Spanish wines are red-hot.  The economic meltdown of the past 3-4 years has greatly affected the wine business here in BC and no doubt abroad also.  All one has to do is look at the different wine categories in BC and compare them to what they were prior to 2008.  Australian was in a steady decline from its heyday at the beginning of the century.  Today Australia is in the negative, down over 4% from last year. (December 2011 Quarterly Market Review…latest stats available).  However, by the third quarter of 2011, Spain had increase almost 25% over the same period last year.

Argentina had filled the void vacated by Australia by introducing consumers to Malbec but even they have succumbed to the economy or consumers are just getting tired of cheap Malbec tasting all the same.  The category is up slightly over 5%, down from the halcyon days of 41%, 4-5 years ago.  However, the wine business does not stand still and competition for shares in the world market is ever increasing were even Australia and Argentina must now worry about challengers from countries such as Spain.  Could the love affair with sweet, jammy Aussie/Argentine wine be over?  Are consumers looking for something more in their wines?

A world class producer of wine, Spain is the largest wine-growing region in the world, covering a surface area in excess of 2.6 million acres compared to France’s 2.03 million acres (www.winesfromspain.com).  14.3% of the world’s vineyards are in Spain.  In spite of this, the country is the third largest producer of wine in the world, the two largest being France and Italy.

Amongst wine-producing countries, Spain has a history that is hard to compete with.  Dating back to the Phoenicians, the Greeks and the Romans, vines have been cultivated and wine has been made in Spain for over 3000 years.  The Romans, in their zeal to conquer the world, contributed to the wine culture by introducing vines during their occupation.  The need to supply the vast Roman Empire and its legions with wine played an important part in building up Spain’s wine trade.  However, the arrival of the non-drinking Moors in the eighth century A.D. put a damper on the wine trade that lasted 700 years.

It owes a great deal of its legacy to Phylloxera, which caused extensive damage to the French vineyards in the later part of the 19th century and triggered a massive exodus of French winemakers into Spain.  They brought with them wine making techniques that helped spark the first great wine boom in Spanish history.

Spain’s wine industry took steps towards standardization and modernization in the 1920’s and 30’s but the Spanish Civil War left vineyards in a shambles and World War II destroyed any export market.  The industry began to recover in the post-war era of the 50’s and 60’s.

The transformation of the image and quality of Spanish wines during the last quarter of the 20th century was truly remarkable.  During this period, a group of hard-working pioneers began to introduce and apply new viticulture and viniculture techniques that were being used elsewhere.  A major force behind the revolution in Spanish wine, this new generation of Spanish winemakers were educated in countries other than Spain such as France and at the University of California at Davis.  This resulted in new ideas being brought back to Spain and a willingness to try new styles of wine and not to be restricted to “making your father’s Rioja.”

These young, new winemakers with innovative ideas and an influx of investment money spurred growth in the traditional regions such as Rioja and Ribera del Duero but also in the smaller, less well-known regions.  The recent buzz on the Spanish wine scene has come from places such as Navarra, Castilla Y Leon, Jumilla, Cataluña, and Yecla.  Rioja is also becoming more innovative by changing its practice of long ageing in American oak in favour of longer maceration of the grape and a shorter aging in the softer, more subtle French oak.

This week we take a look at a few of the spectacular Spanish wines currently on the market.

The wines of Spain continue to thrill and excite me, with their superb value, concentration and intensity. So, when a wine comes along that takes me by surprise and gives me more than I expected, I sit up and take notice.

Produced from 5-15 year old and ancient head-pruned 70-90 year-old Garnacha vines, which produce a very low yield of less than 2 pounds per vine (1/4 ton per acre), both of these plantings  are organically farmed.  The 2009 Artazuri Garnacha ($22) is one of the finest red wine values in on the market and at this price point, it is a steal.  Rich, deep purple colour with an approachable nose of sweet black cherry liqueur, raspberries and black pepper mixed with sweet melted licorice, roses and rich loamy earth.  Full-bodied, amazingly elegant with a luxurious texture, this can be enjoyed now or cellared over the next 5 years.

A blend of 90% Syrah, 10% Tinto Velasco or Garnacha Tintorera, the 2008 Bodega La Linze ($30) is a very intense wine needing at least a couple of hours to allow it to open up. This wine is loaded to the brim with concentrated blackberry and cassis, with layers of anise, smoke, leather, tobacco leaf, and hints of mushroom.  The soft acidity and firm tannins make this a perfect match with that classic Spanish cheese, Manchego.

Rioja is probably Spain’s signature wine and is characterized by its long aging in oak barrels.  The Crianza are the youngest of the Riojas reflecting the flavours and style of the bigger reserve and Gran reserve offerings but without the structure and depth of the long barrel aging.

A classic Rioja red, the 2006 Bodegas Lan Crianza ($28) is produced from 100% Tempranillo is a soft and pleasing red showcasing lovely, vibrant red and black fruit aromas and flavours, vanilla, chocolate, tobacco leaf and cedar.  This is not a big, muscular wine but a supple, drinkable Rioja.  Leave those big, muscular wines to Australia and Italy, Rioja’s are meant to be elegant and refined.  Excellent served with roast lamb.

Do not let the name dissuade you from buying a case.  If you are looking for an ass-kicking wine, look no further than the 2007 El Burro ‘Kickass’ Garnacha ($14).  The wine is dark as the night, and loaded with fresh blackberry and raspberry jam, leather, licorice, menthol and black pepper spice.  The palate is lush and full with rich juicy black fruit flavours, spicy cocoa and chocolate, vanilla and Asian spice box.  Velvety acidity and ultra-firm tannins mark this as a wine to enjoy over the next couple of years.

So, if you are looking for something different to serve this weekend, check out the wines of Spain.  You will not be disappointed.