![]() Spanish missionaries and conquistadors introduced European grape vines in the new lands they colonized, and as these new wine regions became a threat to Spanish income, Philip III and succeeding monarchs issued decrees and declarations that ordered the halting of wine production by the vineyards in the New World colonies. The discovery of America also opened up a new export market as well as new opportunity for wine production. The wines which were full bodied with higher alcohol were also often used for blending with the delicate wines from the cooler climate regions of France and Germany. Spanish wines were traded to English wine markets in Bristol, London and Southampton markets. The period after the Reconquista reopened the possibility of exporting Spanish wine and Bilbao emerged as a large trading port. Wine-Making After the ReconquistaIn 1492, under King Ferdinand, the joint military forces of Castile and Aragon defeated the Moors in Granada, in southern Spain after over 700 years of Reconquista.Ī few months after the Reconquista, America was accidentally discovered by explorer Christopher Columbus under the sponsorship of the Spanish crown while looking for an alternative route to reach the lucrative spice Kingdoms of India. Therefore, though the production of wine decreased, it still continued and agriculture is said to have improved during the period of the Moors. Several caliphs and emirs owned vineyards and drank wine despite the Islamic dietary laws. Though the consumption of alcohol was forbidden by Islamic dietary laws, the Moorish rulers had a rather ambiguous position on wine and wine-making during their rule. There is little information about the progress of viticulture and wine making during this period but there is evidence that some form of wine industry was present when the Moors conquered the land during the early 8th century AD. Pliny the Elder noted the high quality of some wines from Terraconensis while Ovid wrote that one popular Spanish wine sold in Rome, known as Saguntum, was merely good for getting drunk (Ars Amatoria III, 645).įollowing the decline of the Roman Empire, Spain was invaded by various barbaric tribes including the Germanic invasions which ended up with the loss of many vine plantations. Though Spanish wine was widely exported during the Roman times there are different opinions about its quality based on the writings from that period. ![]() They were then followed by the Romans after a series of wars that would lead to the Roman conquest of the Spanish mainland, known as Hispania.ĭuring the Roman control of Hispania, Spanish wine was widely exported and traded throughout the Roman empire and its two largest wine producing regions at the time were Terraconensis (modern day Tarragona) in the north and Baetica (modern day Andalusia) in the south. The Phoenicians were followed by the Carthaginians, a people from Ancient Carthage in modern-day Tunisia, who brought new and advanced ideas for cultivating vines. With diverse climate across its regions and some having extreme conditions that are not really conducive for viticulture, it is the distinct geography and altitudes of its vineyards that has resulted in some high quality Spanish wine production.īrief History of Spanish WineSpanish wine history dates back to around 1100 BC when Phoenicians founded the trading post of Cádiz in southwestern Spain, though many archaeologists believe that grapes were first cultivated sometime between 40 BC, much before the wine-growing culture of the Phoenicians. ![]() ![]() Spain which has a long wine-making history has been a relatively new entrant in the production of fine wine in comparison to France or Italy, and it was towards the end of the 20th century, that saw an extraordinary level of investment in both new and reclaimed vineyards along with new bodegas, combined by a new wave of ambition that helped it progress and make rapid strides to become one of the major wine producers in the world.
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