Contributing Wine Editor, David Harker, discovers a little known wine grape in the mountains South of Granada.
Granada attracts over three million visitors a year. Tourists drawn to the splendour of the Alhambra, the serenity of the cathedral and the rhythmic stamp of gypsy flamenco. Far fewer visitors venture beyond the city. The reward for those that do is a contrasting landscape of arid plains, snow covered peaks and Mediterranean beaches.
Only in Granada can you climb Mount Mulhacén, camp overnight and see the sunrise from Spain’s highest summit. Only in Granada can you ski in Europe’s most southerly ski resort and swim in the Mediterranean on the same day. Only in Granada can you hike across the Alpujarras and at the end of your trek enjoy a slice of the local Trevélez ham and Vijiriega wine.
The barely pronounceable Vijiriega (vee-hee-RYEH-gah) grape variety is native to Granada where it makes white wines with tropical fruit aromas and refreshing acidity. Most Vijiriega vines are found on the Canary Islands, transported there by intrepid mariners sailing from Andalucía to the Americas. While in Granada the grape has almost disappeared. The recovery of this rare variety is crucial to a renewed interest in the wines of Granada.
The vineyards of Granada have the highest number of sunshine hours per year in Spain and at elevations of up to 1300m are amongst the highest in Europe. The combination of bright sunshine, constant breezes and cool mountain evenings make for perfect grape growing conditions.
Yet the Granada DO is recent, established in 2018 and small with around 20 wineries. The mountain vineyards of Granada have a turbulent history marked by disease, earthquakes and poverty. First there was phylloxera. The deadly louse landed at Malaga in 1878 and within five years most vines were dead and wine production all but wiped out.
And Mother Nature wasn’t finished. On Christmas night 1884 a massive earthquake struck the Alpujarra. Homes were devastated, possessions lost and those that could leave abandoned their plots of vines in search of a better life. A rural exodus to the cities and coastal resorts that continues to this day. The dramatic mountain landscape of the Contraviesa-Alpujarra is scenic but farming here requires an heroic effort.
The Contraviesa-Alpujarra sub-zone of the Granada DO is a ninety minutes drive from the city through the spectacular Sierra Nevada national park. Alternatively, a twisting ascent from the seaside town of La Rabita – from where wines were once exported. This mountain wilderness, dotted with straw coloured scrub was once home to author Gerald Brenan. In his autobiographical journal, “South from Granada: Seven Years in an Andalusian Village” Brenan vividly captures the hardships of everyday life in Yegen.
Relics from that simple lifestyle are retained in a collection of antique agricultural tools on display at Finca Cuatro Vientos. A winery with vineyards tucked between peaks and ravines where mules are still used to transport small baskets of hand harvested grapes from the older less accessible parcels.
Owned by four brothers the, “four winds” winery is aptly named. At an altitude of 1,200 meters the wind comes at you from every direction. Winemaker, Francisco Molina or “Paco” tells me that on a clear day you can see the snowcapped Sierra Nevada behind you and ahead, across the Mediterranean, Africa.
In recognition of the region’s winemaking heritage Paco still makes a traditional, “vina costa,” a rustic rosé made from a field blend of local red and white grapes fermented together.
Paco’s respect for the past doesn’t prevent him experimenting. He makes a traditional method sparkling wine from Pinot noir, a carbonic-maceration Tempranillo and an amber coloured, herbal scented, acacia aged orange wine from Vijiriega. The enterprising Paco also employs his cave diving expertise to store bottles of wine in deep underground caverns.
At Bodegas Fontedei, Antonio López is another spirited wine maker experimenting with Vijiriega. His lees stirred, amphora aged Vijiriega is captivating. Fontedei is named after Deifontes, the Roman village where the bodega is located. It’s a small winery in a converted Almazara, or olive mill, surrounded by a landscape of conical hills and olive groves.
Antonio is a former chemist who employs his expertise to, for example, stabilise his pale pink rosado by chilling the wine to almost freezing. This sprightly 76 year old is also happy to get his hands dirty working in the fields. Like all the best wine makers, Antonio knows that the best wine is made in the vineyard.
Granada mostly produces red wine – typically a blend of international varieties with Tempranillo, known here as, “Tinto Varetúo” – but the most distinctive wines are white. Vijiriega is Granada’s signature grape variety and the growing reputation of the region relies upon its revival.
