Page 84 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Spain

82  NOR THERN SP AIN

Wines of Northern Spain

Spain’s most renowned wine region, La Rioja, is best
known for its red wines, matured to a distinctive
vanilla mellowness. Some of the most prestigious
bodegas were founded by émigrés from Bordeaux,
and Rioja reds are similar to claret. La Rioja also
produces good white and rosé wines. Navarra reds
and some whites have improved dramatically, thanks
to a gov ernment research programme. The Basque Repairing barrels in Haro, La Rioja
region produces a tiny amount of the tart txakoli
(chacolí). Larger quantities of a similar wine are made
further west in Galicia, whose best wines are full- Ribeiro, a popular wine
of Galicia, is slightly
bodied whites, particularly from the Albariño grape. fizzy. It is often served
in white porcelain
bowls (cuencos).
Ferrol
A8 Avilés Gijón
A Coruña
Navia Oviedo A8 Llanes Santander A8 Laredo San
A6 Mieres Zumaia Sebastián
C525 ASTURIAS Bilbao
AP9 Nalón CANTABRIA AP8 Getaria
Santiago de Lugo Narcea A66 N621 PAÍS
Compostela A67 AP68 VASCO N1
A6 A15 N121A
GALICIA Key A1 A10
AP9 AP53 Mino Miranda Vitoria Pamplona
Cambados N540 Rías Baixas de Ebro Estella NAVARRA
Barrantes N120 Ribeiro
Pontevedra O Barco Haro A12 Tafalla
A Rúa Valdeorras
Ribadavia Ourense N120 Logroño AP15
Vigo Txacoli de Guetaria
A52 Larouco Nájera AP68 Ebro
Mino La Rioja Calahorra
Navarra LA RIOJA
Fornelos A52 Corella
A52 Tudela
0 kilometres 50
0 miles 50
Lagar de Cervera
is from Rías Baixas,
a region known for
producing Spain’s
most fashionable
white wines.
Wine Regions
The wine regions of Northern Spain are widely
dispersed. Cradled between the Pyrenees and
the Atlantic are the important regions of Rioja
and Navarra. Wines from La Rioja are divided
into the DOs (denominations of origin) of Rioja
Alavesa, Rioja Alta and Rioja Baja, divided by the
Río Ebro. The river also cuts through the wine
region of Navarra. To the north are some of the
vineyards of the Basque Country: the minuscule
Txakoli de Guetaria region. In the far west lie the
four wine regions of rugged, wet Galicia: Rías
Baixas, Ribeiro, Valdeorras and Ribeira Sacra. Wine village of El Villar de Álava in Rioja Alta

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