A region, made popular by the famous conquerors of America, Extremadura is today famous for another reason: the captivation of the palates and the markets of all four corners of the world, thanks to its wines, its fruits and its vineyards. Above all thanks to its red wines. Elegant and complex, they are an excellent example of modern oenological practices used today in Spain. 
                                                                                                 

 

Spanish wine-growers, always ready to innovate in order to improve the development of their vines and the vinification of their wines, have already forgotten the bygone era of bulk white wines. At the end of the month of August, in the region of Tierra de Barros, in the Province of Badajoz, in Extremadura, the vintage started more than a week ago. The agronomic engineer and oenologist, Marcelino Diaz, proprietor of the “Bodega”, which carries his name, drives his vehicle with immense care around the villages of Almendralejo and Villafranca de los Barros.

 

It is a track bordered by vineyards,whose landscape is made up of olive groves and fields of cereal. The thermometer in his car shows an external temperature of 89.6°F. “It is only 11.00AM!” Marcelino notes as he drives towards “Finca El Mosquito”, his sharecropping country farm inherited from his father. He intends, when he gets there, to measure the sugar content in the red wine grapes of his vineyard.

 In all he has about 250 acres of different grape varieties – Tempranillo, Graciano, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. “Fantastic, in a few days we can pick, the sugar content is shooting up” he confirms, checking with his refractometre and converting the degrees Baumé into potential alcoholic strength.

It measures 12.5° of alcohol, the ideal strength for his “crianza” and “reserva” red wines. “The evolution of the must weights is excellent. This will be a splendid year” he notes. Without a doubt he is already thinking of the results that he will obtain with the 2006 vintage!Marcelino – a “revolutionary”.

Marcelino is not considered the forerunner of modern oenology for nothing. Thanks to him, Extremadura has abandoned its tendency to make and market bulk white wines in favour of red wines of quality. He was sparkling with joy on the above day, because he had just sold 6,000 bottles to Germany. With a production in excess of 350,000 bottles, of which he bottles approximately 50% in his family cellar, he succeeds in commercialising practically his entire annual production.

It is principally destined for “Gastronomic Restaurants”. Alain Ducasse, in Paris, and Zalacain, in Madrid, are among the prestigious restaurants that have his wine on their wine lists. Grown, produced and matured in Tierra de Barros – one of the sub-regions of the DOC Ribera Del Guadiana –Marcelino’s wines all have as a base the Spanish grape variety Tempranillo.

One of the stars of his production is a wine by the name of Puerta Palma. Having won a prize in both Bordeaux and Brussels, and highly acclaimed by a major section of the Spanish and American press (Wine Association, Wine Spectator Revue) this wine, whose name evokes one of the most ancient of the entry gates to the city of Badajoz, is a perfect example of modern Extremadura oenology.

The color is lively and brilliant, the aromatic complexity ample. There are notes of cinnamon, coffee, balsamic mint and of torrefaction from the excellent oak he uses. This is the top wine of his range, which he has baptised, depending upon the blend and the time spent in barrel, with the names “Finca las Tenderas” or “Finca el Campillo” or “Tinto Cosecha”.

The wines of Extremadura owe the way they have “taken off” to Marcelino. He has done everything in his power to defend the restructuring of the vineyards – with success – and he put his faith in the ageing of the wines in oak barrels – another success!
“We have the best climate in the world for making quality wines” he affirms, delighted by the intense heat of the day. Indeed this is not in vain. The land, for him, caresses his vines. With its deciduous leaves, the vine here appreciates the cold of winter with its lack of rain as well as the abundance of sun in summer. These factors characterise the calendar of this region of Spain. Extremadura enjoys a climate very similar to that of California although it does not have the typical spring frosts of that American viticultural region.

“The last frost that we had here was in 1977” Marcelino remembers. He congratulates himself on having “ecological wines” when he refers to the origins of the terroir where he has seen his vines born and raised. “We hardly use insecticide or herbicide here nor fertiliser” he goes on.

“The humidity is also ideal and during the vintage we have no problem with rain that could dilute the crop and the minerals in the grapes” he adds as a true connoisseur of vine culture. Previously, Marcelino looked after wine exports for other companies.

Youngest child of nine, with eight brothers, he inherited the art of wine-making from his father. All of the above have been connected with viticulture since the 1930s and before that they were producing olive oil. “The respect of family tradition and the love of the land and of cultivation are the only paths that I know that lead to making great wines” Marcelino confesses, with a certain melancholy, while walking through his vineyards.
Passionate about life in the country, Marcelino recalls “helping out in the bodega” as soon as he could run, as a child, around and between the earthenware amphorae of the family. After the death of his father, he started a project with his brothers, which they called “Lar de Barros-Inviosa”.

However, since six years ago and independently on his own, he has concentrated on what he himself terms “signature wines”. Both proud and happy, he cannot hide his smile when he talks about his four children who are between 14 and 20 years of age. Already they “know the work on the land” in the vineyards.

One of them “most certainly” will continue the labours inherited from this oenologist of Extremadura. He bottles and matures the wines vinified, by his care, in a town close to his town of birth, Almendralejo. Right in the heart of the town, his “bodega” will soon undergo enlargement since Marcelino is also thinking of increasing his production.
Sparkling Wine (Cava) outside Catalonia Marcelino, the master of his cellar, waxes enthusiastic when he talks about Cava (the great Spanish Sparkling wine), which he makes with his brothers in his cellar at “Lar de Barros” – the Bonaval cellar. Maccabeo and Parellada are the grapes used in this sparkling wine.

Cava is the result of an “ongoing and constant bureaucratic argument”, which dates back to 1983, when Marcelino and his brothers took the gamble of making this sparkling wine far from the region of Catalonia, birthplace of Spanish Sparkling wine. The tribunals (courts) upheld their case, thus permitting Almendralejo to be a production area for Cava, Marcelino confirms.

“Culture and an excellent blend, with adequate climate and soil, are the keys to making all fine wine” believes this oenologist, “through colour variety, aromas, flavours and cultural richness“. There is nothing better for Marcelino, who waxes eulogistic when he talks about the vine and its wine.

Art and art again
When dusk arrives, in the area around Almendralejo, we are in the cellar “Vina Extremena”, a place of pure art, because this “bodega”, which looks like a palace, houses an incredible collection of artistic treasures. We are received by the proprietor and director both, Alfonso Schlegel, impeccably dressed and with his hair plastered down. He is in the garden in front of the cellar.

This place is nothing less than a botanical garden containing more than 400 different plants, all catalogued, adding up to more than 2,000 examples.

A thousand-year old olive tree, or a gnarled BEACURNEA from Mexico, are just two of the many species which greet the visitor to Vinexsa. Rhythms of classical melodies, issuing from screens shaped like rocks, have been chosen to fill the immense garden with sound. Tasteful ornaments are completed by fountains reminiscent of ancient Greece, and green spaces invite the visitor to make his first pause in the exhibition hall.
This is a large room, entirely covered by pictures portraying the school of magic realism of Antonio Maestre or Eduardo Nariño. Although Alfonso is passionate about this particular artistic style, he cannot help but look with even more esteem upon the portraits of his grandparents and his mother, which are also here in this place reserved for conferences and concerts.

Thousands of people have passed through this room in which the value of the works of art is hard to estimate. “Art is to be shared” confirms Schlegel, while professing that “here there are only a few pictures of little value”.
Picasso, Moro and the American, John Fulton, are among the great genii of art whose pictures are here in the offices and showrooms of Alfonso’s cellar, who for many years has been visiting the auction salesrooms to assemble this collection. However, art is not this entrepreneur’s sole occupation.

Vina Extremena is above all a place of production and commercialisation of classical and indisputably Extremadura-style wines. Alcoholes Iglesias is the name of the family group, producing distilled vine products that Alfonso’s grandfather founded at the end of the XIXth century.

The grandson describes his grandfather as “a friendly but also monarchical gentleman”. He was in fact a great friend of Don Juan, the father of the present King of Spain.

Vina Extremena is present in 60 countries and maintains its international distribution through the success that it has achieved at different tasting competitions. A range of medals and diplomas bears witness to this in one of the rooms that Alfonso shows us.
“The United States, France, Canada, Italy, Slovenia and many other countries have given awards to our wines in their tasting competitions. This is indeed our grand strategy” says Schlegel. “For two consecutive years we won more prizes than any other producer in the world” he adds.

Traditional wines, the results of Tempranillo, Garnacha, Merlot and Syrah, meet with the taste of the consumer who likes classical red wines. Here they are! Attractive to look at, balanced and with oaky aromas on the palate, this is the common character shared by more than ten separate brands commercialised by Vinexsa.
Corte Real, the two names of a Portuguese friend of Alfonso, now gives these names to one of the top wines of the company. It is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (50%) and Merlot (50%) and is matured during 14 months in French Allier oak casks. It can be found in the supermarkets. “Our objective is to market it through the food and wine stores rather than through the restaurants”, explains the owner of Vina Extremena.

In the United States, in the Florida supermarket chains, in New York, Corte Real is already available. Soon it will be the turn of California, Minnesota, and Georgia, where the company will promote a “sales campaign”.
The harmony that presides over the different rooms of the cellar, ceases when one arrives in the maturation cellar. Total silence! Here sleep the barrels of ISO 9002 and EQ-NET certified wines. In the basement of this “dormitory” are the “niches” of the very special wines of the cellar – Corte real Platinum, Monasterio de Tentudia and Adventus. Several of these brands have carried “gala labels” under the appellations of their particular wines.

Vina Extremena has printed thousands of these for special occasions. The Marines of the American Armed Forces posted to Kosovo, the European Commission or the Royal Prince of Wales Regiment in England are examples of organisations who, at one time or another, have chosen the wines of this Extremadura cellar to accompany a particular event. What is more, when the wines leave Almendralejo, their labels are already translated into the respective language of the country for which they are destined. “We have labels in Chinese, even in Israeli”, he informs us.
The design of the labels, as well as of the layout and decoration of all the installations and of the whole of the company premises in general, are the work of Alfonso, aided by his sister who is the cultural advisor on the artistic side. There are also sometimes patrons.

A museum consecrated to sacred art, a collection of amphorae from the 1st and 2nd centuries AD and a stylish collection of decanters are other surprises offered by Vinexsa. The visitor, who is always well received and looked after, should arrive with a hearty appetite for museums; Those who do not so much appreciate such artistic visits will be better off remaining in the shop, the tasting centre of the establishment, in which they can enjoy another major art – wine tasting.

Signature wines adapted for the young consumer. When we visited, at the end of summer, Alfonso was happy with the results of this year’s vintage in his vineyards.He was content with a project that is “in his hands”. This is a new cellar, which is more independent of Vinexsa. Vademecum is the name of this new vinification
and production cellar, which is located on the other side of Almendralejo. The bottles are dressed with modern style labels – red only – made up of Merlot and 4Syrah.These are destined for “today’s young consumers”. “These are, for the most part, single varietal wines with discreet notes imparted by the oak barrel”, he explains, talking about the wines, which he qualifies as “signature wines”. The official inauguration of this new and modern cellar is planned for the end of this year, although the wines are already available on the shelves of the Spanish supermarkets.

As the day dawns in the countryside of Tierra de Barros, the pickers are already carefully picking the dawn-fresh grapes, on the plains of this fertile soil, both rich and nourishing for the vine, at an altitude of just over 500 metres above sea level.
The heat is already intense and, although a number of pickers have not yet started work, dozens of tractors are driving up and down the paths, which form a mosaic with the vines and the olive trees, in the direction of the cellars and the cooperatives. The alignment of vines stretching to infinity is astonishing. Some of them are planted in the traditional “nave” system, but the majority hold themselves proudly, looking up at the sun, and are pruned on the “espalier” system.

 

“Château” Extremadura
A carefully tended vineyard of over 150 acres surrounds an elegant and seigniorial building, reminding one of a French Chateau. We are at Vina Santa Marina. When one gets here, in the Sierra de Lamoneda, less than 6 miles from the city of Merida, one is surprised by the harmony and the beauty of the vines, which look as if they had been carefully placed like two pieces of a puzzle.
It is a landscape made up of vines, of a dense forest of green oak trees, of cork-oak and of “kisthos” (a Mediterranean shrub with white or rose coloured flowers). It is a farm of nearly 500 acres!

We discover Yolanda Pinero there, much busied and preoccupied by the state of the vintage. Yolanda is the oenologist, who lives for the wines of this property, whose ownership is divided between her and Alvaro Alvear. Alvaro was, for forty years, general manager at Alvear, one of the oldest family wineries in Spain, making Pedro Ximenez, Fino etc. since 1729.
This preoccupation is entirely understandable as we are right at the beginning of the vintage, a crucial period which “completely precludes sleep” she comments. “It fills me with joy and I am passionate about it, but it is also a moment of time during which we have to make a lot of important decisions”.

She says this while she supervises the work going on in the fermentation cellar, the capacity of which is around 5,300 gallons. Each afternoon, Yolanda analyses the state of the contents of the fermentation vats. She draws samples, analyses them to monitor their progress and then throws them back into the vats in order not to lose a drop of the precious production.
“The wine is sacred. A lot of care and attention is required to produce a fine bottle”, says this agronomic engineer. Master of Oenology, she was for 5 years directress of the largest concern of the D.O.C. of the appellation Ribera Del Guadiana.
Part of the impulsion given by the Consejo Regulador (Control Council), since its foundation, to the wines of the 6 sub-regions that make up the image of the brand of Extremadura, can be laid directly at the door of Yolanda.

Full of vitality, enterprising and with great knowledge and experience in the art of cultivating the vine and making wine, Yolanda has not hesitated to implicate herself deeply in the project that was presented to her “one fine day” by the producer of the mythical wines of Sherry.“We want Extremadura to have an exemplary ‘bodega’ of a pure French style”, recalls Yolanda when she thinks about the start of the project.

To this end they received good advice from two of the greatest – if not THE two greatest - oenologists in the country. Mariano Garcia (Vega Sicilia, Mauro, Aalto) and Ignacio de Miguel (Pago de Vallegarcia, Dehesa Del Carrizal, Estancia Piedra, etc.). “He is my tutor” says Yolanda when speaking of Garcia, with whom she collaborates. “He gives me a helping hand as much as his busy schedule permits”.
Following the intended French model, French grape varietals are used (Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah) that produce high quality with low yields, in order to make their top-of-the-range wines.

The name of the “bodega” is also used for certain brands that Yolanda and Angeles Castilla (also oenologist at the Vina Santa Marina) create from red grapes that are either hand-picked or machine-picked according to the vineyard. One of these wines, “Abanico-Montua”, is “unique by reason of its blend from autochthonous grapes” - Montua (60%), Cayetana Blanca (30%) and Pardina (10%).
It is commercialised under the aegis of “Country Wine of Extremadura”. “Abanico”, which means “fan” in Spanish, is the well-known brand of Vina Santa Marina in the United States, the principal market of the company, followed by Japan and Central Europe.

“Fanning” (ranging) the USA Vina Santamarina is present “directly” in California, New York and Washington, and also in 40 other States in the USA through a number of distributors. One of the wines most sought after, on the American market, is “Abanico-Tempranillo” (“Celtus” in Spain). It is made 100% with the autochthonous Spanish grape. This grape, the Tempranillo, has received every possible honour that an oenologist could receive. The “Best Sommelier of the World 2000”, Olivier Poussier, chose it on behalf of a French importer.

Mark Savage, Master of Wine, chose it for the United Kingdom, and the Master of Wine and Master Sommelier, Doug Frost, chose it for the Delta Airlines Wine Programme in the USA. Elegant and warm, and at the same time seductive, these are symbols of the new technology. Hats off! Vina Santa Marina talks about its most successful wine.

Abanico (Fan)-Tempranillo-Cabernet-Syrah, with no less than 6 months in barrel, is Vina Santa Marina’s best seller. The Spanish wine selectors have chosen it as one of the finest wines of Spain for price/quality ratio. It is a wine with a ripe, cherry-red colour with purple tones, which delight. It has concentrated aromas of ripe, red fruits, with delicate tones of dried fruits and caramel. In the mouth it is at the same time tender, round and ideal as an accompaniment to game, red meats and Iberian pork products.
In total, Vina Santa Marina has a production of 800,000 bottles of top quality wine. This is sold, apart from in Spain and the USA, in a large section of Europe covering Germany, Austria, Belgium, Denmark France etc.

In spite of all the preoccupations that are buzzing in Yolanda’s head at vintage time – fermentation, maceration, maturation, in other words the entire annual Vini-viticultural cycle, she cannot help but think about the future projects of Vina Santa Marina. She pays great attention to the first results from the Viognier grape, a variety very little cultivated by Spanish oenologists.

She would like to bet on this varietal and therefore she is having it picked by hand, just as she does for much of the vintage.Her energy and her latent joy in all that she does allows her to show us – right in the middle of her vintage – one of the surprises of the “bodega”. This is a large room, with a sizeable courtyard, ready to be used to organise conferences, meetings and, of course, banquets and marriages.

A supplementary activity for the company. Succulent gastronomy, prepared with taste and skill, accompanied by the wines of Vina Santa Marina, to delight the betrothed, the guests, or indeed businessmen, at this Cellar located on the “Via de la Plata” ( Silver Route – the old commercial road that crossed the west of Spain, from north to south, from Merida to Astorga ).
A visit to the cellar is well worthwhile and worth the effort. It is accompanied by guides, in several languages, who explain the entire charming process of wine making and the production of fine wine.

Paradise for wine-loving hunters If one moves away from Tierra de Barros, leaving the Province of Badajoz, without however going out of Extremadura, we get to Trujillo, in the Province of Caceres. At the entrance to the town is a large building, which stands out from the others by reason of its surprising height. This is an hotel. Its striking sign says “Las Ciguenas” (The Storks), the brand image in the shape of a bird, which has always accompanied the projects of another great “cellar master” of Extremadura: José Maria Cancho.
The stork flies over each and every one of the wines of this wine maker and hotelier, which carry the name Las Granadas Coronadas. Heir to the tradition of hotelier, through his grandfather and his father, he took over the reins of what was the Number One hotel of the town and the hotel which looked after, and still looks after, all the hunters who came, and still come, to practice their hunting arts and skills in and around the Natural Park of Monfragaüe.

However, in 1975, curiosity as to the making of fine wine awoke in the mind of José Maria. At once he acquired a modest “lagar” – the old name for family cellar– and a property in the Sierra de los Lagares.

He started by making wine for his personal consumption. “We started with 34 gallons and today we produce 800,000 bottles per year” the wine maker says with no pretension. “We have grown slowly but positively” he says, while recalling that his second vintage turned bad. “We took off on our third vintage”. It is quite clear that he is thinking of the moment when he and his sons tested their art at wine making.

In fact, Ruben Cancho, the eldest son, trained as an oenologist in order to later become the leading winemaker of the family. “With our 270 acres - the total surface area of their vineyards – we are totally satisfied” comments the producer who never ever buys grapes from other properties.

The “strong point” of this “bodega” is their red wines. The vines are on clay-rich soil at an altitude of 2,600 feet. To make these wines, the main players are Tempranillo and Cabernet Sauvignon, although Las Granadas Coronadas are also experimenting with other grape varieties not yet tried and tested in this region, such as the Petit Verdot. For the moment the surface area covered by this varietal is 60 acres.

“Up until now we have been making trials with this grape variety, but soon we will be putting its wine on the market”. With regard to white wines, the production is limited to 25,000 bottles, destined for the palates of the hotel clientele. José Maria knows exactly the type and style of wine that he wants in his cellar. “We want wines which are easy to drink, moderate in alcoholic strength and crystal clear”.

These are wines which start gently on the palate, contain between 13° and 13.5° of alcohol, and which marry perfectly with game dishes, the cheese El Cesar (AD), or goat cheeses. They all have names alluding to the conquest of the town of Trujillo.
Torre Julia, for example, whose production is some 50,000 bottle per annum, carries the name of an emblematic tower of the town. Thanks to its huge success with the consumers, the cellar has founded the “Friends of the Torre Julia club”, a formula to allow his greatest connoisseur supporters to enjoy his finest wines. Each “friend” of Torre Julia, 500 in total, has his own “barrel-niche” in the underground cellar. Later, with the approval of the oenologist, the barrel will be transformed into between 250-275 bottles of the relevant wine.

The bottles of Lagares (the top wine of the house for price/quality ratio) add up to over 50,000 and these can be found in a goodly portion of the Spanish supermarkets. They can also be found more and more often in the great restaurants such as Atrio in Merida (two Michelin stars).
Since then, a number of cellars have “harvested” prizes at international tasting competitions, receiving accolades from the critics and conquering the world’s most difficult markets.The investment efforts made by the wine makers of Extremadura have been enormous – quality has replaced quantity!

Ribera Del Guadiana
There is one single appellation, Ribera Del Guadiana, which covers six sub-regions (Montanes, Canamero, Ribera Alta Del Guadiana, Ribera Baja Del Guadiana, Tierra de Barros and Matanegra). The nickname “Country Wines of Extremadura” is the key to the brand image of these wines.
The headquarters of the Consejo Regulador (Control Body), which watches over and controls elaboration and production, is in Almendralejo, an “international winetown” (International Organisation of Vines and Wine), which is also an “ancient wine town” (Béziers Europole Foundation) and without doubt the wine capital of Extremadura.
Anecdotally, it is the only town in the world that has a cellar inside its bull-ring. A place of calm, with ideal temperature and humidity conditions for wine, it is situated underneath the tiers of seats in the arena and serves today as a place for bullfighting exhibitions.

Fairs, shows and other events, under the aegis of wine, succeed each other in this town. Soon it will inaugurate a museum dedicated, naturally, to wine. This will be a place where the culture of the region of Extremadura will identify itself through its wines. A library, composed of a collection of books on work in the vineyards, on vinification and on wine service, will be one of the central attractions.

There will be a complete exposition of tools used in the art of wine making, all of which have been offered voluntarily by Almendralejo’s neighbours. The architecture workshop GAB, from Badajoz, last of the works of this great complex, has a budget that amounts to $500, financed by the regional Government.

Finally, when talking about Extremadura and particularly about its wines, we must not forget the famous “pitarra” wines which, although they have no official certification or brand image, are very much part of the rich viticultural heritage of the region.
Red, white or rosé, ‘pitarra’ wine is the table wine of Extremadura, the protagonist of celebrations and popular fairs, whose method of production – both popular and authentic – has been handed down over the years from father to son. There is not a single restaurant in Extremadura that cannot offer to the visitor, at a friendly price, a glass of this mythical wine!

Extremadura Wines in the USA (distributors)
Viña Santa Marina : ADVENTURES IN WINES-440 Talbert Street-Day City, CA 94014-Tel. 415 467 0130
TRIAGES WINES-2210 North Lewis Street-Portland, OR 97227-Tel. 503 236 6262
VIAS IMPORTS-875 Sixth Avenue, 22nd floor- NY 10001-Tel. +1 212 629 0200.
Viña Extremeña : R&M DISTRIBUTOR (FL, NY)
PLEASANT IMPORTERS (NY).
Marcelino Díaz : CLASSICAL WINE (FL, TX)

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