Spanish Reds
Vintage image sourced on Pinterest
Yes, I know it’s strange that I covered Spanish whites before covering the country’s way-more-famous reds. So here I am, back and writing about what you expected to see in the first place: Spanish Reds.
Some of these wine styles are best known by their region, like Rioja and Priorat. Others are best known by the grape variety, like Bobal or Monastrell. It can all get a bit confusing, so I’ve selected 6 of the “must know” styles, and labeled them by the word(s) that will help you find them fastest.
Stuff to know
I have to admit that of the big 3 European wine countries (France, Italy and Spain), Spain is the country that took me the longest to dive into, then to finally visit. I don’t have a good reason for this, other than that studying in France and then working with Italian wine-heavy portfolios in subsequent roles meant that Spain got less of my attention. And in no way is Spain and its wines deserving of less attention.
Spain’s wine history goes back thousands of years, before Rome was even a thing. Like all wine countries, there have been ups and downs, many of them politically-related, like Trump and his tariffs these days. There was the period of time when the Moors were in charge and alcohol wasn’t drunk by the ruling class, though production and consumption by others was tolerated. There were plenty of monks making wine in remote, often perilously difficult wine growing regions, largely for their own and pilgrims’ consumption. There were Spanish colonies in the Americas that couldn’t get enough of Spanish wine…until they chose freedom and their own wines instead. There were wars with France, Portugal and England that re-routed the wine trade time after time, with England happily importing Spanish wine galore during periods when they were fighting with France, then switching over to Portuguese and French wine while fighting with Spain. Anyone in Denmark currently boycotting American wines gets the idea.
There was also plenty of internal political distress. Civil wars, phylloxera’s vineyard devastation and Franco’s isolationist dictatorship didn’t exactly great boom times for the wine trade. When Spain finally re-entered the global wine scene in the early 1960s, there was some catching up to do. New winemaking equipment, like temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks, were suddenly available, and viticultural practices had advanced. Since the 1980s, Spain’s wine industry has grown by leaps and bounds, transforming from a country with just a few great producers, lots of small, remote growers and plenty of regional cooperatives to a country with standout producers at every level.
In the past decade that I’ve been studying wine, I don’t think a single year has gone by without news of something new in Spanish wine: new regions, rediscovered and reinvigorated regions, new styles and rediscovered indigenous grapes.
Spain is a generally warm, sunny, Mediterranean country, so its unsurprising that its red wines are its most famous. But of course, there are exceptions. Always with the exceptions in wine. There are Atlantic influences, creating damp, cool, wet conditions wherever the ocean is permitted free reign. There are hills and mountains galore, creating shelter from maritime weather patterns while varying the amount of sunlight, warmth and nutrient-rich soil vines can access. There are massive rivers, like the Duero and the Ebro, cutting winding paths across world-famous regions. There’s the meseta, a vast high-elevation plateau in central Spain that tricks your mind into thinking that the ground is lower than it actually is, while the climate is dramatically affected. And there are the purely Mediterranean regions, basking in warmth, even during the mild winters, while struggling to retain sufficient moisture for grape growth.
Even with climatic variation galore, Spain has been leading the world in terms of growing its organic viticulture, with organically certified producers and hundreds who practice organic viticulture, but skip certification to save the money. It’s worth noting that organic, and even biodynamic, viticulture and winemaking is often easier in Spain than in other parts of Europe though. Regions with dry, sunny, wind-swept vines tend to have more problems with drought than with the insects, mold and mildew that drive pesticide and fungicide use in other wine regions.
If anything, much of Spain is covered in knobbly old bush vines, growing like witchy fingers out of rocky earth, spread far apart from one another to avoid stealing too much precious water from one another to survive. These strange, almost lunar landscapes create some of the world’s most compelling and complex red wines, often straddling lines between fruity and savory, approachable and age-worthy.
Spain is home to some of the most exciting and adventurous winemaking coming out of Europe today, and at some of the most approachable prices to boot.
What to look for in this tasting
No country’s red wines are easily summarized, though we wine nerds make generalizations to help ourselves out, especially when tasting blind. French reds are often savory, Italian reds scream with acidity. Spanish reds are harder to stereotype.
There are certain wine styles, like traditional Riojas, that are obvious enough to feel like a gift in a wine exam. But to generalize Spanish reds overall? My not-so-helpful description is to say they straddle the line between fruity and savory while retaining that European sense of restraint.
Scroll down to the wines for taste descriptions that will whet your appetite.
The wines
#1: Rioja
As an American, I pronounce Rioja like “ree-yo-ha,” though I find it endlessly endearing that the Brits tend to prefer “ree-ock-ah” instead. However you say it, Rioja, the region and wine style, is Spain’s oldest Denominación de Origen, having celebrated its 100th anniversary as an officially designated wine region this year, though winemaking in the region has been practiced since way back in BC times.
Tempranillo is Rioja’s signature grape, and must make up at least 75% of all of its red wines. There are plenty of blending partners though, with the top 4 being Garnacha, Graciano, Mazuelo, and Maturana tinta, and small amounts of other grapes like Cabernet Sauvignon are allowed too. White grape varieties are also allowed to be blended into the red wines in small amounts, just like Viognier is sometimes added to Syrah in the Côte-Rôtie.
Rioja is a really big region in northern Spain, stretching 62 miles (100 km) from end to end, winding from northwest to the southeast along with the Ebro river as it heads toward the Mediterranean Sea. Vineyard altitudes can reach as high as 2,950 feet (900m) or lie in low floodplains, flush with alluvial stones and sand. Weather patterns change dramatically along the way, going from a cooler, wetter Atlantic climate in the north to a warmer, drier Mediterranean one in the south. While it’s impossible to capture all of this variation simply, Rioja has 3 defined sub-regions: Rioja Alta and Rioja Alavesa in the north, and Rioja Oriental in the south.
Rioja is best-known for its “traditional” wines, aged for long periods of time in 225-liter barrels, specifically American oak barrels. This is partly due to Bordeaux’s historical influence on Rioja, a region where 225-liter French oak barrels are commonly used to age top wines. It’s also thanks to Spain’s relationship with the Americas, once a territory filled with missionaries and conquistadors, from which oak was more cheaply purchased and shipped transatlantically than neighboring French oak. There are plenty of producers who still adhere to these specific aging practices, but the reality is that there’s a broad spectrum of wine styles and winemaking practices, before and after any oak aging.
The “modernists” are just as varied, from 100% French oak barrel aging to cement or amphora fermentation and aging. Some bodegas in Rioja make both “traditional” and “modern” wines, like Marqués de Riscal, Muga and Marqués de Murrieta. How the wine is made and aged will of course impact how the wine tastes.
Rioja’s reds are usually medium-bodied, but they can occasionally be full-bodied too, with chalky tannins that wipe across the inside of your cheeks behind velvety fruit flavors. The coolest thing about Rioja’s reds, in my opinion, is the wild range of flavors that can come out with age. Younger Rioja wines tend to showcase dried strawberries, sour cherries, leather and the occasional hint of soy sauce or teriyaki. In older Riojas, I’ve tasted fresh dill, pickles, hoisin sauce and sweet tobacco leaves in wild rides of scents and flavors that are impossible to forget. There’s a sweet and sour quality to most Riojas that is as addictive as the sauce.
What to ask for: Rioja Reserva, in a traditional or modern style
Alternative(s): Rioja, Rioja Crianza, or Rioja Gran Reserva
#2: Priorat
Priorat (”pree-or-aht”) is in Catalunya (or Catalonia, if you prefer), that part of Spain where Catalan is widely spoken and your Spanish language skills will only get you so far. The wine regions surrounding Barcelona benefit not just from the big city sales and spill-over tourism, but from a culture, history and winemaking that’s all their own. Just 90 miles (145 km, or about 2 hours for everyone else who understands distance by drive time) southwest of Barcelona, Priorat lies just inland from the Mediterranean coast, in a region where mountains dictate the growing conditions, stairways lead to heaven and the soils are called “licorice.”
Priorat is a pretty small region, and is Spain’s only other DOQ (or DOCa, as its called in Rioja), the highest classification for a wine region in Spain. Priorat is nested inside Monstant, a wine region that forms almost a complete donut around Priorat. Inside the donut, Priorat is protected from cold Atlantic winds by the Serra de Montsant mountain range in the north, and from too much Mediterranean influence by the Serra de Llaberia range to the south. Inside this sheltered donut are crazily steep vineyards called “costers” where the work can really only be done by hand, even when there are terraces, some once hand-built by Carthusian monks.
Speaking of the monks, Priorat retains a semi-mystical status thanks to the story and monastery ruins of the Cartoixa d’Escaladei, a Carthusian priory established on the site of the “ladder to God” (Scala Dei), a place where a shepherd saw a staircase appear upon which angels ascended to heaven. The priory gave its name to Priorat, along with the pilgrims, now tourists, who visit to see the monastery and taste the region’s world-famous wines.
Garnacha and Cariñena (Carignan) are the primary grape varieties, though there are both local and international varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Merlot and Syrah that are allowed to comprise small portions of the blend. Garnacha and Cariñena grow all over Spain, and what makes them special in Priorat is the unique growing conditions, nestled between mountain ranges amongst sun-drenched slopes, along with cool nights and a special soil called llicorella (”yee-kor-eh-yah”), AKA licorice.
Llicorella is so-named because of its color, a dark reddish-brownish-blackish slate with particles of sparkly mica that reflects light and heat back onto the vines, keeping them toasty even during cool nights. The slate splits easily into vertical layers, allowing the vines’ roots to push deep down into the soils in search of limited water.
Taste-wise, yes, some people do claim to taste licorice, though there is no legitimate connection with the soils for this, sorry. And if you’re afraid of licorice, don’t worry, you might not taste it at all. These deep, dark, richly flavored wines are known to taste like black cherries, plums, black currants, figs, cocoa powder, cinnamon, and herbs like mint, lavender and thyme. Expect to find big, dusty tannins, moderate acidity and high alcohol levels structure-wise.
What to ask for: Ask by name
Alternative(s): Montsant, Campo de Borja, Méntrida
#3: Ribera del Duero
In Spain’s inner plateau, the Meseta Central, there are acres and acres of knotty old vines clambering their way up out of dry, crumbly, often reddish soils. Ribera del Duero is a region that lies in northwest Spain, in Castilla y León, running along the Duero river, which flows all the way through Spain and Portugal into the Atlantic. Even with the river nearby, Ribera is a very dry region with seriously dramatic weather. The altitude here ranges between 2,300-3,280 feet (700-1000m), even though most vineyards seem to be only gradually undulating when you’re standing in them. The high altitude results in huge diurnal temperature shifts, so that there can be as much as 40 degrees’ difference between day and night, along with cold winters and crazy hot summers. It’s a spectacular landscape, and the wines made here are equally bold.
In Ribera del Duero, Tempranillo is the star grape, just like in Rioja, but that’s pretty much where the similarities end. Here, Tempranillo goes by the name “Tinto Fino” or “Tinta del País,” and in this region of extremes, the vines behave differently, producing grapes with thick skins and small berries, resulting in deeply colored wines with rich, ripe flavors.
Though winemaking has been happening in Ribera del Duero for thousands of years, the region became famous thanks to Bodegas Vega Sicilia, which started in 1864, crafting wines based on Tempranillo, but with Bordeaux varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in the mix. Even as Vega Sicilia’s global prominence grew, it took until 1982 for Ribera del Duero to become a Denominación de Origen in Spain’s wine classification system. Since then, more and more winemakers are recognizing the value in the old, knotty Tempranillo vines that have adapted and survived for decades.
Today’s Ribera del Duero wines are at least 75 percent Tempranillo, and winemakers can use Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot or Malbec for the remainder, along with small amounts of Garnacha and Albillo, a local white grape. Ribera del Duero wines are typically deeply colored with sweet, ripe fruit flavors like black cherries, dried strawberries, blackberries and blackcurrants, with spices from oak aging like vanilla and cinnamon and soft, ripe, grippy tannins. The huge diurnal temperature swings leave the grapes with plenty of acidity, so that even though the wines are rich and ripe, they still tend to have high acidity levels.
What to ask for: Ask by name, preferably a Ribera del Duero Crianza, Reserva or Gran Reserva
Alternative(s): Toro red wines
#4: Bierzo Mencía
Bierzo (”bee-yehr-tho”) is the name of the region and Mencia (”men-thee-ah”) is the name of the grape. If your idea of Spanish wines is that they’re all bold, big, fruity wines, Mencia will surprise you. These are medium-bodied, hauntingly aromatic red wines that are just as versatile and affordable as your go-to Barbera.
Bierzo is in northwestern Spain, just inside the huge central region of Castilla y León. Bierzo shares a border with Spain’s northwesternmost region, Galicia, where Atlantic weather cools and soaks the vines. With mountains and hills surrounding much of Bierzo, you’d think the climate would transition to being fully continental, but the western side of the region is largely flat, so the Atlantic still has its way from time to time, making some vintages chilly and wet while others stay toasty and dry.
The Mencia wines made here were once pretty basic wines meant for the locals to enjoy, but producers like Alvaro Palacios and his nephew Ricardo Pérez saw the potential in the slate slopes that resembled parts of Priorat on the other side of the country, and quickly enough, the locals started raising the bar on their own wines, too.
Most wines in Bierzo are 100% Mencia, though Alicante Bouschet is allowed as a blending partner. The wines tend to be medium-bodied with moderate to high acidity, chalky moderate tannins and red fruit flavors like sour cherry, raspberry, red plum and pomegranate, with some blackberry, tarragon, violets, green olives, smoke, dried tobacco, licorice, cinnamon and that mysterious minerality that is often described as wet slate or crushed gravel. Some Mencía wines are made with semi-carbonic maceration in steel tanks, intended to be juicy, fruity and fresh. Others are weightier wines that can develop with age, usually matured in oak barrels that add spice and dried tobacco flavors to the wines.
What to ask for: Mencia from Bierzo
Alternative(s): Mencia wines from Ribeira Sacra, Monterrei, Valdeorras
#5: Bobal
Bobal is one of Spain’s most-planted grape varieties, neck-and-neck with Garnacha in terms of acreage, though you still might never have heard of it. Derived from the Latin “bovale,” meaning “bull,” these vines’ grape bunches are supposedly shaped like the head of a bull.
For a long time, Bobal wines were considered “rustic,” a euphemism for wines that only the locals would choose to drink. This is because Bobal is one of those grapes that doesn’t ripen evenly, like Zinfandel, so if not carefully managed, rough, underripe tannins can make their way into the wines. Luckily, producers are better equipped these days to manage the vines and mitigate the risk of unripe grapes, making better and better wines from Bobal, especially from decades-old vines that have adapted well to their environment over the years.
Bobal is well-equipped to handle hot, dry days and drought-level conditions, with thick skins and the ability to retain high acidity even through sweltering summers in Utiel-Requena, its original home. Some red Bobal wines are made with semi-carbonic maceration in stainless steel tanks, intended to be fresh, fruity and light- to medium-bodied. Other producers are returning to ancient winemaking practices by using large clay jars called tinajas for fermentation and aging. Still other producers are aging Bobal wines in oak to increase complexity, creating wines with medium- to full-bodies, moderately high, soft tannins, piercing acidity and concentrated flavors of blackberry, black cherry, pomegranate, chocolate, licorice, black tea, violets, rosemary and black pepper.
What to ask for: Bobal from Utiel-Requena
Alternative(s): Bobal from Manchuela
#6: Monastrell
Monastrell, AKA Mourvèdre, is best known as the “M” in “GSM,” the Grenache-Syrah-Mourvèdre blend that comprises most Southern Rhône reds and their look-alikes in other countries. But Monastrell, which goes by Mourvèdre in France and Mataro in Australia, stands alone on occasion, too. Some of the world’s most prestigious Mourvèdre wines are made in Bandol in Provence by Domaine Tempier. It shouldn’t be surprising, then, that Monastrell thrives on the other side of the Pyrenees, too, especially given that it’s a grape with thick skins and the all-important ability to tolerate drought and the intense summer heat one regularly expects around the Mediterranean.
In Spain’s Murcia region, southwest and further inland from Valencia, Jumilla and Yecla create Spain’s answer to Bandol’s Mourvèdres. In high elevation sites with cool nights, these regions produce wines that are dry, savory and powerful with ripe, dark fruit. Thick, coarse tannins are common, emphasizing the wines’ earthy dryness. There are usually plenty of dark fruit flavors, like blackberry and dark cherry, but the vast array of savory aromas and flavors tends to take center stage, since the wines are usually dry and earthy, with flavors of cocoa powder, violets, licorice, black pepper, smoked meat, tobacco, olives and dried herbs.
What to ask for: Monastrell from Jumilla or Yecla
Alternative(s): Monastrell from Alicante, Valencia, Bullas, La Mancha
Tasting tips
The eats
I’m a big fan of Tex Mex and barbecue with Spanish reds. Traditional? Nope. Delicious? Always.
It could be that I’m just missing two of my favorite types of food from Austin, Texas, where I used to live, but we’ve thoroughly enjoyed Spanish reds with smoked meats like short ribs, brisket and sausages, not to mention all of the tacos, quesadillas and burritos that are on regular rotation, even with the challenges of sourcing (or making) proper ingredients while living in Copenhagen. We served up at least 3 different Spanish reds during our first barbecue of the season last weekend, and suffice it to say that they were a hit. The spicy, fruity reds from this sunny country just seem to work with Texas-inspired food.
If you prefer a charcuterie approach, try leaning into Spanish ingredients like Manchego cheese, Serrano ham, Sobrasada, anchovies, pimentos, green olives, spiced almonds and crusty bread. Tapas are always an option, too, if you want to take things up a notch.
The prep
It will be pretty easy to find Spanish red wines, but finding the specific styles in this tasting can take a bit more time, so it’s a good idea to give your guests at least two weeks to find their wines before the tasting.
Generally, Spanish red wines are affordably priced, though there are wide ranges of prices for most of these wines, and some, like Priorat, tend to consistently be on the expensive side. It’s up to you as the host to decide if you want to set a price range or let your guests determine what they’re each comfortable spending.
Spanish reds might come from a warm country, but they’re still best with a bit of a chill. Encourage your guests to give their wines some pre-tasting fridge time, even if brief, or have an ice bucket ready for a quick dunk to reach cellar temperature. If you’ve never walked down into a winemaker’s cellar and felt the chill and damp, just imagine how it feels on a brisk autumn day. A bottle that’s just cool to the touch, that’s the goal here.
A note on the tasting order: The wines are listed in the order of which should be included first. This is so that if you have fewer than 6 wines/guests, you’ll still have a well-rounded experience. However, the order in which you taste the wines, regardless of how many wines are included, is recommended as follows:
Bierzo Mencía
Rioja
Priorat
Ribera del Duero
Bobal
Jumilla Monastrell
