SPANISH WINES: Knowing your Tempranillo from your Garnacha

Did you know that Spanish has the highest percentage of its geography covered in vineyards than any other country in the world? That’s a lot of grapes, and while some of them are grown in other countries and have a slightly different name, like the Spanish Garnacha, which is simply called Grenache in France, it also has many other varietals that are specific to Spain, like Tempranillo, Tinta de Toro, and Monastrell. These grapes are often blended into a famous and exciting profiles that when combined with a longer ageing process, create that big, bold red wine profile that is famous in regions like Rioja, in the Ebro River Valley.

On the other side of the Ebro River, in Navarra, the Garnacha grapes are used to create rosés, or ‘rosado' in Spanish.Spanish summer can be scorchingly hot, and thus their white wines are crisp and light using Godello grapes from the Galicia region. The Champagne method, used to create the Spanish sparkling wine known as Cava, mainly comes from Macabeu grapes grown near Barcelona, along Spain’s Northern Mediterranean coast.

If you’d like to learn more about the regions and varietals of Spanish wines, then please sign up for our upcoming class.

Off to Spain! Saturday March 5th 2pm-4:30pm

This course is focusing on 6 wines produced in 6 different regions and meticulously paired with 6 fantastic mouth-watering culinary creations from our chef.

This 2 1/2 hour workshop is well worth it! Don't miss it.

Reference cards and information about each wine is also provided.

Class length: 2 1/2 hours Class format: Hands Off - Tasting