Painting Andalucía Red

The wine map of Spain can be painted just a few basic colours: red, white, pink and brown. They overlap in many regions, but generally speaking each officially recognised zone has a dominant colour. The red of course is mainly Rioja and Ribera del Duero; the white Penedés, Rías Baíxas, and Rueda, while the brown refers to vinos generosos – ‘generous wines’ – mostly sherry. Nevertheless, over the last three or four decades, they have all become so jumbled up that we even have reds from the Rías Baíxas, a typically white Albariño area, and reds from the sherry zone. But which is which? WORDS ANDREW J LINN

The Romans were the first to make wine in the Sierra de Ronda, not for their own local consumption, but to send to Rome where it was popular. So, when the trick question crops up: Who was the first to make wine in Ronda, Prince Alfonso Hohenlohe or Frederick Schatz? The answer is neither. It was a Roman. But since all the vineyards in Spain disappeared as a result of the phylloxera bug in 1877, a new start had to be made a hundred years later, and while sweet wine has been produced in the Málaga area since time immemorial, it seemed like a good idea to make some red. Anyway, the answer to the riddle is that, leaving aside the Romans, it was Alfonso Hohenlohe of Marbella Club fame who planted the first vines in Ronda, although Schatz got his wines to the market first. And while Hohenlohe’s project was initially successful but later faded, Schatz is still making a small selection of interesting red and white wines on his tiny threehectare plot. Certainly, there are several bodegas of note in the Sierra. Cortijo de los Aguilares, founded by José Antonio Itarte in 1999 is probably the most successful. Its wines have won many significant international awards, thanks to young winemaker Bibi García and the way she handles the difficult Pinot Noir grape. There are a small number of hard-working Ronda bodegas struggling to get their wines more accepted not only locally but throughout Spain – quite an uphill battle when only about 15 per cent of the Coast’s restaurants list them. Ramos Paul makes a

very good, dark and intense red, and the attractive Descalzos Viejos winery is located in what was once a convent.

Another odd thing is that until a few years ago very few people, even living as near as we do on the Costa del Sol, knew red wines were being made in the foothills of Granada’s Sierra Nevada. Unsurprising possibly, when you consider that until the final part of the last century, there were practically no red wines made in the whole of Andalucía. White wines aplenty, sherry from Jerez and Montilla from Córdoba, and of course the desperately sweet Málaga dessert wines that normally have very little interest for serious tinto fans.

Now we are awash with them, from the most northern zones of the Province of Málaga to the Province of Cádiz. Nor has it been easy to get wine drinkers to understand that Andalucian red wines can be very good indeed, and while western Andalucía has been a late developer red wine-wise, little thought was given to the possibility of decent wines being made in the Granada region. Why? Because, in a phrase, there was no wine culture. Agreed, the Romans, who planted vines wherever the sun shone, and the Moors, who back then had few reservations about drinking wine, had all tried their hand, but the results were pretty basic. Nor were there any local families with winemaking experience, only farmers whose main crops were fruit and olives. How could Granada wines ever compete with the emerging reds from Jumilla and Alicante?

Andalucian red wines are a relatively new idea. John Radford’s landmark book The New Spain (2004) made no mention of any Andalucian red wine. But, once started, it spread from Granada to Ronda and then to Cádiz Province, where we now have red wine vineyards shoulder-to-shoulder with their white sherry-producing cousins. Some great sherry houses like Barbadillo and Domecq are making excellent red wines, but back to the east, where the Muñana winery’s vineyards in the Sierra de Granada are irrigated by water from snow melt, and in spite of huge temperature variations of 20º – or maybe because of them – the wines are very good indeed. The Delirio and Ñ, made from Syrah and Cabernet are aged in French and American oak. ›

The decision of some unproven bodegas to make wines in areas with no history of winemaking was risky. Englishman Richard Golding, with zero hands-on experience, launched into an ambitious venture in the Sierra de Grazalema. With his daughter Natalia and master winemaker Ignacio de Miguel, they came up with Tesalia and Arx, using grape varieties Petit Verdot, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and the classic local grape, Tintilla de Rota, For the flagship wine, Tesalia, 6,000 bottles have to be enough to satisfy demand. Arx, is a straight blend of Petit Verdot and Tintilla. Mahara, made with the Tintilla grape, is another fine example and is aged in amphora. The same bodega, Vinifícate, produces a variety of what can only be referred to as very unusual wines from the Palomino grape, all of interest to any wine lover. There is no Denominación de Origen Protegida (DOP) here, so they mostly have just the geographical indication Vino de la Tierra de Cádiz. Many are not available in large quantities, but quite a few have scored well with critics like Peñín and Robert Parker. At the end of this article is a list of most of the wines.

From no wineries making red table wine a few years ago, there are now around 30, and the first thing to do is not to compare them with Riojas and Ribera del Dueros. The new Andalucian reds are in a class of their own, and it is worth remembering that the grape known as Tintilla de Rota was the source of the famous ‘Rota Tent’ that was drunk widely in Shakespeare’s England.

The current list includes names like Gibalbín, Forlong, Cobijado, Ibargüen, Maurer, Etú, Sancha Pérez, Cía Vinos del Atlántico, Taberner, González Palacios, Luis Pérez, Ramiro Ibañez, Miguel Domecq, and Taramilla and Vinifícate. Most of these small bodegas are making so little wine that they sell everything they produce in a matter of months.

Below are the main bodegas producing Andalucian red wines, with approximate prices where available. Most of those listed can be bought online.

Z Barbadillo Quadis Tinto €8,10. Excellent value for money, made from CabernetSauvignon, Petit Verdot, Merlot, Tintilla de Rota, Syrah y Tempranillo. Z Bodegas Forlong Slightly strange small bodega in Puerto de Santa María named after the English owner of the original finca. Superb wines, almost handcrafted and tiny quantities. Almost impossible to find anywhere except online and at the bodega – Petit Forlong (Syrah, Merlot, Tintilla) Coupage (Syrah, Tintilla, Merlot) Tintilla (Tintilla grape matured in concrete tanks). Z Bodega Sedella Sedella is a one-wine bodega in the Axarquía using old vines of Romé and Garnacha established by Lauren Rosillo of the well-known winemaking family famous for its landmark career in Priorato. The vineyards are so steep they can only be worked by mules. Very elegant wine around €21. Barbazul red, white and rosé, Taberner Syrah and Taberner No. 1 Syrah. Z Bodega Tesalia Tesalia (Petit Verdot, Syrah, Tintilla, Cabernet, 12 meses roble) Arx (Syrah, Tintilla, Petit Verdot, 12 meses roble). Z Compañía de Vinos del Atlántico Established in 2002, this is a go-ahead firm making wine all over Spain. The winemaker in Cádiz is Alberto Orté. His Vara y Pulgar is made from Tintilla grapes grown organically in Albariza near Cádiz, while the Atlántida is from Pago Bilbaina in Jerez. Vara y Pulgar (Tintilla) Atlántida. Cobijado Vino Tinto 2016 €16,98 Alquitón (Tintilla, 12 meses roble). Z Etú Vinos An organic family vineyard near Vejer run by Ute Mergner, growing Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot, Tintilla, Syrah and Cabernet. Son and Sonrisa. Z González Palacios Excellent table wines like the biológica Sólo Palomino Viento en la Cara (Sauvignon/Palomino) and Overo Tinto (50/50 Tempranillo and Syrah). The bodega is in Sevilla and worth including as they make such good Palomino, and also wines in the Manzanilla style. Z Luis Pérez One of the best winemakers in the area, Luis Pérez and his winemaker son Willy Pérez produce Garum, from Merlot, Syrah and Petit Verdot aged for a year in oak. They also make Samaruco. Willy is also making unfortified vintage sherry. Z Manuel Aragón Campano €8. Old-established Chiclana bodega, now making red table wines aged in oak. Z Oleum Viride El Higuerón red €54. Fine Tiempo €72. Z Peter Maurer & Sons Small organic vineyard near Lebrija planted with Petit Verdot, Pinot Noir, Merlot and Syrah. The wine is DeRaiz. Z Samsara Looking downwards from the bridge spanning the Ronda gorge the sight of rows of vines come as a surprise in such an inimical environment. Nevertheless, this is the first project of a pair of young winemakers whose initial adventure was crafting a petit verdot of the 2015 vintage that is becoming hard to find. If you can it costs around €11. Z Sancha Pérez An organic family estate producing olives and wine between Conil and Vejer. There is a young Petit Verdot and Tempranillo red and also a Sauvignon Blanc. Z Taberner (Huerta de Albalá) From El Caballo vineyard in Balbaina from Osborne, the Taberner range of wines are Z Vinifícate A rather interesting project is the Vinifícate bodega, one of the objectives of which is to resurrect some of the original types of wine that were once popular in the area, but which later became neglected. The Mahara costs €21,50.