spotlight on spain
Spain has many classic regions where wine has been made for centuries and their names are instantly recognisable. Rioja is the most famous; the wines were known as far back as the 900s because the region is in the middle of El Camino de Santiago, the pilgrim trail which starts in France and ends in Galciia. There have naturally been lots of changes since then, but Rioja has always remained the most prominent Spanish region for red wine.
Ramírez de la Piscina has a long farming tradition, and started making wine in 1945 although the first commercial vintage was 1961. The winery is still family owned and run—a few years ago I met Pilar Ramírez here in California and her sense of family pride was evident. The slightly strange last name comes from a nearby monastery built in the 1200s. There's always a sense of history in the wines of Rioja.
The Crianza is a recent re-arrival to blackpoolmatt's wine club, but it's the 2019 not the 2018 we had before. Crianza refers to a wine that's been aged in oak for at least 12 months, with another 6 in bottle. Ramírez de la Piscina's Crianza is aged for 14 months in a combination of French and American oak. It has such a pleasing combination of fresh, ripe fruitiness and developing maturity—a classic representation of Rioja and the Crianza designation.
Raúl Pérez has a different history and is in a different part of Spain. He's based on the mountainous border between warm, continental Castilla y Léon and wetter Galicia. The D.O. is Bierzo, which, like neighboring regions, had been largely abandoned because of its difficult, rocky, steep slopes. Raúl Pérez, a small man with a big beard, is one of the pioneers in the re-emergence of Bierzo as a quality, well-regarded region through his commitment to expressing its grape-growing history. He’s an eccentric character never afraid to experiment but his wines have become standard bearers for Bierzo. He grew up in the area and made his first wine in 1994 aged 22, back when Bierzo was almost completely overlooked.
There are many grape varieties native to Bierzo and the surrounding areas. The main one is Mencía which produces wines with red fruit, herbal, perfumed aromas and fine tannins. "Ultreia Saint-Jacques" is a great introduction to Raúl Pérez’s range of wines. It’s mostly Mencía, with a little bit of Bastardo and Garnacha Tintorera. It’s deliciously fruity without being too heavy, approachable when young with the capacity to age.
Both of these wines are perfect representations of the regions they come from, the local grape varieties, and the histories of Spanish wine. And like a lot of Spanish wine they punch above their weight for the price.