Spain Immigration Tasting Spanish Fine Wines:
Overview:
La Mancha covers the provinces of Albacete, Ciudad Real, Cuenca, and Toledo in the Autonomous Community of Castilla-La Mancha and is the largest designated wine region in Spain. The La Mancha region borders the Madrid designated wine region to the north and almost completely surrounds Valdepeñas, another designated wine region in the south of the autonomous community. Most of the La Mancha region is located on the Central Plateau, which slopes slightly to the north. The Guadiana River flows through this area, with some sections running underground. It is particularly worth noting that La Mancha is the hometown of the protagonist of Miguel de Cervantes' 17th-century novel, Don Quixote, and the reputation of being the "hometown of Don Quixote" seems even more famous than La Mancha itself. Red Wine Region Series Report No. 15: La Mancha, Spain
History:
The La Mancha region is far from the sea, with relatively obstructed export routes and a lack of major surrounding cities. Its isolated geographical location had a decisive impact on the development of the local winemaking industry. For these reasons, wines from the La Mancha region have a rustic style that leans towards rural towns. After the founding of Madrid in 1561, it provided an important market for La Mancha, located one day's journey away. However, as time passed, other vineyards appeared closer to Madrid, leading to more intense market competition for La Mancha. Red Wine Region Series Report No. 15: La Mancha, Spain
In the 1970s, the enterprising spirit of the people of La Mancha was finally rewarded, as low prices and grape cultivation costs attracted new investment to the region. In 1980, some of the most modern wineries in Europe began replacing original rustic grapes with higher-quality varieties. More importantly, local wines had achieved significant export capacity, and today, 70% of La Mancha wines are sold to overseas markets.
Grapes:
Airén is the most widely planted grape variety in the world, and most of these grapes are grown on the plains of La Mancha. In addition, other white grape varieties in this region include Macabeo, Cayetana, and Muscat à Petits Grains. Cencibel is the main local red grape variety, and some vineyards have begun replacing the original Airén grapes with this variety during replanting. Other red grape varieties include Moravia and Garnacha.
Wines:
New fermentation technologies have solved the previous difficulty of extracting fruit flavors from Airén grapes. Wines made from these grapes have a richer fruit flavor and a more refreshing taste. Abundant white grape resources have earned the La Mancha region significant profits in the export market. Currently, most white wines are fresh, refreshing, and affordable dry white wines intended for immediate consumption, as are the rosés made from a blend of white and red grapes or 100% Moravia grapes.
Red wines from the La Mancha region are made by blending red grapes with a certain proportion of white grapes. They are suitable for immediate consumption and have a light fruit flavor, but local wineries have also begun to produce wines with longer aging potential. Among them, Crianza wines (aged for at least 6 months in oak barrels, with a total aging period of 2 years) made from 100% Cencibel grapes are quite popular.