西班牙葡萄酒指南Spanish Wine Guide

西班牙葡萄酒指南Spanish Wine Guide西班牙生产优质葡萄酒的历史很长，特别是Rioja地区。

令人惊奇的是：Rioja只是西班牙众多葡萄酒产区中很小的一个，西班牙还有很多葡萄酒产区，有的也酿造着非常不错的葡萄酒，但是大部分西班牙葡萄酒都是不怎么吸引人的便宜货。

有的产区面积很大，西班牙是世界上酿酒葡萄种植面积最多的国家（意大利是葡萄酒产量最多的国家）。

对于喜欢优质的的酒迷来说还有一点很不幸：很多西班牙的葡萄很大的比重是Airen，大部分对“爱人”Airen都不是很熟悉，这是一个不是很出色的白葡萄品种。

（跟Chardonnay，Riesling和Sauvignon Blanc 这些贵族品种没法比）西班牙葡萄酒的等级划分和法国和意大利类似，不过西班牙的等级制度是Denominacion de Origen（简称DO）。

红葡萄酒标上还常常能看到Crianza（佳酿）、Reserva（珍藏）和Gran Reserva （特级珍藏字样）。

在Rioja 和Ribera del Duero, Crianza 葡萄酒必须经过两年的陈酿，其中最少有十二个月的橡木桶中陈酿（其他地方的规定会松一些，木桶中陈酿六个月的葡萄酒也可以是Crianza。

Reservas 需要有三年的酒厂陈酿时间(最少有一年是木桶中陈酿), Gran Reservas 须有五年陈酿期(两年木桶中陈酿，三年瓶储陈酿).用简短的字句来概括整个西班牙葡萄酒的特点，不是很轻松的事，下面介绍几个主要的产区和葡萄酒吧：西班牙北部地区Northern Spain白Rioja葡萄酒不是很出名但是也有一些不错的酒品。

最西北部的Galacia地区的Rias Baixas 葡萄酒很不错，是用Albariño葡萄酿制而成，很多都是低温发酵而成，保持了白葡萄酒的清爽的口感，这和白Rioja有鲜明的对比。

在往东南一点是Rueda。

最初是靠雪莉风格的白葡萄酒出名的，现在也有很多不错的白葡萄酒。

主要是用Verdejo葡萄酒酿造而成。

再往东是斗罗河谷Ribera del Duero,大片的葡萄酒位于Duero河两岸，Duero河经葡萄牙向西流去，葡萄牙部分叫做Douro是Port酒的主产区。

除了Rioja葡萄酒，Ribera del Duero葡萄酒是西班牙最贵的红葡萄酒了。

所用的葡萄名字是Vega Sicilia。

这里也有很多用国际知名葡萄酿造的葡萄（Cabernet Sauvignon）和当地的天帕尼罗（Tempranillo）混酿的佳酿。

.再往东偏北就来到了著名的Rioja. 几个世纪以来这里一直是西班牙高档葡萄酒的象征，现在依然极佳。

风格包括容易入口的Crianzas和一些Reservas，和可以陈酿数十年的顶级Reservas和GranReservas。

主要的葡萄品种是Tempranillo，也有少量其他品种如Garnacha Tinta（跟Grenache同义词歌海纳）。

Rioja分成三个小产区，最重要的是Rioja Alta （同时也是一个最好的葡萄园的名字），加上东部的Rioja Alavesa和Rioja Baja。

Rioja葡萄酒的风格决定于酒厂将葡萄酒在橡木桶存放的时间长短，其中Gran Reserva陈酿时间最长，因此也有最好的陈年潜力。

值得一提的是Rioja附近的Navarra也生产不错的葡萄酒，这有赶超Rioja之势。

地中海沿岸也有很多DO产区，比如Priorato和Somontano，长期以来所酿的葡萄酒不是十分吸引人，但是最近Priorato的酿酒品质有所提升，酿出了很多有陈年潜力的佳酿。

比如：Clos Mogador和Clos Erasmus。

Penedes也值得一提，因为那里是西班牙著名酿酒师Torres的家乡。

Torres家族用一系列西班牙品种和世界知名葡萄品种酿造出风格各异的葡萄酒，包括CAVA 和Gran Reserva红葡萄酒。

同时在智利（Migual Torres）和加州（Marimar Torres）也有自己的葡萄园。

西班牙中部Central Spain西班牙中部地区只有一个产区-La Mancha，这是一个有几百万公顷的产区，白葡萄酒主要是Airen酿造，红葡萄酒主要是用Cencibel（其实就是Tempranillo）和Garnacha Tinta（Grenache）酿造。

有人说La Mancha将出现像Napa Valley和Coonawarra一样的神话。

Just to the south of La Mancha isValdepeñas, a red wine region, muchless important than Rioja or the Riberadel Duero, which produces a fewdrinkable wines. Some of the bestproducers are using oak-ageing to add more appeal to their wines. Good value drinking can be found here, from one or two producers.My top wines: Felix Solis (Viña Albali), Los Llanos.Further to the east are the DOs of Almansa, Valencia, Alicante, Jumilla, Yecla andUtiel-Requena. There are some good value wines to be found here, and I have been particularly impressed with the efforts of Castaño.My top wines: Castano (Yecla).Southern Spain - SherryIt is clear that Spain's finest tablewines are to be found in the north, forthe central region has little to offer,and here in the south, within sight ofthe continent of Africa, there are none. But the region is not devoid of viticulture, and there are some very fine wines here. This is the home of Sherry, produced from a small region around the town of Jerez. Sherry is made principally from the Palomino and Pedro Ximénez (PX) grapes, with a splash of Moscatel. The grapes are harvested and fermented in the normal way, but the wines are then left in contact with air for a prolonged period of time. Some will simply oxidise, whereas some develop a coating of flor, a thick layer of yeast, on the surface. This yeast imparts a distinctive flavour.The wines then pass through a solera system, a tier of barrels containing wine of differing ages, oldest at the bottom and youngest at the top. The wine in the lowest barrel is drawn off and bottled, and each barrel is topped up with wine from the one above. This maintains a steady stream of wine of similar character year after year, and explains why sherry is almost never vintage dated.Sherries come in a number of styles. These can broadly be divided into dry, medium or sweet.Dry: Fino is the most commonly seen dry Sherry, a flor wine generally intended for drinking young. Manzanilla is a light style of Fino from Sanlúcar de Barrameda, a small fishing village on the Mediterranean coast. Amontillado is a wine left in cask until the flor has died and sunk to the bottom, the wine then darkening and taking on a more nutty character. Wines that are halfway between the Fino and Amontillado stages may be termed Fino Amontillado or Manzanilla Pasada. Oloroso is a wine which did not grow the flor yeast (the opposite of Fino), and it may be used as the base for medium or sweet Sherry. It may also be sold dry (Oloroso Seco).Medium: The most common medium sherry is a sweetened Amontillado, but they may also be created from Oloroso wines.Sweet: At their best these are made from Oloroso wines, sweetened with PX. In modern times they are just as likely to be poor Finos sweetened up with some Moscatel. Sweet Sherries made from just PX can be astounding. At the sweet end of the spectrum we also have the cream and brown Sherries, which I shall discuss no further.Sherry - My top wines: Emilio Lustau, Valdespino, Barbadillo, Garvey, Gonzalez Byass, Osborne and Hidalgo.As a final point, it is worth mentioning the regions of Montilla-Moriles and Málaga, which lie east of Jerez. Both produce some wines of note, very much in the style of Sherry. Some similar wines, as well as some dry whites, originate from Condado de Huelva, to the west of Jerez.VintagesVintages are obviously of no importance to Sherry, but in the north of Spain they are of greater significance. Recent good vintages for Rioja include 1996, 1995, 1994, 1991, 1989, 1987 and 1985.。