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About Spanish Wine

Spainish wine is among big boys in the wine industry giants. Not many are familiar with Spanish wines, except the fortified Sherry or the red Rioja. Spanish wine ranks third, behind Italian wine and French wine in terms of production. Spanish wine has similar in taste, flavors, and styles to wine of Portugal, Chile, and Argentina.

One reason why Spanish wine hasn’t been acknowledged by the rest of the world may be due to the lack of a uniform classification system and the laxity of law enforcement

Spanish wine Label

Spanish wine laws are similar to that of Italian wine. It has two categories: Denominaciones de Origen (DO), which means "place name," and the higher category, Denominaciones de Origen Calificada (DOCa) which only consist of one popular red Spanish wine the Rioja, was only added only in 1991.

Probably, that’s the reason for the above mentioned of…

"not many people are familiar with Spanish except the fortified Sherry or the red Rioja".

"Reserva" are used exclusively for Spanish red wines, denotes a minimum quality as well as aging. There are several types of red Riojas. Some Riojas are young wines with no oak-aging while others are labeled "crianza" which aged in oak and then in bottles for two years. "Reserva" are aged for three years. Last but not least, the finest Riojas are aged five years or longer and bestowed with the status "gran reserva". Gran Reservas are made only in exceptional vintages.

Spanish wines with no Denominaciones de Origen classification is in the category of table wines, Vino de la Tierra, which are similar to the French Vins de Pays.

Some of the important terms you will find on a Spanish wine label…

Cosecha or Vendimia – The Vintage year
Bodega - Winery
Tinto – Red
Blanco – White
Viejo – Old
Vina - Vineyard

Spanish Wine Vintages

Recent vintages from Rioja: 1982, 1989, 1981, 1990, and 1994.

Full Wine List

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