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| February 7th 2007 |
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| Spain probes new directions |
by Victor de la Serna
As it reforms its appellation system, Spain is moving in two apparently contradictory directions. On the one hand, single-estate appellations akin to France’s Château Grillet or La Tâche have been created, and the first few...
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 ...of those Vinos de Pago have now been approved; on the other hand, there will be, with the 2007 harvest, a single, almost nationwide, “Geographic Indication”, which is the new name, generally preferred under European Union rules, for Vin de Pays or Vino de la Tierra: Viñedos de España. What’s going on here?
The apparent contradiction is misleading. Both moves, and others also under way, such as the definition of superior sub-regions within existing appellations, respond to the very obvious need to improve the position of Spanish wines in the markets. Spain is currently running the largest deficit in consumption compared to production in the world, which has increased the sense of urgency. One of the ways to attack the problem is to make the appellation system more flexible and varied, so as to be able to compete on different levels within the European Union’s restrictive legal framework. The wine law reform of 2003 made new appellations possible and now this is translating into practical results.
One need, the most pressing one, is to develop the kinds of mass-produced, competently made, and attractive wines with which the New World has so efficiently packed the shelves of supermarkets worldwide. There are practically no geographic restrictions in Australia on the sourcing of Chardonnay grapes used by Lindemans to make the millions of bottles of its successful Bin 65. The Spanish wine industry argues that similar conditions are needed to produce sound competitors in the same field.
Under European Union rules, grapes from several regions can only go into Vin de Table, and such wines cannot mention any geographic indication, vintage or grape varieties on the label, which makes it impossible for them to compete. European rules, on the other hand, while allowing such mentions for Vins de Pays or Geographic Indications, rule out nationwide appellations. So the Spanish have responded with a quasi-national appellation. Initially, four of the 17 autonomous regions were excluded from Viñedos de España: Cantabria and Asturias, as well as the Canary and Balearic islands. But other regions, like La Rioja and Castile-León, intent on protecting their existing appellations, requested to be kept out of the appellation. The final list of regions participating in Viñedos de España is not yet known.
The strenuous opposition by well-established appellations like Rioja or Ribera del Duero makes the future of this initiative hard to ascertain. They insist that Viñedos de España is just a way to try to sell inferior bulk wines abroad under a more attractive presentation, and that this will undermine the existing quality wines and the image of Spain abroad. If, in the end, it turns out that way, the whole idea will have been a failure. But if enough serious quality controls are established so that only competitive wines and brands can take the appellation, then it could be a success.
At the other end of the spectrum, the Vinos de Pago were intended by law to make it possible for quality producers outside existing appellations, or within minor or bulk-wine producing appellations, to be better recognized. Only one region, Castile-La Mancha, has in fact approved the establishment of such appellations. Another region, Valencia, has enacted a different version of the same appellation: a single-estate Vino de la Tierra.
Vino de Pago and Viñedos de España are two good ideas for Spain. It remains to be seen whether they wind up becoming two equally good realities.
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