The ancient sweet and rancid or oxidative wines, ideal to harmonize with the gastronomy of the celebration of All Saints, are experiencing a new stage of splendor after years of ostracism. Despite this, they only account for around 2% of total wine consumption in Spain.
The general director of the Spanish Wine Market Observatory, Rafael del Rey, states that “Spanish fortified wines, sweet, fine, rancid and other types of classic and special wines, are authentic jewels of the oenology of our country, historically desired by global consumers and prescribers like William Shakespeare himself, and also today the object of desire of many fans, but unfortunately with declining numbers due to lower popularity among new consumers." In this sense, he points out that “renewing and promoting them is the task of the entire sector.”
Good proof of the rediscovery of oxidative wines is the great meeting that will be held next Monday, November 13 in Perpignan, with sommelier Josep Roca (El Celler de Can Roca) as host. It is the Be Ranci run by sommelier Marie-Louise Banyols. It will already be the fourth edition of this European meeting of rancid and dry oxidative wines, in which up to 22 production areas from five countries participate. The Catalan presence will be very notable (with 15 of the 25 participating Spanish wineries). It is organized by the association for the promotion of dry rancios from Roussillon, co-chaired by Virginie Maignien and Guillaume Chevillard. Banyols states that “thanks to Be Ranci we celebrate a new family of wines, that of dry oxidatives. In the world of wines, it is a family to be discovered or rediscovered, whose roots are deeply Mediterranean.” He adds that this style of wine attracts interest due to its rarity, its prestige and its particularities, and adds that “gastronomy has already consecrated them, as they offer incredible possibilities for food and wine pairings, especially when classic wines have difficulty in pairing.” face the challenge.” And she has no doubt that “they are required for their very particular flavor, which has made them a reference. “It has become, with its flavor of eternity, modern, nomadic, exceptional and coveted wines.”
There are sweet and oxidative jewels spread throughout Spain, from Jerez, Montilla-Moriles (Córdova), Málaga, Huelva, Rueda (el Dorado) or Galicia to Catalunya or the Canary Islands. The small municipality of Vinebre (Ribera d'Ebre), located on an old bed of the Ebro River, has become the epicenter of the claim for an ancestral sweet wine: vimblanc. Formerly, it was made in each of its farmhouses, but in the 80s of the last century it stopped being marketed. His recovery began just over 20 years ago.
And in Pago de los Capellanes they have recovered an ancient liquid jewel with the first wine to carry the new Tostado strip of the Valdeorras Designation of Origin. “A few years ago, in Valdeorras, we discovered an ancient winemaking tradition. In the past, in the granite caves of the town of Seadur (Ourense), where our O Luar do Sil winery is located, previous generations used to hang the best clusters, carefully chosen, from the beams using strings. In the winter, when the clusters had already concentrated their sugar and raisined them, they were taken down and pressed. The must fermented in old vats giving rise to 'toasted', a deliciously sweet wine that families brought to the table on the most special occasions," says Estefanía Rodero Villa. She and her parents loved this story, "and immediately an illusion arose in us, a new project of recovering a tradition through wine based on a unique sum of history, vineyard and culture."
