How Is Spanish Wine Classified?

Spain has devoted over 1.17 million hectares of its space to viticulture. This places Spain on the prime of the checklist by way of space underneath viticulture, however the low yield implies that this nation falls third – behind Italy and France – in wine manufacturing.

Wine areas in Spain are categorised in keeping with the standard of wine they produce, slotted into requirements prevalent throughout Europe. The best high quality of wine comes from “Denominación de Origen de Pago , or DO de Pago. Geographical standards listed below are extraordinarily strict, with solely single-estates being given the honour of the DO de Pago. Out of the 9 estates in Spain with DO de Pago standing 6 are in Castile-La Mancha and three are in Navarra.

The subsequent grade of wine is Denominación de Origen Calificada, or DOCa. Areas with this standing are recognized for his or her consistency and high quality, however don’t attain the requirements of the DO de Pago. There are, surprisingly, solely 2 areas which maintain DOCa standing -Rioia and Priorat.

Thirdly, we arrive at mainstream wines. Areas which produce high-quality mainstream wines are given the standing of Denomiación de Origen or DO. Spain has 66 wine areas which have acquired DO standing.

Lastly, we come to the Vino de Calidad con Indicación Geográfica. This class serves as a catch-all for wineries which can be simply starting to lift their high quality to classifiable ranges. Presently, Spain has 2 areas on this class.

Desk wine, nevertheless, is a distinct grade of wine that’s not thought of classification-worthy by the European QWPSR (High quality Wines Produced in a Specified Area) authorities.

Vino de la Tierra is “nation wine”, which is often bought with a regional title. At present, Spain has 46 such areas.

Lastly, we come to the Vino de Mesa. “Mesa” is Spanish for desk, so “Vino de Mesa” fairly actually means “Desk Wine”. That is bulk-grown, over all kinds of areas, and has no particular worth for connoisseurs. They’re bought with a “Produce of Spain” label, with none dates or designated space. The variety of such producers is falling steeply.

Labelling of Spanish wine bottles is often performed in keeping with the age of the wine. Wine is aged in barrels, although some wine may age within the bottle itself. The phrases “vino joven” and “sin crianza” denote a younger wine.

Crianza wines are the youngest of the aged wines, adopted by Reserva and Gran Reserva. The principles of ageing for every of those wines varies, in keeping with whether or not the wine is white, pink or rosé.

Hopefully, this define will enable you to determine the standard and age of your wine, not less than in keeping with the foundations. Particular person preferences, after all, at all times matter.