| Wines
from Spain by Gary
If you are asked to name
a Spanish wine it is most like that you will say Rioja as this is probably
the most famous, however Spain really has so much more to offer all lovers
of fine wines.
Spain has a long history
of producing fine wines, 50 percent of all the EECs vineyards lie in Spain
and offers an excellent and memorable selection of Reds, White and Rose
wines, which thankfully, are still for the most part inexpensive for the
quality on offer.
 Rioja
(from the yards around Logroño) is rightly Spain's best known wine
and available in most shops and restaurants throughout Spain - Cune, Berberana,
Marques de Caceres and La Rioja Alta are also brands well worth a try.
Another top-drawer and currently fashionable region is Ribera del Duero
in Castilla-León which makes Spain's most expensive wine, Vega Sicilia,
other outstanding reds to look out for are Pesquera, Viña Pedrosa
and Senorio de Nava. There are also scores of local wines - some of the
best are Navarra (Chivite, Palacio de la Vega) and Catalunya (Bach, Raimat,
Caus Lubis and Alvaro Palacios), a region which also produces the champagne-like
cava (Codorniu, Marques de Monistrol); Galicia too, in the temperate northwest
is producing some notable white wines (Ribeiro, Fefiñanes and Albariño
are prominent producers).
You will find many establishments
in Spain offer excellent quality menus for around 6 to 10 Euros, some of
which (mostly those catering for the local clientele) will even include
a bottle of wine for two persons. For the most part the wine included is
adequate in quality, most establishments serve Valdepeñas which
is a reasonable mass produced wine from the central plains of El Castile,
however not all Establishment owners offer the same integrity to their
clients and the cheaper brew I have tried has been lets say, been bad to
horrible, and mostly forgettable.
Most Restaurants will offer
a thoughtful and varied Carta de Vino (Wine List), even the smaller establishments,
and at very reasonable prices; it is not unusual to see good quality house
wines for around 8 Euros. As you would imagine though the better wines
are only normally found at the higher class establishments.
You can see the complete
guide to wines in Spain via the web site at http://spainguides.com/wine.html
Top
About the Author: Gary
http://spainguides.com/ |
