ALELLA DO

Catalonia

This is a tiny, predominantly white appellation just north of Barcelona, where grapes are traditionally grown on windy granite hills, but due to urban development the DO was extended in 1989 into the colder, limestone vallès of the Cordillera Catalana. The red wines of Alella have good color, medium body, and a soft, fruity flavor. White and rosado are palecolored, fresh, and delicate, with good acidity when made with grapes from the best northfacing slopes.

Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, Garnacha, Garnacha Blanca, Garnacha Peluda, Pansá Rosada, Tempranillo, Xarel-lo

1–5 years (red), 1–2 years (white and rosado), 1–4 years (sweet)

Alta Alella Chardonnay • Alellasol • Marfil • Marqués de Alella

ALMANSA DO

Castilla-La Mancha

This red and rosado appellation, which lies north of Jumilla and Yecla, bridges the heights of the central plains of La Mancha and the lowlands of Valencia. The red wines produced here are full-bodied and richly colored, with the best examples being quite smooth and fruity. Good examples of rosado can be fruity and clean.

Airén, Garnacha, Meseguera, Monastrell, Tempranillo

3–10 years (red), 1–3 years (rosado)

Alfonso Abellan • Carrion • Piqueras

ALICANTE DO

Valencia

These mild-climate red, white, and rosado wines are grown on dark, limey soil in the hills behind Alicante. The red wines are naturally deep in color and, when made in a doble pasta style, they can be ink-black and astringent, but younger, fruitier styles are emerging, as indeed they are among rosados and whites. Fortified Moscatels from this region are light and refreshing. A fortified wine of local repute called Fondillón is made from Monastrell grapes in a tawny port style.

Airén, Bobal, Garnacha, Garnacha Tinta, Meseguera, Moscatel Romano, Monastrell, Planta Fina, Tempranillo, Viura

6–12 years (reds)

Enrique Mendoza • Hijo de Luís García Poveda (Costa Blanca)

ABONA DO

Canary Islands
This new appellation was established in 1996 for white wines made in the south of Tenerife, where the vines are grown on terraces that are also planted with potatoes. Before they gained DO status, these wines were sold under the names of Granadilla, San Miguel, and Vilaflor.

Listán, Malvasia

Viña Peraza

SPAIN’S BEST WINES AND ITS APPELLATION SYSTEM

Vega Sicilia in the Ribera del Duero was once definitively Spain’s most expensive wine, leading many to believe that it must be Spain’s greatest. Others can now lay equal claim to be the most expensive and greatest of Spanish wines (Clos l’Ermita, Dominio de Pingus, and Cirsión are likely candidates), and many more are equal in quality if not quite as ridiculously priced, including Pesquera, Rioja Contino, Barón de Ley, Muga Prado Enea, Murrieta Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva), Penedés (Torres and Jean Léon), and even some nonappellation wines such as Marqués de Griñón.

The Denominación de Origen (DO) system is Spain’s equivalent of the French Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC) or Italian Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC) systems. The only higher Spanish classification is Denominación de Origen Calificada (DOCa), and Rioja remains the only recipient of this superior status since its inception in 1981, although other highquality wines may be promoted to DOCa in the future. Ribera del Duero, Navarra, Penedés, and Cava all spring to mind as candidates for such promotion. If there is a lesson the Spanish could learn from Italy, it is not to overlook outstanding nonappellation wines such as Marqués de Griñón’s Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah from south of Madrid. Indisputably two of Spain’s great wines, they should jump from DO straight to DOCa status, if Spain’s regime is to avoid the same fate as Italy’s, whose best vini da tavola were forced to build up reputations at the expense of the official system.

The WINES of SPAIN

SPAIN CONTINUES TO OVERPERFORM, providing more wines of real interest and quality than the most optimistic critic could reasonably hope for. Why do I say that? For a start, as indigenous grape varieties go, Tempranillo is Spain’s only class act. Furthermore, although most Spanish vineyards are not totally lacking in potential (otherwise we would not have witnessed the revolution in Spanish wines that we have), there are no really world-class terroirs to be found beyond parts of Rioja, Penedés, and the Ribera del Duero. Yet the number of truly fine Spanish wines continues to increase, with at least as much excitement at the lower end of the quality scale as at the higher end. As recently as the 1980s, with the general exception of Rioja, most Spanish wines were either oxidized or oversulfured. Never has an established, traditional winemaking nation got its act together so quickly and thoroughly as Spain.

BLANC DE BLANCS

Non-vintage, vintage, and prestige Literally meaning “white of whites,” this wine is produced entirely from white Chardonnay grapes and possesses the greatest aging potential of all Champagnes. Blanc de blancs may be made in any district of Champagne, but the best examples come from a small part of the Côte des Blancs between Cramant and Le Mesnil-sur-Oger. If consumed too early, a classic blanc de blancs can be austere and seem to lack fruit and generosity, yet with proper maturity this style of Champagne can be very succulent. Given a few years’ bottle aging after purchase, most blanc de blancs develop a toasty-lemony bouquet together with intense, beautifully focused fruit. If the first blend of Lenoble’s nonvintage Cuvée Les Aventures (1990/5/6) is anything to go by, it will be fighting for a place in the top 10 nonvintage blanc de blancs.

I Nonvintage Billecart-Salmon • Boizel • Bonnaire • Gaston Chicquet • Delamotte • Pierre Gimonnet • Moncuit • Joseph Perrier • Jacques Sélosse (Tradition) • Vilmart & Cie • Vintage Billecart-Salmon • Bonnaire • Deutz • Duval-Leroy • Pierre

Gimonnet (Collection en magnum) • Jacquesson (Avize) • Henri Mandois (Chardonnay Brut) • Le Mesnil (Vigne Sélectionnée) • Pol Roger • Louis Roederer • Prestige cuvée Boizel (Joyeau) • Deutz (Amour de Deutz) • Charles Heidsieck (Cuvée de Millénaires) • Krug (Clos du Mesnil) • Ruinart (Dom Ruinart) • Salon (“S”) • Taittinger (Comtes de Champagne)

BLANC DE NOIRS

Nonvintage, vintage, and prestige Literally translated as “white of blacks,” these Champagnes are made entirely from black grapes, either Pinot Noir or Pinot Meunier, or a blend of the two. The most famous and most expensive is Bollinger’s Vieilles Vignes Françaises, which is a unique example of pure Pinot Noir Champagne made from two tiny plots of ungrafted vines, which between them cannot produce more than 3,000 bottles, hence the hefty price tag. Aside from Bollinger, few producers have traditionally used the term blanc de noirs, but the Vieilles Vignes Françaises has given it a certain cachet and a few commercially minded houses have begun to cash in on the term (Beaumet, Jeanmaire, Mailly Grand Cru, Oudinot, and De Venoge, for example). Many supermarkets now sell their own-label brand of blanc de noirs. Bollinger inadvertently created the myth that a blanc de noirs is intrinsically a big, full, and muscular Champagne, but it is generally little different in style from the other cuvées a house may produce. If you try Serge Mathieu’s Champagne, you will discover a wine so elegant that you would never guess it is made only from Pinot Noir, let alone that it is grown in the Aube. Pommery’s Wintertime and the Mailly cooperative’s basic nonvintage Blanc de Noirs Grand Cru just miss the cut, but deserve an honorary mention. Another cooperative, Veuve A. Devaux, has just come back on track with its nonvintage Blanc de Noirs, which should make the list next time around if standards are maintained.

I Bollinger (Vieilles Vignes Françaises) • Canard-Duchêne (Charles VII) • Serge Mathieu (Cuvée Tradition) • Moët & Chandon (Les Sarments d’Aÿ)

CHÂTEAU CARONNE STE. GEMME

AOC Haut-Médoc Cru Bourgeois Supérieur

This property is situated south of Château Lagrange—a superb island of vines on a gravel plateau. Matured in wood for 12 months, with 25 percent new oak.

RED Full-bodied wines rich in flavor with undertones of creamy oak, and a supple, tannin structure.

Cabernet Sauvignon 65%, Merlot 33%, Petit Verdot 2%

8–20 years

Second wine: Château Labat

CHÂTEAU CHANTELYS

AOC Médoc Cru Bourgeois

Owner Christine Courrian Braquissac brings a gentle touch to the naturally firm wines of this district.

RED Well-colored, medium-bodied, gently rich-flavored wines of some elegance.

Cabernet Sauvignon 55%, Merlot 40%, Petit Verdot 5%

3–8 years

Second wine: Château Gauthier