosado (rosé) market, the cirsp, fruit-driven freshness of the Garnacha wines are also proving a welcome alternative to some of the sweeter, bubble-gum rosés, common in recent years.
Now with more than 62 Denominaciones de Origen (regulated wine-producing regions) spread out between its oceans and borders, there can be few countries as well placed to give the wine trade the rolling cavalcade of new “trinkets” that it so desperately craves. It is this very natural resource combined with its total commitment to the improvement of viti- and vinicultural techniques that have lead many writers to single-out Spain as the country most likely to impact on the global wine trade over the next ten years.
For many observers, from this nation of such long and illustrious wine-growing heritage, the best is yet to come. La Denominación de Origen of Campo de Borja was finally conceded its definitive D.O. status in 1980 and since that time has quickly gained a national and international reputation for its high quality wines. Made up of a small cluster of 16 villages, La Denominación de Origen Campo de Borja finds itself in the north-east of the Zaragoza province, in an area of transition between the mountains of the Iberian System and the valley of the Ebro, the very same Ebro river that runs through the world-renowned Rioja. The same loose, rocky soils that provide such excellent aeration and drainage, also abound in limestone and offer very low levels of organic material.
However, in these difficult conditions, one grape in particular has been known to thrive, that of the red Garnacha. At its very best in this area, the Garnacha of Campo de Borja expresses exceptional oenological qualities, giving rise to the production of red and rosé wines of phenomenal interest. Other authorised varieties, planted within the 6,270 hectares of registered vineyard include the red-grape varieties Tempranillo, Mazuela and Cabernet Sauvignon, and Macabeo and Moscatel as the only permitted white-grape varieties.
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