Finca Antigua Unico Crianza, La Mancha 2013

The name La Mancha is derived, like so many Spanish place names, from a Moorish word meaning ‘parched earth’. This goes a long way to summing up the conditions for vines in this arid flat plain atop Spain’s great ‘Meseta’ plateau. It is Europe’s largest demarcated wine region and is thus by far Spain’s largest Denominación de Origen and lies to the south of Madrid.

In the summer daytime temperatures can reach 44oc and then plummet at night. Winter frosts are not uncommon and at any time of year winds can blow fiercely and unopposed across the plains. Despite these seemingly unpromising conditions La Mancha has always produced a huge amount of wine, in fact it once yielded half of all Spanish wine production, mostly from the airén grape that was so widely planted in La Mancha, so much in fact that it is the most planted grape variety in the world. Much of it was destined for distillation or export for blending, but the last three decades have seen something of a revolution in quality and style.

In the 1970s pioneering companies established modern wineries and made clean, fresh, light white wines that were a success all over Europe. Needless to say, this encouraged many more to begin to look more closely at what can be done in the region and tempranillo began to increase in plantings alongside the almost indestructible airen, but there are many varieties grown in the region, from newcomers like cabernet sauvignon and merlot to Spanish natives like macabeu, albillo, parellada, garnacha and monastrell . There are now many fine reds made in La Mancha and its sub-regions, such as Valdepenas and Mentrida.

A feature of the vineyard plantings of La Mancha is the wide spacing of the vines and the low training of each plant on the sandy red-brown soils dusted with chalky limestone deposits. 2.5 metres surround each vine so that it does not compete with it’s neighbours for scant water resources, and the low training allows the leaves to shade bunches during the fierce heat of daytime while holding in any moisture. Getting enough sunshine is rarely a problem but, naturally enough, drought conditions can be. On the bright side there are few pests or fungal diseases to trouble growers and indeed many are smallholders who only devote themselves to their vineyards on a part-time basis and sell their grapes to companies or local cooperatives.