298- Identity: the
building blocks of
2. Literature
and philosophy
3. Art and
architecture
4. Performing
arts
5. Cinema
and fashion
6. Media and
communications
7. Food and drink 8. Living culture:
the details of
iii. Central Spain
The wine regions of Spain’s sweeping interior can be
split roughly in two: inCastile y Leónfour prestigious
DO regions group around Valladolid alongside the
Duero river, while south of Madrid in La Mancha and
Valdepeñas lies Spain’s wine bucket – a vast area
under vine. Let’s start in Castile y León with the best.
The Ribera del Duero DO, east of Valladolid, is the
most expensive wine region in Spain; its big, rich reds
pressed fromTinto Fino (aTempranillo clone).Thegran
reservascan last for decades. Apart from the historic
Vega Sicilia estate – often deemed the best (and
priciest) in Spain – most of Ribera del Duero’s producers
only really got going in the 1980s. In the Rueda DO
the whites take precedence, led by the Verdejo grape
that packs young wines with a herby aroma. Rueda’s
admirable reds got DO status in 2001. In the Duero’s
other DO zones,Toro and Cigales, the first is all about
assertiveTinto Fino reds while the latter is traditionally
known for itsrosados.The plains around Madrid and to the south support
endless vines, althoughLa Mancha,comprising ten
recognised wine regions, doesn’t have a wine pedigree.
However, it’s improving all the time, producing drinkable
if unspectacular wine of all colours by the truckload. In
fact, given the scale of production, wines from the La
Mancha DO aren’t bad at all. In theValdepeñasDO,
further south, you find slightly more finesse and some
prestige of old, even if it was as a cheap alternative to
Rioja.The stony ground bears some richly flavoured
Cencibel reds and improving whites alongside mass-
produced table wines.Underground scene
A number of the wine
cellars in use in Castile y
León date back to Roman
times. Small chimneys
rising out of the dust are
often the only clue that a
wine cave lies below.
Mesetawine:
weather permitting
The hot days and cool
nights of the elevated
mesetahelp to retain
acidity within the
region’s grapes.
Of course, extremes of
frost can be damaging,
as can the region’s
occasionally biblical
hailstorms.