Wine
Spain grows a large variety of grapes. Many Spanish wines label their wines using the region name and will not show the grape varietal. So we will give some of the prominent growing areas the following grapes are grown, in order for you learn what grapes could be in a bottle from that region. The following are some of the more prominent regional grapes found in Spanish wine.
Wine is grown in many regions throughout Spain. For now we will just discuss some of the primary growing regions and the grape varietals they are known for.
Jumilla – Located in Southeast Spain. Primary grapes are Monastrell, Garnacha Tinta, and Cencibel (Tempranillo) for reds and Airén, Macabeo, Malvasia and Pedro Ximénez for white.
“Sparkling wine” is the term used to combine all types of Champagne like wines into one category. In general, people looking for a sparkling wine will automatically refer to this as Champagne. They will ask, “Where is the Champagne section?” Then freak out on the price when you take them to the French Champagne section. In order to legally be called Champagne, it has to come from the Champagne region of France. Sparkling wines outside of this region have various names. So, let’s look at some of the main options in the Sparkling wine category:
Some may be confused to learn that Zinfandel is a dry red wine. Many know Zinfandel as White Zinfandel, the pink sweet wine that some may have entered into the wine world drinking. White Zinfandel and Red Zinfandel actually come from the same grape. The Zinfandel grape is a red grape varietal. As with most red grape varietals, when pressed the juice comes out clear in color and then in order to develop color and tannin the juice is left in contact with the skins for a period of time. To make white zinfandel the skins are pulled early when the juice is a blush color and then goes through the wine making process and made in a way where it retains some of the grapes residual sugar making the wine sweet. Red Zinfandel (labeled just Zinfandel) is produced leaving the skin in contact with the juice longer giving it a darker red color and more dry taste.