TL;DR: Dmitry Kesadov explores the “southern style” of Spanish wine – the generous, sun-shaped character associated with the Mediterranean. He looks at how the local climate influences Monastrell, Alicante Bouschet – also known as Garnacha Tintorera – and Giró, highlights the wineries working with these grapes, and suggests which bottles are worth seeking out.
About the author: Dmitry Kesadov is a wine expert and journalist, a graduate of the Enotria wine school, and has lived in Spain since 1996. His main areas of interest are food, wine and restaurants as expressions of Spanish culture.
The Southern Style and Life by the Mediterranean
Hello again – Dmitry Kesadov here, your wine guide, with another set of gastronomic notes.
However critical we may sometimes be of life in Spain – and of life in Torrevieja and on the Costa Blanca in particular – it is worth remembering one essential fact: we live in a resort region.
How we ended up here no longer matters. What matters is that we live in the heart of the Mediterranean, a place where millions of people from colder and less forgiving climates dream of spending not only their retirement, but a substantial part of their lives.
Yet resort areas have another side to them. They are often provincial, and provincial places do not always trust their own taste. They look outward for validation and tend to defer to established names.
Read also: Torrevieja’s vineyards and local wines.
How Local Wines Stepped Out of Rioja’s Shadow
Wine offers a perfect example.
When we first arrived in Spain in the mid-1990s, restaurant wine lists in Torrevieja and the surrounding area usually featured whites from Rueda and reds from Rioja or Ribera del Duero. What they rarely included were wines made nearby.
That has changed dramatically. Even so, I still hear people insist that only labels such as Pesquera, Matarromera or Pago de Carraovejas are worth drinking, while wines from our part of Spain are dismissed as cheap, sweet and unsophisticated.
It is time to put that idea to rest.
In an earlier article, we looked at the flagship grape of south-eastern Spain – Monastrell – and at the remarkable progress made by wineries such as Casa Castillo, Cerrón, Barahonda and Casa Agrícola. These producers now stand comfortably alongside some of the finest estates in Spain and beyond.
Mediterranean wines are increasingly discussed as expressions of a distinct identity – a style we may loosely call “southern.”
Would you like to discover Alicante and the southern Costa Blanca more closely? Explore current property listings in a region where wine, food and Mediterranean living are part of everyday life.
What Do We Mean by a Southern Wine Style?
Most wine lovers understand the idea instinctively: full-bodied wines with generous alcohol, aromas of blackberry and dark fruit, ripe flavours, a touch of sweetness and a slightly rugged texture. These are warm, ample wines that fill the palate.
The new generation is less about blunt power and overripe fruit. Today’s best examples are softer, more layered, more velvety and better balanced.
So what gives these wines their southern signature? How distinctive is the Mediterranean style of Alicante and the neighbouring regions? Is Monastrell the only grape behind the recent revival, and which bottles are actually worth buying?
To answer those questions, we need to look beyond Monastrell and explore several other varieties that speak the same regional language.
The Region’s Key Grape Varieties
The first is Alicante Bouschet, known in Spain as Garnacha Tintorera.
Two other names are increasingly heard: Giró and Garnacha Peluda. The latter – peluda means “hairy,” a reference to the fine hairs on the underside of the leaves – is considered a form of Garnacha.
Giró, by contrast, is now recognised as a distinct local variety and is gradually emerging as one of the most promising grapes in the area.
There are well over a thousand known grape varieties in the world. It is impossible to say with certainty why these particular grapes became so closely associated with the Mediterranean, but the climate offers a convincing explanation.
How Climate Shapes the Wine
The grapes chose the region, not the other way around
In one sense, we did not choose these varieties – they chose us.
This part of Spain receives abundant sunshine and very little rain, so the grapes that survived were naturally those able to cope with heat and drought.
Vines thrive where many other plants struggle. Monastrell, Garnacha Tintorera and Giró are all remarkably comfortable in hot, dry conditions. Their roots reach deep into the ground in search of moisture.
Far below the surface, in ancient soils, those roots find more than water. They absorb minerals and other elements that contribute to the generosity, ripeness and fruit-driven character of local wines.
Why Garnacha Tintorera is so deeply coloured
Garnacha Tintorera belongs to a small group of so-called teinturier grapes. Unlike most red varieties, it has not only dark skins but also coloured flesh.
Most red grapes have pale pulp, which is why they can be used to produce rosé, light-coloured reds and even white wines. One recent trend is the production of white wines from red grapes, sometimes marketed as blanc de noirs or similar styles.
Teinturier grapes may have been known in the ancient Near East thousands of years ago. Related varieties later travelled west towards the Mediterranean and east towards the Caucasus, where Saperavi became one of the best-known examples.
It is tempting to imagine that, after the Phoenicians brought dark-fleshed grapes to the Spanish coast, the word tinto became associated with red wine. In Spanish, tinto carries the sense of something dyed or ink-coloured – more evocative than the simple word rojo, meaning red.
Alicante Bouschet, or Garnacha Tintorera
Let us turn to Garnacha Tintorera.
French sources often claim the grape’s origin, and the Bouschet family of French ampelographers played a central role in its modern history. Even so, the variety’s name acknowledges an older connection with Alicante’s vineyards.
In our region, varietal examples can be found from producers such as Volver and Finca Ancestral, although the grape is more commonly used in blends.
In neighbouring D.O. Almansa, however, Garnacha Tintorera is one of the defining varieties.
Almansa wines as an introduction to the southern style
Laya and Atalaya are widely available wines from estates associated with the Juan Gil group. Their Monastrell-based wines are also easy to find.
The group is sometimes criticised for pushing the southern style too far. Some of its wines from this region and Aragón reach 15% or even 16% alcohol. Still, for anyone wanting to understand the style in a clear, accessible form, they are useful reference points.
Piqueras works with greater restraint and finesse. I once had the opportunity to share lunch with the owner and winemaker through Falcon Vines.
At a Falcon tasting, we discovered the Gold Label blend – an exceptionally soft wine, full of ripe fruit, creaminess and flavours reminiscent of ice cream and crème brûlée.
It may not be the kind of bottle one reaches for every day. But after a long working week, on a terrace, in good company, it captures much of what the Mediterranean south can offer at its most indulgent.
Almansa may lie further inland and form part of La Mancha, yet in climate and spirit it remains closely linked to the Mediterranean world.
Learn more about local grapes, wine regions and traditions in our guide to the wines of Alicante.
Giró – One of the Region’s Most Promising Grapes
Now to Giró.
For many years, the grape remained in Monastrell’s shadow and was often treated as a variation of Garnacha. Today, however, many winemakers see it as one of the keys to the region’s future.
Giró offers much of the ripeness and character associated with Monastrell and Garnacha Tintorera, but with more acidity, greater precision, a firmer structure and a more delicate profile.
Giró de Abargues and the old vines of Marina Alta
When Pepe Mendoza left the family winery to begin his own project, he searched for old vineyards and found century-old Giró vines in the Abargues area near Xaló, in Marina Alta.
The result was the 2018 Giró de Abargues. Within a few years, the wine was regularly receiving scores of around 95 points from Parker and other influential critics.
Mendoza believes Giró is irreplaceable in the region. Its freshness, herbal aromas and mineral character help balance the natural power of the south.
Curii and the Giropa collective
Work with Giró had already begun a few years earlier under Violeta Gutiérrez de la Vega, daughter of Felipe Gutiérrez de la Vega and Pilar Sapena, the owners of the family winery behind the sweet Moscatel Santa Diva.
The work initially developed within the family estate. Later came Curii, Violeta’s independent project with Alberto Redrado, the respected sommelier and co-owner of La Escaleta restaurant.
This was followed by Giropa, a collective of five small producers united by an almost obsessive interest in the grape.
Giró is clearly gathering momentum, although its full breakthrough may still lie ahead.
How Giró won me over
I became convinced of Giró’s potential after tasting a wine from the Cañizares family blind – from the wider world of projects such as Volver and Tarima.
By “blind,” I mean that I assumed I was drinking one of Rafa Cañizares’s Syrah-based wines, a style I had tried many times across different labels and price levels.
But this wine felt different. It had a distinct character, something that reminded me of Gredos or Bierzo.
It turned out to have been made by Rafa’s daughter, Sofía Cañizares, from Giró.
Unbiased impressions are often the most reliable. From that moment, I decided to keep drinking Giró and to follow its development closely.
International Varieties and Successful Blends
Alongside Monastrell, Giró and Garnacha Tintorera, the region also grows a number of French varieties, including Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Merlot and Petit Verdot.
These are often blended with Monastrell to add structure, freshness and definition. Sometimes the results are convincing; sometimes less so.
Several successful examples are already well known:
- Al Lado de la Casa – Monastrell and Syrah, Bodega Castaño;
- Clio – Monastrell and Cabernet Sauvignon, Bodega El Nido;
- Lualma – Monastrell, Syrah and Garnacha Tintorera, Bodega Barahonda.
Southern-Style Wines Worth Looking For
My own belief is that this part of Spain already had a developed wine culture in the age of the Phoenicians and Mycenaeans, and probably long before them.
The society was different, the values were different and the wines were different as well.
Not necessarily simpler or less sophisticated – merely shaped by another philosophy, one we can now describe as southern.
That is why, when choosing Spanish wine, I often recommend starting with the regions and varieties that remain closest to those Mediterranean roots.
Look for the following:
- Monastrell and Bobal from Valencia and Castilla-La Mancha – D.O. Utiel-Requena, D.O. Manchuela and D.O. Méntrida;
- Monastrell and Moscatel from Murcia and Alicante – D.O. Alicante, D.O. Jumilla, D.O. Bullas and D.O. Yecla;
- Garnacha Tintorera from D.O. Almansa;
- Mediterranean Syrah from Spain’s eastern and south-eastern coast.
The southern style is more than wine – it is a way of life. The Alegria blog explores Spanish food, wine, cities and Mediterranean traditions.
The Mediterranean Wine Tradition
The formal part of these notes is almost over, so let us allow ourselves a brief historical detour.
If the southern style was so influential for so many centuries, how did it happen that the summit of the modern wine world is now associated above all with Bordeaux, Burgundy and Champagne?
Why do we celebrate with sparkling wine from Champagne rather than with complex Sherry, Fondillón, Madeira or other great wines of southern Spain and the wider Mediterranean?
How wine fashion moved towards the Atlantic
The answer lies beyond winemaking itself: the Mediterranean ceased to be the centre of global power.
Sicily, Genoa, Venice, Seville, Carthage and Alexandria no longer set the cultural agenda. Over the past three centuries, fashion and influence have increasingly been shaped by the Atlantic world.
French winemakers moved from being attentive pupils to becoming the principal arbiters of taste. British merchants, critics and writers evolved from enthusiastic consumers into judges, educators and chroniclers.
The French came to define what counted as “great” or “complex” wine, while British writers built classifications, published books and tasted with extraordinary discipline.
This is not a criticism. The Anglo-French history of wine contains many brilliant chapters, and generations of wine lovers have learned from its books, cellars and traditions.
But it is worth remembering that long before the modern hierarchy emerged, the Mediterranean had its own highly developed wine culture and its own philosophy.
That philosophy placed pleasure, food, sociability and everyday life at the centre of wine.
For centuries, wines from Jerez, Alicante, the Canary Islands and other Mediterranean regions were among the most prized in the world.
This was at a time when several famous French wine ports were still modest trading centres receiving ships laden with valuable wine from Spain and elsewhere in the Mediterranean.
A Final Stop at the Wine Shop
On that note, we can leave theory behind and head to the wine shop.
Preferably a real specialist shop. Online shopping is convenient, of course, but it cannot reproduce the gentle clink of bottles and glasses, or the pleasure of an unexpected tasting.
With luck, someone may pour you something intriguing. A routine end to the working day may suddenly become a small and very civilised journey through the wines of the Mediterranean.
Useful links
Recommended wines:
- Giró de Abargues 2024
- Sofía Cañizares Giró Red Wine
- Lualma 2022
- Piqueras Gold Label
Where to buy:
I hope these notes have encouraged you to look more closely at the wines of our region. Until next time.
FAQ
What is meant by the southern style of Spanish wine?
The term generally refers to generous, full-bodied and fruit-driven Mediterranean wines. Typical features include ripe berry aromas, warmth, rich texture and a sense of maturity. The best modern examples are increasingly fresh, complex and balanced.
Which grapes best represent the southern style?
The key varieties include Monastrell, Alicante Bouschet – or Garnacha Tintorera – Giró, Bobal and Mediterranean Syrah. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot are also used in regional blends.
Why is Giró attracting so much attention?
Giró combines Mediterranean ripeness with higher acidity, freshness, mineral notes and herbal aromas. Many producers in Alicante see it as one of the region’s most promising grapes.
Where should I look for Garnacha Tintorera wines?
D.O. Almansa is one of the most important regions for Garnacha Tintorera. Laya, Atalaya and wines from Piqueras are useful starting points for exploring the variety.
Which Spanish wine regions are best for discovering the southern style?
Look at D.O. Alicante, D.O. Jumilla, D.O. Yecla, D.O. Bullas, D.O. Almansa, D.O. Utiel-Requena, D.O. Manchuela and D.O. Méntrida.
Related reading
The information in this article does not constitute legal or tax advice and should not be regarded as a public offer.
