12 Spanish grapes to know: part one
We’re excited to continue the 🌍🍷 “Wines of the World Series” with a spotlight on Spain. Today, we are exploring the dazzling diversity of Spanish grapes, starting with 12 grapes to know and to try in the 12 months of your wine year. Get to know this A-Z of the main varieties from Spain, along with their tasting profile and key regions, in our two-part grape guide.
Albariño
Hailing from the northwestern part of the Iberian Peninsula, this lively white grape has established itself as one of Spain’s most notable ambassadors. Crisp and aromatic, it’s often floral and citrusy, and is known as Alvarinho in northeastern Portugal
🌍Key regions: DO Rías Baixas (Galicia)
🔎Did you know? Thanks to its acidity and freshness, as of 2019 Albariño became on the permitted grape varieties to be used in basic white blends in Bordeaux and Bordeaux Supérieur.
Bobal
One of the five most planted Spanish grapes, deep-colour Bobal thrives in the cool hillsides of the DO Utiel-Requena regio, and is generally foound in abundance in the southeast of the country. Traditionally used to enrich wines from other DOs, lending them extra structure and colour, today it yields high-quality fruit-forward, aromatic and slightly earthy wines, as well as full of personality rosés.
🌍Key regions: DO Utiel-Requena, DO Ribera del Júcar, and DO Manchuela
Garnacha Blanca
While red Grenache, or Garnacha Tinta, remains a ruling queen of Spanish reds, its colour mutation Garnacha Blanca is one to watch too. Planted throughout Aragón and Catalonia, it produces golden-hued wines with floral aromas, lending exceptionally well to oak ageing too. Styles range from easy-pleasing, fruity and aromatic bottlings to more mineral, full-on whites with richness and body.
🌍Key regions: DO Terra Alta, DOQ Priorat, DO Montsant
🔎Did you know? Garnacha Blanca is one of the authorised white grapes in Rioja, where it can be an important blending component in some traditional, aged white Riojas.
Garnacha Tinta
A grape of Spanish origin and international fame, Garnacha Tinta is a quintessential Spanish red varietal. Garnachista winemakers across several Spanish appellations are restoring the star power of this historic red grape, whose roots can be traced back more than 500 years to the heart of Aragón. Lesser quality Garnacha wines can be fairly alcoholic and rather heavy, but at their best, they show evocative red fruit notes, floral hints, and are not particularly tannic, as is typical for the thin-skinned varieties.
🌍Key regions: DO Campo de Borja, DO Cariñena, DO Navarra, DOQ Priorat, DO Montsant, DO Empordà, DO Terra Alta
Godello
A hidden white grape from Galicia, where it competes with the more-widely-known Albariño, Godello is also known as Gouveio in Portugal and Agudelo in France. It yields whites with briney lemon and grapefruit flavours, with some bottlings also showcasing a smoky minerality or a whisper of salty flavour. Often made in Burgundian style with lees contact or oak regime, it has medium-high acidity, often a medium body, and is usually in its prime within 3 to 5 years of age.
🌍Key regions: DO Valdeorras, DO Ribeira Sacra, and DO Monterrei. Mencía
An undisputed star variety from Bierzo in northwestern Spain, Mencía is taking the stage alongside its more widely-known counterparts. Elegant, expressive, and age-worthy, this native grape often draws comparisons to Pinot Noir, Gamay, and Cabernet Franc, and thrives in Bierzo’s terroir: a mountainous stretch separating cool, wet Green Spain from the hot, dry Meseta, which makes up the country’s centre. Bierzo Mencía shows a wild, spicy and gamey side, while in the Ribeira Sacra appellation in Galicia, it makes for a sleeker and brighter style due to the cooler climate.
🌍Key regions: DO Bierzo, DO Ribeira Sacra
🎓Want to learn more?
Explore the Foods and Wines from Spain website
💬Share your thoughts!
How many of these have you tried? What are your favourite producers? Let us know in the comments!
➡️Coming up: 12 Spanish grapes to know: part two