Can you name Spain’s most widely planted grape variety?  Here’s a hint: it’s not Tempranillo.  It’s not Garnacha either.  Believe it or not, it’s not even a red grape.  It’s an obscure white variety called Airén!

A member of the vitis vinifera family of grapes (the same genus that pretty much covers all of our European favorites i.e. Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc etc.), Airén is actually the 3^rd most widely planted wine varietal in the whole world, batting just behind it’s distant cousins Cabernet and Merlot in the lineup.  But the odds are pretty long that you won’t find any significant vineyards of it outside of Spain.  And even in Spain, much of its nearly 600K acres under vine resides primarily within Castilla-La Mancha.

Old-vine Airen

Why so much of this weird variety in just one place on planet earth?    

Well history buffs, you’d pretty much have to lay the blame on Spanish dictator Francisco Franco.  During his miserable reign, in an attempt to alleviate poverty and generate badly needed funds for his cash-strapped regime post-WWII, Franco encouraged his citizens to produce brandy for export.  One thing the Airén grape is adept at is yielding decent brandy.  Plantings soared to more than a million acres in the latter half of the 20^th century as a result.

Today, in democratic Spain, there is far less demand for it in the production of distillates, which is why it’s being scaled back in favor of more popular red grapes, like Tempranillo.  However, Airén does make highly quaffable still and sparkling wines too and there are some historic plantings that predate the Spanish Civil War and are over 110 years old.  I came across one such amazing vineyard on my visit last year.

So what wines at ABCFWS best display Airén’s crisp apple, peach and floral notes?  Try a bottle of Marechal Brut sparkling wine, available at select store locations!  The odd thing here is that Marechal’s a French label, but rest assured, the fruit source is Airén from La Mancha.  Harkening back to the old practice, current EU law permits the shipment of Airén to France for non-appellation designated sparkling wines.

Marechal Brut ($11.99) is toasty, dry and refreshing with a good bead of persistent bubbles.  Suitable as an aperitif, it’s also a nice foil for light foods like tapas, baked chicken and seafood.

Jim Greeley, Southwest Florida wine supervisor. Follow me on Twitter @abcwinejimg.