Great Wine Made Simple - Andrea Immer [94]
Navarra For me, Spain’s Navarra province was always Pamplona: San Fermin, the city’s patron saint, and the week of passionate partying thrown every July in his honor that is best known to outsiders for the encierro—the running of the bulls (and crazy humans) every day at dawn. When it comes to wine, Navarra is Rosado (Roh-SAH-doe), tasty and refreshing rosé wines made from the Garnacha grape, and value-priced popular varietals—Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot, or blends of these with local grapes. Look for Bodegas Nekeas wines under the brand Vega Sindoa (VEH-guh Sin-DOE-uh). Las Campanas and Chivite make good rosados to try.
DON’T FORGET THE SHERRY
My Spanish friends may want to disown me right now for not giving Sherry (the real Spanish stuff, not the generic screw-cap California “sherry”) its own section in this chapter, for indeed Sherry is one of the wine world’s great and original masterpieces. But I have always found that it is best to teach and learn about wine in context, and when it comes to Sherry that means food. As such, we will consider Sherry in the next chapter, where we will discuss pairing wine and food.
“WHO’S WHO”—THESE SPANISH WINE IMPORTERS HAVE GOT THE JUICE Here are the best Spanish wine importers. Their names on a wine label represent a stamp of quality, and also originality. These importers source some of Spain’s most interesting up-and-comers, unsung heroes, and the leaders in Spain’s emergence as a great wine source for the millennium:
Fine Estates from Spain, Jorge Ordoñez Selections Jorge, as everyone in the trade knows him, brings in great wines from all over Spain, the classic regions, as well as up-and-comers like Navarra, Toro, and the Levante district, near Alicante.
Classical Wines Steve Metzler of Classical Wines represents top producers from the classic zones, as well as great values from little-known regions like Bierzo, Somontano, and Extremadura. They also bring in Hidalgo Sherries, which are among Spain’s best.
Europvin, Christopher Canaan Selections This company imports Vega Sicilia but also some great Riojas, Sherries from Lustau (Loo-STAU), a top producer, and a raft of wines from up-and-coming spanish DOs.
Portugal
The Portuguese wine story used to be about extremes, with Mateus and Vinho Verde (VEEN-yo VAIRD) at one end of the spectrum, and the famous fortified Port and Madeira wines at the other. The former were bought by the everyday consumer based on brand familiarity and novelty, the latter by a tiny group of aficionados. That is now changing rapidly, and with good reason. For one, the quality and availability of Portuguese still wines (regular whites and reds) is improving at warp speed, replacing the old budget standards with seriously good wine at excellent prices. Second, the emergence of restaurant wine-by-the-glass programs has given people access to the classic fortified wines in a single-serving size, making it easy and affordable to try them, and to sample the diversity of styles. As with Spanish Sherry, I will explore this latter group in the next chapter.
For the still wines, here is what you should know. Big Six varietal wines, which are popular in some Portuguese regions, are modeled on the French classics just like everywhere else, so buying them is a no-brainer. For the distinctive local wines, which are definitely worth exploring, here is a quick primer:
IPR Indicacao da Proveniencia Regulamentada (literally “indication of regulated provenance”) is the Portuguese appellation system. For rustic, spicy, medium- to full-bodied red wines, look for Douro (DUHR-oh), Dão (Downg), and Bairrada (Bye-RAH-duh).
VR, or Vinho Regional (VEEN-yo Reh-juh-NALL) is a classification rank one step down from IPR that also makes some worthy wines. My favorites are the reds (again rustic, spicy, lots of character) from the Terras do Sado (TEAR-uss do SAH-do) and Ribatejo (Ree-buh-TAY-jhoe) VR districts.
Quinta (KEEN-tuh) “Wine estate” in Portuguese,