Rest of Spain
2018 Gold 1 Silver 5 Bronze 4 Commended 9
2017 Gold 6 Silver 7 Bronze 8 Commended 19
This ‘Rest of Spain’ category takes in pretty much everywhere south of Madrid plus the islands. As such, it’s very much a mixed bag of styles and quality, and predicting the medal count each year is like trying to guess the flight path of a bluebottle.
But one thing became clear from the start – we weren’t going to get many white medals, because we saw a big drop in entries. It’s tempting to say ‘who cares?’, but in fact, we had three white Golds last year so it was a bit of a loss. The frosts of 2017 might have had something to do with it.
As for the reds, there was some discussion about whether the cheaper wines were ‘simple and well made’ or just ‘boring’, and whether the more expensive wines were ‘typical’ or ‘overoaked’. The answer to all four questions is probably ‘yes’.
Either way, while value for money was OK we’d have liked to see some more knockout wines under £10. Portugal seems a better bet.
FROM THE TASTING TEAMS
‘I came into it not overly excited but it was better than expected. Not just big, over-extracted, heavy, woody wines. And there’s some good value to be found.’ Andrés Ituarte, Coq d’Argent
‘I preferred the cheaper styles – they were good value. As they pumped up the price the oak got out of control, and I penalised them for that. Where they pared it back there was good juicy fruit.’ Sam Caporn MW, team leader
‘As soon as you get to £8 you’d just go to Rioja, where there’s more consumer confidence.’ James Franklin, Fenwick
‘There were fewer faults than you’d expect. The alcohol was fairly balanced, and the oak was better integrated. There’s some thought going into the winemaking process. In that south-eastern corner they’re understanding Monastrell a lot better.’ Tom Forrest, team leader
‘The cheaper wines were not what I expected – they were more commercial. The higher-priced wines were more typically Spanish: spicier, bolder, terroir-driven wines.’ Christoph Hons, Park Chinois