Spanish Wine Regions - A Tasting Guide

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Spanish Wine Regions: Tasting Guide

Rioja

Renowned for its ageworthy red wines, Rioja deserves its iconic status. Sunny days, cool breezes, high-altitude vineyards and diverse souls provide the perfect conditions for crafting interesting and diverse wines.

Wine has been made in Rioja for centuries, but this is not a wine region resting on its laurels. Alongside the Rioja old guard, you’ll find plenty of cutting-edge wineries making modern styles of Rioja.

Of course, you’ll still find the long barrel-aged Reserva and Gran Reserva red wines that made us all fall in love with Rioja in the first place. But there are also plenty of crisp, refreshing whites and rosés.

To ensure quality and consistency across styles, wines in Rioja are classified under Spain’s strictest designation, Denominación de Origen Calificada (DOCa). This designation specifies that wines are classified based on their ageing requirements.

Tip from the Tasting Room: Barón de Barbón Oak Aged Rioja - our No.1 bestselling Rioja of all time, brimming with fruit and layered with toasty vanilla oak.

Rías Baixas

If you’re looking for Spain’s best white wines, then head to the wine region of Rías Baixas, the home of Albariño. Located in northwestern Spain in Galicia, on the windswept Atlantic coast, it’s a lush, cool area known as ‘Green Spain’.

Rías Baixas shares the same mineral-rich soils and cool climate as renowned regions like France’s Loire Valley and Marlborough in New Zealand. This helps produce white wines that are crisp, elegant and zesty with fresh notes of citrus, white peach and apricot.

Made close to the Atlantic Ocean, these wines are also known for their pristine purity and mineral freshness, with a distinct sea-breeze, salty tang. Unsurprisingly, given their coastal origins, Albariño wines pair brilliantly with seafood.

Tip from the Tasting Room: Bodegas Attis Nana Old Vine Albariño - Premium, old-vine Albariño, oak-fermented and cask-aged – creamy, rounded, yet zesty mineral fresh.

Ribera del Duero

It’s one of the wine world’s best kept secrets. Ribera del Duero is often overlooked in favour of its better-known neighbours - but produces exceptional wines beloved by locals.

As the name suggests, the vineyards stretch along the Duero River, the same river that flows all the way to the city of Porto in Portugal (where it’s known as the Douro).

It’s no surprise then that both the Douro and Ribera del Duero wine regions are known for their rich, concentrated red wines. The red wines of Ribera del Duero are nearly all made from Tempranillo, often known here as Tinto Fino or Tinta del Pais.

And undoubtedly the most famous wine of Ribera del Duero, and indeed Spain, is Vega-Sicilia.

JEREZ

Positioned in the sunny region of Andalucia, the historic city of Jerez de la Frontera is the undisputed heart of Sherry production. This exceptional fortified wine, with styles ranging from crisp and bone-dry to wonderfully rich and sweet, boasts an age-old tradition and a passionate global following.

Sherry's incredible diversity is its greatest strength. From the crisp, bone-dry Manzanilla sherries (a fino style exclusively produced in the seaside town of Sanlúcar de Barrameda), to nutty, complex Amontillado, Palo Cortado and Oloroso, and the wonderfully rich and sweet Pedro Ximénez, these are wines you won't find anywhere else.

Tip from the Tasting Room: Delicado Amontillado Sherry - a luscious, rich and complex sherry from the great Gonzalez Byass.

Priorat

Priorat is one of Spain’s finest red wine regions - and the only one, other than Rioja, to be a DOCa, Spain’s highest classification.

Priorat is your destination if you’re a fan of Garnacha. A relatively small wine region nestled in the heart of Catalonia, Priorat is home to around 100 wineries.

Winemakers here make deep and rich reds, primarily from its historic Garnacha and Cariñena vineyards. Priorat wines are instantly recognisable for their fresh, vibrant character, velvet-smooth texture and capacity to improve with age.

The region’s secondary grape, Cariñena, is often blended with Garnacha to produce deeply coloured and intense wines.

Though Priorat wines may carry a higher price tag than other regions, they are worth splurging on when the occasion calls for something special.

Penedès

Penedès is the birthplace of Spain’s sparkling wine, Cava. Cava can come from anywhere in Spain but around 90% comes from the Penedès region.

The beauty of Cava is that it’s made in the ‘traditional method’ – the same way as Champagne. Yet prices are vastly cheaper, especially in Spain!

The big difference lies in the grape varieties used. Cava is made mainly from local Spanish grape varieties – Parellada, Macabeo and Xarel-lo. Look forward to ripe orchard fruit flavours with floral notes and classic brioche richness.

Tip from the Tasting Room: ¡H! Barcelona Hola Organic Cava Brut - a lively, organic cava, and a pure taste of the great bubblies of Catalunya.