Castilla-La Mancha is a large region located South and east of the Spanish capital, Madrid. Inexpensive table wines are produced from a variety of Grapes. Higher quality wines are increasingly available, but the region is traditionally known as a source of low quality bulk wine. More than half of Spain's grapes are grown here.
Traditionally, only grape varieties that can tolerate hot, Dry conditions were planted. The white Airen grape is at the top of the list and remains the most planted grape in Castilla-La Mancha (and indeed in all of Spain). However, it is not a particularly respected variety, so many producers have expanded their portfolios. Red grapes dominate the rest of the range.
Decanter contributor and Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA) judge Amanda Barnes has been awarded the Debut Drink Book award in the Fortnum & Mason Food and Drink Awards 2022 for her The South America Wine Guide book. The annual Fortnum & Mason Food and Drink Awards, now in its 10th year, champions the achievements of the UK’s current and emerging writers, editors, publishers, photographers, broadcasters and personalities who ‘encourage us to enjoy, explore, experiment and discover more ab ...
Franciacorta has lost one of its fathers; Franco Ziliani died aged 90 this Christmas. He was the winemaker who, along with the Count Guido Berlucchi, changed the destiny of an entire region and helped make Franciacorta one of the most consistent areas in the world for sparkling wines made in the traditional method. Their fateful encounter was in 1958 at Palazzo Lana, in Franciacorta. Count Berlucchi began to question the young winemaker about how to improve his unstable white wine produced in Co ...
Frost returned to French vineyards early this month as France recorded its coldest April night since 1947. Temperatures plunged to minus nine degrees Celsius in some parts of the Champagne region on the night between 3 and 4 April, with minus seven reported in areas around Bordeaux and minus six in Chablis. Some winemakers lit candles and fires between vineyard rows to help protect young buds. Yet while scenes were reminiscent of the devastating frosts that struck French vineyards in April 2021, ...
