By Ana Gil Peña
It has to be admitted that in the wider world, where there are many wine producers, no-one takes you very seriously if you start talking about Spanish whites in positive terms. Not altogether surprising, considering the disservice done by restaurants that considered their duty was ended once they had put a couple of cheapo white wines on their lists. Only somewhat recently have they bothered to include some decent stuff.
In the bad old days there were undrinkable La Manchas, bitter Riojas and irregular Penedés. As the Penedés were getting better, the market was suddenly flooded with cheap and very drinkable white wine from Rueda. Add with some Albariños from Rías Baixas… and that’s where we are now.
More infrequently you will come across unfamiliar names like Enate or Viñas del Vero. If you are adventurous, just tasting such wines opens the door to the lesser-known Somontano region. It is the only wine region in Spain where reds are outstanding, the rosés striking, and the whites just amazingly good.
The name Somontano means “at the base of the mountains”, located as it is in the foothills of the Pyrenees. Summers are hot and winters bring frosts, even snow. It is a wild, rugged area, difficult to access but certainly worth visiting. The scenery is stunning: the medieval villages as picturesque as anywhere, and the restaurants stupendous.
There were only seven bodegas in 1997. That number is now 30-plus. Somontano has been referred to as the Aragonese Rioja, and to the traditional grape varieties have been added imported stock. The reds are Syrah, Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Garnacha Tinta, Parraleta, Pinot Noir and Moristel. The whites, Chardonnay, Macabeo, Gewürztraminer, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc and Garnacha Blanca. In “The Wines of Spain” Julian Jeffs calls Somontano’s wines “some of the best in Spain”. Perhaps unsurprisingly investment from other wine areas is flooding in, with two of the top bodegas, Pirineos and Viñas del Vero, now owned by sherry houses Barbadillo and Gonzalez Byass, respectively.
If you can get the Bestué, Laus, Enate or Aldahara Chardonnays you will not be disappointed, and Villa d’Orta’s is one of the best going anywhere. The Chardonnay/Gewurtztraminer/Macabeo blend from Pirineos is possibly unique in Spain, and 12 Lunas makes a good Chardonnay/Gewürztraminer blend. Estada’s two whites are wonderful, as are all the Viñas del Vero labels, with their Gewürztraminer, a Somontanto first, among the best I have ever tasted; ditto the single-grape Riesling. (*None of these wines cost more than about €12, and some of the best are around €7-8.)
For too long Somontano wines were grown by Frenchmen and exported in bulk over the Pyrenees. Only in the 1980s did the region wake up to the fact that it was capable of producing superb wines that could be marketed on their own merits. They have certainly made up for lost time.
Denominación de Origen Somontano (Huesca): www.dosomontano.com
