Global Wine Tour will be exploring the wines of Spain on Thursday November 19th!

Join Steve Thurlow, Senior Editor for Wine Access magazine, and one of Canada’s foremost experts on the subject of wine, as we spend an evening exploring the most important wine regions of Spain.  You’ll sample 8 different wines from this very historic and celebrated wine producing nation, and learn about its wine regions, and the differences that separate the types of wines coming from each one.

Spain has a long history of producing fine wines, particularly the red wines of Rioja.  Surprisingly, however, this famous name is just one small region among many, some of which produce equally good wines.  Some of these regions are huge, and account for the fact that Spain has the largest area of land dedicated to viticulture of any country in the world. Unfortunately for lovers of fine wine, much of these vines are Airén, an undistinguished white grape responsible for some very mediocre wine!

Spain has a similar classification system to France and Italy, with all classified wine regions regulated under the Denominación de Origen (DO) system.  Red wines are often labelled as Crianza, Reserva or Gran Reserva.  In Rioja and the Ribera del Duero, Crianza wines are two years old, with at least twelve months spent in cask (elsewhere the oak ageing may legally be restricted to just six months).  Reservas are three years old (at least one year in cask), Gran Reservas are at least five years old (two in cask, three in bottle).

It is clear that Spain's finest table wines are to be found in the north, for the central region has little to offer, and in the south, within sight of the continent of Africa, there are virtually 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 oxidize, whereas some develop a coating of flor, a thick layer of yeast, on the surface. This yeast imparts a distinctive flavour, giving Sherry its uniqueness found nowhere else.

Learn all of this and much more when you attend this Global Wine Tour virtual wine tasting tour!

Click here for more information on this event and to register for the tour!

For any questions or if you need more information, please feel free to contact

  David Calado, Wine Education Director for Global Wine Tour, either by email at

info@globalwinetour.com

or by telephone at 416-909-0460.