Spotlight on Spain: Green Spain
šš·We are resuming our spotlight onĀ Spain ahead of the upcoming Spanish Wine Scholar course in late November! This week, itās time to explore Green Spain, where the Atlantic-shaped cooler climes are home to some of the Spainās star white grapes.
š Green Spain key facts:
āGreen Spainā stretches from the Atlantic coastline in NW Spain to the western Pyrenees, comprising four of Spainās autonomous regions: Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria and the Basque country.
This cooler and wetter part of the Iberian Peninsula is best suited for early-ripening grape varieties, yielding exciting styles, from the vibrant, aromatic whites made with AlbariƱo, Godello, Treixadura or Hondarribi Zuri to lighter, extremely elegant reds, made with MencĆa and other indigenous, mostly Galician, grapes.
Its key DOs are DO RĆas Baixas, DO Ribeiro, DO Ribeira Sacra and DO Valdeorras (all in Galicia), and the three Txakoli-focused appellations in the Basque Country: DO Bizkaiko Txakolina, DO Getariako Txakolina and DO Arabako Txakolina
The Atlantic influence means serious rain: in the Basque Txakoli appellations, average annual rainfall starts at around 1,000 mm in Bizkaiko Txakolina and climbs to roughly 1,800 mm in Getariako Txakolina. Constant disease prevention and canopy management are needed as a result.
DO RĆas Baixas, established in 1988, is Green Spain's flagship appellation, with AlbariƱo accounting for over 90% of plantings across its five subzones: Val do SalnĆ©s, O Rosal, Condado do Tea, Soutomaior and Ribeira do Ulla.
šDid you know?
Touted as one of the most exciting Spanish grapes today, Godello was almost extinct by the 1970s, until the RE.VI.VAL plan, launched in Valdeorras in 1974, set out to rescue it. The first varietal Godello of the modern era was only released in the mid-1980s.
Ribeira Sacra means 'sacred riverbank', a name inspired by the many monasteries founded along the MiƱo and Sil canyons from the 8th and 9th centuries onwards. Its terraced slopes are counted among Europe's great vineyard landscapes.
In RĆas Baixas, vines are trained overhead on parras, wire trellises on granite posts up to seven feet high, letting Atlantic breezes circulate and keep mildew at bay.
Long before Port, England was drinking Ribeiro: wines from Ribadavia were imported there before the early 18th century, and in 1732 Port was even blended with them for extra richness.
šWant to learn more?
Visit the Foods and Wines from Spain website