The windmill blades turn leisurely in La Mancha.
But appearances are deceptive: Iberia's most prestigious wines now come from the heart of Spain.
"Take a cushion with you, the chairs are hard", the woman at the reception recommends. The chairs she is referring to are in the patio of the Corral de Comedias. That's the name of the theatre in the small town of Almagro, 30 kilometres west of Valdepeñas. A real classical theatre, three storeys high, one of the oldest in Spain, but so tiny, as if it had shrunk into a puppet stage over the years. You can hear the actors' breathing. They are playing "Life is a Dream" by Calderón de la Barca. And the dream continues after the event ends, when the moon falls on cobblestones and mansions and you enter the magnificent Plaza Mayor with its arcades and balustrades.
Those who believe that wine has created the wealth of this city are mistaken. The wines from La Mancha and Valdepeñas were sold too cheaply for that. No, Almagro was the headquarters of the powerful Calatrava knights in the Middle Ages. Then, in the 16th century, the Augsburg banking house of Fugger took control of the nearby mercury mine and made Almagro one of the most important trading and financial centres in southwestern Europe. Gone. Today, Almagro is a sleepy provincial town, only allowed to be a cosmopolitan city for a few days at the end of July, during the theatre festival.
"34 bold warriors"
Windmills in Campo de Criptana |
Export success Clarete
The sea of vines south of Madrid is a strange entity. If you look at the map of Spanish D.O. regions, you will notice that the huge appellation of La Mancha almost completely surrounds the relatively small D.O. of Valdepeñas with its 30000 hectares. Valdepeñas almost completely. So why this distinction? For one thing, the pot-flat meseta changes into gentle hilly country shortly before the small town of Valdepeñas. But even more important is that the winegrowers around Valdepeñas succeeded much earlier in giving their wine a certain reputation.
The largest contiguous wine-growing area in the world |
As early as the 16th century, it was "in" to drink wine from Valdepeñas in Madrid's leading inns. And in the 19th century, the small region even landed a spectacular export success with its Clarete. The light red wine got its drinkable character because the winegrowers diluted their strong red wines by adding 20 percent white wine. Especially in South America, Clarete was extremely popular.
Despite their different levels of success, the wines from the D.O. regions of La Mancha and Valdepeñas have always been very similar in the area of unpretentiously produced mass wines. And today, when a small group of ambitious winemakers has made a name for itself in various places on the Castilian plateau, it is evident that the top wines from both appellations are also closely related. No wonder: the winemakers cultivate the same grape varieties, namely Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah in addition to the long-established Cencibel (Tempranillo). The terroir with its chalk subsoil and continental climate is also comparable. And here, as there, they know all about modern cellar technology and barrique ageing today.
The result is a completely new style of wine. Many red wines appear decidedly modern with their fruit-driven, ripe opulence. With their black berry fruit, buffered by abundant oak spice, they are sometimes strongly reminiscent of New World wines. One could almost believe that Australia begins south of Madrid.
The top of the pyramid
Top wine from La Mancha: El Vínculo |
Organic winemaker Dionisio de Nova García relies on barriques and tinajas |
Despite their love of experimentation, the winemakers also remain faithful to tradition. Nothing shows this as clearly as the "tinajas", the clay amphorae in which the fathers of today's winegrowers fermented and matured their wines. They still stand in the cellars and are not only carefully cared for, but also used.
Saffron, garlic and vines
Although the Meseta south of Madrid is the largest contiguous wine region in the world, the landscape is not only dominated by the idiosyncratically chequered vineyards. In October, individual fields suddenly glow violet-blue. Then it is time to harvest the most expensive spice in the world: saffron
A bad place for vampires: garlic soup from Castile |
Text: Thomas Vaterlaus (thomas.vaterlaus@vinum.info)
Photos: Heinz Hebeisen (heinz.hebeisen@vinum.info)
Tested for you
Restaurants:
El Corregidor
Jerónimo Ceballos 2E-13270
Almagro (Ciudad Real)
Tel. +34-926-86 06 48
elcorregidor@teleline.es
Old house with a rustic interior and cuisine that skilfully refines classic dishes.
La Membrilleja
Carretera de Pozuelo a Torralba, km 5E-13270
Almagro (Ciudad Real)
Tel. +34-926-69 30 64Classic
inn in a typical 19th century courtyard with patio.
Las Rejas
Borreros 49E-16660
Las Pedroñeras (Cuenca)
Tel. +34-967-16 10 89
informacion@lasrejas.net
www.lasrejas.netDas Dignified restaurant in a former mansion worth the diversions, as do the dishes by top chef Manolo de la Osa.
Cueva La Martina
Rocinante 13E-13610
Campo de Criptana
(Ciudad Real)
Tel +34-926-56 14 76Dine
among windmills with views of a typical Mancha village - Don Quixote sends his regards.
Hotels
Parador de Turismo Almagro
Ronda de San Francisco 31E-13270
Almagro (Ciudad Real)
Tel +34-926-86 01 00Fax
+34-926-86 01 50
almagro@parador.es
www.paradores-spain.comGehört One of the most beautiful paradores in all of Spain. Housed in a 16th-century convent with numerous patios.
Balneario Cervantes
(Hotel with restaurant
)Camino de los Molinos, km 2E-13730
Santa Cruz de Mudela
(14 km from Valdepeñas)
Tel. +34-926-33 13 13Fax
+34-926-33 14 41
balneariocervantes@manchanet.es
www.balneariocervantes.comKlassisches Country hotel with all comforts (swimming pool, etc.).
More information
www.lamanchado.es
Rich website with a wealth of information about the D.O.
La Mancha, the largest winegrowing region in the world.
www.
wein-plus.de/spanienKompakte Info about theD.O.
Valdepeñas.
www.
ayto-valdepenas.orgGut Website about
viticulture, sights and gastronomy in Valdepeñas.
Unfortunately only in Spanish.