Enchanting Extremandura

EXTREMADURA, meaning the land beyond the Duero, is Spain's wild west.

In the villages of Caceres and Trujillo, medieval quarters and Conquistadors' palaces stand perfectly preserved; in Merida, Roman ruins bake in the sun. From late February the migrating storks arrive to nest.

Extremadura consists of two provinces: Badajoz to the south and Caceres to the north. Badajoz with its white villages and sunbaked landscape reminds you of neighbouring Andalusia; Caceres, with its wooded mountain valleys and stone houses, recalls more northern Spain.

Adjacent to the Portuguese border in the south-west of Spain, the sparsely populated area of Extremadura, with its rolling plains of fertile soil, has developed into an agricultural cornucopia: cork, olives, tobacco, cereals and vines of course. Sheep, pigs, goats and cattle graze peacefully in this pastoral landscape.

Travelling from Castilla y Leon in early spring, you will cross a boulder-strewn valley, with wild flowers already in bloom beside the lush green meadows. Palm trees and mimosas thrive in the Mediterranean climate of this unspoilt corner of Spain.

The region suffered from mass depopulation after the expulsion of the Moors in the 13th century. The same thing happened in the 16th century when the Extremenos participated in the conquest of the New World.

Only a few kilometres to the south, Columbus first sailed for the Americas from the port of Palos. In a way, the Conquistadors were the first winemakers of the New World. We are told they took wine from Extremadura on their long sea voyages. Later, vine stocks were taken to the New World for the missionaries who needed wine to celebrate Mass.

The Romans settled in the region and founded the city of Merida, once the capital of the Roman province of Lusitania. Situated in the north of the province of Badajoz, Merida offers a wealth of Roman remains, among the most impressive in Europe, including a theatre, an amphitheatre, triumphal arch, bridges and aqueducts.

It is the best place from which to visit the vineyards of the region. Surprisingly, Spain is still producing unusual wines from unknown regions. Centred on the town of Almendralejo Tierra de Barros are traditionally produced white wines; white grapes make up about 80 per cent of the vineyards.

In the past the region produced base wines for the grape brandy used by distilleries to make Brandy de Jerez. But in recent years, thanks to the considerable efforts of producers like Inviosa and Vina Extremena, the region has proved its ability to produce elegant red wines, fresh Jovenes as well as some very promising oak-aged Crianza and Reserva wines.

The predominant grape varieties are the indigenous high yielding whites Cayetena and Pardina with smaller plantations of local specialities like Eva, Mantua and Alarije.

It is important that each wine region should retain its local grapes, thus offering a kaleidoscope of flavours. But Macabeo (Viura grape in Rioja), a grape never noted for its complexity, is increasingly replacing these white varieties.

More interestingly, Macabeo serves as the base for sparkling wine made by the classic method of secondary fermentation in the bottle, entitled to the prestigious Cava denominacion in Extremadura.

For the first time this year in March 2001, some 30 producers from Ribera del Guadiana gathered at a wine fair held at Almendralejo in an attempt to put the Extremadura wine region on the Spanish vinous map.

The wine region takes its name from the River Guadiana, a major river in southern Spain. It rises in La Mancha and winds its way through Merida and Badajoz to the Portuguese border, then continues south through the Portuguese region of Alentejo before emptying in the gulf of Cadiz.

Extremadura is one of the least-explored regions of Spain, all the more reason to come and discover its scraggy wild landscapes and spicy hearty food, a perfect match for some of its excellent red wines.

February 14, 2002 16:00