The D.O. Madrid is home to more than 51 producers and 8900 hectares of vines. Despite the fact that the area has been producing wines since the 13th century, it didn’t receive its D.O. designation (Denominacion de Origen until the 1990s. In the middle, many events occurred including the arrival of the Phylloxera louse, grubbing up of vines, and the Spanish Civil War, to name a few…

There are some 3,137 growers in the area which can be divided into sub zones. The four sub zones are Arganda, the largest one which represents 50% of the vines registered in the D.O. and encompasses 30 municipalities where Tempranillo and Malvar, a white grape variety reign. Navalcarnero sub zone which can count on 19 municipalities and where the Garnacha grape dominates and San Martín de Valdeiglesias and El Molar the most recent since February 2019.

Vinos de Madrid exports a small percentage of their production and most is consumed locally. A variety of grapes are allowed in the D.O. including a few international ones such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Syrah but the wines that interested me most were made with indigenous grapes. I went to an event focused on these wines over a decade ago. This past year I completed the Spanish Wine Scholar program at the Wine Scholar Guild. We studied this area and others in Castille-La Mancha. It has been such a joy to write, read, and think about Spain. So many exciting areas and wines to try. Salud.