Spain has more land under vine than any other country and ranks among the world's top wine producers by volume. It's known for age-worthy Tempranillo-based reds from Rioja and Ribera del Duero, crisp Albariño whites from Galicia, and fortified Sherry from Andalusia.
Grapes grown here
Sub-regions
Jumilla
Jumilla, spanning Murcia and southern Albacete, is a hot, high-altitude region where old-vine Monastrell (Mourvèdre) thrives in lime-rich soils. It produces robust, drought-resistant reds, with Monastrell accounting for over 85% of plantings.
Penedès
Penedès in Catalonia is one of Spain's oldest wine regions and the historic heart of Cava sparkling wine production, made from the local trio of Xarel·lo, Macabeo, and Parellada. White varieties predominate overall, alongside some highly regarded oak-aged reds.
Priorat
Priorat is a small, prestigious Catalan region known for powerful, mineral-driven reds grown on steep terraces of dark slate soil called llicorella. Garnacha (Grenache) and Cariñena (Carignan) form the backbone of its blends, which gained international recognition in the 1990s.
Rías Baixas
Rías Baixas in coastal Galicia is Spain's premier white wine region. Its cool, damp Atlantic climate is ideal for the aromatic, citrusy Albariño grape, which originated here and makes up about 90% of the region's production.
Ribera del Duero
Ribera del Duero is a high-altitude Castilian plateau region famed for intense, long-lived reds built on Tempranillo (locally called Tinto Fino). Its continental climate of scorching days and cold nights, plus flat, rocky terrain, concentrates flavor in the grapes.
Popular
Rioja
Rioja is Spain's most prestigious wine region, spanning the cooler Rioja Alta and warmer Rioja Oriental zones. It's renowned for elegant, oak-aged Tempranillo reds, with the pronounced vanilla notes of oak aging serving as a virtual trademark of the style.
Sherry
Sherry is a fortified wine from the "Sherry Triangle" around Jerez de la Frontera in Andalusia, made using the solera aging system and distinctive flor yeast. Styles range from bone-dry Fino to rich, sweet Pedro Ximénez, with chalky albariza soils reflecting sunlight to aid ripening.
Toro
Toro, in the Zamora province of Castile and León, is known for bold, high-alcohol reds from old, pre-phylloxera vines of Tinta de Toro, a local clone of Tempranillo. Sandy soils here helped the region's vineyards escape the phylloxera epidemic that devastated much of Europe.