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Webinar: The future of Spanish wines

Tradition: Championing old vines to trump climate change

Richard C E Grant, Araex UK

An important paper was presented at COP by a man called Pablo Carbonell … and he explained that through DNA, genome comparisons of old and young vines, it was scientifically demonstrated that old vines, through specific vegetal mutations and changes, are better adapted to climate change. 

The old vine is traditionally autochthonous grapes [and these] were planted on dry land. The quality is better. In the old days there was less production pressure to make masses of kilos and litres per hectare. And what we see in these old vines is that they have developed really serious roots. The older the vine, the thicker the vine, so in moments of absolutely extreme heat and lack of water, the plant, for photosynthesis and for production of ripe fruit, pulls from the wood. A young vine just cannot do that. 

There are studies demonstrating how old vines adapt physiological defence mechanisms. And I think we’ll all have seen this happen. As we get into extreme heat and lack of water, young vines go to complete shutdown. Whereas the old vines that have developed over the years have more sophisticated physiological defence mechanisms, slowing down vegetal growth, but not slowing down photosynthesis. 

Indigenous: Innovating with native grapes for authenticity and terroir

Victor Ordóñez, Bodegas Jorge Ordóñez 

Spain is Earth’s number one viticultural area in terms of area under vine. But we’re certainly lagging behind, in that the value of our wine sold is one of the lowest on the planet. Spain’s obvious need is to premiumise the wines that it is selling internationally, to differentiate, especially compared with countries like France and Italy. So I think indigenous varieties have to be important.

Look at a variety like Garnacha, which is a Spanish grape, indigenous to Aragon (known six centuries ago as Tinta del Aragon)… and once the most widely planted grape in Spain. Due to a variety of reasons, including pressure from the export market, this variety was ripped up. Particularly with larger, more bulk-oriented producers, there’s a misconception that the export market wants international varieties and almost universally at lower price points. 

If you look at Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc from Spain, the prices in the US pale in comparison [with rival wines from elsewhere], but Albariño is absolutely dominant here. You only need to look at the way that Rías Baixas has been managed with regard to not over-planting and focusing on a premium price point. 

We have an estate in Toro called Bodegas Vatan where we work exclusively with ungrafted, pre-phylloxera vines in some cases. The youngest vineyard was planted in 1958, all dry farmed. You only need to look at the root systems of these vines, their ability to withstand extreme drought and compare that with a high-density trellis that’s irrigated with drip irrigation, to see where the future lies. 

Rare: Reviving forgotten Tenerife varietals

Jorge Méndez, Bodegas Viñatigo 

The Canary Islands have some really interesting and different vines compared with the rest of the world. So it’s important to try to understand why we are making wine in the most southern region of Europe, practically next to Sahara Desert. 

All the agriculture, including wine, arrived here five centuries ago during the colonisation. So that’s really interesting, because when we talk about old vines here, we are talking about extremely old vines, due to the absence of phylloxera. A really important part of our project, over 30 years, is to try to accommodate a lot of this heritage and identity in terms of working with our local varieties, focusing on this weight of heritage we have here. 

It’s really important to know that 30 years ago, winegrowers here thought about white and red grape varieties, and they made white wine, red wine or a mix. But they didn’t put attention on the type of grape variety, because they made wine for their own consumption. 

So it’s interesting to talk about this. We’ve identified  82 forgotten grape varieties and 50% of these only exist in the Canary Islands. The real key – and it’s really important – is to analyse and understand these forgotten varieties.  It’s quite a big conversation to try to understand the value of all these grape varieties we have here.

Evolution: Breaking the mould of the classic DO style

Manuel Cantalapiedra, Cantalapiedra Viticultores 

When we talk about breaking the  mould it’s like there is a standard for Verdejo, but for me the real variety is not known. Rueda started to produce these modern white wines in the 80s, when  they started the appellation. It wasn’t  the traditional wine from Rueda, because we produced rancio, called Dorado. But when they started to produce these modern whites, the producers looked to other countries to see which wines were doing well in the world, instead of trying to find their own style. And they looked to Sauvignon Blanc. 

So when we started in 2014,  originally in the appellation, I knew I wanted to produce a completely different style of wine because I knew some producers that were making different styles – more natural Verdejo, spontaneous fermentation, low sulphur levels, a more artisan way to produce Verdejo. And when you try our wines, I think nobody thinks it’s Verdejo. But that’s because our wines are probably the most honest Verdejos you can find in the market right now. 

The wines didn’t pass the tastings of the appellation and we left after two years. The market will tell you if your wine is good enough or not. 

What an appellation has to do is to control the origin of the grapes and the yields. But everyone should be able to make the wine that they want to produce. For me, creativity is what gives the best wines in the world. 

Sustainability: Benefits from vineyard to glass

Vicky GonzÁlez-Gordon, GonzÁlez Byass

Each of our wineries has its challenges [and] they all have their own sustainability programmes, with water programmes, self-sufficiency plans, biodiversity plans, on emissions – each concentrates on specific issues depending on where they are. We have independent winemaking teams in each, which is good because each can lead in different aspects and then share knowledge, which is also very important. 

Sustainability needs to be part of the strategy of the company from the beginning and implemented across the whole processes, to be embedded in the company. It is also very relevant to measure everything to see where you can improve. We need to establish objectives that are doable, but that are ambitious, with specific plans. We work with a continuous improvement philosophy, bearing in mind that every step counts and that everything is important, like  we are on a journey. 

Obviously we need to be sustainable, because we need to survive – we are an agricultural product, and we rely on nature [and] we are linked to the region. We know consumers are more and more aware, we know retailers and trade are pushing more and legislation is also pushing quite hard. But in the end, we have our responsibility to be sustainable, we need to act, and economic sustainability is also part of the equation. With sustainability the benefits are we gain efficiency, with less consumption of energy, less consumption of water, we achieve better costs, we comply with future generations, we have healthier soils. So there are benefits in every step that we take now.

The importer’s view 

Paul Shinnie, Alliance Wine

It is quite difficult with Spain, in that, ever since the Spanish accession to the EU, the commercial direction has been very much on Tempranillo and Garnacha. And so we really don’t have enough consumer awareness of other grape varieties. Torres has been trying to create some things in Catalonia, but these are really sort of very niche things. 

One of the panellists today, Manuel Cantalapiedra, is working with Verdejo, right in the heart of Rueda, but not within the appellation. 

He’s doing something using a grape variety that is well known, but making it in a very distinctive way. And I think that’s quite an interesting way to develop this. 

The merchant’s view

Hannah Wilkins, Vineyards of Sherborne 

We’re getting more and more customers asking about sustainability, and not just down to the vineyard, but the packaging, the use of corks (they are very anti plastic cork), it’s very interesting. 

There’s one winery we work with where everything on their bottle is fully recycled. The narrative has definitely grown. And it’s part of our dialogue as wine lovers and wine workers, it’s part of our dialogue when we meet wine producers too. 

We want to know about sustainability and now that customers are really asking us as well, it’s not a rarity any more. So from our point of view, it’s a different dialogue and it’s one we need to be having in the wine trade.

Climate change is very much a daily headline, so this will only continue to grow. So it’s positive. And Spain is in a particularly good place right now, with organic, with all of the interesting varieties coming out, doing what it does best.

To watch The Future of Spanish Wines webinar in full, please go to the Harpers YouTube channel.