Create the perfect Spanish cellar
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Spain is one of the favourite wine-producing countries among Decanter readers. Sarah Jane Evans MW and Pedro Ballesteros Torres MW explain how to build the perfect Spanish cellar, including wines to buy for all budgets, their top tips, vintage guides and further reading on the subject.
Spanish cellar: Regions and vintages
Rioja
2012
Vines could not recover from the preceding stressing vintage; yields were quite low. The best wines can be even more concentrated than 2011. Ageing capacity is difficult to gauge at the moment.
2011
Even hotter than 2009, but without any rain to relieve the drought. Many wines needed heavy corrections. The best are probably among the densest Rioja wines ever.
2010
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A warm and dry vintage, but less so than 2009. Excessive water stress was counterbalanced with timely rains. Balanced in general, some wines are outstanding. Ageworthy.
2009
A very warm and healthy vintage, with heavy rain at the end of the season resulting in a large harvest. The best producers released good-quality wines.
Ribera del Duero
2012
Another hot and dry year, but thanks to rains in July and September old vines produced elegant yet concentrated wines, with slightly less alcohol than in 2011.
2011
Officially rated ‘Excellent’, but this needs to be confirmed as the wines mature. A very hot year, with much heat stress.
2010
The dream vintage. Perfect, when phenolic maturity was in harmony with alcoholic maturity. Great ageing capacity for the best wines.
2009
Much hyped at release, it’s a warmer vintage than 2010, with lower acidities, so many wines are out of balance. The best are great, but many will pass their peak soon.
Priorat
2012
Dry weather and modest yields – a Garnacha year of great quality. The best wines will probably be more refined than 2011.
2011
A vintage of very long drought. Expect powerful, very concentrated wines.
2010
Wines are suppler than usual, and international varieties fared better than native grapes. Nice for mid-term consumption.
2009
Abundant harvest with many fresh and balanced wines. Not for long ageing.
Sarah Jane Evans MW is an award-winning journalist who began writing about wine (and food, restaurants, and chocolate) in the 1980s. She started drinking Spanish wine - Sherry, to be specific - as a student of classics and social and political sciences at Cambridge University. This started her lifelong love affair with the country’s wines, food and culture, leading to her appointment as a member of the Gran Orden de Caballeros de Vino for services to Spanish wine. In 2006 she became a Master of Wine, writing her dissertation on Sherry and winning the Robert Mondavi Winery Award. Currently vice-chairman of the Institute of Masters of Wine, Evans divides her time between contributing to leading wine magazines and reference books, wine education and judging wines internationally.