Spain's saving grace, viticulturally, is the average altitude of her vineyards, over 600 m (2,000 ft). There is real treasure to be found by those prepared to dig, however and, now that a connoisseur class has developed in Spain itself, all manner of ambitious investors have been doing their bit to change the image of Spanish wine.Ī look at a map suggests just how much climatic diversity there is likely to be between Spain's many wine regions, from the soggy green vineyards of Galicia on the north Atlantic coast to the baked Mediterranean south east. But Spain is an anarchic jumble of districts and regions, just as its landscape is an anarchic jumble of staggeringly raw scenery and heartbreakingly awful human constructions, and has to be treated as such by the wine enthusiast. If it had Germany's love of efficiency, or France's respect for centralism, Spain would have been sending us oceans of judiciously priced wine made expressly for the international market for decades.
Proud possessor of more land devoted to vines than any other, Spain is only just beginning to capitalise on this resource in any consistent or cohesive way – which is perhaps not surprising. Investment and ambition in vineyard and winery are resulting in more and more rich – often highly alcoholic – spicy reds that are finding increasing favour among international consumers weaned on ripe New World wines.
After years on the sidelines of the world of fine wine, it is now a major player.
It could be argued that Spain is a viticultural miracle.
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