The Atlantic
“He came dancing across the water, what a killer”
The Atlantic Ocean is a cold, wet, wild body of water that lies between Africa and Europe and the Americas. Europeans crossed the Atlantic to "discover" the Americas; the first were probably from Iceland, though Christopher Columbus's journey to the Americas is more famous. The Portuguese Vasco da Gama also sailed to the Americas, the foundation of modern-day Brazil. Realising the potential wealth of the Americas, the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés came across the Atlantic in 1504, moving on to Mexico in 1518.
The Europeans took vines with them to the Americas for Mass. The Portuguese used Madeira, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, as a stopping-off point. Taking wines from the island with them, they used the barrels as ballasts on the decks of the ships exposing the wines to both oxygen and sunlight for several weeks. The wines were fortified with brandy to keep them stable, and that is how the great, long-lived wines of Madeira were born. Madeira’s climate is sub-tropical, rain falling all year round, landing on the green peak of the island, water falling down to the base to help crops grow—bananas, sugar for rum, as well as grape vines.
The Spanish did it a little bit differently. They took cuttings from the Canary Islands, another series of volcanic islands nearer Africa than Europe. Those cuttings were also used for Mass, and form the basis of the Mission variety in Mexico and California, País in Chile, and Criolla Chica in Argentina where it's one of the parents of Torrontés. There also used to be fortified wine, called “Canary,” which is being revived on a small scale. The consistently moderately warm climate makes the islands a popular tourist destination, but the wines have never caught on internationally. However, that is slowly changing as the quirky wines made from local varieties from the Listá and Malvasia families are becoming fashionable, albeit on a small scale.
Beyond these islands, there are several wine regions with a strong Atlantic influence where trade has played a big part in their development. Bordeaux lies on the French Atlantic coast, rain coming in all year round. The Médoc—Bordeaux's Left Bank—was marshland (and mosquitoes remain a very annoying pest) until the Dutch, who were well versed in low-lying marshes, drained the land to make it possible to plant crops, especially grapes for wine (and brandy) production. Bordeaux as a wine region might not exist were it not for its Atlantic trade with northern Europe, particularly England, and the Americas.
The Dutch were also influential in the development of the Loire Valley, further to the north but also affected by the wet Atlantic. They traded and invested in the Atlantic regions of the Loire, to buy grapes and wine for brandy production. Nantes, the biggest city in the Loire Valley (though it used to be the capital of Brittany), is on the Atlantic coast and, like Bordeaux, a city ideally placed for trading. Loire wines sailed out into the Atlantic through Nantes, giving the wines from around France's long river an international reputation and trade route. Nantes is surrounded by the various Muscadet regions, high-acid white wines, quite neutral in aromas, but perfectly suited to the local seafood. All of which makes Atlantic Loire quite different from continental Loire in its climate, its wines, and its food.
On the other side of the Atlantic, the Dutch influence is also felt: New York was once New Amsterdam before the city transferred to British rule. Long Island juts out from the city of New York into the Atlantic Ocean, which hits the island (officially a peninsula) with hurricanes. Growing conditions are defined by the two Hs which come from the Atlantic: hurricanes and humidity. The island breaks into two forks: the Hamptons, a getaway for rich New Yorkers, and the North Fork where most wineries are located. The Atlantic hits the Hamptons harder and although there are historic farms and wineries there, most wineries are now located on the North Fork, protected from the Atlantic by the Sound between the forks.
Much further south is Uruguay, where the growing climate and trade history are also heavily affected by the Atlantic. The capital, Montevideo, used to be the port for Argentina as Buenos Aires in the 1700s was too difficult to navigate. It's not dissimilar to Bordeaux, sudden rain coming in from the ocean. That's why Tannat is planted, brought to the country by immigrants from south-west France. Its skins are thick which protects the grapes from the rain, as do the big leaves. But the best red wines are made from Merlot, a Bordeaux variety well used to an Atlantic climate. The best white wines are from Albariño—a variety planted in Atlantic Spain. Although many of these regions have no relation to each other, the Atlantic provides a common connection seen in the wines.
Galicia is the "Ireland of Spain"—a wet, Atlantic part of Spain that's verdant and unlike the rest of continental Spain. It's wild and beautiful, with its own language and strong links to South America. Standing on the edge of Galicia really is like standing on the edge of Ireland, except it's warm enough to grow grapes. Rías Baixas is the wine region directly located on the Atlantic. Its name refers to the inlets which jut inland from the ocean, the city of Vigo looking directly down at the water. Vines are trained as pergolas, allowing air circulation in the wet climate: wherever there is the Atlantic, there is rain and humidity.
Atlantic Spain stretches along the northern coast, the coastal towns of Santander, Bilbao, and San Sebastián heading towards Bayonne and Biarritz in French Basque Country. Although popular tourist destinations, it's wet and cool and not much wine is produced—Asturias, around Santander, is cider country. But between Bilbao and San Sebastián, there is Txakoli—high acid, low alcohol wines with a touch of spritz. These wines were only made for consumption at home or in local tavernas, until three DOs were created in the late 1990s onwards. There’s also an Atlantic influence on Rioja, although it’s mostly protected by the Cantabrian mountains, which is also seen in France as far as otherwise Mediterranean appellations such as Corbières.
““A current such that, although they had great wind, they could not proceed forwards, but backwards and it seems that they were proceeding well; at the end, it was known that the current was more powerful than the wind.””
The Atlantic influence on England is different because the Gulf Stream that comes in through the Atlantic from the Americas moderates the climate. It's wet and windy, but it would be worse were it not for the Gulf Stream. The Atlantic touches Cornwall and Devon, the only areas were surfing is possible; the warm air that comes from the Gulf of Mexico moderates the rest of England to create a mild climate that otherwise would be extremely cold. The current across the Atlantic, which changes according to the seasons, is so strong that it had to be avoided when sailing to the Americas but was used to speed the return to Europe.
Also with a very different Atlantic-influenced climate is South Africa: the climate is warm, and it's only because of the ocean that grape-growing is possible. Most of the quality wine regions are planted near the South Atlantic Ocean, though it's not just the Atlantic which is important. Far to the south is the Antarctic which blows cool air towards South Africa: the Benguela Current moves up the western edge of the country into the Atlantic Ocean; cool winds also blow into Cape Town from the Atlantic, where it's called the Cape Doctor. Unlike the other Atlantic wine regions, the climate is warm Mediterranean—a different take on Atlantic wines, though Franschhoek receives almost as much rain annually as Bordeaux—but nevertheless the Atlantic helps account for the freshness of South African wine. The Cape is called the Cape of Good Hope, because navigating it while sailing to Asia was difficult and perilous. South of Cape Town is False Bay, named because sailors thought they had rounded the Cape but the current forced the boats into the bay which was just the start of the Cape.
The Atlantic pushes in many directions, bringing in rain, wind, storms, never at rest. It defines and shapes many wine regions: the islands of Madeira and the Canaries; wet Spain and wet Portugal; the port of Bordeaux; coastal Loire; England; New York’s Long Island; Uruguay around the port city of Montevideo; and the coastal regions of South Africa. These wine regions would not be what they are were it not for the Atlantic.