Surge blanco

Surge blanco

If you think Spain is just red and Rioja, you must be colour blind, says Tim Atkin - its best whites taste like Grand Cru Burgundy Sunday
Constellation, the world's biggest wine company, has just published the results of extensive consumer research. The main aim of Wine Nation was to find out what punters buy, and why they buy it, but the project also set out to assess their levels of knowledge by asking 13 basic questions. To pick one at random: Is Chablis a) a red grape, b) a white grape variety, c) a wine-producing region, d) none of these, or e) don't know. As I said, not exactly Mastermind

The results were interesting, or possibly alarming if you are a wine producer, revealing deep lacunae of ignorance. Only 21 per cent of the 1,000-plus interviewees knew that Chablis is a wine region. I don't want to set too much store by these findings - the last time I read something similar 10 years ago, most people thought the French footballer Laurent Blanc was a white grape - but it's clear that most punters know very little about wine. If a monkey had answered the questions by ticking the same box every time, he would have scored better than 60 per cent of the interviewees.
The answer that surprised me most concerned Rioja, Spain's most famous region and, I assumed, one of the most recognisable wine names on the planet. Less than a third of respondents knew what, let alone where, it was. If so few consumers are familiar with Rioja and its (mostly) red wines, what hope is there for Spanish whites? Leave Sherry to one side (which I find difficult to do) and I suspect that even comparatively well-informed punters are unaware of the white revolution that has taken place over the past decade. The wines are getting better and more diverse by the vintage, to the point where they are no longer overshadowed by Iberian reds.
Until comparatively recently, Spain's limited international standing as a white-wine producer was based on grapes imported from France, particularly Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. There are some very good examples of both around, such as the citrus and vanilla-scented 2005 Chivite Colección 125 Chardonnay, Navarra (13.5%, £22.50, Waitrose) and the complex, toasty, grapefruity 2006 Torres Fransola, Penedés (13%, £13.99, Handford Wines, 020 7221 9614), but nowadays the talk is of native varieties.
Spain has its fair share of neutral grapes - Airén and Viura are duller than Coldplay - but it also has some indigenous gems. Three varieties stand out for me: Verdejo in Rueda, Albariño in Rías Baixas and Godello in Valdeorras. All three are located in the cooler areas of north-west Spain. My feeling is that they have supplanted more traditional white regions - La Mancha, Somontano and even Penedés, the home of Cava - and have added a new dimension to Spanish wine.
My favourite of the three is Albariño, which has become my default refreshing white. Albariño can age - try the slightly honeyed 2005 Castro Martin Family Reserve (12%, £10.45, Bibendum, 020 7449 4120) - but I prefer it when it's young. The wine that consistently excites me is the perfumed, minerally 2007 Terras Gauda O Rosal, Rías Baixas (12.5%, £12.30, Les Caves de Pyrène, 01483 554 750; www.lescaves.co.uk).
Godello is less famous than Albariño, but it's great to see a few examples finally making their way to the UK. The 2007 Viña Somoza Classico Godello (13.5%, £10, Lay & Wheeler, 0845 330 1855) is spicy and stylishly oaked with notes of pear and greengage. Even better, as well as more expensive, is the barrel-fermented 2006 Bodegas Naia, Naiades, Rueda (13.5%, £19.95, Indigo Wines, 020 7733 8391; The Vineking, 0870 850 8997), which is made entirely from 90-year-old Verdejo vines. The wine's concentration, depth of flavour and balancing acidity reminded me of a Grand Cru Burgundy - the wine is that good. Just don't ask the man or woman in the street to tell you where it's from.
Buy of the week: 2006 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc, Le Fussier, Château Mont-Redon (13.5%, £14.99, Marks & Spencer)White Châteauneuf is comparatively rare, but when it's as good as this intense, spicy, herbal, Grenache Blanc-based blend it's an absolute joy.
tim.atkin@observer.co.uk

Origin information: guardian.co.uk