Verdejo is a variety of

wine grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began perhaps 8,000 years ago, ...

that has long been grown in the Rueda region of

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

. The grape originated in

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

, and was spread to Rueda in about the 11th Century, possibly by

Mozarab The Mozarabs ( es, mozárabes ; pt, moçárabes ; ca, mossàrabs ; from ar, مستعرب, musta‘rab, lit=Arabized) is a modern historical term for the Iberian Christians, including Christianized Iberian Jews, who lived under Muslim rule in A ...

s. Verdejo was generally used to make a strongly

oxidized Redox (reduction–oxidation, , ) is a type of chemical reaction in which the oxidation states of substrate change. Oxidation is the loss of electrons or an increase in the oxidation state, while reduction is the gain of electrons or a ...

Sherry Sherry ( es, jerez ) is a fortified wine made from white grapes that are grown near the city of Jerez de la Frontera in Andalusia, Spain. Sherry is produced in a variety of styles made primarily from the Palomino grape, ranging from light versi ...

-like

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented grapes. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different ...

. In the Mid-20th Century, Verdejo almost became extinct, had it not been for the local winegrower Ángel Rodríguez Vidal (Bodega Martinsancho), who opted for this variety and contributed to re-establishing its prominence in the region. In the 1970s, the winemaking company Marqués de Riscal began to develop a fresher style of white wine based on Verdejo with the help of

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

oenologist

Émile Peynaud Émile Peynaud (June 29, 1912 – July 18, 2004) was a French oenologist and researcher who has been credited with revolutionizing winemaking in the latter half of the 20th century, and has been called "the forefather of modern oenology". Biogra ...

.Asimov, Eric (2008)
"Wines of the Times: Emerging, in Spain, to Warm Applause"
''The New York Times'', March 5, 2008. Online version retrieved 2008-03-07. In 1980, white wines from the Rueda region were recognized by a Denominación de Origen (DO). Wines labeled ''Rueda'' must contain 50% Verdejo; the remainder is typically

Sauvignon blanc is a green-skinned grape variety that originates from the Bordeaux region of France. The grape most likely gets its name from the French words ''sauvage'' ("wild") and ''blanc'' ("white") due to its early origins as an indigenous grape in ...

Macabeo Macabeo, also called Viura or Macabeu (, ), is a white variety of wine grape. It is widely grown in the Rioja region of northeastern Spain, the Cava producing areas south of Barcelona, and the Languedoc-Roussillon region of France. Span ...

. Wines designated "Rueda Verdejo" must contain 85% Verdejo, and are often 100% Verdejo. The Verdejo grapes are generally harvested at night. This means that the grapes enter the cellar at the lower night-time temperature of instead of the daytime temperature, which can be as high as in September. Lower temperatures means less oxidation, or browning of the juice. Verdejo wines are

aromatic In chemistry, aromaticity is a chemical property of cyclic ( ring-shaped), ''typically'' planar (flat) molecular structures with pi bonds in resonance (those containing delocalized electrons) that gives increased stability compared to satur ...

, often soft, and full-bodied.

History

After the Reconquest of Toledo, the Duero area was repopulated by Asturians, Vascones and Mozarabs. It is probable that the grape was brought from Algaida, in North Africa, along the silver route. The first vines of this variety in Spain were planted in Toro and Tierra del vino and the region of Madrigal de las Altas Torres (hence its name madrigal white) and Rueda during the reign of Alfonso VI (11th-12th centuries).

References

White wine grape varieties Spanish wine {{wine-grape-stub