José Pizarro's seven days of food pairings for high street Rioja

We grabbed seven great everyday Rioja wines of different styles from the shelves, put them in the trolley, checked out and headed to Bermondsey in London, just south of the river Thames near Tower Bridge.

Waiting for us was celebrity chef José Pizarro, described by many as the Godfather of Spanish cooking and owner of a successful group of restaurants and eateries in London, southern Spain and Abu Dhabi, including three in Bermondsey Street SE1 alone (Lolo, José Tapas and Pizarro at Nos 102, 104 and 194 respectively).

He was ready to pair our high street selection with some of the signature dishes from his restaurants and career.

We hope these pairings will inspire you to buy a few bottles and get creative in the kitchen – Monday to Sunday.

Grab a copy of Pizarro’s most recent book, The Spanish Pantry: 12 Ingredients, 100 Simple Recipes (Quadrille, June 2025 – £28 via José Pizarro's website) and have a go at some Spanish classics.

A bit of flavour and comfort to get you through the week – without breaking the bank.

Monday

Tortilla from José Tapas

Red wine pairing: CVNE, Asúa Reserva 2020

Start the week with a classic dish paired with a classic bottle. The unctuous core of the tortilla de patatas – with or without the caramelised onions – that has been an all-time favourite of patrons at Pizarro’s tapas bar (and first venue), this year celebrating its 15th anniversary, has a perfect, effortless match in CVNE’s modern, everyday-classic oak-aged red.

An easy yet sophisticated pairing that’s all about no- nonsense, guaranteed satisfaction.

CVNE, Asúa Reserva 2020 | 93pts

£19-£21.75 Drinks Direct, Goedhuis Waddesdon, ND John, The Wine Society

Produced exclusively with grapes from estate-owned vineyards above 500m in Haro, this 100% Tempranillo lures you in with its seductive nose of violets, dried rose petals and tarragon.

The palate follows with structure but also freshness, balancing vivid acidity, juicy cherry and plum fruit, and broody touches of dark chocolate and coffee. Drink 2026-2030. Alcohol 14%.

Tuesday

Courgette carpaccio from Lolo

Rosé wine pairing: Ramón Bilbao, Rosado 2025

Affordability doesn’t need to translate into lack of flavour. One of the favourite dishes at Lolo by José Pizarro, the smoothly lit latest Bermondsey haunt of the Spanish chef, is based on the humble courgette, given a fancy carpaccio treatment and topped with buttery pine nuts, slow-roasted tomatoes and edible flowers.

It has been on the menu since Lolo opened in 2024 (currently £10 on the à la carte menu) and is going nowhere. It’s the same simple yet sophisticated simplicity in Ramón Bilbao’s Garnacha-based rosado – great value and refreshing allure, without loss of structure or texture.

Ramón Bilbao, Rosado 2025 | 89pts

£9.50 Co-op

Hands-down one of the best-value Spanish rosés on the high street: crisp and refreshing, superbly enjoyable yet structured enough for food.

Crunchy and well-defined cranberry, rhubarb, wild strawberry and white peach fruit mingle on the palate, outlined by an appetising saline rim. Drink 2026-2027 Alc 12%.

Wednesday

Gamba blanca al ajillo con huevos rotos from Pizarro

White wine pairing: Cosme Palacio, Glorioso Blanco 2024

What do you need on a Wednesday? A wholesome midweek dinner paired with a wine that’s easy but fine, fluid yet complex, sophisticated in a laidback kind of way.

You need a pairing that provides sustenance, is authentic and just reminds you that life is made of simple yet delicious things. By combining two Spanish basics – gambas al ajillo (prawns fried with garlic) and huevos rotos (runny fried eggs on a bed of french fries) – Pizarro created one of the signature dishes at his eponymous flagship restaurant and delivers just that hearty comfort.

A glass of Glorioso Blanco answers with invigorating freshness and salinity.

Cosme Palacio, Glorioso Blanco 2024 | 90pts

£11.50-£15 Reserve Wines, The Wine Society

A lovely blend of Viura with a touch of Tempranillo Blanco, in which crispy pear and clementine peel dominate the structured, vibrant palate.

There’s a salty turn of toasted almonds and preserved lemon, and it’s a touch unctuous and very juicy at the core. Gentle florality (hay, camomile) in the background. Lovely presence on the mid-palate, with width and a pleasant saline richness. Drink 2026-2027 Alc 12.5%.

Thursday

Mediterranean red prawn carpaccio from Lolo

Rosé wine pairing: Muga, Rosado 2025

With the weekend just around the corner you’ll want to keep things simple and fresh. Start getting into relaxation mode with this prawn carpaccio – seemingly easy to make, but a dish that will require patience and precision.

The secret is using the best ingredients only: super- fresh red prawns, juicy oranges and chilli. Or just head to Lolo to have it prepared for you! This is off the menu at this stage of the year (it’s not citrus season after all) but it will be back before long.

Pair with the rosado from Muga, a nuanced Garnacha- based pink that will pair perfectly both with the delicate flesh of the prawns and the pre-weekend mood.

Muga, Rosado 2025 | 91pts

£11.95-£16.99 Majestic, Martinez Wines, Waitrose Cellar, Waud Handford, The Wine Society

Delicate floral and herbal touches dance over cranberry, wild strawberry and pomegranate fruit. Top notes of rose and orange blossom are echoed on the palate, lifting the fleshy yellow and pink orchard fruit.

Voluminous and unctuous, yet with a zesty pep throughout. A blend of Garnacha with about 30% Viura. Drink 2026-2027 Alc 13.5%.

Friday

Clams & fino Sherry from José Tapas

White wine pairing: Montecillo, On the QT Bin 37 2024

Clams cooked in a fino-based sauce? Yes, please. Just the kind of simple-yet-special combination that will ease you into the weekend and it’s on rotation at Pizarro’s tapas bar.

The dish calls for a structured, poised white and the On the QT Bin 37 definitely meets the brief. It’s also, unquestionably, a special wine of which not many bottles are left. Grab yours while you can.

Montecillo, On the QT Bin 37 2024 | 93pts

£21.25 Waitrose Cellar

This delicious, rather unique expression of Garnacha Blanca hails from a single barrel selected by winemaker Mercedes García Rupérez and Waitrose buyer Xenia Ruscombe-King MW.

Structured and delightfully complex, the fleshy loquat, apricot and peach fruit is deftly topped by orange zest, acacia and almond blossom. There’s a peppery, tingling vibrancy to the finish. Drink 2026-2028 Alc 13%.

Saturday

Carabinero rice from Pizarro

Red wine pairing: La Rioja Alta, Viña Alberdi Selección Especial 2021

Wake up (not too early) on Saturday morning and head to the fishmonger. Saturday is the perfect day to indulge and splurge on top produce – such as some meaty, red-hued carabineros, wild-caught large deep-sea prawns prized for a meat that’s lobster-like in consistency but elevated in flavour.

Served with a rich, creamy rice accompaniment – as was once the case at Pizarro – it makes for a sophisticated yet filling dish that calls for a finely structured red with refreshing acidity at its core.

Go for La Rioja Alta’s Viña Alberdi Selección Especial, a wine that punches well above its weight (without ever getting tired) and delivers structure, finesse and drinkability in equal measures.

La Rioja Alta, Viña Alberdi Selección Especial Reserva 2021 | 93pts

£20 Waitrose Cellar

A beautiful expression of classical Rioja, 100% Tempranillo, perfect for elevated everyday drinking. The ripe cranberry, cherry and plum fruit is laced with notes of vanilla, cardamom, sage and powdered coffee.

The tannins are assertive but rounded and pave the way for the elegant and brightly spicy finish. Drink 2026-2031 Alc 14%.

Sunday

Marinated pork fillet from Lolo

Red wine pairing: Faustino, I Gran Reserva 2016

The marinated pork fillet now on the menu at Lolo is a special dish created to celebrate the 15th anniversary of José Pizarro’s first opening on Bermondsey Street in 2011.

It’s a rightful celebration of persistence and time, hallmarks of that cooking method – marinating – that requires foresight and patience. So think in advance if you want your perfectly marinated meat on Sunday.

The Faustino I has also greatly benefited from all of the time it has spent in the bottle and will work as a fine, savoury, earthy counterpoint to the meat and marinade. Sit back and get ready for another week ahead.

Faustino, I Gran Reserva 2016 | 93pts

£18.47-£25.95 Asda, Drinks Direct, Secret Bottle Shop, T Wright

While still a bit tightly coiled, even at 10 years old, this well-recognised Gran Reserva – a blend of Tempranillo with 8% Graciano and 5% Mazuelo – is already showing well-honed layering of dried tobacco leaf, coffee bean, liquorice root, prune and caramel.

Elegantly fragrant Earl Grey and Assam notes play in the background and linger on the savoury finish. Drink 2026-2036 Alc 14%.

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It's the semi-finals. Four teams, two games, one final match to decide it all.

And all four teams that have made it this far are from winemaking nations.

Whatever the results over these final games, the record of a winemaking country always winning the World Cup is guaranteed.

But who will be in that final game? France look like the best team overall. Spain feel like dark horses who could win in a closely-fought slugging match.

England and Argentina both have shown flashes of brilliance but also fraught, rather flawed performances from which they somehow emerge victorious.

And the potential finals are ripe with historic firsts. Will it be a third back-to-back final for France? A rematch against Argentina? A first-time clash against England who would be in their first final in 60 years.

Or maybe a rematch of 2024's Euros final? Spain vs England. Or, even, a first World Cup meeting between Spain and Argentina since (incredibly) 1966.

All to play for – here's what we're pairing with each match...

And if you feel the need for some... actual football analysis during this World Cup, do check in on our friends and colleagues over at FourFourTwo for all their updates and coverage.

Izzy: England

England (vs Argentina): The final four! After a rather nervy win over the Vikings on Saturday, England are through to the semi-finals for only the fourth time since 1966.

They’ll be meeting current title-holders Argentina in Atlanta, where both teams have previously pulled back from a losing position to overcome their rivals (England against DR Congo and Argentina in their dramatic win over Egypt last week).

Argentina have a particular habit of clawing back a win from the jaws of defeat, so England will need to show real grit and persistence to keep Lionel Messi at bay.

In this spirit, let’s continue to plumb the Decanter World Wine Awards for bottles that showcase the best of England winemaking, and try this platinum-winning sparkling rosé from Berkshire.

From a winery established less than 15 years ago – younger than Messi’s World Cup career – this is an extremely impressive wine, which shows the value of hard work and determination in the vineyard (as on the pitch!)

A wine that is delightfully English with rose garden, strawberry and red apple notes, it is described as an ‘allegory of national intent’ – a fitting choice for the team’s toughest match yet.

Rupert: France

France (vs Spain): Two European football and winemaking giants going head-to-head, and on Bastille Day no-less.

For two such famous footballing nations, it’s surprising that France and Spain haven’t clashed more often in major tournaments.

Spain has had the better of the most recent encounters in the Euros – beating France in the quarter-finals in 2012 and semi-finals in 2024 (going on to win those tournaments on both occasions).

The last – and in fact only – World Cup clash between the two was 20 years ago in 2006, the final hurrah of Zidane, Henry, Viera & co, and which France won (before losing in the final).*

In such circumstances it’s time to throw caution to the wind and lavish some money on a special bottle. It should be something ‘very French’ and is there anything more French than old Bordeaux?

Perhaps something from the 2006 vintage in honour of the last time these countries met.

An underrated vintage that, at 20 years old (and like this French team), is still revealing its charms, try snagging something like this Château Cos d’Estournel which continues to boast ‘abundant blackcurrant fruit and subtle hints of pepper, cedar, and smoke’.

*There was also the 5-4 Spanish victory in the semi-finals of the UEFA Nations League in 2025, but, honestly, who remembers/cares about that?

Ines: Spain

Spain (vs France): Would Spain have won its quarter-final duel if Belgium's goalie, Thibaut Courtois, hadn’t left the game injured? We’ll never know.

The road to victory is paved with unfair casualties and (a lot of) luck.

However, luck seems to often fail those who face France… La Roja needs, more than ever, to rely only on itself.

This semi-final calls for consistency, poise, nerve and resilience – the attributes of a good Ribera del Duero, such as the Finca las Dueñas Reserva from charismatic producer Francisco Barona, himself a great source of inspiration for Spanish players.

Barona's passion, work ethic and hands-on knowledge produce some of Ribera’s most exciting modern classics.

A recipe for champions?

Julie: Argentina

Argentina (vs England): A classic football rivalry – Maradona’s hand of God, David Beckham’s red card – when it comes to Argentina vs England in the World Cup heartbreak is just around the corner.

But the two sides haven’t met since Japan in 2002 (which England won) and, incredible, though it may seem, Lionel Messi has never played against England in his career.

Well, that all ends in Atlanta on Wednesday evening with two teams that have both flirted with brilliance and disaster on their tournament journeys so far.

As we’re rekindling an old footballing beef let’s keep it straightforward; a pure expression of high altitude Argentine Malbec.

Catena Zapata’s ‘Malbec Argentino’ is not only about as on-the-nose as it gets name-wise but also a wine that displays all the ‘dynamism, character and typicity’ we've come to expect from the country's wines – and their football team.

Expect, ‘juicy ripe cherry, plum, pink peach, pomegranate’ and possibly some more Messi magic.

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I’m not a Sauvignon Blanc denier, but I am all too often disappointed with thin, one-dimensional examples.

At its best, however, Sauvignon Blanc can be gorgeously textural and expressive, with weight but no heaviness, and richness balanced by salinity and succulence.

Its aromatic and zingy nature makes it one of the world’s most popular grape varieties, and flavours and aromas vary depending on where and how it's grown – climate, pruning and trellising systems, even the yeast strains used in fermentation.

Expect anything from tropical and exotic to citrusy and zesty, grassy and herby, or stony and mineral.

Organic Sauvignon Blanc – not an easy task

Despite its popularity, Sauvignon Blanc is fairly tricky to grow, and needs careful work in the vineyard to keep it healthy.

‘Sauvignon is relatively complex to work organically or biodynamically,’ says Jonathan Pabiot, a biodynamic winemaker in Pouilly-Fumé. 'It's sensitive to powdery and downy mildew, so in humid years treatments have to be very regular.'

Yet Pabiot says the vine's flower is very sensitive to copper, which is problematic for organic growers because copper-based Bordeaux mixture is one of the only permitted fungicides used to protect against powdery mildew.

For Pabiot, Sauvignon Blanc's very sensitivity to climate and disease stressors is what makes it so responsive to biodynamic farming. ‘Biodynamics helps us overcome these climatic risks, but it isn't magic either,' he says. ‘What it does do is help build living soil.'

Biodynamic winemakers in Languedoc Patricia and Luc Bertoni, of Domaine les Eminades, believe that it is precisely the nearly 20 years of organic farming that has made their Sauvignon particularly resilient to disease – as well as the clement climate of the south.

My Sauvignon Blanc moment

The moment I realised the heights and depths that great Sauvignon could reach was when tasting Andreas Tscheppe’s Blue Dragonfly, from south Styria in Austria, near the border with Slovenia.

Tscheppe and his wife Elisabeth farm their terraced vineyards biodynamically, at 500m altitude. These vineyards, like the wines, are full of life: picture lush vegetation, myriad plants, weeds, flowers, grasses, bugs, beetles, bees, dragonflies and birds.

Fermented with natural yeasts and minimal sulphur, and aged for almost two years in large old barrels, it tastes like wildflowers and wild grasses, sun-warmed orchard fruit, lemon and brine, with an intricate texture like a crispy snowflake.

For me, this is one of the purest, most stripped back and alive versions of Sauvignon Blanc – far removed from the pungent blast of Marlborough.

Of course, not everyone is looking for this hyper textural, nuanced version of the grape. Sauvignon has become something of a celebrity accessory,: Gary Barlow and Graham Norton both have their own brands, though Taylor Swift has, tellingly, traded up to Sancerre.

Has the grape’s cultural moment peaked?

Not if this summer’s internet wine trend is anything to go by – dropping frozen dill pickles into a glass of Sauvignon Blanc suggests it’s found a new, slightly unhinged lease of life.

Either way, here are seven delicious organic bottles to satisfy the Sauvignon-seekers this summer – pickle optional, but not advised.

Seven Sauvignon for summer sipping

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While a high-quality baseline determined the tone and rhythm of this report, some producers stood out through wines that not only scored well but also jumped from the glass for their idiosyncrasy and self-assuredness.

Their wines are, in some instances, immediately recognisable – often shamelessly compromising the premise of a blind-tasting exercise – possessing their own distinctive style while also being unmistakably Riojan.

Our list of standout producers therefore aims to celebrate not just quality but also identity.

Theirs are wines that combine a sense of time and place with a distinct personality, making the case for typicity beyond uniformity.

There are clear common denominators: expressiveness (both terroir and personal), purity, drinkability and technical ability.

All of these wines evoke a sense of personal commitment and craftsmanship supported by painstaking work, deep knowledge of the vineyards and an overlap of personal and historical narratives.

This lineup also highlights the fact that it’s possible to arrive at a destination via different paths – it’s all about the journey and the many encounters it allows. And Rioja is, in its very essence, a region forged by serendipitous turns of history leveraged by very different stakeholders.

These are producers whose wines invite further engagement and discovery.

Arturo & Kike de Miguel

Artuke
Baños de Ebro, Rioja Alavesa

Brothers Arturo and Kike de Miguel (see what they did with the brand name there?), took over their father’s vineyards and small winery in Baños de Ebro and have since been crafting some of the region’s most exciting and sought-after ‘new wave’ wines. The purity and expressiveness of their creations became apparent in how they performed in our report tasting.

The two farm about 25ha following biodynamic principles and have a terroir-first approach, eschewing all ageing-based classifications in favour of village- and parcel-specific bottlings, all under the Genérico (formerly known as Joven) classification.

Their wines combine fierce intensity with structural exactness and aromatic nuance; not unlike the brothers themselves, whose frankness and bonhomie is framed by broad shoulders and warmly thunderous voices.

While their village blends (Pies Negros and the carbonic maceration namesake Artuke) are among Rioja’s most insanely good-value modern wines, Artuke’s top single-vineyard labels – La Condenada and El Escolladero – are on the path to icon status.

Artuke wines tasted for this report
La Condenada 2024 98pts
Trascuevas 2024 98pts
El Escolladero 2024 96pts
Paso Las Mañas Paraje El Chorro 2024 96pts

Carlos Mazo Gutiérrez

Vinos en Voz Baja
Aldeanueva de Ebro, Rioja Oriental

One of the wines that most surprised and delighted at the masterclass we hosted at the Decanter New York Fine Wine Encounter in June 2025, to celebrate Rioja’s centenary, was Carlos Mazo’s Nace La Sierra.

It stood out for its levity and purity, and introduced the audience – more familiar with the traditional, classical style of Rioja – to the possibility of a different interpretation of the region, more focused, fluid, quieter. It’s not by chance that he decided to name his project Vinos en Voz Baja – ‘wines in a soft voice’.

The same quiet rusticity and gentleness of touch made Mazo’s wines shine in this report’s tasting. Both traits are evocative of Mazo himself, a softly spoken, unassuming winemaker, completely committed to land and family.

He works mostly with old-vine Garnacha (red, white and grey), with scattered and interspersed plantings of Pasera, Viura and Tinto Velasco.

The fruit is handled with remarkable subtlety, infused rather than extracted, allowing the varieties to shine through the prism of their specific location.

Mazo’s wines coax you into slowing down and engaging with a different way of doing things; although refreshing and supremely drinkable, their textural appeal invites time on the palate – and some good bread, thinly cut jamón and fragrant olive oil.

Vinos en Voz Baja wines tasted for this report
Barrio Pastores 2024 95pts
Costumbres Blanco 2024 94pts
Nace la Sierra 2024 94pts
Costumbres Tinto 2024 93pts

Sandra Bravo

Sierra de Toloño
Villabuena de Álava, Rioja Alavesa

One of our standout producers last year, Sandra Bravo easily earned a spot in our top lineup again. Her wines are immediately recognisable in the glass: elegant, upfront, crystalline and textural.

Their evolution since Sierra de Toloño’s first harvest in 2012 is also remarkable, showing ever greater confidence and increasingly lending more expressiveness to Bravo’s pristine technical ability.

After completing her studies, Bravo honed her craft in Bordeaux, Chianti, Marlborough, California and Priorat, she returned to Rioja in 2012 with equal amounts of emotion, drive, work ethic and critical thinking.

Knowledge and approachability are the foundations of her style, informed by emotion and technique, allowing her to interpret the more than 20 plots of old vines – mostly Garnacha – she farms on the rugged slopes of the Sonsierra region.

While technically pristine, Bravo’s wines never come across as ‘technical’ or ‘cold’; there’s indeed a comforting quality to them that reflects Bravo’s down-to-earth authenticity.

Classical approachability and elegant rusticity are possibly the best ways to summarise the essence of her wines – from her pure, poised so-called entry-level red and white (an outrageous steal at just €12 in Spain, about £20 in the UK), to her single-plot creations, of which there are many.

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: wines such as the white Nahikun (‘desire’ in Euskadi) and Tereseño, from Garnacha planted in 1944, are among Rioja’s future (present?) classics.

Sierra de Toloño wines tasted for this report
Tereseño 2023 97pts
La Dula Garnachas de Altura 2023 96pts
Nahikun Blanco 2024 95pts
Sierra de Toloño Tinto 2023 94pts

Victor Ausejo

Alberite, Rioja Oriental

Victor Ausejo’s trajectory was unusual from the outset. The son of an experienced Rioja viticulturist, he never liked viticulture and began working as a plumber.

However, when work dried up, he found himself working towards a degree in viticulture and winemaking in Logroño; and while studying, the wine bug bit him hard. While gaining experience at Vivanco and Gómez Cruzado he started to set his sights on making his own wines.

Here again, his path wasn’t obvious. In 2014, his father convinced him to regraft a family vineyard of Tempranillo with Garnacha Blanca, anticipating (correctly) increased demand for white grapes in Rioja.

Little did he know that this would become one of his son’s specialisms. In 2016, Ausejo planted two more hectares of the variety; in 2018, the first Victor Ausejo Garnacha Blanca was produced. It wasn’t until 2021 that Ausejo produced his first reds.

Today, he works with Garnacha, both white and red, and Mazuelo to produce a boutique range that’s unique in its energetic grip and electric tension. Ausejo calls his tiny winery a workshop, a place of experimentation and discovery.

Victor Ausejo wines tasted for this report
Garnacha Blanca Vino de Clavijo 2024 96pts
Garnacha Tinta 2023 96pts
Mazuelo Vino de Alberite 2023 96pts
Parcela 333 2024 95pts

Muga

Rioja Alta

With the third generation now at the helm, Muga continues to evolve, not resting on its many laurels, and not taking success or status for granted. Ultimately, this is part of Muga’s enduring appeal: an unpretentious classicism and authoritative humility.

The evolution of the range has been both a response to market demands and a refinement of the house style.

Alongside long-standing classics such as Torre de Muga and Prado Enea now stand Muga’s flagship white and rosé (both dubbed Flor de Muga), whose development in the past decade itself reflects ongoing fine-tuning and self-questioning – while staying painstakingly true to a recognisable identity.

A meticulous approach is paramount, in the vineyard as in the cellar. With help from the University of Salamanca, technical director Isaac Muga and head winemaker Pablo Orio are conducting an extensive study of the soils in each vineyard parcel.

Meanwhile, Muga is the only winery in Rioja with its own cooperage, fastidiously selecting and maturing the wood for each barrique and foudre in-house.

Clarification of the wines is still done with egg whites and racking (transferring between containers) is done by gravity only – the approach is low-tech, high-detail and craft-heavy.

Like other Rioja powerhouses, Muga also plays a crucial socioeconomic role in supporting a tight-knit network of small growers – something that makes its evolution and success very much a collective endeavour.

Muga wines tasted for this report
Flor de Muga Blanco Reserva 2022 97pts
Flor de Muga Rosado 2025 95pts
Torre Muga 2021 94pts
Muga Selección Especial 2021 90pts

More from the report

One of the main myths debunked by Rioja’s spectacular (and exciting) shake-up since the turn of the millennium, is that the region is synonymous with Tempranillo.

The ubiquity of high-yielding Tempranillo clones, replacing field blends where multiple varieties had grown alongside each other, is relatively recent; a process that happened in the last third of the 20th century.

It’s unsurprising, therefore, that with the backlash against the Rioja region’s ‘industrialisation’ coupled with renewed interest in origin and terroir came an interest in the vineyards and varieties of yore, and in the once-dominant Garnacha in particular.

And it’s certainly not by chance that many of the Vino de Municipio or Viñedo Singular wines submitted for tasting for this year’s report were either single-varietal or Garnacha-led blends – you’ll find plenty here.

Nuance & precision

And it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the Garnachas being produced in Rioja are marked by nuance, precision, delicious drinkability and an ever greater sense of place.

Those are, ultimately, the purposes of the renewed interest in the variety.

‘It surprises me that Garnacha from Rioja continues to surprise – if that makes sense!’ says Beth Willard.

‘There’s been a focus on Garnacha for quite some time and there have been wonderful wines bubbling away under the surface. Perhaps the really interesting, more recent development is the advance of more specific identities for different sub-regions, even different towns.’

Handled by mindful winemakers, Garnacha has a notable transparency, expressive of both origin and winemaking philosophy.

The realisation has impacted on the region’s wines more broadly – there are echoes of this newfound fragrant lusciousness in the finesse and genius loci (‘spirit of place’) gained in recent years by the Crianzas and Reservas (and to an extent even Gran Reservas).

Reversing genetic and historical erosion is not only a tale of Garnacha: it also explains Rioja’s ‘White Revolution’ , as well as the exploration of other red varieties.

Mazuelo once again performed well in our tastings, with standout examples really showing the grape’s balance of elegance and rusticity.

And we had a surprising flight of Maturana Tinta wines: a modest but clear prelude of better things to come.

‘There are many really interesting Maturanas, but it is a variety that still has a way to go in terms of finding its identity and a connection with the final consumer,’ concludes Willard.

The wines we tasted suggest that it’s a worthwhile quest.

Garnacha & friends: Highlights from the 2026 Rioja Report

Garnacha

Mazuelo

Maturana Tinta

Full score table coming soon

More from the report

The ‘Genérico’ category of the Rioja classification system has been the stage for Rioja’s spectacular evolution in the last couple of decades.

It’s here that, without the corset of (in some cases arguably obsolete) rules for required periods of ageing in wood and for vessel types, producers have found the space to experiment and (re)discover the essence of the region and assert their own identities and styles.

This explains why so many of Rioja’s most exciting new wines – including most of this report’s top-scorers across categories – come without a Crianza, Reserva or Gran Reserva stamp.

As you will see in this section’s wine selection, and in those that follow, this has been the fertile ground for the growth of a diverse, riveting landscape of wines that explore terroir and varietal diversity – from fragrant Garnachas and alluringly rustic Mazuelos, to the new village and single-vineyard wines.

Genérico is also, inevitably, the stage for the many and urgent reinterpretations of Tempranillo, reflecting the wider, ongoing explorations of terroir, looming concerns about climate change, and the ever more confident assertiveness of personal identities in winemaking.

In this selection of wines, we see a region in fast but quiet motion, looking for excellence in simplicity and diversity through the lens of purity and nuance.

Freedom of expression

Here, boutique and powerhouse producers mingle in a quest for authenticity that creates an understanding of Rioja that’s at once more diverse and more clearly defined.

The result is a more focused and expressive use of the Tempranillo variety, not as an end in itself but as a tool to convey time, place and philosophy.

Approachability, fluidity and definition are balanced by a very Riojan rugged elegance.

And it’s also great to see producers leaning confidently into the character of each vintage, prioritising the ‘truth’ of the fruit rather than winemaking or style.

On the other hand, the decision of when to release each wine is itself a stylistic choice – the contemporary release of Tempranillos from the troubled yet promising 2024 vintage, of the superb 2021, and of mature, still vibrant 2015s and 2016s is yet another sign of the unique dynamism of Rioja.

Always complex, never boring.

Highlights from the 'Generic' category: 2026 Report

Full score table coming soon

More from the report

The fast-evolving rosé wine offering from Rioja shows such an interesting, multifaceted side of the region, deeply rooted in tradition while also nodding to modern trends.

However, most producers still seem to approach the category tentatively, as if to do so would require them to choose between classicism or hipster cool.

They shouldn’t worry: the fact is that Rioja’s pink-hued tradition is inherently fashionable now.

We definitely want to see a bigger rosado/clarete lineup in our annual tasting next year!

Among those that bravely stepped forward in 2026 were the delicious, characterful examples highlighted below.

Rosados and Claretes: Highlights from the 2026 Report

Full score table coming soon

More from the report

The allure of Rioja’s barrel-aged Crianza and Reserva wines has always been their consistency and unpretentious, approachable classicism.

This is increasingly the case, as producers have further honed their use of wood, no longer relying on it as a crutch (to mask poor-quality wines), but rather leveraging it as a sophisticated frame.

The showing for both categories in our tastings this year was remarkable, especially when the quality and character of the wines is considered alongside their price tag.

Beth Willard articulates it clearly: ‘The value of these wines is astonishing; particularly those priced in the €15-€30 range [in the Spanish domestic market], which will buy you something that would likely sell at double the price if it were from another region.’

Core identity, renewed flair

If the price tags are friendly, so are the wines themselves, poised yet deliciously drinkable, classical yet approachable and fun.

It’s great to see these categories evolving while retaining their identity and intrinsic appeal; and to see stylistic differences emerge, yielding wines that are interesting and characterful.

‘The diversity of styles among the Crianzas is impressive,’ says Willard, ‘as well as the fresher, brighter nature of the wines. Sure, there’s still plenty of classic oak cues – offering reassurance – but there is less reliance on wood.’

Freshness and elegance were indeed the recurring attributes of our favourite Crianzas and Reservas, with the quality of the fruit supported rather than obscured by the oak influence.

It was also interesting to see the Crianzas and Reservas outscore the Gran Reservas – an indicator of the slow (but sure) evolution of Rioja’s most traditional styles.

These wines remain at the core of Rioja’s identity.

That they are becoming ever more exact, nuanced and refined speaks to the fruitfulness of the internal, creative tensions mentioned in this report’s introduction.

As Pablo Franco of DOCa Rioja put it, the future of Rioja requires ‘evolving beyond traditional [wood-aged] styles without losing them’.

If Rioja’s Crianzas and Reservas are supposed to be a place of comfort and guaranteed satisfaction for wine lovers, they are certainly meeting the brief, with renewed character and flair – these are wines that deliver more than expected, seemingly without trying too hard.

Crianza & Reserva: Highlights from the 2026 Report

Crianza

Reserva

Full score table coming soon

More from the report

The take-up of the Vino de Municipio and Viñedo Singular categories introduced in 2017 – effectively building a Burgundy-like regional hierarchy in Rioja, operating concurrently with the long-standing wood ageing-focused categorisation system – has been less than unanimous among producers, decision makers and commercial stakeholders alike.

It’s understandable that, amid ever growing market instability and social media noise, stakeholders would be fearful of adding another level of complexity to the story behind each product.

I would suggest – and the wines so far released with a village or vineyard-specific stamp seem to support this hypothesis – that these fears completely miss the purpose and value of this still relatively new proposition.

It should be seen primarily as a tool of internal research development – concerning Rioja’s overall identity as well as its technical aspects – that helps to build and define ‘brand Rioja’.

The new regional categorisation has catalysed a much clearer understanding of Rioja not as a monolithic entity but as a system that contains multitudes; a place with a strong, multifaceted character made of nuance and depth.

Advancing the region

While tasting for this annual report, Beth Willard and I felt vividly that the renewed focus on terroir ultimately benefits Rioja as a whole – not least the producers so far not engaging with the geographical classification system.

Its implementation, and the heated debates around it, have catalysed more attunement to detail, given licence to more exploration in winemaking and carved space for different terroirs and grape varieties to emerge (or re-emerge).

These site-specific wines indeed help to underscore the variety of styles and grape varieties that defined Rioja prior to Tempranillo’s dominance.

The Garnachas, Mazuelos and Gracianos seen here – and many of the standout white wines that also bear the Vino de Municipio and Viñedo Singular stamps – are testament to that.

Vino de Municipio & Viñedo Singular: Highlights from the 2026 Report

Full score table coming soon

More from the report

‘Rioja is truly starting to cement itself as one of the great white wine regions in the world,’ says Beth Willard.

‘The work of the past decade is coming to fruition with experimentation around styles, varieties, recuperation of old vineyards and planting of new ones all coming together in a real sense of place. Producers seem more comfortable than ever in their own styles.’

The turnout of whites was, not unexpectedly, remarkable – and certainly a step up from last year’s.

If in 2025 we noted that there was a significant number of samey, less-than-exciting bottles (technically correct wines but somewhat lacking in identity and regional typicity), one year on this was decidedly not an issue.

The sense of experimentation we previously felt lacking has now begun to percolate through from the red cohort.

Hopefully this will soon translate into more varied use of fermentation and ageing vessels, as well as wider, more confident personal imprint – which is the hallmark of the outstanding top-scorers in this selection.

The latter are world-class new classics, both from established and maverick producers.

These are forged when, in lieu of trying to fit a generic white winemaking matrix, producers deploy their own interpretation of time and place.

A similar process is happening with the red wines, as the selections in the following pages will illustrate further, but the evolution of Rioja’s whites has been so dramatic, intriguing and fruitful – and so relevant, even beyond the context of the region itself.

World-class potential

The white Rioja category captures, with particular vividness, the different catalysts of Rioja’s current dilemmas and opportunities: the ever more granular understanding of terroir; the different interpretations of classicism versus modernity, tradition versus innovation; the need to spread the word about the premium offering it already has, as made obvious in this report.

The quality of the wines speaks for itself, with textural appeal, structural poise and layered aromatics as common denominators.

‘The trade and consumers will benefit from recognising the outstanding quality and diversity of styles that exist now, and that white Rioja is not a one-trick pony,’ Willard concludes.

One thing we’ll be looking out for in future reports? More Maturana Blancas. The variety is being actively reintroduced by producers and has so much potential to deliver word-class and truly Riojan white wines.

White Rioja: highlights from the 2026 Report

Full score table coming soon

More from the report

The year after its momentous centenary celebration, producers in DOCa Rioja are going through what some might call a ‘post-celebratory hangover’.

But others – including my fellow tasting judge Beth Willard and I – see it as a moment of exciting development and, crucially, an opportunity to establish a new kind of relevance for Rioja on the world stage.

What does this moment look like? We see it as a point of inflection, in which Rioja’s winemakers become more confident in the quality and character of their wines and the spotlight shines on both small and big names.

New headliners

Last year was not merely a token landmark anniversary.

The centenary coincided with never-before-seen quality levels and the coming of age of a bubbling community of maverick independent growers whose wines – some of which topped this annual report’s scoring charts across categories – questioned where Rioja was heading by reminding everyone about where it had come from.

This year’s report is witness to a new canon that is steadily establishing and framing itself, built from strong historical foundations while animated by a sense of benevolent dissent.

If one of the sections in last year’s Rioja guide report focused on the unsurprisingly standout performance of the long-standing classics of the region, this year a new cast of protagonists (the classics of the future?) has fully come into focus.

It’s an exciting, satisfying validation of many producers that we have long been rooting for and are now topping the score charts (and, in some cases, the investment market spreadsheets).

Overall, this has allowed stylistic expressiveness and character to develop, while also consolidating a more layered yet cohesive portrait of Rioja as a region of great (and significantly differing) terroirs and wines.

In front of these producers is a make-or-break challenge. We circle back to the idea that this is a tipping point for Rioja; leveraging this explosion of potential relies on the ability to deliver what Pablo Franco, technical director at DOCa Rioja, himself identified as a key goal: to support both small producers as innovators and big producers as consolidators, while allowing an overall balance of legacy and progress.

Creative tension

This means embracing an inevitable tension between different – but certainly not incompatible – ideas on typicity and style in Rioja’s wines.

Evolving beyond the traditional age-based categories is necessary; but so is the preservation and fine-tuning of those categories.

If stylistic freedom, based on a vineyard-first purity principle (see Stylistic variations with the 'generic' category and Vino de Municipio & Viñedo Singular), is yielding remarkable wines, equally of note is the finesse and identitarian strength (and outstanding value) of Rioja’s Crianzas and Reservas.

There’s a gradual but inevitable recognition that those differences are not, as perhaps many once thought, contradictions – they are rather expressions of the inherent complexities of a region that has evolved steadily through its long history, forging a strong heritage while never shying away from innovation and progress.

Perhaps the most obvious expression of this magnetic tension is the different attitudes towards the Vino de Municipio and Viñedo Singular categories introduced in 2017, implementing a geography-based quality pyramid in parallel with Rioja’s long-standing ageing-based categorisation.

The quality of the increasing number of wines released with these top-tier regional stamps fully justifies their creation – which ultimately, in the view of myself and Beth, helps to better contextualise the region’s other categories.

Explore the full 2026 Rioja Report

There’s a stretch of road I always dread when I’m on my way to Rioja from Castilla y León.

As the highway approaches Burgos, hundreds of trucks snake their way from the south of Spain towards the Basque Country, heading to the north-coast port of Bilbao.

Weaving in and out of this endless queue is exhausting. But exit 57 towards Pancorbo offers much welcome relief. The N232 meanders through the province of Burgos before giving way to La Rioja as the valley sweeps into view.

The road is quiet and gently winds its way eastwards, in the shadow of the rocky Cantabrian mountains to the north and the Sierra de la Demanda in the south.

In spring, a patchwork of green and yellow covers the valley floor as bud burst awakens the vines and vibrant rapeseed flowers come to life, and in autumn the fiery red and amber of the vine leaves form a kaleidoscope of colour.

It’s a majestic landscape, rooted in permanence yet alive with renewal.

Given its centuries of viticultural heritage, Rioja presents a somewhat surprising sense of dynamism and energy rarely found in the world’s most traditional regions.

A new wave of small growers and a younger generation are making vineyard-focused wines; indeed, a tasting in March in Madrid by VIR (Viticultores Independientes de Rioja) offered a diverse and fascinating overview of these producers.

Many of these wines fall outside the traditional classification system (Crianza, Reserva, Gran Reserva), many simply defaulting to the catch-all Genérico designation and embracing the new geography-based Rioja classification pyramid.

Yet in the broader market, both domestically and internationally, it’s often the larger, well-established or historic Rioja houses through which most consumers get to know Rioja.

Historic wineries such as Marqués de Murrieta, CVNE and Marqués de Riscal boast histories that date back well over 100 years.

In the 1980s, Roda became a new member of the band of bodegas in the old Barrio de la Estación in Haro and has helped build brand Rioja alongside its neighbours La Rioja Alta and Muga.

Staying relevant

So how do you adapt to changing tastes and a shifting wine scene?

Many wines have already achieved a high level of success through recognisable styles and critical acclaim.

For Victor Urrutia, owner and CEO of CVNE (Compañía Vinícola del Norte de España), the key is remaining relevant.

‘For us, it means perfecting the old, for instance our Gran Reservas, and inventing the new,’ he explains. ‘It sounds dramatic but it is quiet work, interpreting our vineyards as faithfully as possible, and through a different lens. That is how Contino got started 50 years ago as Rioja’s first single vineyard.’

And what is today’s fresh, modern interpretation of those vineyards?

Contino, Don Vicente is a single-varietal wine made from a single plot of Mazuelo. It’s one of only a few wines in Rioja made solely from this variety, which producers are finding to be well suited to the changing climate.

As a late-ripening grape that retains acidity and is quite sturdy in the face of drought, Mazuelo offers potential beyond its classic blending capabilities.

Don Vicente 2021 is only the fourth vintage released and offers something surprising under the reassuring umbrella of the Contino brand.

‘So in effect,’ says Urrieta, ‘we side-step the issue of changing a well-established reference.’

It’s a similar story for Torre de Oña, part of the group of wineries belonging to La Rioja Alta, which has now produced two vintages (2021 and 2022) of El Camino, a refreshing, elegant wine with serious poise and a chalky texture from parcels in Elvillar, far removed from the very recognisable, classically oaked styles of Viña Ardanza 890 and 904 from La Rioja Alta’s iconic range.

‘For a winery like La Rioja Alta, to innovate is not a challenge but a necessity,’ says head winemaker Julio Saénz. ‘To keep defending a style means you have to adapt to new situations like climate change. In the case of El Camino, the vineyard determined the style.'

Rooted in change

For Luis Hurtado de Amézaga (pictured, above), technical director of Marqués de Riscal and sixth-generation of the bodega’s founding family, the future of his winery and the region lies in its soils.

Founded in 1858, the winery has a storied tradition of producing fine wines and impressive stocks of old vintages in its underground cellars, but for Hurtado the key to the future lies in its vineyards: ‘Only a living soil is capable of reflecting the personality of the terroir in the wines and enhancing their varietal character.’

Hurtado has overhauled the winery’s viticultural practices with a ban on herbicides, a new regime of cover crops, organic compost and a keyline planting system to combat erosion and improve access to water on both their own terraces and those of their partner suppliers.

‘It’s all about improving the biodiversity and microbiology of the soils,’ he explains. ‘In this way, old vines can be maintained for much longer with viable yields and the ability to produce high-quality wines.’

A paler shade of Rioja

Developments in the vineyards also extend to a shift in colour.

Whites have always been planted in Rioja, often playing an important role in old, co-planted vineyards (in which different varieties grow beside each other) exploited by some of the most historic wineries.

But the success of Rioja’s reds in export markets saw the area of white vineyards decline dramatically: in 1985, there were 9,094ha of white vineyards; by 2005, just 4,645ha remained.

That year, the Rioja consejo regulador (‘regulatory board’) authorised the planting of new white vines and now there are about 6,000ha producing some of Spain’s most thrilling white wines.

One of Rioja’s most recognisable estates, Bodegas Muga introduced a new white into its portfolio with the 2018 Flor de Muga Reserva Blanco. Now in its fifth release, it’s a modern approach to an oak-aged white that blends Viura with Garnacha Blanca and Maturana Blanca.

Fruit-focused, the wine reflects a wider trend in the region towards serious whites that combine classic cues with a contemporary focus on freshness.

At the forefront of this movement was another foundational bodega of the Barrio de la Estación, Gómez Cruzado (founded in 1886), which released its first vintage of Montes Obarenes in 2013.

The 2021 vintage is a blend of Viura with Tempranillo Blanco, Malvasía, Garnacha Blanca and Calagraño. It continues to be one of the most characterful white wines of Rioja.

Another Haro winery, Bodegas Roda, has also introduced a white wine to its range – Roda I Blanco – launched in 2022 with the 2019 vintage.

But it has also joined a growing number of producers championing serious, ageworthy rosés with the debut this year of Roda, Perdigón Reserva Rosado 2023 (see recommendations, below), a single-vineyard wine made from Tempranillo and Garnacha, and aged in French oak.

Beyond barrels

Oak has always been an important part of Rioja’s wines and continues to be the ageing vessel of choice, but the reliance on wood as the driving characteristic of the wines has certainly diminished.

Marqués de Murrieta is one of Rioja’s oldest and most prestigious wineries, so even its most subtle stylistic shifts merit scrutiny.

The mainstay of the estate, the red Reserva is more elegant and finer in its current incarnation than ever before.

The completion of the new winery in 2021 has allowed for a more precise and careful treatment of individual parcels, including fermentation in concrete and ageing in a custom-built barrel room designed for detailed and delicate evolution.

The move to a prettier and more refined style is perhaps even more noticeable in the Dalmau cuvée, which hasn’t lost any of its concentration but now offers supple tannins and an inherent minerality that points to its freshness and lighter touch.

The new classics

So, who is fanning these winds of change? Are smaller growers and modern wineries shaping future trends or are historic producers with established reputations leading the innovation race? Perhaps the answer is yes and yes!

There’s energy, experimentation and a sense of renewal across the whole region.

But it’s certainly important that these prestigious, world-renowned wineries are adapting and challenging norms – they have the trust of their customers and often the means to market these changes.

Regions evolve and adapt to changing circumstances.

‘To maintain a style doesn’t mean always doing the same thing,’ explains Julio Saénz. ‘It’s one thing to be resistant to change, but another to maintain a style.’

As he acutely observes: ‘All the innovation that we are undertaking today in La Rioja Alta – in 10 years it will be seen as tradition.’

The new, modern wines of today will surely become the classics of tomorrow.

Classic Rioja producers shaping the future: Willard’s pick of six

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If you haven’t experienced the refreshing glory of a chilled Spanish red, you’re yet to fully understand some of the country’s most seductive, drinkable and authentic wines – and to fully discover the multifaceted, energetic essence of the country’s wine culture.

Before Spain’s wine industry was taken over by a necessary, but in some cases destructive, professionalisation, many Spanish reds were far removed from the deep, intense, long-lived, single-varietal examples for which the country has become known.

Crisp, juicy field blends – low in alcohol and full of flavour and energy – abounded.

These were true low-intervention wines, produced with little if any machinery, following the rhythm of the days and the whims of wild yeasts.

Most were wines made for own consumption – quenching pours that provided sustenance and a safe source of hydration throughout the working day, helping to soften the edges of a life of hard labour, poor living conditions and little if any pay.

They were often carried in botas (traditional leather wineskins) by field workers and cosecheros (harvesters), and enjoyed alongside a simple lunch of bread, olives and charcuterie.

And small glasses were poured direct from the barrel (properly chilled at cellar temperature) when neighbours stopped by for an evening chat – before heading next door for more wine and more gossip.

Back to the future

Not merely a style, lighter Spanish reds evoke another time, another pace of life, another way of socialising; one that’s more in tune – financial and social hardship notwithstanding – with the rhythms of nature and of oneself.

They also evoke a scenery that isn’t dominated by large swaths of mono-clonal vineyards, instead formed by a patchwork of co-planted indigenous varieties, where red-, white- and pink-skinned grapes coexisted.

Today, there’s renewed interest in these wines, whose levity appeals to those seeking elegance, freshness, immediate appeal and lower alcohol, as well as a more complete, layered understanding of Spanish wine history, where small growers, old vineyards and maverick producers play central roles.

Discovering the crunchier, quenching side of Spanish reds is an opportunity to engage with a palette of grape varieties and winemaking approaches that preceded the modern understanding of Spanish (commercial) winemaking.

They’re important symbols of the movement that, since the turn of the 20th century, has upended simplistic beliefs of what Spanish wine should be, forming the different swells of ‘New Wave Spain’: from the great Garnacha revival to the fascination with the volcanic-spirited wines of the Canary islands, by way of the recovery of quasi-abandoned, gnarly field blends and the renewed enjoyment of so-called cosechero wines – the carbonic maceration reds that nurtured harvesters and fuelled harvest fests.

What was old is new

More than catering to a different, predominantly younger demographic, these wines also offer clues to the future of Spanish wine from a technical standpoint.

With climate change looming large, the grapes that were once difficult to ripen are now the key for lower-abv, fresher wines; the ancient, low-yielding vines – once neglected in favour of newly planted, mechanised vineyards – are now important assets that offer lessons on drought and virus resistance.

But beyond any historical or scientific arguments, these wines deserve attention (and fridge space) first and foremost because they’re delicious, alluring and extremely versatile.

By playing with serving temperature you’ll get different textures and dominant aromas, with different presentation of tannins suggesting alternative food pairings.

Chillable Spanish reds

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Fortified wines get forgotten in the summer. As temperatures rise, we instinctively reach for crisp whites, rosé, or beer, while bottles of Port, Sherry, and Madeira remain firmly associated with winter indulgence.

Yet this broad and diverse category extends far beyond rich, sweet after-dinner wines.

Many of its finest expressions are dry, savoury, and refreshingly high in acidity, making them ideal aperitifs and remarkably versatile partners at the table.

Unsurprisingly, most originate in some of Europe's hottest wine-growing regions, where locals have long enjoyed them alongside simple seasonal dishes.

Here's where to start.

White Port, Portugal

Cocktail lovers would do well to rediscover White Port. Produced in Portugal's Douro Valley from indigenous grape varieties such as Gouveio and Malvasia Fina, fermentation is stopped by the addition of aguardente, a neutral grape spirit, preserving natural grape sugar and raising the alcohol to around 20%.

The result is a wine with ripe stone fruit flavours, dried herbs, and subtle nutty complexity from barrel ageing.

Served chilled, it makes an excellent aperitif in its own right.

Better still, try the Porto Tónico, Portugal's favourite summer serve.

Mix one part White Port with two parts tonic water over plenty of ice, then garnish with a wedge of citrus, a slice of peach, and a sprig of mint.

Refreshing, aromatic, and effortlessly elegant.

Sercial Madeira, Portugal

Madeira deserves serious attention in the warmer months.

Produced on the subtropical Atlantic island of the same name, these fortified wines are renowned for their complex, oxidative character and remarkable acidity.

Sercial is the driest of Madeira's styles and is particularly refreshing in warm weather. Served cold, it offers flavours of lemon peel, toasted nuts, and dried herbs, balanced by a searing acidity that keeps you coming back.

Pair it with salted pistachios, charcuterie, and tangy goat's cheese, and it becomes the ultimate sundowner.

Fino & Manzanilla Sherry, Spain

Head to Jerez in southern Spain and you'll find Fino and Manzanilla, summer drinking at its finest.

Made from Palomino and aged beneath a layer of living yeast known as flor, they develop wonderfully savoury flavours of bread dough, almonds, sea spray, and a briny quality reminiscent of a dirty martini.

At just 15% ABV, Fino is among the lightest fortified wines available. Serve it ice cold and drink it fresh, as this is not a wine to keep in the cellar.

Lay your table with olives, anchovies, salty crisps, and a free-poured Fino, and you'll be transported straight to a balmy evening in Andalucia.

Marsala Vergine, Sicily

Sicily's famous fortified wine is too often dismissed as a cooking ingredient. In reality, the wines are incredibly complex and age-worthy.

The finest dry examples, such as Marsala Vergine, are serious yet refreshing wines. Serve chilled alongside bottarga pasta or grilled fish with spiced couscous.

The combination of nutty depth, bright acidity, and savoury character makes it an unexpected and sophisticated dinner companion.

The golden rule for summer fortified: go dry, serve cold, pair with something salty, and drink in the sun.

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Verdejo has cemented its status as Spain’s most popular white wine after winning legions of admirers. Wine lovers enjoy its zesty acidity, citrus flavours and distinctive herbal notes. It makes an ideal aperitif, but Verdejo also pairs beautifully with a wide array of foods, from salad and seafood to guacamole and Asian dishes.

Most Verdejo is produced in Rueda, which is located in the heart of Spain’s Castilla y León region. In 2012, the Designation of Origin (DO) Rueda reported 11.3% annual sales growth, driven by the soaring popularity of Verdejo.

However, 85% of sales were made within Spain, while only 15% went to export markets. That inspired the DO Rueda to create World Verdejo Day in 2013.

The rise of World Verdejo Day

World Verdejo Day started out as a small celebration in a handful of US cities, but it expanded rapidly in the ensuing years. By 2018, it had become a global event, with promotional activities across the US, Mexico, the UK, Spain, the Netherlands and beyond. The event takes place on the second Friday of June each year.

Exports have also increased at a brisk pace. In 2025, DO Rueda exported 17,481,944 bottles, with Verdejo accounting for 88% of sales. The UK has developed a particular fondness for Verdejo, with sales exceeding 1.3 million bottles in 2025 alone.

A millennium in the making

Verdejo has been grown in Castilla y León for more than 1,000 years. For most of that time, it was used to make oxidative, sherry-style wines. The grape was almost wiped out by the phylloxera epidemic in the early 20th century, and for decades afterwards it was used for producing simple, often forgettable whites.

Verdejo was then reborn in the 1970s, when celebrated Rioja producers identified Rueda as the ideal place to make serious white wine in Spain. The DO Rueda was established in 1980, and the grape has gone from strength to strength ever since.

Today, Rueda still accounts for the vast majority of Verdejo plantings. The grape thrives in the region’s stony soils and high-altitude vineyards, which are often 700 to 900 metres above sea level. Those altitudes produce dramatic day-night temperature swings that preserve acidity and aromatic intensity.

However, Verdejo has now started to expand out of its Spanish heartland. Pioneering producers in Argentina, Australia, the US and further afield are starting to produce high-quality Verdejo, pointing to a bright future for this popular grape. The second Friday in June is the perfect time to celebrate its rise by enjoying a glass of Verdejo with friends.

Scroll down to see award-winning Spanish Verdejo wines from DWWA 2025

DWWA 2025: Award-winning Spanish Verdejo wines

Fortified

De Alberto Gutiérrez, De Alberto Palido, Rueda NV
Gold, 95 points
A beguiling austerity of smoky saline and iodine aroma that fuses with the mouth-watering limpidity of braised celery and fennel seed that enhances the creamy texture. Alcohol 15%

Still whites

Bodegas Rodríguez Y Sanzo, Palo Norte Verdejo, Rueda 2020
Gold, 95 points
Intricately laced with dried chamomile, dried herbs and mace on the nose, with a flourish of delectable lemon peel acidity and a long nutty finish. Alc 13.5%

Cuatro Rayas, Vendimia Nocturna Verdejo, Rueda 2024
Silver, 94 points
The nose has a character of ripe peaches, lemon oil, chamomile, lemongrass and lilac flowers. Chalky on the palate. Alc 13.5%

Viñas Murillo, Chapirete Seleccion Verdejo, Rueda 2024
Silver, 94 points
Beautiful nose, displaying delicate aromas of orange blossom, lemon zest and marmalade. Tangy and bright, with a delicate saline character. Alc 13.5%

Marqués De Riscal, Finca Montico Organic Verdejo, Rueda 2023
Silver, 94 points
Lovely bright floral notes with nuances of tobacco leaf, tarragon, ripe peaches, guava and dragon fruit. Harmonious, with a long finish. Alc 12.8%

Valdecuevas, Cuvèe Verdejo, Rueda 2023
Silver, 94 points
Limey nose with floral tones of lilac, violets and honeydew melon. Rounded acidity, very refreshing, with a pithy finish. Alc 13.5%

Bodegas Campo Eliseo, Rueda 2022
Silver, 93 points
Nutty nuances with hints of vanilla, smoke and peaches. Citrusy on the palate, with a very long and fresh finish. Alc 13.5%

Javier Ruiz, Verdejo, Rueda 2024
Silver, 92 points
Subtle and perfumed, with apples, passion fruit, roses and a touch of pickles on the nose. Vibrant acidity, great mouthfeel. Alc 13.5%

Bodega Cuatro Rayas, Amador Diez Verdejo, Rueda 2020
Silver, 92 points
The nose shows aromas of mulberry, mistletoe, white fruits and dried herbs. Elegant on the palate, very well made. Alc 13.3%

Bodegas R&G, Parcela 23, Rueda 2022
Silver, 92 points
Lifted aromas of flowers, ripe fruits and some saline edge on the nose. Textural palate, with a long pithy finish. Alc 13%

Pedro Escudero, Bestia Parda, Castilla y Léon 2020
Silver, 92 points
Complex aromas of custard cream, lime, lemon and green tea leaf with some toasty and floral undertones. Succulent and creamy. Alc 13%

Finca Tresolmos, Classic Verdejo, Rueda 2024
Silver, 91 points
Restrained on the nose, showing fresh and pure aromas of lemon and fennel. Creamy texture and pleasant acidity. Really appealing. Alc 13%

Coming soon: Decanter World Wine Awards 2026 results

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This was different. My previous journeys to Rioja unfolded in summer. From Madrid, Barcelona or Zaragoza: treks through dusty landscapes of the sort Cervantes described, in light so bright and shimmering that windmills might indeed have seemed like giants with flailing arms. Not this time; winter was lingering. Rioja’s Centennial Celebration of the awarding of its denominación de origen on 6 June 1925 (more than 10 years before France’s appellations, note) took place in February 2026.

I arrived from Bilbao: a journey through the mountains. It had rained on and off for two months; platoons of mist manoeuvred amid the sodden parcels. When the sun shone, it threw lamplight on fierce indigo clouds. Finally, I could feel Rioja for what it is: a high-elevation region.

Spain, remember, is the second-highest country in Europe after Switzerland. Few vineyards here lie below 350m, higher than most in Burgundy, and Himalayan compared to Bordeaux; many lie at 900m or more. The average vineyard elevation in Rioja is 495m.

What I’d remembered accurately was the chaos of the landscape. Yes, it’s a broad valley, incised by the river Ebro; but the vineyards are rooted in terraces that rise and fall incessantly, a topographical rough draft. Vines thrive here: around 30% of Rioja’s 66,639ha are old plantings (the OIV definition: 35 years or more), with 600 vineyard parcels (182ha) certified as centenarian. Old vines may yield modestly, but they’re healthy, they’re content.

And the wines? Magnificent – or at least the ones we were shown the next morning were: I don’t remember a five-hour sit-down tasting more amply strewn with smile-inducing, muscle-softening wine pleasure. Still more came tumbling into our roomy Riedel glasses (16 each: my heart went out to the washers-up) at the gala dinner.

For affability, warmth and welcome, Europe has no fine red wines to match these; elsewhere in the world, only Napa comes close. Rioja’s genius is to combine gentleness and tenderness with generosity and grandeur, despite significant structure. Rioja doesn’t just endure, moreover, but builds beauty in time: a rarer quality. They’re the kind of red wines that, when you return to them after a sojourn away, you think ‘Why do I ever drink anything else?’

But I’ve set off on the wrong foot. ‘Rioja doesn’t exist,’ Pedro Ballesteros Torres MW (of whom more in a subsequent column) assured the hall full of tasters. ‘You have to add adjectives.’ He was drawing attention to growing differences of style. Climate change has made every grower ask questions and think again about site, about harvest and about balance; and the questioning of our old assumptions about oak (see my March 2026 column) hasn’t gone un-echoed in Rioja, though it’s still true to say that the relationship between oak (American included) and young, Tempranillo-based blends remains singularly successful here.

Our morning tasting was divided into a set of ‘new departure’ wines and magnificent older wines; the dinner set bridged these two worlds. No space here for extensive tasting notes, but in addition to the Queirón wine mentioned, below, new departures include the supple, perfumed 2024 José Gil from Vignerons de la Sonsierra; a fascinating pure-Benedicto wine (Benedicto is thought to be a parent, with Albillo, of Tempranillo) from Luis Cañas, unfinished but insistent; and Miguel Merino’s virtuoso 2022 La Loma from vineyards in Briones.

And whites? The oaky classics are splendid: Murrieta’s Castillo Ygay 1986 seduced us all, thanks to skill, wood and its cellar years. Swing the spotlight onto Viura as a young, fresh wine, though, and even the best underwhelm; they lack Tempranillo’s authority, complexity and command. Might greater use of other varieties help? It may not be hip to say this, but I love the Faustino white Gran Reserva – thanks to its Chardonnay component, which brings gold, cream… and Rioja’s old, enduring joy: tenderness and gentleness.

In my glass this month

Dominio de Queirón, Mi Lugar, Rioja 2021

The 2021 Mi Lugar from Queirón (ex-UK, £26 Vinissimus) is a ‘Vino de Quel’ – Quel being a village in Rioja Oriental (formerly Rioja Baja) lying at almost 500m, with its vineyards rising to 850m.

The pure-Garnacha El Arca is very fine, but emotionally speaking Mi Lugar (90% Tempranillo with 10% Garnacha) is more captivating still: cool-shot fruit, riffling with hill grasses and wild herbs, and finely structured on the palate. Subtle, vital and wild – but yes, finally tender, too.

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This year's Barcelona Wine Week (BWW) happened against the backdrop of great turmoil both at home and abroad. But not even train disruptions and fluctuating oil prices prevented the fair from being, in my view, the most successful to date – not merely because of its noticeable growth but also because it managed to strike a refreshing balance between maverick and established names, flagship and upcoming regions.

While the fair’s overarching theme this year focused on the ‘wine dynasties’ that have shaped the establishment and evolution of Spanish wine, the event vividly highlighted the role that ‘New Wave Spain’ has had in making the country’s wine scene what it is today. Unlikely visionaries from different backgrounds and walks of life that have added to the multigenerational cannon of Spain’s longstanding producers catalysing an important synergy between past and future, continuity and disruption.

It’s at the intersection of boundary-pushing energy and enduring legacy that Spanish wine defines itself today, with a brave and unlikely optimism in the face of many challenges. It was this optimism and energy that animated BWW 2026 – a much needed balm in yet another turbulent year.

So what are the main vectors along which Spanish wine is evolving? These were some of the main topics heard along the BWW halls.

No/low, a continuous evolution

It’s one of the hottest topics in the wine & spirits industry and, perhaps unbeknownst to most, Spain is world-leading when it comes to the development of no- and low-alcohol (no/low) drinks.

The consideration of no/low products as part of a producer’s range is no longer an afterthought but rather a strategic decision, backed by great effort and investment.

Interestingly, this is an area being animated both by longstanding family companies and ‘new kids on the block’, reflecting the wider dynamic of the Spanish wine sector. Catalan powerhouse Familia Torres has invested steadily and purposefully in the development of their award-winning alcohol-free Natureo range while continuing to develop other products. One of my tasting highlights at BWW was a preview of the since-released Juan Torres Master Distillers Casals Zero, a 0% abv counterpart to the classic Casals Vermouth.

Among the other companies leading the charge are Vintae, with its Le Naturel collection, and Bodegas Matarromera which pioneered its Win Sin Alcohol project in Ribera del Duero.

New generations on both sides of the counter

Whether backed by a long family lineage or incepting a new project, it was exciting to witness a vibrant multi-generational dynamic of exchange and continuity.

The role that new generations are playing both in building the future of family companies (such as Gramona, José Pariente and Ochoa, to name just a few) and starting new ventures (such as Jorge Olivera, Raúl Perez or Manu Michelini) will have a huge, lingering impact.

Meanwhile, it’s important to that these fresh faces are building on the knowledge and tradition of their predecessors and in fact placing renewed focus on lost traditions and overlooked old vines.

Ever-expanding geographies

Handily grouped geographically, each cluster of producers reflected the idiosyncrasies and diversity of their respective regions. Overall, it was obvious that the geographic power dynamics are shifting, with Northern Spain losing its historical – but in fact relatively recent – hegemony. While it remains home to the country’s leading regions – Galicia, Rioja, Ribera del Duero – there’s an increasing appreciation for the diverse, expansive and long history of Spanish wine, much of which in fact started along the Mediterranean coast.

The rise of the Levante is perhaps the most obvious aspect of this geographic and historical readjustment, with denominations of origin such as Utiel-Requena, Jumilla, Yecla and Alicante producing some truly exciting wines.

At the same time, Jerez is reemerging as a source of innovation woven with tradition with the (unfortified) Vinos de Pasto turning heads the world over.

Holistic takes on sustainability

The discussions around legacy, succession and renewal that permeated BWW’s 2026 edition brought to the fore the social component of wine. The acknowledgment of the human component of terroir highlighted the need to interpret sustainability more broadly and deploy sustainable practices that tackle more than environmental aspects.

The role of quality-led cooperatives – such as Cuatro Rayas (DO Rueda), Bodegas Sonsierra (DO Rioja), Grupo Coviñas (DO Utiel-Requena) or Celler Masroig (DO Priorat), all present at the event – has become ever more relevant, sustaining large communities of growers that would otherwise be forced to abandon their vines.

This also reenforces the importance of family-owned and -managed companies, a beacon of consistency and stability against the backdrop of great turmoil worldwide.

The realisation of this continuum between landscape and people was front and center at BWW and promises to continue to be a hot topic as the world prepares to yet more socioeconomic challenges.

The 2026 edition of Barcelona Wine Week featured an intense, juicy programme of tastings and masterclasses focused on the legacy and great family dynasties upon which the Spanish wine industry is built. While these remain central to the identity, continuity and resilience of the country’s wine industry, there’s another side to the same story, a complementary, parallel path equally important to the understanding of the quality and diversity of Spanish wines.

The incredible revolution that fuelled the ‘New Wave’ Spain phenomenon at the turn of the twentieth century was catalysed by mavericks without a legacy to either support or burden them; outsiders, from different walks of life, that arrived to viticulture and winemaking with fresh ideas and a fresh appreciation for tradition.

The other way

It was to explore this other narrative, shaped by daring entrepreneurship, child-like passion and reckless dedication that Mora hosted a discussion and tasting entitled ‘Wines without pedigree: The revolution of the outsiders’. He presided over a luxury panel of individuals who epitomise those forces of creativity and renewal; faces that, like Mora himself, represent some of the most groundbreaking projects of contemporary Spanish wine and served as inspiration for so many others.

With Mora (co-founder of the groundbreaking Bodegas Frontonio, Aragón) on the stage were Jesús Barquín (co-founder of Equipo Navazos, Jerez), Daniel Landi (cofounder and winemaker at Comando G, Gredos, Madrid) and Jorge Olivera (owner and viticulturalist at his namesake winery in Huesca, Aragón).

The panel was at once representative and exceptional: these are examples of (outstanding) success that serve as flag-bearers for many others that, albeit with less visibility, have equally contributed to the evolution of Spanish wine in recent decades.

Much of this creative energy and entrepreneurial impetus comes from an ability to think laterally while bringing in the experience and outlook from different fields.

Redefining the canon

For Barquín, a lawyer with a longtime passion for wine, the motivation behind the Navazos project was ‘the certainty that there was a need to renew the Marco [de Jerez]’. For him, the perspective of an outsider brings in a level of objectivity and opens a wide range of possibilities through novel interpretations of both the potential and the challenges of a given region. The latter being, according to him, the basic requirement to produce a great wine. ‘A wine is not a reflection of great technique but foremost of great origin,’ Barquín said.

Landi agreed vehemently, adding that the ‘formatted’ approach learnt in oenology training thwarts the ability to truly connect with the land. He made a smart parallel with music: ‘A [musical] piece can be played following a score, technically perfect, note by note. But genius and true connection happen when you play from the soul, relying on instinct.’

Having graduated in Humanities and Philosophy, Landi arrived at winemaking via a path paved with savviness and poetic inevitability, lined with equal amounts of determination and recklessness. ‘Arriving with a non-technical perspective allowed us [Landi founded Comando G with Fernando García] to explore different levels of width, depth and meaning,’ free from canonical reference points.

‘I’m also a child of shame,’ he said, explaining how viticulture was, for his parents and grandparents' generation, a source of frustration and low-paid backbreaking work. ‘Grapes were paid at £0.20/kilo.’

Social impact

Comando G’s inception stemmed both from a belief in Gredos’ potential to yield word class Garnachas (and overcome the Parker-pleasing reflexes of the 1980s and 90s) and a desire to return pride and grit to the local community. For Landi, Commando G’s success is measured less in high-scoring wines and more as a function of the thriving community of growers and employees it now supports.

Social impact is at the core of the identity of these maverick projects, which have created new opportunities in lesser-known geographies and for communities in deep social and economic crises. This in turn has expanded the geography and lexicon of Spanish wine beyond the ruling classics.

The opportunity to ‘put a place on the map’ is one of the main factors that made Olivera, a mechanical engineer, leave his job and return to the village and vineyards in Huesca. ‘I now work much more than when I had a nine-to-five job,’ he said. ‘But this is not a job; this is a way of life.’

Indeed, these projects start primarily as life, rather than simply winemaking endeavours, reshaping the existence of their founders as well as of their communities. They have created new frameworks of meaning that are actively changing the geography of Spanish wine and creating opportunities for social and economic development. While also producing some of the country’s most exciting wines, slowly but surely establishing themselves as ‘icons of the future.

Landi acknowledged this mission with a tranquil inevitability: ‘I didn’t choose the craft; the craft chose me.’

Eight wines from four Spanish mavericks

The Levante is Spain’s Mediterranean eastern region, its very name, rooted in Latin – Levare: to rise, lift up, raise – evoking the rising sun that bathes its coastline in a brilliance that shapes its land, culture and vines.

In the wine world, the term is widely used to refer to the regions of Spain that lie within the autonomous communities of Valencia and Murcia.

Their coastline runs from Spain’s eastern shores to the southwest, where they meet the regional border with Andalucía. So what are the wine regions of this sun-drenched corner of Spain?

Here we are going to focus on the six DOs (denominación de origen) within the two communities: the DOs in Valencia are Alicante, Utiel-Requena and Valencia itself; and the three in Murcia are Bullas, Jumilla and Yecla.

All of them have undergone exciting transformation, rooted in their respective traditions, in recent years.

There are also four IGPs (or PGI: protected geographical indication) and four Vinos de Pago (see box below).

Vines on the edge

Given the extreme climate conditions that they enjoy – or suffer – these regions stand apart along Spain’s Mediterranean coast.

In the summer, temperatures hover above 40°C for extended periods, while in winter, particularly in the higher zones, they regularly drop below zero.

And while elevation above sea level certainly helps to maintain freshness in the wines, the result is a highly variable terroir, from the lower coastal zones to the higher vineyards beyond the hinterland.

Annual rainfall is low, often hovering just below 300mm, and it can come in the form of huge autumn or spring storms.

Think of the damage done to the region in October 2024, when a deep atmospheric depression (known as a DANA) struck Valencia, causing torrential rains and flash flooding that not only destroyed infrastructure and vineyards (particularly in Utiel-Requena), but resulted in a terrible loss of life.

Subsequent storm-related flooding events in May and September this year have served only to compound associated problems and concerns. And finally, we have the Levante winds.

Hot and dry, they come from the east and keep the region free from disease pressure.

However, in combination with high summer temperatures and lack of water, their heat can also stress the vines.

Rooted in history

The Phoenicians were key to establishing Valencia and Murcia as important centres of trade.

Hailing from the region around today’s Lebanon, they were expert sailors and travelled to find new markets to sell their goods and increase their influence.

They were busying themselves establishing ports in the region several centuries before the Romans arrived – the britannica.com website states ‘the Phoenicians settled in southern Spain after 800 BCE’, and Oxford Academic (August 2019) agrees that ‘the initial Phoenician presence in the Iberian peninsula dates to the 9th century BCE with the foundation of small settlements along the southern coast’.

Later, from about 219 BCE, the Romans expanded their rule into the Iberian peninsula, setting up the infrastructure and trade routes that were key to their domination of mare nostrum – the Mediterranean.

The wines of the Spanish Levante are now beginning to express this history and culture better than ever.

Northern Spain, through the wines of Rioja, Ribera del Duero and Galicia, may have dominated discourse over the past decade, but in that time, some of the most exciting winemakers and wines have also emerged from Spain’s Mediterranean coast onto the world stage.

Today’s wines speak to both the region’s past and future. ‘We are a unique region, with a great history marked by grapes and wines with our own style,’ explains Eladio Martín, general manager of the Alicante DO.

‘We can offer high quality, diversity, dynamism, interest and sustainability with our small-production wines and family wineries.’

So what’s fuelling the resurgence of the Levante?

Monastrell metamorphosis

According to planting data from the individual DOs, Monastrell is the most widely planted variety in the Levante and represents 83% of Monastrell vineyards worldwide.

Recognising the variety’s importance to the patrimony of the region, an association was launched in 2022: Monastrell España (monastrell.org).

The group works to promote wineries in five DOs: the three located in Murcia (Bullas, Jumilla and Yecla), as well as Alicante and Almansa (in Castilla-La Mancha). Its objective is to ‘improve the commercial, operational and innovative competitiveness of the wineries and growers who produce Monastrell wines’.

What are the innovations that mark today’s Monastrell wines? The image has not always been favourable.

While fresher, more judiciously oaked wines from other parts of Spain had already become de rigueur, the Levante often remained associated with heavily oaked wines that were high in alcohol.

‘Many people still think of Jumilla as a source of big, dense, sometimes monolithic reds,’ explains Esther González de Paz, communications director of the Jumilla DO, where Monastrell makes up 70% of the vineyard.

‘The tasting journey tells a different story: a region maturing in style, moving towards greater finesse, brighter acid-tannin balance and increasingly elegant interpretations of Monastrell.’

A more elegant approach

Bodega Cerrón carries out intense work in the vineyard to create its elegant expressions of Monastrell.

The biodynamic-certified winery’s vineyards in the far north of DO Jumilla are planted at 800m-1,000m, where cooler conditions lead to a longer growing season that normally finishes in mid- to late October.

‘This elevation, combined with the sandy calcareous soil type, results in wines with greater ripeness, a lower pH (higher acidity) and a much greater sensation of freshness and salinity [or minerality],’ explains Carlos Cerdán, one of the sibling owners.

Peter Wallbridge, head of wine buying at importer Enotria&Coe in the UK, is a big fan of their wines.

‘Bringing Cerrón to the UK was an absolute joy and has proven one of our great success stories,’ he explains.

‘Our customer base fell into two camps: those who had never heard of Jumilla, and those who knew the wines as either very robust or rustic. Either way, the wines surpassed all expectations.’

Terroir is also in focus in other DOs. Francisco Puerta, director of Bodegas del Rosario, the largest producer and cooperative in Bullas, describes the region as ‘the Switzerland of Murcia’ due to the elevation (vineyards rising up to 600m-900m) and pine forests that dominate the landscape.

‘The wines of Bullas stand out for their authenticity, elegance and a strong varietal identity thanks to Monastrell, which expresses itself here with a unique personality,’ Puerta says.

‘They are honest wines, with structure, good acidity and a natural freshness.’

Keeping it local

Monastrell may be Levante’s most-planted grape, but there are other local varieties that are defining the most interesting wines of the region.

In the UK, The Wine Society offers a range of styles from the region, including an own-label Jumilla Monastrell.

Harriet Kininmonth, the Society’s wine buyer for Spain, explains: ‘The sun-soaked southern Levante continues to carve out its own identity, championing local grapes such as Bobal and Giró as well as Monastrell. As in much of Spain, quality here is on the rise, with winemakers learning how best to work with the warm climate to achieve freshness and balance in wines that are typically juicy, ripe and full of warmth.’

Producers such as Javi Revert and Rafael Cambra (pictured above) are championing local varieties such as red grapes Arcos and Forcallat, while Bodegas Alejandro and Finca Collado work with Merseguera, a white grape producing fresh and aromatic wines in Alicante and Valencia.

And Bodegas Enguera has employed red Marselan to good effect – it’s a crossing of Cabernet Sauvignon and Garnacha that hails from Languedoc-Roussillon in southern France, and seems at home in this southern stretch of the Mediterranean.

Local varieties are also pivotal to the balance of wines sourced from old, co-planted vineyards.

‘The genetics of the old plots show very high diversity, with mixed varieties in old vineyards such as Blanquilla (Merseguera), Valdepeñera (Airén), Garnacha Gris, Bonicaire (Trepat), Forcallat, Garnacha Tinto, Moravias Agrias and many more,’ Cerdán lists.

‘This brings a unique typicity to the wines and helps to “soften” the sometimes excessive power of Monastrell.’

Bobal is another standout, both for its heritage and potential. There are more than 20,000ha of Bobal in Utiel-Requena, according to the DO authority’s data, with 8,950ha more than 45 years old, making the region an important source of old-vine heritage in Levante.

Leading the way, Toni Sarrión at Bodegas Mustiguillo launched his first wines under this brand with the 2000 vintage, and in 2010 secured the estate’s own DOP status as Pago El Terrerazo.

His focus on vineyard expression and elegance sets a standard for Utiel-Requena and is now being emulated by other producers in the region.

Liquid legacy

Among its homegrown products, the Levante counts the unique and historical Fondillón wine – known records date back into the 15th century, and it subsequently achieved great fame and high demand even up to the royal courts of Louis XIV of France.

An aged sweet wine with serious savoury character, it is made within the DO Alicante and there are only 12 wineries certified for its production.

Made entirely from Monastrell grapes that are allowed to overripen on the vine, it spends a minimum of 10 years in oak, with the barrels often topped up with younger wine, forming a solera system.

Long ageing, and residual sugar levels usually between 45g-100g/L, results in a sublimely complex wine that displays notes of dried fruits, coffee and nuts, with refreshing acidity that belies its sweetness.

Eladio Martín believes a wine of such historical significance offers an opportunity today.

‘Fondillón is produced in very small quantities and is not well known (or understood), but we are discovering that what is modern is not always something new,' he says.

‘It is the act of discovering, understanding and respecting traditions such as this that will bring Fondillón into the present.’

A focus on regionality

While none of the appellations in the Levante have yet included single-vineyard sites, or parajes (comparable to lieu-dit in France), within their classifications, some sub-regions are emerging as sources of particularly interesting wines.

In the DO Valencia, the Valle del Alforins is a valley whose elevations range from 600m up to a peak at nearly 1,000m, and it incorporates the municipalities of Fontanars del Alforins, Moixent and La Font de la Figuera.

Leading producers such as Celler del Roure, Javi Revert and Rafael Cambra make wine in this area, and 16 wineries belong to the Associació de Viticultors i Productors de Terres dels Alforins, founded in 2010 with the vision of promoting the shared characteristics of the area.

In Jumilla, there is a particular focus on those vineyard areas dominated by old vines and ungrafted Monastrell [growing on its own original rootstock].

‘Perhaps the most powerful narrative is that of Jumilla Monastrell as a mother vine,’ explains González de Paz. ‘Framed through the lens of old vines, dry farming and ungrafted pie franco vines, this story offers tremendous potential to elevate the stature of Jumilla wines globally.’

Elevation and old vines are factors also defining the emerging sub-zones of Alicante and Utiel-Requena, which are starting to reveal their own regional profiles.

The higher, cooler area of Alto Vinalopó is home to some of DO Alicante’s most elegant wines, such as Pepe Mendoza’s El Veneno, while towns like Sinarcas and Camporrobles in the higher reaches of Utiel-Requena offer bright acidity.

Past informs the future

Certainly, the Levante faces significant challenges, not least changing climatic conditions – there is a fear of more storms and flooding in the future, perhaps even more potent than those we’ve seen in the last few years.

Another potential setback is the local subsidies introduced recently in Murcia to encourage growers to green-harvest and discard unripened fruit as a means of reducing overall production volumes – for wineries, it can mean increased financial difficulty, especially in years of severe drought, and for the region a risk of losing high-quality vineyards.

But there is a palpable sense of youthful enthusiasm, innovation and an exciting blend of tradition and innovation.

Enotria&Coe’s Wallbridge sums up this interplay of past and future at Bodega Cerrón: ‘The charm of Juanjo Cerdán’s dedication to tradition and learning from his ancestors, combined with the attention to detail and more modern approach of his brother Carlos, makes them a force to be reckoned with.’

As producers continue to blend the best of the region’s traditions with a modern mentality, the Levante’s image on the world stage will surely continue to rise.

A taste of the new Levante in 18 wines

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Why Cap Rocat is a Decanter dream destination...

Cinematic perspectives and palatial service

Lanterns line the entrance to Cap Rocat, pulling you down labyrinthine paths and passageways with cinematic perspective. That's before you even glimpse the cliffside beach club with loungers catered by waiters who deliver glasses of wine between dips in the sea.

Several of the 30 suites and rooms are former surveillance points carved into the rock face, which gives them an incredible atmosphere. Each one boasts three levels of terraces: the bottom offers privacy and the top – where you’ll likely spend most of your time – is a gazebo overlooking the infinite sea where you can watch the sunrise.

Service is as palatial as you'd expect, from morning when breakfast is delivered in a beautiful basket, to evening when a fresh verbena and honey infusion is left steeping by your bed.

Enthralling tasting experiences

Mallorca's wine scene has evolved dramatically in recent years, with small family wineries producing exceptional expressions, especially from native grapes like Manto Negro and Premsal Blanc, locally known as Moll.

While the hotel's coastal location near Cala Blava isn't in the island's winemaking heartland (which consists of the DOs of Binissalem and Pla i Llevant), it's not far either. Lucky for you, the concierge has backstage passes straight to the vineyards, and not for just any wine tasting.

Get carted off in a Range Rover to a countryside winery where paella cooked over wood fire awaits after tastings with the winemaker at Bodega Oliver Moragues, a 500-year-old wine estate.

Or if you fancy air travel, head to Bodega Ribas – one of the island's oldest and most prestigious wineries – for a tasting of wines paired with local products, before being whisked away by helicopter to soar over the dramatic Tramuntana mountains back to Cap Rocat's helipad.

Exquisite cuisine

La Fortaleza is the hotel's principal restaurant, and the bread service alone (black olive, herbed, and citrus flavoured breads cut tableside) sets the tone for an incredible attention to detail.

The tasting menu starts with variat mallorquí, a take on Mallorcan tapas including fried octopus and anchovy with garlic. The sobrasada, made from heritage Porc Negre pigs, arrives drizzled with honey from the hotel's own bees, and you realise this is the rare hotel restaurant that takes local sourcing seriously.

The wine pairing is no different, highlighting bottles from Mallorca, perfect for getting context on the island's evolving wine scene. Don’t miss the chance to order a bottle from star winemaker Miquel Gelabert, who cultivates 35 different varieties, many native.

Cap Rocat offers a full menu of experiences befitting a bucket-list hotel, so whether your idea of fun is watching the sunset from a vintage luxury car or visiting a blown-glass factory from the 18th century, there's plenty to do.

Spa and gym

Not all is indulgence; a vibey gym is set in its own cave, and the tennis court has an instructor add-on. The spa is luminous and magical, with a saltwater pool sunk 12 metres into the ground.

Cap Rocat is adults-only and closes mid-November to mid-March. For further details, see the hotel's website.

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It’s certainly not easy to carve a place as a region predominantly of red wines while sitting adjacent to Rioja – whose northeastern edge indeed lies within the autonomous administrative region of Navarra.

But the DO of the same name, its landscape and people all have a dramatically different character to that of its hegemonic neighbour.

Their respective wines and historical frictions will tell you as much.

Today, Navarra is strategically aligning its proposition with a redefined identity forged from those differences, one that has unearthed ancestral viticultural traditions (namely, the dominance of Garnacha), while also leveraging an important (pre-modern) French influence.

Navarra wants to be known as the region of benchmark Garnachas and characterful rosados that it undeniably is.

But it’s also worth exploring – and understanding – some of its other gems, such as characterful red blends and exquisitely balanced sweet Moscatels.

Mountain soul

In a rush to respond to Rioja-driven consumer recognition, Tempranillo plantings in Navarra grew rapidly during the 1990s, making it the most planted variety.

Yet the grape with the longest tradition in the Navarra landscape – and the one known for being best adapted to it – is Garnacha.

In the past decade the region has sought to realign itself with this heritage by carving a place within the ongoing Spanish Garnacha renaissance.

And in an interesting turning of the tables, Rioja producers are now looking at Navarra for clues as to what role Garnacha can play (again) in their own region; the variety was once Rioja’s most-planted variety, too.

As highlighted by the selection that follows, Navarra’s Garnachas have a character very much of their own – earthier and more assertive than the celebrated, more ethereal examples from Gredos in the mountains west of Madrid.

They represent the other end of the spectrum of the variety’s diverse, fascinating potential in Spain – so different in structure and aromatic profile yet equally balanced and world-class.

Most of the Navarra region’s top producers define their expressions as ‘mountain Garnacha’; an apt way to describe the wines’ profile.

Perhaps one could even be more specific: ‘Pyrenean Garnacha’ might be even more accurate.

This applies to both reds and rosés, the latter showing a textural moreishness and aromatic nuance that truly sets them apart (not least in the superb oak-aged iterations).

Beyond Garnacha

Although Navarra expresses itself best through its Garnachas, with their elegant rusticity and tannic poise, other red varieties benefit equally from the region’s rugged sophistication.

The longstanding presence of international varieties might have hindered Navarra’s position in both the domestic and international markets in the late 20th century, but these – and Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in particular – have long been more than a curiosity.

Unlike other regions across the Iberian peninsula, their presence in Navarra in numerous cases pre-dates the craze of the 1970s and ’80s.

Chardonnay, for example, is thought to have arrived in Navarra, from Burgundy, as early as the 1200s.

Some ‘Navarra blends’ bring out the same rustic, textured tannins and mountainous depth in Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot – some hailing from vineyards tended to by the same families for several generations.

This is an interesting if challenging moment for Navarra, against the backdrop of tough market conditions, at a time when bigger retailers are consolidating their portfolios in favour of the ‘usual suspects’.

But this is also a time when opportunities open for the kind of no-nonsense, authentic wines the region’s best producers deliver – wines with a sense of place and a strong Navarrean soul.

A selection of Navarra's finest

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Warm autumn sun gently seeps into the dark-panelled tasting room of the Barbadillo offices in Sanlúcar de Barrameda on Spain’s Atlantic coast, north of Cádiz. New-release wines sit alongside bottles of old vintages whose labels are barely legible in the dappled light.

It’s quiet, with the silent energy that only exists in the criaderas (Sherry ‘nurseries’) of the region’s bodegas, where flor – the layer of yeast and other microorganisms that forms on the surface of some Sherries – industriously yet discreetly goes about its work on the wines.

Here in this golden gloom, winemaker Montserrat (Montse) Molina speaks softly and thoughtfully about the wines. The conversation is technical and detailed, as one would expect of someone with her experience and knowledge.

Then something shifts: a spark, a flicker in her eye and Molina grows animated. Why? The subject has turned to yeast.

‘We can’t always explain the “why” – why something tastes the way it does, even though it’s the same wine but in a different barrel,’ Molina explains. ‘It’s the yeast. The manzanillas are old but lively because of the type of yeast that has developed. And once I’m gone, these yeasts will still be here.’

‘More than anything, we have to maintain and defend the wines of the region’

Montserrat Molina

Heading south

Molina arrived in Sanlúcar in 1997 without any previous experience or knowledge of the region. She grew up in Catalonia in the northeast and studied pharmacy in Navarra.

There she was interested in the classes relating to food and so went on to undertake a master’s degree in winemaking and viticulture. Having been introduced to the aromatic and expressive rosé wines of Navarra, Molina had planned to work in the region.

Just then, a newspaper advertisement appeared for a role with the winemaking team at Barbadillo. ‘I didn’t know anything about Sherry wines but I was sure the region would be amazing (my grandparents are from Andalucía). And it combined my interest in chemistry and viticulture.’

When Molina was selected, it was August and she was working in a very busy pharmacy in Girona. ‘I finished work on a Saturday and the next day packed up the car and left.’

After a quick stop at a local tourist office to buy a map (of course, no GPS!), she arrived in Sanlúcar. Molina remembers that it wasn’t easy to adapt, at first living on her own in a room above the winery. ‘I kept my bags packed each night,’ she muses.

But this was simply a period of adjustment to her new life and a different culture. In fact, everyone was very supportive. ‘There was a technical director here and I was assisting him. He was very generous with his time and taught me a lot.’

It was a time when there weren’t a lot of women working in the region’s wineries, but Molina never felt that this was a problem. ‘I remember one of the retired workers coming into the winery one evening to have a drink – a normal occurrence at the time – and he showed some surprise that I was busy working among the barrels. But his comments weren’t directed towards me in a negative way at all.’

A woman’s work

Sherry is often portrayed as a male-dominated region steeped in tradition, so it may surprise some readers that women have occupied key winemaking roles in some of its most established wineries. Some of these include…

• Pilar Aranda was one of Sherry’s first female winemakers and in the mid-20th century owned what is today Bodega Alvaro Domecq

• Ana Cabestrero Ortega started working as the winemaker at El Maestro Sierra in 2004 and is also the bodega’s commercial director

• Reyes Gómez Rubio has been the technical director and winemaker at Sánchez Romate since 2005

• Paola Medina is from the second generation of the owners of Williams & Humbert. She has been working at the winery since 2010 and is now the technical director and winemaker

• Silvia Flores is now assisting her father Antonio Flores as part of the winemaking team at González Byass. She represents the third generation of the Flores family at this well-known Sherry house

Trial and error

As a big company, Barbadillo has had the capacity to invest and experiment, and Molina believes it has been very open to doing new things over the course of its 200-year history.

When she arrived at the winery, she was able to digitalise some of the systems and paperwork with the acquisition of a computer, only the company’s second. ‘Barbadillo has been very ready to adapt to the market, not to copy other people but to do something that adds value.’

She has led her team to create new wines, as she explains, ‘to take people on a journey through Sherry’. The range of still white wines, grown on albariza soils – the chalky soils, rich in calcium carbonate, clay and marine fossils, found only in Jerez – and aged in Sherry casks without flor, is an entry point for many consumers into the world of Sherry.

Mirabrás, a 100% Palomino Fino from old vines, was launched with the 2014 vintage and, in 2020, Molina took the same must and aged it under a fine veil of flor in individual casks to create a light manzanilla as a stepping stone to the winery’s more complex Sherry wines.

Molina saves some of her biggest pride for the red wine that Barbadillo has been producing, classified as Vino de la Tierra de Cádiz (2022, £13.75 Bowland Forest Vintners), since the mid-2000s.

‘A hundred years ago, nobody planted any red varieties and there was no history of reds in the area, so it took a lot of work to make wines that taste of our region, and not to copy others,’ she explains. ‘And they are hard to sell.’

Crafting the future

Despite being in charge of so many historical products and having worked so long for the same company, Molina believes in innovating and adapting to new consumer preferences. ‘I really like working with our sparkling wine Toto,’ Molina explains.

Made mostly from Palomino grown on albariza soils, it’s a traditional-method brut nature. ‘It has a manzanilla-like palate with a lot of salinity, like a base wine for Champagne. Even though it’s sparkling, it reflects the region because of the fruit and structure.’

But of course, we soon return to the topic of yeast and the future of the region’s fortified wines. ‘I am always taking photos of the flor – it is so beautiful. It makes me think of all the generations that came before who contributed to this history.’

And what is her biggest pleasure? ‘Seeing how amazed people are when they taste the yeast’s influence in manzanilla and appreciate its unique taste profile.’ Her final words resonate the strongest.

‘More than anything, we have to maintain and defend the wines of the region, which are culturally really important and unique in the world.’ Molina’s contract with Barbadillo was initially for three months – 28 years later, it looks as though she isn’t going anywhere.

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Beth Willard, Matthew Forster MW and Andrew Johnson tasted 86 wines, with 4 Outstanding and 31 Highly recommended

Spanish Viura/Macabeo: Panel tasting scores

86 wines tasted

Exceptional 0

Outstanding 4

Highly recommended 31

Recommended 46

Commended 5

Fair 0

Entry criteria: producers and UK agents were invited to submit their wines produced entirely or predominantly from Viura/Macabeo/Macabeu (maximum 15% of any other varieties) from anywhere in Spain

Scroll down to see the top-scoring wines from our Viura/Macabeo panel tasting

‘These deserve praise’

Some tasting days are better than others and this flight of Viura-based wines started with a highlight: the very first wine turned out to be one of the day’s best, scoring 95 points.

Despite its inherent flavour neutrality, Viura went on to show off its adaptability and ageing potential in this diverse tasting of one of Spain’s most important white varieties.

The majority of the wines in the tasting came from Rioja and the region starred, with solid quality across the board. Eight of the top 10 wines were Riojan in origin and underwent oak ageing, as well as further development in bottle.

These wines displayed appealing palate weight, gaining complexity over time while maintaining the region’s hallmark freshness. Viura’s ageing capacity really thrilled the judges.

Andrew Johnson was struck by the considered winemaking. ‘There are some wonderful examples of aged styles done with care,’ he explained. ‘These deserve praise’

Likewise, Matthew Forster MW was encouraged by the winemakers’ stylistic choices. ‘I was braced for oak, but we found contemporary styles,’ he said. ‘Even with heavy oak, the wines are balanced.’

The joy of divergence

But the wines weren’t limited to a hegemony of style. An interesting point of comparison came by way of low-intervention and skin-contact wines from Catalonia.

A brisat (skin-contact wine) from Montsant featured among the top performers (see recommendations): a wine that shows off its Mediterranean character with ripe stone fruit and dried herbs, such as thyme and rosemary.

And two skin-contact wines from Costers del Segre (Recommended, both scoring well at 89pts, so not featured in this report but available via the link to decanter.com further down), offered up heady aromas of quince and marmalade, supported by vibrant tannic energy.

So, while Rioja, with its cooler, higher-elevation terroir, dominates the list, there are wonderfully characterful whites from Spain’s coastal zones, demonstrating Viura’s quiet plasticity.

Like a dark and broody Scandi noir TV series that slowly unravels but reveals little in the first few episodes, Viura can also deliver a killer punch with time and patience.

What to eat with Viura/Macabeo wines, by Fiona Beckett

Given that we’re mainly talking about white Rioja, many of our suggested pairings are going to be familiar: rich fish such as hake or turbot, shellfish such as seared scallops or grilled lobster, and substantial pork dishes would all sit comfortably with these older, more complex wines.

But the freshness of many of the wines indicates that they could be partnered with lighter fish and vegetable dishes.

As we’re heading towards spring, white asparagus, artichokes, Spanish spring vegetable stews such as menestra and ravioli stuffed with seafood would all be good options.

Some of the wines were quite different, though – the oxidative Panorámico O (see recommendations), for example, which could, like a vin jaune, be partnered with roast chicken and morels, umami-rich Japanese broths and aged cheeses such as Manchego and Comté.

Skin-contact wines, which also featured in this tasting, are more akin to a red wine when it comes to pairing and could take you off in a different direction: Middle Eastern food, tagines, grilled lamb – maybe a typical Valencian paella. Viura, as the judges found, is your flexible friend.

See all notes and scores from the Viura/Macabeo tasting

The judges

Beth Willard is a wine communicator and judge with a particular passion for the wines of Spain. A regular contributor to Decanter and one of the five Co-Chairs of the DWWA, she is also a member of the Gran Orden de Caballeros del Vino

Matthew Forster MW is a wine consultant and education specialist, and founder of The Wine Partnership. A former director at the Wine & Spirit Education Trust, he has a passion for the wines of Spain, Portugal and South America

Andrew Johnson is managing director of wine merchant WoodWinters and also heads his own project, Veiled Vineyards, which aims to unearth ‘hidden’ wines that might otherwise have missed out on reaching the market

Viura/Macabeo panel tasting results:

Wines were tasted blind

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David Silva – ‘El Mago’ – was an extraordinarily talented footballer: a World Cup and twice European Championship winner with Spain, four times Premier League title winner with Manchester City and one of the first names on the team sheet in the late 2010s when City were, arguably, the best football team in the world.

And now, in glory-coated retirement from the beautiful game, a winemaker? Don’t bet against it.

In 2019, Silva bought the vineyard property on Gran Canaria – the Canary island on which he was born and raised – that is now Bodega Tamerán. Guided by his friend Jonatan García Lima, owner of Suertes del Marqués – the first winery to rise to fine wine prominence in Tenerife – Silva launched Tamerán from the 2020 vintage, with García installed as winemaker.

On the terraces

Surrounded by towering mountains and plunging ravines in a semi-arid volcanic landscape dotted with giant cacti and balsam spurges, Tamerán is located in a rugged valley at 700m in central Gran Canaria.

Indigenous white varieties Baboso Blanco, Listán Blanco, Malvasía Volcánica, Marmajuelo, Verdello and Vijariego Blanco are planted on their own rootstocks in separate terraced parcels for the flagship varietal whites; Listán Negro is sourced from trusted growers at more than 1,200m further north for two recently introduced reds.

García is very much Tamerán’s guiding force for now, but Silva is taking more than a passing interest in the technical side of things. His love of wine developed when he was playing football in England and struck up a friendship with Joan Valencia, owner of Cuvée 3000, Spain’s leading natural and artisan wine distributor.

‘He started to send me different wines and I started to discover different areas – France, Italy, the Canary Islands…’ Silva explains. One of the wines that impressed him the most was the Suertes del Marqués, El Ciruelo Listán Negro 2016 (since renamed Las Suertes).

He contacted García to congratulate him on the wine and they hit it off. Silva’s knowledge developed quickly.

As well as familiarising himself with the best wines and winemakers of the Canary Islands, he loves the whites of Rías Baixas and has learned a lot from winemaker friends in Galicia, including Rodrigo Méndez. He has a particular taste for Burgundy and Barolo – tastes he shares with García.

‘One day I would like to make the wine. Every year I do more in the cellar’

David Silva

A different league

Although Tamerán’s focus is on scintillating local-variety whites, Silva is also excited by the potential of Gran Canaria reds. Tamerán’s two impressively elegant single-vineyard reds use Listán Negro from Vega de San Mateo, a high-elevation vineyard area close to Pico de las Nieves, the stratovolcano that forms the island’s highest peak.

Having now retired from football (forced to in 2023 by an anterior cruciate ligament injury), Silva is fully focused on Tamerán and very much hands-on.

‘Since I retired I’m there all the time,’ he says. ‘One day I would like to make the wine. It’s not easy, but I will try. Every year I am doing more things in the cellar.’

Now having got into their stride with Tamerán, both he and García are particularly excited about recent vintages. They think that cooler years in 2024 and 2025, along with better work in the vineyard and greater precision in the cellar, have produced the best wines yet.

The 2025 vintage was also the first with Burgundy barrels (they started the project with new Stockinger foudres and 500L barrels). It was Silva who suggested they try smaller-format Burgundy oak; the 2025s will be the first for which they’re trialling 300L François Frères.

‘I like whites with a little bit of oak, because in white, for me, with the acidity, it’s nice. But in reds, I don’t like the oak too much. I prefer reds with more fruit, more freshness,’ he says.

‘Now sometimes people do more [to emphasise] the acidity, but then you don’t have the complexity and the volume in the mouth. I prefer that kind of balance [of acidity and volume]. It’s not easy to do it here, but we are trying.’

Bodegas Tamerán: The essential six wines

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The great Spanish writer Miguel de Unamuno (1864-1936) got it right when he lyricised about Fuerteventura as ‘this bony land… this red protrusion thirsting for water! Yet how beautiful it is! Yes, beautiful! But only for those seeking the innermost secrets of its shape.’

This ‘keeper of secrets’ is the second-largest island in the volcanic Canary Islands archipelago and was the first to begin rising from the ocean floor, about 20 million years ago. On the west coast at Ajuy, you can actually see the basal geological complex, which once lay just above the Earth’s mantle but has now risen to the surface.

Fuerteventura lies just southwest of Lanzarote. The closest landmass in the archipelago to the African continent, it’s blessed with year-round sunshine, more beaches than any other Canary Island (there are more than 150 of them) and – a lesser-known fact – it’s where the archipelago’s first grapevines were planted. Yes, the story of Canary Islands wine starts here.

Raw volcanic beauty

This rough guide to Fuerteventura is designed to help you appreciate the island’s stark beauty, its rugged coastline and its ancient history, along with the precious few winemakers and -growers working to revitalise its overexploited land – to show you the real island behind mass tourism’s plastic facade.

The basic route described here runs from Isla de Lobos in the north to Cofete in the south. To make the most of the guide, you’ll need a car and that rarest of gems, a designated driver.

Facing Isla de Lobos, Corralejo is the main port in the north and is a lively mix of bustling town and tourist destination. It has changed significantly in the last 10-15 years, with swathes of expats having moved there from sun-starved environs such as England and Ireland but, especially, Italy – such an influx that it has earned the nickname ‘Little Italy’.

It’s a great place to get your bearings and sample from the casual dining, tapas and seafood restaurants clustered around the harbour. For fantastic, no-fuss tapas and pinchos, and a laid-back vibe, try Gilda (@gildacorralejo) on Calle Delfín or, nearby, try lively La Pulperia on Calle Lepanto for lovely octopus tacos and a glass of house vermouth.

Small jewel

Corralejo’s expansive dunes are just 15 minutes’ walk or so from the town centre and offer a welcome escape from the hubbub – the perfect place for a sunset stroll, or to sit gazing over the water. In the near distance sits Montaña de La Caldera, the towering volcanic cone of your next destination: Isla de Lobos. This little islet between Fuerteventura and the southern coast of Lanzarote shouldn’t be missed. Ferries leave the port of Corralejo from around 9.45am for the 2km trip and return to the main island from the late morning to about 5.15pm, so you have the option to spend the full day exploring.

Plunge into the shimmering turquoise waters of the islet’s paradisal lagoons, relax in blissful isolation on its secluded beaches or take signposted hikes to observe the plants, birds, lizards and marine life of Lobos’ protected ecosystems.

Of lava and salt

By now a thirst for wine will no doubt have taken hold. Fortunately, from Corralejo it’s a 15-minute drive to the surfer town of Lajares – home to the most important winery on the island: Conatvs. The first wines released by owner Pedro Antonio Martín were from the 2015 vintage. A decade on, in May 2025, Conatvs (meaning ‘struggle’ or ‘effort’) marked a major milestone with the inauguration of a new, enotourist-ready winery, complete with wine bar and shop. Daily public tours in English last an hour and give you the chance to learn about Fuerteventura’s vinous history, tour the vineyard and stylish cellar – hewn from the lava terrain – and taste three of the estate’s wines, paired with local delicacies (from €35 per person).

Stirred by these sapid, saline wines, you then have the option of heading for the coast to El Cotillo, recently transformed from an anonymous fishing village to a vibrant surf destination. There you’ll find La Concha – the archetypal turquoise lagoon – if you’re still in a salty mood; if not, it’s time to head inland.

From hike to table

Driving south into the island’s more elevated interior, it’s just over 10 minutes from Lajares to the town of Villaverde, home to Hannelore von der Twer (hannelore@caminosano.eu). An always colourfully dressed German travel expert with a love of painter Frida Kahlo, Hannelore has lived on Fuerteventura since 1986. Now in her 70s, she knows more about the island than most natives. ‘Fuerteventura has soul – it’s not just sun, sand and sea,’ she says. ‘I like to show people what’s inside.’ Already respected for her pioneering work to promote responsible hiking on the island, two years ago she became its first unofficial enotourism ambassador.

Hannelore offers guided tours on as many as 28 hiking routes, which are to become part of an official Canary wine route programme. The established routes take in spectacular volcanoes and ravines, historic churches and other sites of interest, several now culminating with a visit to one of the island’s wineries, most of which are small-scale and otherwise not open to the public.

While in Villaverde, refuelling at Casa Marcos (@casamarcos2025) is highly recommended. New-generation Canary Island chef Dani Fajardo manages this rustic restaurant with aplomb. In this locally typical timber-roofed, lava-stone building, with lacquered old bushvine trunks for light fittings, choose from a bold menu created on a ‘zero-kilometre’ model. Dining outside on the terrace beside the kitchen garden is also an option, with the ochre tones of Montaña Escanfraga right in front of you.

To the root

Driving past La Oliva in the island’s centre-west, the next stop is one of the most beautiful towns in any Spanish territory. Founded by and named after the Norman explorer Jean de Béthencourt, who arrived in the Canary Islands in 1402 and claimed them for Spain, Betancuria is a place whose historical importance far exceeds its modest size (it was the island’s capital from 1405 to 1834). Almost hidden within a rugged mountain landscape (its concealed position once served as a defence against pirate raids), Betancuria enchants with its quiet cobbled streets, traditional Canarian houses and the tolling bells of its 17th-century Iglesia de Santa Maria.

While here, be sure to visit the Museo Arqueológico (open Tuesday-Saturday 10am-5pm, entry free). Inaugurated in its present form in 2020 and packed with ancient exhibits, this is the place to learn about Fuerteventura’s indigenous civilisation, the Majos, a people who originated in the Berber territories of North Africa who ruled the island before Betancuria was established. Ancient Majo sites abound across the island and new ones are being uncovered all the time. The most important is Montaña de Tindaya in the island’s central northwest, with more than 300 podomorphs (foot-shaped rock carvings) around the summit attesting to its sacred significance.

Before you head south for the wild, windswept beaches and dunes of the Jandía peninsula, it’s worth a short stop in the island’s capital Puerto del Rosario, to dine at La Puipana. While most of the island’s restaurants are still in thrall to Rioja and Ribera, La Puipana is moving steadfastly against the grain. It’s another ‘zero- kilometre’ venue, with a smart, ingredient-led, Canaries-focused menu and a wine list that, improbably, is 90% Canarian wine.

Beaches and more: the emerging wine land of Fuerteventura

Fuerteventura is central to the history of Canary Island wine: the first grapevines to arrive in the archipelago from mainland Spain were planted in Betancuria in the island’s interior in the early 1400s.

The most important grape variety the European settlers brought was Listán Prieto. Other red varieties found on the island include Listán Negro (locally known as Hoja Moral), Tintilla and Baboso Negro.

White varieties include Malvasía Volcanica, Listán Blanco, Marmajuelo and Moscatel.

For wineries such as Conatvs and La Hubara, crisp, saline whites have the potential to become Fuerteventura’s signature style. Conatvs is also one of the wineries developing the red grape Majorera – a variety unique to Fuerteventura, discovered in 2016 by winemaker Alberto González.

Winemaking renaissance

It should be noted that, despite Fuerteventura’s seminal role in the viticultural history of the islands, there are just three wineries making wines under the Islas Canarias DO (Fuerteventura doesn’t have its own DO) – Conatvs in Lajares, Gavías El Sordo in Tetír and the newly minted Bodegas La Hubara in Toto – and only about 23 producing wine commercially across 26ha of vineyards.

‘It was in the 1950s that viticulture experienced a resurgence,’ notes respected local farmer and viticulturist turned winemaker Jacob Negrín of ARyGA. ‘The area that sustained the vineyards was the west-central part of the island – the Santa Inés valley and the plains of La Concepción. But long periods of drought and uncontrolled livestock grazing ended what could have been a prosperous future. Now, thankfully, it’s receiving a boost.’

Negrín makes a small amount of excellent natural wine from vines interplanted with organic vegetables in the rust-red volcanic soils of Casillas de Morales. He’s in the process of building a new bodega and hopes to be able to accommodate guests within the next 12 months.

As Negrín explains, water preservation is critical to Fuerteventura’s agricultural hopes. Crucial to any restoration is the island’s traditional farming system using gavias – fields with raised boundaries that help to capture the scant rainfall. The local association of wine-growers, Majuelo, is doing its best to educate its 120-plus members about the importance of such regenerative techniques.

One new project benefiting from this knowledge is Bodegas La Hubara in Toto. It now has 6,000 vines planted in gavias in a project started in 2021. Owner Guillermo Franquiz has built a new winery that will open to the public in spring 2026 – an important example of the green shoots emerging on Fuerteventura.

Spectacular scenery

From Toto it’s a short drive through the charming village of Pájara – stop for traditional Canary Island fare at the rural refuge of Casa Isaitas – and up through a majestic mountain landscape to the Mirador de Sicasumbre lookout. Drink in the spectacular scenery southwest towards the coastal town of La Pared and then watch the Atlantic shimmer into view as you descend. La Pared is also the name of the ancient wall that was built across the isthmus from Playa de La Pared to the tidal lagoon adjacent to Playa de Sotavento, remnants of which can still be seen. One theory goes that it originally separated the Majo territories of kings Guize and Ayoze.

Sotavento itself is a 9km-long beach of pale sand that’s definitely worth exploring. Helpfully, given its vastness, it’s split into sections. Playa de la Barca and Playa Risco del Paso are popular for kite- and windsurfers, while Mal Nombre, reachable on foot to the south at low tide, is good for a swim (check tide and conditions on the day), with calm turquoise water, gentle dunes and lava-stone windbreaks.

You’re now in full-on holiday resort territory, so tread with caution. Drive straight through Morro Jable – unless of course you’re dining at Salvaje, Marabú or El Pellizco. The original El Pellizco in Morro Jable was opened six years ago (there’s now also a bigger one in Costa Calma). Chef Rigoberto Almeida is Cuban and his food is a vibrant fusion of Cuban and Canarian influences. Local wines are offered by the glass or bottle.

If you’re feeling particularly adventurous, when you leave Morro Jable, take a swerve right into Jandía natural park, signposted Cofete. It’s a 15-minute drive along an unpaved road with the occasional sheer drop, but the blissfully isolated 14km-long virgin beach at the end of it is worth the effort.

If you’re the kind of traveller who likes a challenge, who is prepared to dig a little deeper, giving the package-holiday crowd a wide berth, Fuerteventura is a place whose innermost secrets are just waiting to be discovered.

How to get there

Easyjet and Ryanair operate regular flights from most major UK airports. From Fuerteventura airport it’s a roughly 35-minute drive to Corralejo in the north and Betancuria in the centre, and about an hour to Jandía in the south.

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Beth Willard, Eugenio Egorov and Matthew Forster MW tasted 98 wines, with 5 Outstanding and 63 Highly recommended

Priorat 2021 vs 2022: Panel tasting scores

98 wines tasted

Exceptional 0

Outstanding 5

Highly recommended 63

Recommended 27

Commended 3

Fair 0

Entry criteria: producers and UK agents were invited to submit their dry red wines classified as DOCa/DOQ Priorat from the 2021 and 2022 vintages

Scroll down to see the top-scoring wines from our Priorat 2021 vs 2022 panel tasting

Opposites attract

Vintage variation can be likened to different musical styles.

Taylor Swift, for instance, provides instant gratification, while Rosalía requires more thoughtful consideration, but both are outstanding in their own right.

In this panel tasting we compared the wines of Priorat from the two very different vintages of 2021 and 2022, one subtle and discreet, the other a little more obvious, but each expressing the region through unique interpretations.

In general, the cohort of 2022 wines offered immediate appeal, with bright, juicy fruit and ripe tannins, while the 2021 vintage wines tended to be fresher and more structured, with good ageing potential.

These characteristics seem to correspond to the vintage conditions, which varied greatly.

Drought and extreme heat marked the growing season in 2022, although the older Garnacha and Cariñena vines proved how resilient and adaptable they are when they experience tough conditions.

‘Serious knowhow’

In contrast, 2021 was altogether cooler, with lower temperatures and significantly more rainfall, which lowered alcohol levels appreciably.

Eugenio Egorov noted the ‘fresher and balanced wines from the cooler 2021’, but equally appreciated the approach to the warmer 2022 vintage.

‘The 2022 wines offer great fruit character,’ he explained. ‘There is more winemaking to balance the difficulties experienced in the vineyards, but the approach taken is heading in the right direction, with less over-oaking and more purity of fruit.’

The quality of winemaking was also noted by Matthew Forster MW. ‘Priorat is established – there’s a lot of serious knowhow, and the number of wines scoring 90 points or higher speaks to their credibility and quality.’

In particular, Forster highlighted the personality of the wines. ‘It is great to see stylistic diversity – the region is so much less homogenous than before.’

Certainly, vintage discussions aren’t redundant, but with serious winemaking skill and knowledge, the region’s more problematic years can be tamed and result in delicious wines.

Perhaps one day Rosalía – a native of Catalonia – might not just sing about Sauvignon Blanc but also the outstanding wines of Priorat!

What to eat with Priorat wines, by Fiona Beckett

Should different vintages dictate different wine pairings? I guess it depends how far apart they are. You might well go for a different match with a younger wine than an older one, but should you take into account vintage conditions?

No more so, I’d suggest, than wines from different producers who favour a particular style. It’s also a question of personal taste – is it better to pair a hearty stew with an equally intensely flavoured wine or a lighter wine for refreshing contrast?

That said, Priorat is a wine I would turn to for the last roasts and braises of winter, particularly with dishes such as ox cheek and short rib, and look forward to opening with the first barbecues of spring and summer. They are definitely wines for carnivores.

They’re also good wines to serve with a cheeseboard, especially with stronger cheeses such as vintage cheddar and punchy blues, of which the Spanish have some great examples, such as Picos and Cabrales, although you might turn to the more structured 2021s for those.

So maybe you do need to take account of vintages after all…

See all notes and scores from the Priorat 2021 vs 2022 tasting

The judges

Beth Willard is a wine communicator and judge with a particular passion for the wines of Spain. A regular contributor to Decanter and one of the five Co-Chairs of the DWWA, she is also a member of the Gran Orden de Caballeros del Vino

Eugenio Egorov is wine director at Six Senses London hotel & spa. Born in Ukraine, he began his hospitality career in restaurants in Italy and Florida, USA, before moving to London in 2014

Matthew Forster MW is an independent wine consultant and education specialist, and founder of The Wine Partnership. A former director at the Wine & Spirit Education Trust, he is particularly passionate about the food and wine cultures of Spain, Portugal and South America

Priorat 2021 vs 2022 panel tasting results:

Wines were tasted blind

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The 4,800ha wine region now known as Rías Baixas first gained appellation status in the early 1980s, as DO Albariño.

However, when Spain joined the EU in 1986, a geographic designation became mandatory and the name Rías Baixas was chosen.

This term refers to the picturesque estuaries that shape Galicia’s west coast, the source of superb fish and other seafood.

The main wine-producing area of Rías Baixas, Salnés, is strategically located between the Arousa and Pontevedra estuaries.

A popular tourist destination, it combines a rich cultural and gastronomic heritage with a landscape of contrasts, where mountains merge with the coastline.

Due to real estate pressure, land is very expensive, so selling vineyards is a lucrative business opportunity.

Nevertheless, according to the DO Rías Baixas 2025 vintage report summary, this area accounted for 65% of the wider region’s grape output in the 2025 harvest.

There are four other sub-zones in Rías Baixas. O Rosal, in the south, is the only one of these that faces the sea, at the mouth of the river Miño, which marks the border with Portugal.

Further inland, upriver, lies Condado do Tea, a warmer, drier area. A little to the north, between Condado do Tea and Salnés, lies the tiny Soutomaior.

And to the north of Salnés, also inland, is Ribeira do Ulla, an emergent area for larger planting operations given the DO’s smallholding area of 4,800ha distributed across about 24,000 plots.

It’s no surprise that, in the past, people made the most of the land by growing vegetables under the vine pergolas.

Albariño explosion

Given there were just over 200ha of Albariño in all of Galicia in 1999 (according to data from the Spain vineyard register, compiled by Madrid’s agricultural research institute IMIDRA), the DO has experienced meteoric growth.

Climate change has certainly helped.

As part of ‘Green Spain’, Rías Baixas remains one of the wettest wine regions in the world, with an annual average rainfall of 1,400mm-1,600mm.

Organic growing is still rare, but summers are drier now. ‘We’ve gone from harvesting in autumn to summer,’ says Eulogio Pomares of Bodegas Zárate. ‘This has solved many issues related to botrytis, poor ripeness and rainfall at harvest time.’

The largest vineyard areas are controlled by the cooperatives in Salnés, such as Martín Códax, Paco & Lola and Condes de Albarei.

The rest is shared among small- to medium-sized local producers and external players, notably from Rioja, which have been setting up in the area since the late 1980s. Most of them buy grapes from local growers.

With consumption of white wines on the rise, the last decade has seen a second wave of investors, including Ribera del Duero’s Vega Sicilia, whose much-anticipated first release from its new Bodegas y Viñedos Deiva project in Crecente (Condado do Tea) is scheduled for 2027.

This has caused an increase in demand for grapes, rising prices and new plantings, which have eventually led to a major correction in grape prices in 2025, when the area harvested a record 47.5 million kilograms.

Another generous harvest will probably challenge wine sales.

Levelling up

A growing number of producers are now focused on premiumisation.

This is usually achieved by either extending ageing of the wine on lees to gain complexity and ageing potential; by introducing vessels other than stainless steel (oak foudres, concrete, granite, amphorae); by focusing on specific soils or areas; or by producing single-vineyard wines.

There’s plenty to choose from. Most vineyards in Rías Baixas are planted on granite soils that have undergone varying degrees of weathering.

This often results in a sandy texture that has preserved small batches of ungrafted and pre-phylloxera vines. Schist veins and alluvial deposits can also be found in most sub-zones.

Other differences can also be brought about by elevation of vineyards, exposure and proximity to the sea and rivers. The drawback of most single-vineyard wines is that they’re produced in limited quantities.

Points of difference

With Albariño accounting for 97% of overall production in Rías Baixas, there’s little room for other varieties.

However, choosing to produce Godello, Treixadura (more common in Condado do Tea) or Caíño Blanco – a variety recovered by Terras Gauda in O Rosal – is a way to stand out.

White blends are more common in Condado do Tea, thanks to the presence of Treixadura, and O Rosal, the sub-zone featuring more varietal diversity, yet this category remains uncharted territory when it comes to high-end wines.

Traditional-method Albariño sparkling wines and reds are the two other small slices of the Rías Baixas pie.

With their vigorous bubbles and relatively high prices, it’s difficult for Albariño to compete with Cava and other Spanish sparkling wines, but extended ageing might help change that.

With alcohol levels of around 11%-12% – probably the lowest in Spain – the Rías Baixas red wines are a small but interesting category.

Climate change, together with some excellent local varieties, such as Espadeiro, Caíño and Brancellao, will undoubtedly boost the category.

Pioneer red wine producer Forjas del Salnés has been perfecting its selection process since 2024, and the winery now harvests grapes at different stages, relying exclusively on fully ripe berries.

This results in wines with more fruit and a slightly higher alcohol content, while retaining the area’s natural acidity.

20 of the best from Rías Baixas (and not just Albariño)

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Despite the wonderful diversity of Spain’s wine regions, only a handful dominate the public consciousness on the international stage. Names such as Ribera del Duero, Priorat and Rioja attract a certain level of recognition, the latter so famous in some markets that it’s arguably more than just a region – it’s a brand.

But next door to some of Spain’s best-known regions, there’s a renaissance in local viticulture taking place, an explosion of dynamic producers, and some truly great wines.

The wine styles may not be a world away from those whose origins you already know and love, but small points of difference make them worth exploring. In some cases, the soils and climate vary just enough to change the structure of the wines; other neighbouring regions offer similar terroir but unique grape varieties.

So, if you regularly buy or cellar wines from the well-known regions listed here, why not look to their neighbours, which can often be a great source of value? Explore these new wines through the safety of something familiar yet different and enjoy their individuality!

Montsant

Next to: Priorat

Spanish retailer Vila Viniteca offers the current release of L’Ermita from Alvaro Palacios at €1,790 per bottle. It’s one of the most expensive wines in the Spanish market and hails from a single parcel of mostly Garnacha planted more than a century ago.

It’s an icon wine from Priorat, only about two hours’ drive southwest of Barcelona.

But the comarca (county/district) of Priorat contains not just one denominación de origen, but two, for it’s also home to the DO Montsant.

In fact, when you look at a map, you can be fooled into thinking that the Montsant region is the more important as it wraps around Priorat, encircling it like a school of greedy sharks.

It also shares its name with the Serra de Montsant, the mountain range that strikingly dominates the region’s skyline. In fact, it’s Priorat that’s the bigger of the two DOs, with 2,196ha of vines, compared to Montsant’s roughly 1,800ha.

With 117 wineries, Priorat has almost double the number of Montsant’s 59, and yet Montsant has just as long a tradition of winemaking.

In the town of Marçà, remnants of Roman amphorae have been found, likely destined for Tarraco, or Tarragona as it’s known today.

Mountain fresh

Montsant, however, didn’t enjoy the same revival as Priorat in the 1990s and 2000s, when some of Spain’s most famous winemaking names started to put the region back on the viticultural map.

As a result, it’s common to find bottles of Priorat that cost more than €50, whereas Montsant is more accessible – often below €15. More than 90% of the production of both regions is red wine, dominated by Garnacha and Cariñena.

In the case of Montsant, wines can also include Cabernet Sauvignon, Garnacha Peluda, Merlot, Monastrell, Picapoll Tinta, Syrah and Tempranillo.

Its whites are mostly Garnacha Blanca and Macabeo, but can also incorporate Chardonnay, Moscatel, Pansal (Xarel.lo) and Parellada.

The wines of Montsant aren’t as defined by the famous llicorella or slate soils found in Priorat, enjoying a variety of soils that bring complexity to their blends.

The climatic influences also vary from the cooler area in the mountainous north around towns such as La Morera de Montsant and La Figuera to the hilly landscape and warmer climate of Marçà and Capçanes, and finally the lower elevations in the south of Montsant around Darmós and Els Guiamets.

Mediterranean in profile, the wines benefit from cool breezes from the sea, which, from its closest point, is only about 35km away.

Approachable when young and capable of improving with time in bottle, wines from Montsant combine generous, ripe fruit with finesse and mountain freshness.

Ribeiro

Next to: Rías Baixas

Of Galicia’s five DOs, Rías Baixas is the largest, with 4,800ha of vineyards, about 97% of which is planted with Albariño.

Forty years ago, the region only counted 237ha of vineyards, but with the growth in popularity of the variety, both domestically and internationally, Rías Baixas has boomed.

In contrast, next-door neighbour Ribeiro extends over just 1,300ha of vineyards, although some historical sources suggest that a century ago there were more than 6,000ha of vines.

The decline in vineyard area can be attributed to several factors, including waves of emigration that saw the area suffer from severe depopulation, as well as the abandonment of low-yielding terraced plots, which became unprofitable as the price of bulk wine couldn’t match production costs.

The dominance of so-called minifundismo (a system of smallholdings) in wine-growing in Ribeiro also resulted in complicated vineyard management (as it still is).

But it’s the oldest DO in Galicia, with an ancient winemaking tradition that current producers are now channelling to make exceptional wines with unique personalities.

True terroir

The region is spread across the valleys formed by the rivers Miño, Avia and Arnoia, whose soils are varied but typically feature sábrego – decomposed granite that resembles sand and silt, and often brings an electric energy to Ribeiro’s wines.

More than 90% of production is white wine, with Treixadura the most widely planted grape (making up just over half of the total vineyard area), usually blended with Loureira, Godello, Albariño, Torrontés or Lado.

Other permitted varieties include Albilla do Avia, Branco Lexítimo, Caíño Blanco and Palomino (from existing plantings only).

Red varieties are also planted in Ribeiro, with blends often including Brancellao, Caíño Longo, Caíño Tinto, Ferrón and Sousón, the most-planted local red grape in the DO.

The white wines marry Atlantic freshness with ripe citrus, pineapple and stone fruit, supported by stony minerality and delicate herbal notes such as fennel and bay leaf. Reds offer vibrancy and tension, with wild strawberry, violet and peppery aromas.

They tend to be medium-bodied. Vibrant and concentrated when young, the wines are satisfying and versatile and can be enjoyed on a terrace in the sun or with Galicia’s rich and varied cuisine.

But like their Albariño neighbours in Rías Baixas, the wines really shine with some bottle age, developing greater complexity and a true expression of the terroir.

Arlanza

Next to: Ribera del Duero

In Spain’s northwestern region of Castilla y León, the town of Lerma is directly south of Burgos and north of the DO Ribera del Duero. It’s rich in history, with striking 17th-century architecture, including the Palacio Ducal, which offers views over the Arlanza valley (pictured).

The river continues east to the pretty medieval village of Covarrubias, known for its half-timbered houses and narrow streets.

It’s the gateway to Sabinares del Arlanza nature park, where ancient juniper trees line the deep river gorges along the Arlanza.

This is the backdrop to the Arlanza wine region, one of Spain’s smallest. Vineyards flourished here until the start of the 20th century, when phylloxera appeared and most of the vines had to be uprooted.

They were replanted, but not to the same extent. Later, waves of depopulation affected the area, as people left the land to work in the cities.

Until late last century, very few wineries remained but, fortunately, pockets of very old vines were left intact.

Rebirth and revival

Slowly, a rebirth of sorts began, with a handful of producers leading a revival.

In 1995, the group successfully petitioned for the classification of Vino de la Tierra Ribera del Arlanza, and eventually, in 2007, they formed the DO Arlanza.

With a profile that’s decidedly Castilla y León, the wines are similar in character to their neighbours in Ribera del Duero, generally displaying the fresher character of Ribera’s Soria sub-zone.

Due to its more northerly latitude and impressive elevation – generally 800m-1,000m, but in some places higher – Arlanza offers intense red wines that are kept fresh by notable acidity.

It’s mostly a region of red wines, dominated by Tempranillo, locally referred to as Tinta del País.

Txakolí

Next to: Rioja

On Spain’s northern coast, the Basque Country (Euskadi in the local language) is one of the most important domestic markets for Rioja wines, which is logical given the gastronomic richness of the Basque region, as well as the fact that it’s right next door.

In fact, part of the Rioja appellation lies within the autonomous community of the Basque Country.

Wine production in the area has a centuries-long history, but disease outbreaks (mainly phylloxera but also powdery mildew) in the late 1800s resulted in a significant loss of vineyards.

As a result, most of the production was reduced to coastal areas, where simple wines with some spritz and low alcohol became something of a local curiosity.

A renaissance began in the 1990s with the arrival of modern technology and a renewed viticultural interest in the region.

In recent years, there has not only been an explosion in the number of producers throughout the three appellations that are dedicated to the production of Txakolí wine, but new styles have also emerged.

White wine revival

The protagonist is still the principal local grape variety Hondarrabi Zuri, but the simple, spritzy whites have now been complemented by single-vineyard wines, richer and aged whites, as well as rosé, red and sparkling wines.

This increase in quality and diversity is part of a revival in white wine production and consumption in the northwest and north of Spain, where Rioja whites have also boomed in popularity.

It’s an important chapter in the story of Spanish gastronomy, of which the Basque Country was an early leading proponent.

Txakolí wines offer racier acidity and a more direct, citrussy palate than their counterparts in Rioja, where Viura dominates and creates white wines of serious weight and ageing potential.

But if you like the freshness and characterful nature of Rioja, it’s worth taking a small stroll to the north to try the wines that play such a central role in the lively bars of Bilbao and San Sebastián.

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The leading event for quality Spanish wine held from 2-4 February in the heart of Barcelona, brought together more than 1,300 exhibitors, 90 DOs and nearly 1,000 national and international buyers, offering a platform for valuable conversations and business opportunities. 

This year, Barcelona Wine Week paid tribute to the finest family wine dynasties. As part of the programme, Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA) hosted a masterclass showcasing families that defined excellence at the 2025 competition. Led by DWWA Co-Chair and Spanish expert Beth Willard and moderated by Decanter‘s Regional Chair for Spain, South America & Portugal, Ines Salpico, the masterclass featured eight wines scoring 95+ points. 

From traditional-method sparkling to aromatic whites, robust reds and fortified wines, Willard presented a curated flight of DWWA 2025 Gold, Platinum and Best in Show award winners from across Spain.

Discover the eight wines showcased at the masterclass below

Willard began by explaining the rigorous judging process to attendees before diving into the wines. In 2025 nearly 17,000 wines from 57 countries were evaluated by 248 judges. Wines are grouped into carefully curated flights and judged against their peers. 

Following the first tasting, Gold winners (95-96 points) are grouped by category and re-tasted blind in a second round of judging. The very best are elevated to Platinum (97+ points) and re-tasted a final time by the Co-Chairs, who then select the 50 Best in Show wines. 

Spain once again had a strong year in 2025, ranking among the top three countries by number of medals. At the masterclass, Willard presented two of the competition’s 50 Best in Show – Vall Llach, Mas de la Rosa Gran Vinya Classificada 2023 from Priorat, and Del Duque V.O.R.S, Amontillado from González Byass. 

The line-up also included a Value Gold wine (under £15 at the time of judging), underlying how quality is recognised at every price point. 

DWWA is committed to celebrating excellence in winemaking while reflecting real-world market conditions. In addition to the added exposure gained by producers who were featured in the masterclass, all exhibitors were able to hand deliver their wine entries for DWWA 2026 at the Decanter stand, providing a convenient and cost-effective shipping method.

See below to discover the line-up of 95-97-point wines which were presented on the day (in tasting order).

The eight masterclass wines

Alta Alella, Mirgin Exeo Evolució+ Brut Nature, Cava 2007

Gold, 95 points

60% Pansà Blanca, 40% Chardonnay

Gorgeous roasted hazelnuts, almonds, baked bread and biscuits set the tone with a permeating lemon and lime freshness besetting the mousse and a crunchy mineral finish. Alcohol 12%

Cherubino Valsangiacomo, deSantJaume Malvasia, Valencia 2024

Value Gold, 95 points

85% Malvasia, 15% Merseguera

Tantalising pear, apple, apricot and peach aromas underscored by tingling notes of grapefruit, lemon and lime. Bright and crisp with a linear structure and lengthy herbal finish. Alc 12.5%

Bodegas Alvear, Tres Miradas Paraje De Riofrío Alto 3er Año, Montilla-Moriles 2021

Platinum, 97 points

100% Pedro Ximenez

A formidable style, enchanting the nose with fennel, dried almond and herb characters and imbedding the palate with a mineral structure and an intriguing textural grip. Quenching, salivating and saline with swathes of toasted nuts on the finish. Alc 13.5%

Bodegas Valdemar, Conde Finca Alto Cantabria Viñedo Singular, Rioja 2023

Gold, 95 points

100% Viura

White peach, apricot and grapefruit aromas tumble over the glossy sheen of oak that cushions the embracing acidity. Creamy and plush with a piquant finish. Alc 13%

Bodegas Rodríguez Y Sanzo, Palo Norte Verdejo, Rueda 2020

Gold, 95 points

100% Verdejo

Intricately laced with dried chamomile, dried herbs and mace on the nose, with a flourish of delectable lemon peel acidity and a long nutty finish. Alc 13.5%

Bodegas Y Viñedos Verum, Ilusioverum Cdvin Garnacha, Rioja 2022

Gold, 95 points

100% Garnacha

Bedecked with redcurrants, red cherries and raspberries with a sizzling lick of black pepper. Softly structured with supple, plummy acidity and a boundless, spicy length. Alc 14.5%

Vall Llach, Mas de la Rosa Gran Vinya Classificada, Priorat 2023

Best in Show, 97 points

100% Carignan

Priorat has been almost as successful in our Best in Show pantheon as Barolo – this concrete-aged Carinyena is the region’s sixth laureate. This purity and finesse of this wine makes a convincing case for Carinyena as the pre-eminent variety for Priorat – and, contrariwise, for Priorat as the world’s greatest location for Carignan. It’s also a plaudit for concrete ageing, whether in egg or otherwise. The wine is a dark black-red in colour, and the aromas are less fruity than most; it’s one of those wines which seems to smell as much of a landscape as of fruit. It’s only two years old, yet the ageing has been so successfully managed that it has the seamlessness and harmony of a much older wine. On the palate, it is refined, graceful and shawl-like, full of lingering dark-fruit intensity but counterbalanced by the wine’s unstrenuous cashmere tannin and insinuating, palate-lapping acidity: extraordinary finesse for a variety often regarded as workmanlike elsewhere. Alc 15.5%

González Byass, Del Duque V.O.R.S, Amontillado, Sherry NV

Best in Show, 97 points

100% Palomino

Like the other Amontillado in this year’s Best in Show, this VORS (Very Old Rare Sherry) Amontillado is formidable. It’s slightly deeper in colour: a deep orange amber. Its aromas, too, are fuller and weightier than its peer, reminding the fortunate drinker of antique furniture and generously endowed college libraries – as well as the scents of dry places in high summer, with their warm stones, path-trodden, sun-dried figs and tough, scruffy herbs. On the palate, it is a little less savagely pure, aerial and vaporising, with more depth and bottom to it; it has dark corners and recesses of flavour, whereas its sibling was all light and air. Technically, in fact, it has a few grams of residual sugar, though you won’t notice those as the wine’s sheer power of flavour and acid cut more than offset any sweetness. A remarkable drink; a wine-world reference. Alc 21.5%

Search all DWWA 2025 winners 

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Rioja

This was the year to fall in love with Rioja all over again. The DOCa marked its 100th anniversary – a momentous celebration that served as a reminder, on the one hand, of the region’s long winemaking tradition (going much further back than these 100 years) and, on the other, of its capacity to evolve and remain not merely relevant but firmly at the forefront of contemporary wine.

Serendipitously coinciding with the centenary, the inaugural Decanter Rioja report (in the May issue’s annual Rioja supplement) allowed us to experience, first hand and in great depth, the vibrancy, diversity and sheer quality of the region’s output.

Our extensive tasting exceeded our best expectations. Among the top scorers were established icons but also ‘young guns’; in tandem, these are expanding the region’s already impressive canon, across colours and styles, well beyond the obvious and expected.

The rise of Rioja’s whites is particularly of note, with all-time classics – not least CVNE’s inimitable Monopole Clásico Gran Reserva – rubbing shoulders with modern jewels such as El Pacto’s Jesús Acha.

There was of course no shortage of gems on the red front; we were blown away by the transparency and nuance of Carlos Sánchez’s La Bendecida and Miguel Merino’s La Quinta Cruz (which also makes the strongest of cases for the potential of the Mazuelo variety).

Rioja also shone closer to home, at Decanter’s tasting suite in London. We hosted producer Remírez de Ganuza at one of our ‘Decanter Presents…’ events, and bodeguero José Urtasun brought an outstanding lineup that included UV, a truly fresh (all puns intended) take on the Tempranillo variety.

We’re already looking forward to our 2026 report! And here’s to 100 years more.

Portugal & Spain (beyond Rioja)

How hard – and painfully unfair – to select only five wines for this broad section. And in a year that has delivered a memorable array of standout bottles from across the Iberian peninsula, where producers big and small are leveraging today’s many challenges to refine and assert their sense of identity.

The tough trading times have validated the efforts of those who eschew trends and remain true to themselves, reinventing tradition without losing sight of it – elements fundamental to producing wines at once timeless and excitingly modern.

The latter could definitely be said of Kopke’s 80 Year Old Tawny Port and Alves de Sousa’s Memórias; both pay tribute, in different but equally compelling ways, to the heritage of the Douro.

Tradition reinvented and classic modernity were also running themes across our inaugural Ribera del Duero report (see October 2025 issue). Among the top-scoring wines was Francisco Barona’s Finca Las Dueñas – a Reserva like no other, of robust, nuanced elegance, as charismatic as Barona himself.

Much further south, in Jerez, a new generation of equally talented vignerons is producing some of Spain’s most exciting bottles: Vinos de Pasto are the unfortified wines being produced from the same grape (Palomino Fino) and terroirs as Sherry.

I was blown away by Raúl Moreno’s (pictured above) perfect encapsulations of technical precision and maverick questioning of stylistic assumptions. Meanwhile, Juvé & Camps brought Spain’s sparkling excellence to our tasting suite for our first ‘Decanter Presents…’ event (in late October at our London W2 offices).

And the producer didn’t disappoint: during the session we tasted the standout Cava La Capella – produced exclusively from Xarel.lo, it was another affirmation of Spain’s indigenous varieties.

The best wines are, more than drinks, unforgettable experiences; these five, and many others, will linger long in my memory.

Wines of the year 2025: Spain & Portugal

Wines from Rioja are listed first then the rest of the peninsula

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Collector’s Guide: Spain

Thomas Herbert

Herbert & Co, Champagne, France

By Tom Hewson

In the quiet village of Rilly-la-Montagne on the Montagne de Reims, a transition is underway that is emblematic of Champagne’s rapid influx of new ideas. Two brands – Didier Herbert and Herbert & Co – currently live under the same roof, made by the same man: Thomas Herbert.

Didier Herbert is Thomas’ family brand, founded in 1920 and run by his father since 1982. With its traditional livery and customer base formed around the (now struggling) French market and longstanding visitors to the winery (many of whom apparently come to collect his father’s novelty wire caps), this is what Thomas calls a ‘classical’ brand.

Next to the remaining bottles of Didier Herbert on the shelves lie signs of something utterly different: neon lights, striking monochrome graphics, unusual bottle closures. Giant blue tongues saying things like ‘1,000% Meunier’ sit framed on the floor, awaiting hooks. This is Herbert & Co.

Not all plain sailing

‘These two brands, Didier Herbert and Herbert & Co, are completely opposite,’ says Thomas, making it clear that the transition has not been a straightforward case of the keys being handed down the family line.

Thomas, who trained as an interior architect, returned to work with his family in 2016 without an understanding that he would take over, but after his father’s attempted sale outside the family fell through, Thomas and his partner managed to buy it.

‘We don’t do anything for Didier Herbert any more,’ he says. ‘In four or five years, the brand will be gone.’ It’s not only family negotiations that sometimes prove obstacles as generations switch over: the costs of making a wholesale change in the cellar is enormous.

‘We can’t buy the barrels – it would be crazy, €80,000 – so we lease them.’ The vineyards, too, have been modernised, in a process which started with Thomas stopping herbicide usage before he took over ownership. ‘I had to fight for this – before, the vineyards were like the moon,’ he says.

He’s no idealist, though: ‘I don’t do it to save the planet, it’s just part of our work.’

Although he has lost access to some of the vineyards his father used, he seems happy with the 30,000 bottles per year Herbert & Co is now producing. After all, having a giant tongue on your label might not be for everyone:

‘If I was selling a million bottles it might be a problem!’ he admits.

Leo & Roc Gramona

Gramona, Catalonia, Spain

By Ines Salpico

Resilience, tragedy and responsibility: three words that largely explain why and how Leo (Leonard) and Roc Gramona found themselves at the helm of their family’s eponymous traditional-method, longageing sparkling powerhouse in 2023.

The cousins – sons, respectively, of Xavier and Jaume Gramona (cousins themselves) – are the sixth generation to take the reins of the storied Penedès winery, whose origins go back to the 1850s.

A path, however, from which they veered at first, sceptical of being able to define their identity within the microuniverse of the family business.

Roc studied oenology and worked a series of harvests across the world, eventually settling at Cellers de Scala Dei, in Priorat; Leo went off to study engineering and work at corporate consulting. It would be another consultant working for Gramona who, in 2018, highlighted that continuity and lineage are the essence of the company.

The cousins were therefore challenged to join Gramona and become acquainted with its operations and ethos in the hope of one day taking up the batons from their respective fathers. Leo and Roc agreed, though not without reservations. In parallel, the cousins wanted to test – and prove – their abilities and stylistic leanings, in some ways defiantly different to their family’s.

Their personal project, L’Enclòs de Peralba (‘the white stone clos’), was thus born. The pair partner with small growers to produce a range of low-intervention yet technically exact wines that give centre stage to the terroirs and indigenous varieties of Penedès.

The project’s success gave the pair confidence while also consolidating their own stance at Gramona.

Transition & evolution

The years that followed were an intense if at times trying school: Covid-19 dried up the company’s main sales channel overnight and demanded quick and dramatic adaptation.

‘Then came the magical years of 2022 and 2023, with great sales and people really eager to go out and share a good bottle of wine,’ says Leo. Unfortunately, the sense of optimism and reprieve was fleeting.

Xavier Gramona’s untimely death, in August 2023, as the result of a fall, shook the family’s emotional foundations and precipitated leadership transition. The cousins were asked to step up and take over their fathers’ responsibilities, with Jaume Gramona moving to a strategic oversight position as the company’s president.

The transition was a period of intense emotions. ‘We really had to put our egos aside and understand where we come from and where we’re heading to collectively,’ Leo says.

‘It’s about surrendering to something bigger than ourselves.’ Roc agrees: ‘We all want to say something through the wines we make. But it’s important to overcome the “wanting to replace the father” stage and acknowledge the contribution of previous generations.

That’s when real transition and evolution happen.’ There are clear echoes of their fathers’ own journey: from a conventional, French-influenced winemaking approach to biodynamic pioneers and champions of a quality-first, terroir-driven philosophy that led them to leave the Cava DO and establish the Corpinnat group of like-minded producers in 2017.

They too found a mission that transcended their personal goals. As a result of the long ageing cycles of Gramona’s wines, the two cousins are still selling the wines produced under their fathers’ leadership.

‘It’s very humbling,’ says Leo. At the same time ‘there’s a curious – serendipitous or not – convergence between the work we’ve done at L’Enclòs de Peralba and the [future] direction of Gramona’.

A serendipity six generations in the making.

Next instalment: Santiago Deicas & Gianna Kozlović

Wines from a new generation:

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Rioja, 1991. Priorat, 2001. These are the moments the two wine regions rose from the status of DO (denominación de origen) to DOCa (denominación de origen calificada, or DOQ: denominació d’origen qualificada in Catalan). It’s etched on the memory of every Spanish sommelier. They were hailed as milestones, proof that Spain’s wine hierarchy could evolve. But more than 20 years later, one can’t help asking: has it, really?

Since 2001, no other Spanish region has joined Rioja and Priorat at the summit. Are we to believe that Jerez, Montilla-Moriles, Ribera del Duero, Bierzo, Rías Baixas or Valdeorras are somehow unworthy? Is Spain condemned to remain the ‘country of two DOCas’ for ever? Surely not. The country’s heritage (and wines) tell a richer story – one that deserves broader recognition.

I’m not calling for an Italian-style avalanche – Italy flaunts 78 DOCGs, almost too many to count – but surely Spain’s wine landscape, with its astonishing quality, diversity and evolution over decades, merits more than two. And yet nothing moves. Why? The answer, I’m afraid, is neither in the vineyards nor the bottles, but in the bureaucracy.

European requirements to qualify for DOCa status are, on paper, reasonable. A DO must have existed for at least 10 years. Fair enough. The wines must be sold exclusively in bottles. Hmmm… less so. This last point borders on Kafkian. Think about it: in France, Côtes du Rhône and Pessac-Léognan can happily sell wine in bag-in-box without loss of prestige. Meanwhile, Jerez – one of Spain’s crown jewels – can never be DOCa, simply because it also sells wine in bulk, destined for use in chocolates, soups and other delights. How can one of the most historic wines on the planet be disqualified on such a technicality? Especially when alternative packaging formats increasingly play such a key role in sustainability and carbon footprint reduction?

Spain’s bureaucracy complicates matters further. Spanish law 6/2015 states that a winery producing DOCa wines ‘must be independent and separated, at least by a public road, from other non-registered facilities; they may only receive grapes, musts or wines from other registered producers within the same appellation, and must produce and bottle exclusively wines entitled to that denomination’.

In plain English: a winery belonging to a DOCa cannot produce wine that isn’t DOCa within the same facilities. So, if Ribera del Duero or Rueda ever became DOCa, their producers could no longer experiment with ‘Vino de la Tierra de Castilla y León’ or other innovative styles in the same winery.

Imagine if Ribera del Duero had already been DOCa – we might never have seen the rise of Albillo Mayor whites, since those couldn’t have been made under the same roof. Or, to make it more tangible: the Torremilanos winery would need to build a separate facility to produce its Vinos de la Tierra under the Peñalba López label – wines that are creative, experimental and forward-looking.

In short, Spanish lawmakers have built a bureaucratic trap against innovation. Vinos de la Tierra have long served as laboratories for progress. Yet if these areas were ever to achieve DOCa status, that very creativity would no longer be possible within the same walls.

So here we are, two decades on, with the same two DOCas.

The pyramid of Spanish wine quality remains frozen at the top. To me, this is inexplicable. Spain deserves more dynamism, more ambition, more recognition. Because having only two DOCas, no matter how great, cannot possibly capture the country’s diversity or brilliance.

It’s time for Spain to reconsider this curious inertia. Time to ask whether the prestige of our wines should be tied to outdated rules about glass bottles and walled-off premises, or whether the system should fall into step with the reality of wine in the 21st century.

If Italy can crown dozens of regions, surely Spain can crown more than two. Until then, the story remains unfinished: two DOCas, and counting – or rather, not counting.

Credit for photo of Ferran Centelles: Nic Crilly-Hargrave 

In my glass this month

Dominio de Calogía is an example of an exciting new wave of wines and producers from Ribera del Duero. With pure fruit at the core, a silky, elegant palate and great ageing potential, its Doble M 2021 Tempranillo (€40-€42 in the domestic market) embodies the courage of winemaker José Manuel Pérez Ovejas to start afresh, after leaving the family winery where he had spent 30 years and setting up his own project in 2019.

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Beth Willard, Matthew Forster MW and Andy Howard MW tasted 76 wines, with 25 Highly recommended and 43 Recommended

Red international varieties in Spain: Panel tasting scores

76 wines tasted

Exceptional 0

Outstanding 0

Highly recommended 25

Recommended 43

Commended 8

Fair 0

Entry criteria: producers and UK agents were invited to submit red wines made from a minimum 85% of Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Merlot or Pinot Noir (or a combination of these), produced in any geographical denomination in Spain

Scroll down to see the top-scoring wines from our Red international varieties in Spain panel tasting

Square pegs in round holes?

We gathered for this tasting on a Wednesday in late August. The weather couldn’t make up its mind, with heavy downpours followed by periods of bright sunshine. The tasting was equally variable. This tasting had a few highlights but was generally a little disappointing.

However, it should be noted that there are some excellent wines in this broad category that were not submitted: for instance, old-vine Cabernet Sauvignon from Navarra offers impressive ageing potential, and there are wines dotted around the coast which have a truly Mediterranean character.

The problem with many of the wines that we did have in this tasting was twofold: the unsuitability of the varieties to their chosen terroir, and the stylistic choices made by the producers.

In particular, the Pinot Noirs were problematic, failing to achieve balance. Ageing regimes were also an issue. ‘Too many wines were heavy, oaked and high in alcohol. This isn’t what people [now] want to drink,’ Andy Howard MW noted.

Likewise, Matthew Forster MW felt that producers had misjudged the styles. ‘Winemaking seems constrained by the international varieties, with winemakers thinking they need to use oak,’ he explained. ‘There was none of the freshness or purity that you see with Spanish indigenous grapes.’

The better wines were well crafted even if they lacked regional identity. ‘Syrahs were the best of the bunch, with some quite appealing wines, but none struck me as particularly Spanish,’ said Howard. ‘It’s the international character that comes through.’

In the end, we did find some well-made wines scoring 90 points and above, which offered both balance and concentration – worth buying if you are looking for good examples of these varieties.

But, given that Spanish wines today are so thrilling, perhaps our expectations are set much higher. We look forward to tasting more of these wines in the future with a real focus on terroir and a little more Spanish flair.

What to eat with Spanish international reds, by Fiona Beckett

Although the tasting covered several different grape varieties, the overall impression was of relatively high alcohol wines bolstered with a good deal of oak. Fortunately, we can use food to mitigate that, in particular using rare and charred red meat, rich winey stews and ‘meaty’ vegetables such as grilled portobello mushrooms and aubergines to offset the tannins.

If you’ve got the barbecue fired up, they would be the wines to bring out. And although some lacked a specifically Spanish character, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t introduce that with the food.

Fruit-forward wines can handle a bit of spice and there’s plenty of that in Spain’s pimenton-rich food. Think hearty dishes with pork and beans with those Syrahs. A bit of bottle age would also modify and mellow the oak influence, so consider tucking some of these wines away to bring out in a few years’ time with lamb (Spain’s favourite meat) or with game.

A mature vintage of wines such as the Torres, Mas La Plana would be perfect with pot-roast pheasant.

See all notes and scores from the red international varieties in Spain tasting

The judges

Beth Willard is a wine consultant, communicator and judge with a particular passion for the wines of Spain. A member of the Gran Orden de Caballeros del Vino, she is also one of the five DWWA Co-Chairs

Matthew Forster MW is an independent wine consultant and education specialist, and founder of The Wine Partnership. A former director at the Wine & Spirit Education Trust, he has a particular passion for the food and wine cultures of Spain, Portugal and South America

Andy Howard MW is a Decanter Contributing Editor and DWWA Regional Chair. Formerly a long-serving retail wine buyer, he now runs his own consultancy Vinetrades, focusing on wine education, judging, investment and sourcing

Red international varieties in Spain panel tasting results:

Wines were tasted blind

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Arguments over why – or whether – global warming is happening abound; there are more than a few scenarios out there, and increasingly popular are theories in which human activity isn’t responsible for any of it: wonderfully convenient.

But it’s hard (impossible?) to argue with the fact that the climate has changed and is likely to continue to do so.

Those of us working in the wine industry have long been the canary in this coal mine, squawking and getting increasingly worried as average temperatures – measured on a daily basis by weather stations in every major wine region and tracked at a macro level over decades – continue to climb across the world.

With this has come the rise of previously overlooked cooler-climate wine regions and a re-evaluation of long-established grape varieties in classic, established regions. It has also led to higher alcohol levels resulting from riper fruit – and, without question, drastic changes in weather patterns and extreme weather events.

‘In reality we’re producing maybe 30%-40% of what we made in 2021 – it’s not sustainable’

Dominik Huber, Terroir al Límit

Much of this can be managed, but long-term weather patterns are, unfortunately, beyond our control. The most dangerous of these in the context of wine is undoubtedly drought.

Grapevines are naturally hardy plants and they survive in the most unlikely of scenarios: hanging from the cliffs of Switzerland, and withstanding the harsh winters of Canada and extreme summers of Morocco.

What they can’t survive is an extended period with insufficient water. Parts of Spain, notably Catalonia and Andalucia, endured an extended period of limited rainfall from 2021 through much of 2024, when the heavens finally opened and replenished the reservoirs and parched vineyards.

But the damage – through stress caused to vines and the condition of soils – and impact on the wines has been eye-opening and has changed the way many producers regard the future of their business.

Inevitability & mitigation

‘I have always said I will never irrigate my vineyards,’ says Terroir al Límit’s Dominik Huber (pictured) with a tone of sadness. ‘But after another year like this?… I might end up changing my mind.’

This is a big statement from a very ‘hands-off’ Priorat producer. ‘Each year it’s 30%-50% down from the previous harvest. In reality we’re producing maybe 30%-40% of what we made in 2021. It’s not sustainable.’

This is sadly a common refrain among producers around Catalonia, and the responses range from fear and anger to a resigned shrug of the shoulders. ‘What can you do about mother nature?’ questions Enric Soler, who has vineyards a little north of Villafranca del Penedès. ‘We have to manage with what we have.

Extreme weather events

This issue might be particularly prominent in Catalonia, but escalating heat and limited rainfall are pressing problems right across the Iberian peninsula. Producers in the Sierra de Gredos, a mountain range west of Madrid famous for its ethereal Garnacha wines, have seen average harvest dates advance three or four weeks into early August in some years.

Challenges arise not only from heatwaves and lack of water, but also the unseasonal storms that come with these changing weather patterns. In recent years, hailstorms at harvest time have become an increasing problem – several producers I am aware of experienced total crop losses this year, with others losing more than 40% days before a harvest was due to begin.

Even in the country’s north, where vineyards are more exposed to the influence of the cooler Atlantic ocean, regions such as Rioja have been affected. Record temperatures in the summer of 2023, in particular during the heatwave of early to midAugust, were followed by devastating September rains.

The dry, distressed land was unable to bounce between the two extremes, and producers talked openly about the struggles they faced to simultaneously manage the stress of excessive heat and the immediate blooming of mildew from excessive rain.

‘Our new vineyards are being designed to respect the biodiversity of the area, but with far greater retention of water’

Joan Ignasi Domènech, Vinyes Domènech

Preparing for scarcity

Despite the fatalism of some producers, many are making plans for a future that involves significantly less water. ‘Priorat is used to having low levels of rainfall, and our llicorella soil [layered slate with a friable structure that retains pockets of humidity, also encouraging vines to develop deep roots to find the water they need] is key to retaining it,’ explains Oriol Pajes, export manager at Alvaro Palacios in Gratallops.

‘But when we’re getting less than half the average rainfall over the course of a season… there are limits.’

One approach increasingly being taken by growers, when replacing older vines, is to graft indigenous, more drought-resistant varieties onto the rootstocks of established vines, particularly if the likes of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot are being replaced.

It’s normal that such change occurs in vineyards over the years: new land is acquired, replanted, left fallow or reshaped entirely.

Yet over the last 18 months in Spain, I’ve noticed that newer vineyards are being designed in an altogether different way. ‘Keyline modelling’ is now on the lips of Spanish producers from Valencia to Rioja.

It’s a system designed by Australian mine engineer and inventor PA Yeomans that aims to maximise water retention in the soil by identifying naturally occurring keylines – the land contours that determine the natural flow of water over a space – and shaping the vineyard to follow these lines.

The result is a landscape with a gently flowing appearance, which can almost form spirals in some instances, along with water-catching channels known as swales and including ‘rip lines’ – furrows dug, or ‘ripped’, in parallel to the keylines – that break the natural topography, helping to spread water throughout the vineyard and minimise waste.

A visit to Vinyes Domènech at Capçanes in DO Montsant, Catalonia, in late 2024 allowed me to see this in action. ‘We realised just how much water was being lost due to it flowing out of the vineyard, particularly as we plant so much on the slopes,’ says founder and owner Joan Ignasi Domènech (pictured, above).

‘Our new vineyards are being designed to respect the biodiversity of the area, but with far greater water retention.’ The estate itself, situated in a beautiful corner of Montsant surrounded by thick forest, with a steep bluff behind it, is in the fortunate position of being able to maximise rainfall flowing down from the higher slopes, yet Domènech’s plans assume that they will see much less of it in the future.

Relative respite

In 2024, the drought finally broke, with rains falling in the autumn and replenishing the soils across Spain. I have two treasured pictures of Enric Soler standing in his Nun Vinya dels Taus vineyard in Sabanell, Penedès, one taken in 2023 and an identical picture taken a year later to the week, a few days after the first rains had fallen.

The difference couldn’t be more drastic. In 2023, the picture was bleak: barren chalky soils with no cover crops and a tired, weary look to the land – Mad Max, Penedès style. In 2024, shoots were springing up almost to meet the rain, grass was sprouting from the ground and the vineyard as a whole looked completely revitalised.

Soler seemed happier, even though these rains had fallen after the harvest.

‘It might be the end of this insane weather,’ remarked a hopeful Sara Pérez (pictured), head winemaker at Priorat producer Mas Martinet. ‘With the end [since June 2024] of the El Niño cycle, we’re hoping for more balanced conditions in the coming years across the world.’

Indeed, there is even a good chance of a La Niña cycle beginning between the end of 2025 and the beginning of 2026, according to the US National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

This would bring cooler average temperatures to the world and higher chances of rainfall over the subsequent three to five years. While such a reprieve would be most welcome across the winemaking world, preparations in Spain for a longer-term future of drought conditions continue.

Lessons have been learnt from the brutal drought of the early 2020s; whether it will be enough to manage the next event when it inevitably arrives remains to be seen.

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Sparkling

Raventós i Blanc, Conca del Riu Anoia Blanc de Blancs, Penedès, Catalonia

Recommended by Ines Salpico

£25.99 Hay Wines, Hedonism, Hic, WineTrust

Why? Produced from Macabeu, Xarel.lo, Parellada and, since 2023, Malvasia de Sitges. Crunchy fruit, a flinty lining and delicious texture make this an elegant yet no-nonsense fizz – very much like its winemaker Pepe Raventòs.

When? I love opening this on a Saturday afternoon while cooking. It then transitions easily into the first course of a fish dinner.

With whom? With my partner, while preparing a meal together.

Paired with? All things seafood, soft cheeses, freshly baked bread dripping with olive oil. Oysters are a must.

White

Altos de Torona, Albariño, Rías Baixas, Galicia

Recommended by Shivani Tomar

£15-£19 Highbury Vintners, The Vineyard Belfast, Waitrose

Why? With its fresh citrus, floral notes and a gentle toastiness, this value Albariño feels both effortless and quietly complex.

When? Friday evening ritual after the school run with a fellow mum, the perfect way to ease into the weekend.

With whom? Best shared with friends who appreciate a glass that feels special but not too serious. For me, it’s really a wine I would happily open with anyone who loves good conversation and a relaxed moment.

Paired with? It works so well with simple things: crisps or hummus and guacamole dips are a perfect match.

Baron Amarillo, Specially Selected Godello, Bierzo

Recommended by Tina Gellie

£9.99 Aldi

Why? Guaranteed to please, especially at this price. Ripe yellow peach, apple and blossom aromas continue on the creamy palate, which has bursts of citrus and a lingering mineral tang. Delicious.

When? It’s ideal to have in the fridge in case friends drop by, but also perfect by the glass to enjoy as a post-work refresher.

With whom? It has a zesty brightness that Sauvignon Blanc-loving friends will enjoy as an aperitif, but also the round palate weight that will surprise those wanting a rich Chardonnay over dinner.

Paired with? An all-rounder, but I enjoy it with a pasta dish of lemony prawns, roasted fennel and courgette.

Beronia, Verdejo, Rueda

Recommended by David Longfield

£12 Majestic, Ocado, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose

Why? This gives the full character of the Verdejo grape; picking is in two phases, fermented in stainless steel and concrete. It’s bright and easy, with peachy melon and honeyed lemon broadened by baked pear and fresh green apple, and on the finish a subtle note of fennel herb and a little lift of menthol enhancing the freshness.

When? An anytime wine, good with lunch, as an aperitif or with any lighter meal.

With whom? I’ve recommended this to my brother and it’s always gone down well with his friends and work colleagues at his firepit barbecue evenings.

Paired with? On its own or with salads, seafood, white meats, rice and peas or cheese and crackers.

Loxarel, Cora, Penedès, Catalonia

Recommended by Elie Lloyd Ellis

£16-£20 Widely available via UK independent merchants

Why? Bursting with honeysuckle, tart white peach, white pear and hints of rosewater, all balanced by refreshing acidity and a note of minerality, this wine – a dry blend of Moscatel and Xarel.lo – always evokes happy memories of holidays in Penedès.

When? Delicious as a warm-weather aperitif but equally enjoyable to lift the spirits any time of year.

With whom? Great to kick off an evening outdoors as we cling to the last throes of summer (blankets at the ready).

Paired with? Oysters, clams and prawns (preferably in a seafood market) or ceviche and sushi.

Red

Alma de Unx, Garnacha, Navarra

Recommended by Amy Wislocki

£13.45 Corney & Barrow

Why? A great-value, everyday drinking red, fresh and full of fruit: sappy mulberry and forest fruit juiciness. A really youthful and joyous wine, it shows the quality on offer from the best co-ops these days.

When? It’s delicious served slightly chilled, so perfect in warm weather. But really anytime I want an easy-drinking red that can be enjoyed on its own in front of the TV, or with food.

With whom? Because it’s so fresh and easy to enjoy, I like offering this to friends who find ‘bigger’, more tannic reds tricky.

Paired with? This one’s an easy companion to many dishes, but my favourite is to serve it with cold cuts, or gammon.

Celler Masroig, Les Sorts Jove, Montsant Catalonia

Recommended by Natalie Earl

£15-£17.50 Bottle Apostle, Good Wine Good People, Jaded Palates, NY Wines, The Solent Cellar, Vinoramico, WoodWinters

Why? From this high-quality cooperative comes a light, joyful red made from 76% Garnacha and 24% Cariñena in a ‘nouveau’ style – bursting with fruity berry pleasure. You really don’t have to think too hard about enjoying this wine, it’s like that friend who exudes charm and puts everyone at ease when they walk into a room.

When? It’s so versatile, but I tend to keep this chilled to enjoy as a thirst-quenching sip at the end of a work day as it’s so crunchy and fresh.

With whom? Pouring myself a solo glass of this tasty, drinkable red is an exquisite pleasure that I relish after a busy day.

Paired with? Honey-roast carrots and harissa chickpeas – the fruity berry notes in the wine pick up the floral spices in the dish and let them soar.

El Pacto, Ojo Gallo, Rioja

Recommended by Ines Salpico

£16 The Wine Society

Why? A bright field blend of Garnacha, Tempranillo, Viura, Malvasía and other varieties, with energy and delicacy in equal measures. Approachable yet complex, it’s such a joy to drink and the perfect example of how traditional, no-nonsense Rioja is so unpretentiously contemporary.

When? Whenever I want guaranteed satisfaction in the form of a glass of something uncomplicated yet interesting. Or when I want to bring something to a dinner party that defies expectations, starts conversations, is utterly delicious – and doesn’t break the bank.

With whom? The ‘barbecue gang’ (they’ll love it); the friends that work in finance (they’ll be puzzled, and love it); the friends that work in design (who will appreciate the great label).

Paired with? Gordal olives, salted almonds, roasted vegetables, fish tacos. Pizza! It’s so versatile.

Envínate, Albahra, Almansa, Castilla-La Mancha

Recommended by Rupert Millar

£23-£25 Cave, Iron & Rose, Parched, Sip Wines, Salusbury Winestore, The Sourcing Table

Why? A juicy, endlessly quaffable but still substantial blend of Garnacha Tintorera and (more obscure) Moravia Agria. It’s bursting with succulent fruits of the forest and a lovely undercurrent of wild herbs, an invigorating flash of acidity and streak of slightly chalky minerality. Immensely satisfying, it ticks all boxes for me.

When? This works 100% of the time, regardless of occasion.

With whom? A good one to impress your wine-wise friends. But it’s so supremely drinkable that you could also use it to wean a less-adventurous acquaintance off their habitual bottle of ‘Generic Brand Red’.

Paired with? By itself in good company, perhaps with some nibbles on the side. It would be a good switch with a roast dinner in place of Pinot Noir – dare one even think Christmas lunch itself?

Ramón Bilbao, Crianza, Rioja

Recommended by Laura Bianco

£11-£13.99 Sandhams, Tesco

Why? This is an approachable crianza, fresh, super-drinkable, but also so elegant yet with a structured mouthfeel. It’s a great example of what modern Rioja can be: uncomplicated but still classical and deep.

When? It’s an ideal everyday drinker. Perfect for a glass at the end of the day, for an easy midweek dinner or a weekend get-together. Reassuring and comforting, it never disappoints.

With whom? With my partner or a small group of good friends. This is a wine for casual intimacy.

Paired with? A plate of freshly made pasta, a cheese and charcuterie platter or a toasted sandwich dripping with cheese. Simple, authentic pleasures.

Sherry

Diatomists, Amontillado 12 Year Old, Jerez

Recommended by Julie Sheppard

£19-£23/37.5cl Widely available via Diatomists & UK independent merchants

Why? I’m a huge Sherry fan and fell in love a while ago with the Diatomists – new- wave producers who work with selected growers and put as much emphasis on terroir in their Sherries as the solera system. Their whole range is excellent, but this vibrant amontillado is my favourite, thanks to its combo of rich, rounded flavours and electric acidity, with a lipsmacking saline finish that makes my mouth water just thinking about it…

When? Aperitivo. When I get back from the office, I’ll enjoy a glass with smoked almonds or crisps, as I start making dinner.

With whom? My Sherry-loving friends really appreciate this, and it’s even scored a few converts from the Sherry-sceptics.

Paired with? This is such a food-friendly wine, but my favourite pairing would have to be a plate of really good-quality Jamón Ibérico. Heaven!

Fernando de Castilla, Fino en Rama Saca Primavera 2024, Jerez

Recommended by Claire Cocks

£22-£22.50 NY Wines, The Solent Cellar

Why? Nutty and moreish, this is the wine that changed my mind on fino Sherry. Gentle flor notes of burnished camomile, a streak of lemon drizzle cake and ryebread, rounded off with an incredibly long chestnut and liquorice finish.

When? A chilled glass of this one marks the beginning of the weekend; its flavours are a lovely halfway-house between summer and autumn.

With whom? Pulling up a stool at my favourite Cambridgeshire wine bar (NY Wines in Great Shelford), a glass of this always provides the perfect pairing to a catch-up with friends.

Paired with? Smoked almonds, slices of Jamon Ibérico and Manchego cheese – you can’t do much better!

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Two hundred years ago, long before it became the buzzing holiday resort it is today, Málaga meant wine. Made from Moscatel and Pedro Ximénez and named after the region’s hinterland mountains where the grapes were grown, the internationally famous ‘Málaga mountain wine’ was as highly regarded as Sherry (from the Cádiz province, further west).

Yet today the wines of Málaga are scarce in the city’s fine wine lists, with some rare exceptions that I’ll be featuring in the pages that follow. The arrival of the destructive vine-root louse phylloxera in 1878 spelled the end of the then buoyant Málaga wine industry.

Rather than struggle on, it was easier for growers to abandon many of the distant and difficult to manage mountain vineyards – olives and almonds were a much more straightforward crop to plant lower down.

New enthusiasm

While the Romans knew all about the wines of the region, by the 20th century Málaga wine had disappeared from view. However, in an exciting turn of history, a new generation of vine-growers and winemakers – some local, some from elsewhere – are now waking the region from its sleep.

The future is particularly bright – even if some of the finest vineyards are in places that are as difficult to get to and work as ever. If you want a great holiday with sunshine, history and fine wine, then Málaga is the place to go.

For wine lovers outside Spain, it should be high on the wish list, because a number of the most interesting wines have limited distribution in export.

Traditionally, Málaga was synonymous with sweet and fortified wine. There are historically famous brands, notably Málaga Virgen (for example, Reserva de Familia Pedro Ximénez).

The excitement today, however, is undoubtedly with the new generation. Two names stand out: Ordóñez and Telmo Rodríguez (pictured below). Long established in the region, the Ordóñez family began making sweet wines as a joint project in the early 2000s with the late, great Alois Kracher, the firebrand maker of sweet wines in Austria.

Distinctive to the Kracher portfolio in Austria, and to the Ordóñez wines in Málaga, is their ringing purity. Prior to that, it was in the late 1990s that Rodríguez and his business partner Pablo Eguzkiza were drawn by the dramatic landscape, old vines and slate soils of the Axarquía – a rugged mountain-landscape region to the east of Málaga city distantly scattered with white painted houses.

Rodríguez highlights a key difference in the ways in which he and the Ordóñez family work: he prefers to use the pasera technique, the traditional sweet wine production method of laying out bunches of grapes on sloping ground in the open air to dry them.

The Kracher technique adopted by Ordóñez is to dry indoors – an approach originally dictated by Austria’s northern European climate. Whichever the method, both produce delicious wines.

Moscatel country

That viticulture in the region survived at all after phylloxera owes much to the business of Málaga raisins (pasas), Moscatel de Alejandría grapes carefully dried on paseras (traditionally floor spaces but also sloped racks).

This high-quality product, nothing to do with the supermarket raisin, has its own DO – Pasas de Málaga – which is also managed by DO Málaga.

We are in Moscatel de Alejandría country here and it feels ironic: in the global Moscatel rankings, Alejandría is seen as the poor relation to the small-berried variety known as ‘Petits Grains’.

Yet in Málaga, Moscatel de Alejandría shows its brilliance. One producer of lovely Moscatel is Bodegas Bentomiz, where winemaker Clara Verheij and her husband André Both have built a deserved reputation for their naturally sweet wines. Verheij prefers to stop fermentation by chilling, rather than fortification, retaining delicacy.

Her Ariyanas Moscatel-based wines, which include dry sur lie white and sweet expressions, are a fine example.

The DOs of Málaga at a glance

DO Málaga: (created 1933)

Wines: For sweet or fortified white wines, from five zones (roughly west to east): Serranía de Ronda, Manilva, Norte, Montes de Málaga, Axarquía

Classification: According to winemaking and ageing, ranging from the youthful dulce natural to the wines designated as trasañejo. These are aged for a minimum of five years but the best are age for far longer

Grapes: Mainly Pedro Ximénez and Moscatel de Alejandría

DO Sierras de Málaga (created 2001)

Wines: For dry wines and sweet reds. May come from anywhere across the province of Málaga. The Serranía de Ronda production zone is significant here

Grapes: A wide range of local and international varieties is permitted

Beyond sweet

A newer project in the Axarquía with real promise is Viñedos Verticales. In just a decade, Juan Muñoz and Vicente Inat, both deeply attached to the history and culture of the region, have built a fascinating portfolio.

There’s also Sedella. Focusing on red wines from the Axarquía’s steep, craggy hillsides, this exciting project is run by Lauren Rosillo, technical director of Familia Martínez Bujanda in Rioja. As Bentomiz, Viñedos Verticales and Sedella all show, the future of Málaga – even in the Axarquía – is not just sweet.

On the other, western side of the mountain this is very clear. Just as rugged and no less spectacular are the Montes de Málaga, where Victoria Ordóñez is the name to know. Since she struck out on her own in 2015, she has been a leading figure protecting the area’s vine-growing, which is under threat given the difficulty of managing the tiny, hard-to-access parcels.

These are scattered across steep slopes of between 46% and 76% gradient, amid trees and scrubland, at 800m-1,000m elevation: truly heroic viticulture. Ordóñez learned her sweet wine-making working alongside Kracher. Today, though, she has her own, eponymous business making dry wines – white and red – with her son Guillermo.

For the whites, she has been identifying and restoring old vineyards of Moscatel and Pedro Ximénez (locally known as Pero Ximen) to revive the production of Málaga’s ‘mountain wine’; yes, that’s the PX of Jerez and Montilla Moriles, but here transformed into dry wines of thrilling purity and minerality.

Cool, crisp highlands

The DO Sierras de Málaga is full of promise, in particular the area known as Serranía de Ronda to the west of Málaga city. Red and dry white winemaking started here in the 1980s to supply the burgeoning tourist industry down on the coast.

Typically for the time, the area was freshly planted with international varieties. At Cortijo Los Aguilares, a fabulous 800ha estate close to Ronda with some 25ha of vineyard, technical director Bibi García (pictured below) makes lovely Pinot Noir.

Pinot Noir? In the south of Spain? Yes – because the vineyards lie between two sierras, at 900m, where they benefit from refreshing winds and a wide diurnal temperature range.

Among its reds, varietal wines made from Graciano and Garnacha, the two particularly interesting Petit Verdots under the Tadeo label, and now a white (since the 2022 vintage), have all sealed García’s reputation and helped draw attention to the region.

The Serranía de Ronda is on the up, and there’s real reason to stay overnight and visit the growing number of wineries, rather than just making a day trip to see the famous gorge, impressive though it is. Come to Málaga to discover a thriving wine world.

Find a new facet to varieties you thought you knew – in my case Pedro Ximénez. Already a year-round destination, Málaga now deserves to be known for its fine wines and winemakers.

The modern face of Málaga: Sarah-Jane’s top eight

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The words ‘Costa del Sol’ conjure up and not-always-tasteful luxury – designer shops, glitzy nightclubs, shiny supercars and yacht-studded marinas marking the Costa out as a playground of the rich.

It’s true, all that does exist along Spain’s southernmost coastline, notably the western stretch between Marbella and Manilva, including ultra-extravagant resort town Puerto Banús. But what happens along the other two-thirds of Málaga’s sun coast? Let’s have a look.

Officially the Costa del Sol lies within Málaga province, stretching between Nerja in the east to Manilva in the west. Sotogrande (Cádiz province) also gets an honourable mention since, although not technically a part of the Costa del Sol, it shares its tourist identity and people who live there consider themselves to be a vital part of the Costa lifestyle.

The entire Costa is on the Mediterranean, but geographically and culturally the two halves of the east/west divide – taking Málaga city as the median – could hardly be more different: each offers a contrast of landscapes, microclimates, lifestyles and culture – and, of course, gastronomy and wines.

Let’s assume you have arrived in Málaga (always a good choice) – in this article, we shall offer you plenty of ideas for some decidedly un-glam Costa del Sol places to check out, depending on whether you opt to turn to the east or west. It’s not a list as such, more a pick-n-mix selection of destinations that will enable you to tailor your route depending on your day. Remember to book all activities and restaurants in advance, and bear in mind that you will need a car for most of these day trips. The distance of each recommended spot from Málaga, in kilometres, is noted in brackets, to help you plan your outings and itineraries.

Málaga

Epicurean appeal

Málaga’s provincial capital city has certainly reinvented itself over the past 10 to 15 years. New museums, world-class gastronomy, a renovated port and 14km of beachfront have turned what used to be considered a mere point of arrival into the cultural hub of the region, and a serious travel destination in itself.

In addition to having its own wine museum, the Museo del Vino, Málaga boasts a couple of other slightly off-the-radar museums that are well worth checking out. The MAM Museo del Automóvil y la Moda is a surprising and delightful mix of two fashionable worlds, with the clothing exhibit rotated every six months. And, located within the 18th-century home of historian Gonzalo Fernández-Prieto, the glass and crystal museum Museo del Vidrio y Cristal houses an exquisite private collection of more than 3,000 pieces, along with paintings and other decorative objects.

There is no shortage of top tapas bars, restaurants and wine bars in town, including Julián Sanjuán’s Los Patios de Beatas vinoteca and restaurant, and Michelin one-star Kaleja by malagueño star chef Dani Carnero.

But it is also worth travelling northeast of the city (26km from Málaga), to the Montes de Málaga natural park for a special mountain winery visit.

Victoria Ordoñez (DO Sierras de Málaga) has been involved in the Málaga wine scene all her life and in 2015 branched out with her own project. She’s producing high-quality artisanal wines at the only winery within the city limits, with vineyards located in the Montes de Málaga, just 20 minutes away. Her three-hour Mountain Wines Tour (from €50 per person, including wines and snacks) is available upon request via the website links. Also out to the northeast of the city, but only 5km away in the rural outskirts, you can find La Taberna de Mike Palmer – take the Camino de los Almendrales out over the A-7 motorway, and it’s right next to the Pinar equestrian club. Don’t be fooled by the name, this is no ex-pat bar – indeed, here, local culinary legend Miguel Palma’s rustic outdoor grill offers one of the most sought-after dining experiences in the province.

East of Málaga

Rugged and ancient

With its mountains overlooking the sea, lined with caves and coves, this side of the Costa del Sol is well suited to nature enthusiasts – as well as wine lovers.

In the easternmost part of the province of Málaga, Nerja (57km) is a charming, strollable town of winding narrow streets, whitewashed houses, little squares and churches. Here you will find the magnificent Balcón de Europa (‘Europe’s balcony’), a promenade built on the edge of a cliff with views of the stunning Mediterranean coastline on either side.

The spectacular Nerja caves, just to the northeast of the town, house some of the earliest known examples of human art, dating back 42,000 years. An unforgettable experience.

Heading back towards Málaga, plan a stop at Restaurante El Saladero (@el_saladero_caleta) in Caleta de Vélez (34km). This family-run chiringuito (beach bar) stands out for its value for money and top-quality fish and seafood. Stick your feet in the sand and watch your order being grilled over open charcoal just a few feet away from your table.

If you decide to head north from Nerja you’ll find the impossibly pretty town of Frigiliana less than 10km away (56km from Málaga). It’s an excellent stop-off point to enjoy magnificent views before continuing on to the tiny white mountain village of Sayalonga (45km from Málaga, 28km from Frigiliana) and Bodegas Bentomiz (DO Málaga, DO Sierras de Málaga), founded in 2003 by chef/architect André Both and winemaker Clara Verheij, originally from Holland. Their stunning property, designed by André, overlooks the village and houses both the winery and restaurant. Visits (from €19 per person) include a tour of the bodega and a tasting in the restaurant, with the option of booking a three-, five- or 10-course lunch (from €59) specifically created to pair with their Ariyanas range of dry and naturally sweet wines, made primarily from Moscatel de Alejandría and Romé grapes.

Closer to Málaga, if you’re setting out from there for a day, is Rincón de la Victoria (17km), where you can visit Villa Antiopa, one of the best-preserved Roman villas in Andalucía (see turismoenrincon.es for both), and the Cueva del Tesoro ‘treasure cave’. One of only a few examples known in the world of a marine-formed cave system that’s now accessible, it contains prehistoric cave paintings and has fresh water running through it.

From here you could either head further east or north. To the east, in Torre del Mar (towards Caleta de Vélez) is El Alimentario. A little out of the centre of the town, this restaurant run by Catalán chef Jaime Tejedor offers a menu of ‘complex simplicity’ with the goal of making haute cuisine accessible to everyone. It’s best for winter visits.

Just under 10km north of Rincón de Victoria, in the Axarquía mountains, is the charming white- painted village of Moclinejo (22km from Málaga). Here, third-generation winemaker Juan Muñoz runs Bodegas Dimobe, A Muñoz Cabrera with his siblings. In 2015, he partnered with local winemaker Vicente Inat and together they began their more personal project Viñedos Verticales (DO Málaga, DO Sierras de Málaga). Visits to the Dimobe bodega (where Verticales is also based) and vineyards (from €25 per person) are available upon request (use the contact form on the Verticales website).

For lunch, stop at family-run Bar Restaurante Reyes (@barrestaurantereyes) in the centre of Moclinejo for hearty local cuisine steeped in tradition, relying on locally sourced ingredients and seasonal produce.

West of Málaga

Tales of the unexpected

There’s a lot going on in Benalmádena town (20km). As well as its attractive beach and marina, there is an aquarium and Colomares castle a fairytale castle- style monument.

Or you could take the cable car up to Mount Calamorro – which runs from the station at Avenida Manantial – for breathtaking views of the surrounding landscape and sea.

But we’re here for the butterflies. The Mariposario de Benalmádena butterfly garden is located within a spectacular Thai Buddhist temple complex just northwest of town. Stroll among more than 1,500 exotic butterflies as they fly freely in this tropical paradise inside an enormous greenhouse.

From there it’s a short jaunt over to El Parador Playa for spectacular fish and seafood at one of the best beachfront restaurants on the coast. Third-generation chef Francis Muñoz clearly understands ‘minimal intervention’ when it comes to presenting fresh products from the sea, but his astonishing small-plate creations also provide an innovative contrast that’s not to be missed. Serious wine list, too.

Heading west, Casa Navarra (@casa.navarra) is midway between Fuengirola on the coast and Mijas inland (on the A-387 road). This family-run spot brings northern Spanish culture and cuisine to the south, serving up dishes from Spain’s rich culinary past in a gorgeous, rustic setting. The restaurant also boasts an impressive wine cellar.

Mijas itself (33km) is a bit further up the mountain and in this sleepy, charming town you will find Bodegas Hermanas López Lavado (hermanaslavado@gmail.com). The winery is run by Javier López, who planted his first vines in 2004 and began production in his garage in 2011. Javier offers visits with tastings (weekends and evenings only – he’s a local police officer by day) of his small- production, minimal-intervention wines.

The Ralli museum (65km) is a proper hidden gem between Marbella and Puerto Banús. Opened in 2000, it contains one of the most important Latin American art collections in Europe. The website offers a downloadable pdf to help personalise your self-guided visit.

Afterwards, nip over to the pretty town of San Pedro Alcántara – a 10-minute drive west along the A-7 – to the new location of legendary Restaurante El Campanario (@restaurantecampanario), one of the top temples of grilling on the Costa del Sol. Marbella chef Manuel Marín announced the move of premises this summer, saying it represented a natural evolution in Campanario’s journey, offering a more intimate and approachable experience. It has already won over both locals and tourists.

Moving further westward towards the beautiful white village of Casares (102km, a little inland on the MA8300), you will find Sarmiento Brasa Andaluza. The restaurant is in an ideal location up in the hills, looking over the village and the sea – on a clear day you can see Morocco. It is run by two brothers, Miguel and Juan Diego Hernández, who were born in the village and honed their craft at Michelin restaurants around the world before returning home. They are proud to have amassed one of the largest collections of Andalusían wine in the world.

Between Casares and Manilva (105km), a town at the western border of Málaga province, is Baños de la Hedionda, a sulphurous spring dating back to the late Middle Ages, whose current structure was built from the 17th century. Reservations are open from June to September.

Also in Manilva, you’ll find Bodega Nilva (DO Sierras de Málaga), a project that began in 2014 to recover and protect the area’s dwindling Moscatel de Alejandría vineyards. A joint effort between the Manilva city council and winemaker Argimiro Martínez, the small bodega is located in the centre of the town, and houses a wine museum and interpretation centre. The Nilva Wine Experience (€30 per person) is available upon request and includes a picnic-style tasting with snacks in the vineyard.

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Spain has so many much-loved culinary traditions that it can be easy to fall into the trap of pigeonholing Spanish food and wine pairings. But, as they say, one must learn the rules like a lawyer in order to break them like an artist.

Spanish wine and food have traditionally been sentenced to the adage ‘what grows together, goes together’ – think Sherry with sardines, Rioja with pork or Ribera del Duero with lamb.

However, the wines of Spain often get overlooked when pairing with dishes outside the country’s borders. This is a shame, because they can comfortably sit at the table with cuisines from all corners of the planet.

Here, Spanish wine is going to rack up some frequent-flier miles as it goes on a journey to meet new friends and create pairing memories that will make heads turn at the taberna.

Unlikely companions: Five delicious food pairings for Spanish wine

Pairings: Jonathan Eichholz MS | Wine notes and scores: Ines Salpico

Vino de Pasto with burgers

I’ve been enamoured with vino de pasto (unfortified wine from Jerez) since I had my first sip last October. An inspiring and trailblazing group of young winemakers are bringing the spotlight back to Jerez, and its province of Cádiz.

The Palomino variety on its own brings elements of macadamia nuts, dried flat peaches and preserved lemons. These are white wines that are magic with meat. I’m a huge fan of the ‘smashburger’ craze, where burger patties are pressed, or smashed, flat on to a griddle to maximise the flavour-creating Maillard reaction.

The Maillard elements of a crispy seared patty are perfectly matched by Palomino’s nuttiness. The soft sweetness of the bun meets the dried stone fruit and citrus zip of the Andalucían coastline. Next time you’re invited to a cookout, bring a bottle from Bodega de Forlong, Willy Pérez (of Bodegas Luis Pérez) or Meridiano Perdido and watch the crowd go wild.

De la Riva, Vino de Pasto Macharnudo, Jerez, Andalucía 2021 | 96pts

Where to buy: £85 Burnett & Herbert, The Sourcing Table

Saline and vibrant, this unfortified Palomino wine spends 10 months under a layer of flor developing a soft unctuosity that’s balanced by chalky minerality in a beautiful interplay of textures. The tension between glossy ripe orchard fruit and finely etched citrus peel is more vivid on the back-palate, which is a prelude to a long and mouthwatering finish with a juicy tail of lemonade and red apple. Drink 2025-2029. Alcohol 12%.

Albariño with sushi

I am never not drinking Albariño – it’s one of those varieties that always finds its way into my wine fridge. Similarly, one of the things that is always on my dinner table on a busy weekday is a casual tray of sushi.

Here, we take the principle of ‘seaside wine with seaside food’ and dial it up a notch. The beauty is in the texture of the pairings. My go-to sushi is simple nigiri featuring an array of fish. Sushi rice is delicious – its sweetness and tang accentuate the flavours coming from the traditional lees ageing of Albariños from the Rías Baixas DO.

The ‘icing on the cake’ (or sushi) bonus here is the florality of the grape variety, which adds layers of flavour to the salinity of the fish. Lean towards the wines of Do Ferreiro, Nanclares y Prieto and Rodrigo Méndez to take your dinner to the next level.

Nanclares y Prieto, Alberto Nanclares Albariño, Rías Baixas, Galicia 2022 | 94pts

Where to buy: £35-£39 Furanxo, Hedonism, The Sourcing Table

Moreish and nuanced with intense yellow citrus fruits cloaked in linden, dry hay and wild flowers. Top notes of rose petals and jasmine. Elegant unctuosity on the mid-palate with the weight and richness of honeyglazed almonds and cashews filling the mouth. This nutty generosity is offset by an oyster-shell salinity. Drink 2025-2030. Alc 12%.

Rioja rosado with pasta all’amatriciana

As they say, ‘rosé all day’, but to me it’s ‘rosado all year round’, paired with everyday dishes. Pasta brings joy to life, especially when it involves the holy trinity of tomato, guanciale and Pecorino cheese.

Rosés from Spain’s iconic winemaking region lean on the power of Tempranillo and the generosity of Garnacha. While you twirl your spaghetti or put a fork in your rigatoni, the red fruit and green herbs of these varieties accentuate the brightness of tomatoes, while the tension of rosado wines cleanses the palate of the weight of cured meat and cheese.

Beronia, CVNE’s Contino and this Jabalina from Jade Gross are currently in my rosado rotation.

Jade Gross, Jabalina, Rioja 2023 | 92pts

Where to buy: £59.95 AG Wines

Expressive and bright, this shows crunchy red cherry, pomegranate and redcurrant, a twist of pink grapefruit and a herbal touch of aniseed. The playful finish dances between sweetness and sourness with a long tail of rhubarb, gooseberry and wild strawberries. Lively acidity throughout. 100% Tempranillo. Drink 2025-2027. Alc 13%.

Xarelᐧlo with palak paneer

I love it when classic grape varieties are reinterpreted into modern styles. Xarelᐧlo as a single-varietal, still white wine is quite new to Catalonia. As a variety, it beautifully balances fragrant herbs, jasmine tea and tropical fruit. Producers add weight with time on the lees and the use of oak.

Indian food is misunderstood as a wine pairing and Xarelᐧlo is here to fix that. Palak paneer is a heartwarming north Indian dish of spinach, paneer cheese and a symphony of spices. In this pairing, the green edges of Xarelᐧlo hand the microphone to the spinach, fenugreek and turmeric.

Well-made Xarelᐧlo has the weight from its lees and oak to hold its own and complement the flavours of the dish. Next time you order Indian, pop open something from Enric Soler, Cisteller or Parés Baltà.

Cisteller, Xarelᐧlo, Penedès, Catalonia 2023 | 93pts

Where to buy: £32.50 Decántalo†

An unctuous and round Xarelᐧlo, with a generous core of frangipane, cooked quince and apple pie topped with wild fennel, lemon curd and tangerine peel. Fragrant notes of hay, camomile and verbena. Weighty mid-palate, generously filled with loquat and nectarine. Veil of fennel seed and star anise with a thin honey glaze. Organic. Drink 2025-2032. Alc 12%.

Sierra de Gredos Garnacha with char siu pork

Grenache is such a misunderstood variety, most often associated with the Mediterranean sunshine that ripens it into a bombastic red-fruited glass with a kiss of garrigue spice. Spain, however, contains one of the world’s special terroirs for this variety: Sierra de Gredos.

Here, west of Madrid, Garnacha lives at 600m-1,200m elevation on granite mountains, creating a savoury, snappy and floral wine that retains remarkable brightness. One of my favourite dishes to pair here (it’s also a guilty pleasure) is char siu, a Cantonese roast pork delicacy leavened with the aromatics of five spice and laden with the depth of hoisin.

The elevation-driven Garnacha cuts through the fat of the pork but extends the dance of sultry aromatics across the palate. Some of my favourite producers are Jiménez-Landi, Marañones and Daniel Ramos (look out for the Zerberos wines).

Daniel Ramos, Zerberos Los Chorrancos El Tiemblo, Cebreros, Gredos 2019 | 94pts

Where to buy: £38.75 (2016) The Vine Whisperer

Fascinating expression of Garnacha, with chiselled, glossy tannins supporting the ripe cherry, stewed plum and red apple fruit. The alcohol is superbly (dangerously!) integrated and the wine flows seamlessly, carried by an earthy layer of petrichor, dried Parma violets and shitake mushrooms. Fragrant seam of wild oregano, basil and sage. Drink 2025-2028. Alc 15%.

Jonathan Eichholz MS is an awarded sommelier based in New York, where he runs wine education, training and consultancy company First Growth Inc.

†Ex-UK stockist: for UK consumers purchasing from outside the UK, please note that bottle prices shown include stockists’ shipping fees, duty and taxes where known at time of writing. Goods could still be subject to additional charges on delivery or T&Cs – check with the retailer concerned before purchasing.

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Those of us who work in and with Spanish wine go on, passionately and relentlessly, about how exciting the Spanish wine scene is, how it has evolved dramatically in the last two decades and how it is home to some of the world’s (often overlooked) standout producers – those now crafting the present and future classics.

This relentlessness is driven by an ever renewed sense of wonder: discovering Spanish wine is an ongoing journey, punctuated by reliable favourites and offbeat surprises, never predictable and always enjoyable.

The country’s history, geology and topography have given rise to terroir diversity and viticultural singularity – amplified by equally diverse, vibrant communities of growers and winemakers.

The urge to convert those who roam the world unaware of Spain’s wine riches stems from the fact that we too once lived in darkness. Until a bottle, visit or encounter opened our eyes and palates – forever changing, in many cases, personal and professional trajectories.

Some found themselves living in Spain, either temporarily or permanently, and building businesses and families on Spanish soil. Others have become leading voices in Spanish wine production, trade and education.

We asked Decanter contributors, Decanter World Wine Awards judges, winemakers, buyers and restaurateurs about that one pivotal bottle that marked a ‘before and after’ in their personal Spanish wine journeys, and to which they return for delicious nostalgia.

Think of it as their Proustian wine madeleine moment, imbued with Spanish hedonism. Here’s how and why they fell in love with Spain, its wines and its people.

Peter Sisseck

Founder-winemaker of Dominio de Pingus, Ribera del Duero, and others

Seduced by old-vine Tempranillo

When I arrived in Ribera del Duero, more than 35 years ago, the region was still a sleeping giant. What first captivated me was the raw, untamed energy of its old-vine Tempranillo: dark fruit, firm tannins, a freshness born of altitude and limestone soils. It was not a polished wine, but it carried an honesty and depth that felt timeless, as if the landscape itself had been poured into the glass.

Over the decades I’ve witnessed the region grow and refine itself, yet that first sense of wonder remains unchanged. Each time I taste those vineyards again, I’m reminded why I fell in love with Spain. I’ve had several memorable tastings and encounters since. I still remember the first time I met Alejandro Fernández [of Tinto Pesquera]. I’d been living in Spain for a few years and had just released the first vintage of Hacienda Monasterio (in the west of the region).

He came to see me and said: ‘I’ve just tasted your wine! It’s not very good… but at least you didn’t try to copy me, like everyone else. So I just want to give you a good piece of advice: Tempranillo expresses itself better in American oak.’ (Hacienda Monasterio has always used exclusively French oak.) I still remember the happiness it gave me. I never followed his advice, but we became great friends until he sadly passed away a few years ago.

Richard Bigg

Founder of London restaurant group Camino and Bar Rioja

An Andalusían initiation

My first trip to Spain was in 1984: a road trip all the way south to Málaga. Andalusía in the heat of summer was exhilarating. While there I discovered Sherry properly; first trying small ice-cold glasses of fino and manzanilla alongside almonds, jamón and montaditos (bread-and-topping tapas), branching out into the myriad other styles – and all from just three grape varieties.

It was mind-blowing how these delicious, high-quality and extraordinarily unique wines could be such amazing value. And Sherry is surely the most versatile category of all when it comes to food matching. I’ve been back to Jerez and the surrounding regions countless times and even had a house inland for many years.

Most recently I was extremely lucky to be invited by González Byass to the week-long Feria de Jerez festival – spectacular!

Norrel Robertson MW

Owner & winemaker, El Escocés Volante, Aragón

Iconic Rioja gateway

The first Spanish wine I fell for was the 1964 Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial Tinto from Bodegas Marqués de Murrieta. I discovered it in the 1990s while working at Oddbins and bought six bottles. They didn’t last long. Aged for 23 years before release, it sums up all the greatness of classic aged Rioja where the winery – and time – does the hard yards and lets the drinker bathe in the resulting glory.

Even now, decades later, it remains a benchmark in my mind. Some years ago, we were lucky enough to have a bottle of the 1925 vintage. It was remarkable – surprisingly youthful, fresh and vibrant. Spain has many treasures – I’m a huge fan of Jerez – but for me, Castillo Ygay was the gateway.

Beth Willard

Madrid-based wine consultant, communicator and judge; DWWA Co-Chair

A maritime attack on the senses

Txakolí may not receive the praise of Rioja, Ribera del Duero or even Rías Baixas, but it is the style and region that inexorably lured me into Spanish wine. I was living in Bordeaux and one weekend drove down to San Sebastián, just over the border on Spain’s northern coast.

It was at once a coup de coeur and a wild attack on all my senses: the delicious pintxo snacks, the noise of the bars packed like a tin of the wonderful anchovies they were serving, and the drama of the long pour from vertiginous height of the Basque Country’s local wine.

A country that can produce a wine with such a unique identity, anchored in its local gastronomy and intrinsic to its culture, this is for me. This is Spain!

Sarah Jane Evans MW

Awarded wine journalist, author and consultant with a particular focus on Spain and Sherry

Branded by the Marco de Jerez

My Spanish wine madeleine, the one that takes me straight back to a place with a feeling of joy, is – you guessed it – Sherry. In my gap year in the country, and subsequently as a student at Cambridge, I discovered finos. Later I plunged into the glorious explosion of oxidative styles. And now there are the ‘albariza’ table wines, also made from the Palomino Fino variety.

I first got to know the Marco de Jerez region through its brand names (notably Garvey’s San Patricio and Domecq’s La Ina). Later I made the connection with smaller names and, crucially, the people behind the wines. I have gone on to drink my way across the map of Spain’s vineyards, but there’s a special space in my heart for Sherry country and its people.

Fintan Kerr

Barcelona-based wine writer, educator, judge and guide

Captured by Priorat, by way of Ribera del Duero

The first wine that really made me sit up and pay attention to this beautiful country came via an informal wine tasting in Barcelona. The rich, layered Tempranillo of Tomas Postigo, livened by the acidity that comes with the high elevations of Ribera del Duero, was an immediate gateway to what has been a very happy 10 years, thus far, dedicated to Spanish wine!

The majesty and beauty of Priorat immediately captured my heart in a way that hasn’t been replicated since. The rolling slopes of schist and slate, the subtle aromas of dried herbs and earth on the air, the incredible views across the undulating valleys and, of course, the stunning, concentrated and deeply terroir-specific wines of the region.

Exploring Clos Mogador with the iconic René Barbier Sr was an experience I’ll never forget, and I’ve been a fan of the estate ever since.

Pierre Mansour

Director of wine at The Wine Society; DWWA joint Regional Chair for Spain

Like so many, my first step into Spanish wine was through Rioja, but my true love affair with Spain began with Garnacha. In the 2000s, I was given Spain to buy for The Wine Society, and as I explored, I was bowled over by the quality and variety produced from this underrated grape.

What struck me most was the common thread running through the best Garnachas I tasted: a younger generation of winemakers, obsessed with creating wines that truly reflected their place. I adored their purity and subtlety – understated, honest expressions that, to me, symbolised the wonderful Spanish people behind them. And the absolute standout was the Sanz family in Navarra.

They had just founded Viña Zorzal, approaching old vineyards with fresh eyes and crafting wines with a beautifully low intervention touch.

Manu Michelini

Winemaker in Rioja and Bierzo, native of Uco Valley, Argentina

Beginning of a quest for excellence

The wine that first shaped my fascination with Spanish wine was Bodegas Forjas del Salnés, María Luisa Lázaro, a Rías Baixas Albariño with extended ageing only released in exceptional vintages.

Its minerality and freshness opened my eyes to the incredible diversity of Spanish wine, leaving an indelible imprint. Another landmark wine was a 1964 Viña Real Rioja. It moved me deeply and led me to embark on the quest to recreate those great 20th-century wines that represent the essence of Rioja Alavesa.

Noah Chichester

New York-based wine writer and educator specialising in Galician wine

Blown away by a surprise classic

I had barely started drinking wine when we took a family vacation to New Hampshire. There, at the state-run liquor stores – much cheaper than our home state of New York – my parents bought a mixed case to bring home with us.

Among the bottles was a Marqués de Cáceres, Gran Reserva Rioja 2010. We opened it up at Thanksgiving. My world up to this point had been limited to $12 Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon or brand-name American wine and, simply put, my mind was blown. How could a wine taste like this? Leather, tobacco, coffee (or was it chocolate?), spiced plums…

A few years later, I would go on to live in Spain, and drink a lot more Rioja. And even though I now write about (and drink a lot of) Galician wine, sometimes I still think about the first bottle that made it clear Spanish wine had something special.

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As I write this, Beaujolais is in a flurry. Its first wines of 2025 – the fragrantly juicy Beaujolais Nouveau – are being sent out across the globe ready for the impending (and inevitably raucous) festivities on the third Thursday of November.

And while the folk from Beaujolais are the undeniable overlords of the nouveau party, they aren’t the only players out there dabbling in this vinous fountain of youth.

When you pull back the curtain, you realise there are people all over Europe, and even in the UK, that make their own versions of these new harvest wines.

A long history

Beaujolais Nouveau is merely the best known (modern) example of a much wider tradition of drinking brand new wines soon after harvest.

Nouveau wine, in its simplest terms, is a young wine that is bottled and released almost immediately after harvest. At times they are little more than fermenting must – such as Federweisser in Germany (known as Sturm in Austria).

In Beaujolais it is made with Gamay, which is low in tannins, using carbonic maceration – where the grape begins to ferment within the berry itself, promoting fragrant, perfumed fruit aromas. It is meant to be light in alcohol, juicy and easy going.

As Beaujolais producer Christophe Pacalet says, nouveau is ultimately an unpretentious wine that you can drink while you play pétanque.

Around France

As an inhabitant of southern France, I was intrigued to see whether this area, more famed for its heady reds, was getting on board with the style.

Jean-Philippe Padié of Domaine Padié in Roussillon has been making a nouveau wine since 2019. It was a bit of an accident; he had a plot of Syrah that went through fermentation quickly and cleanly, offering him a delicious rendition of a nouveau style.

Padié now works predominantly with the indigenous variety Lledoner Pelut, which he says gives an even lighter, crunchier wine, with a hint of something maritime from the vineyard’s coastal location.

Similarly, in the cooler northern reaches of the Loire, Joseph Mosse of Domaine Mosse makes a fuschia-coloured wine called Bang Nouveau from a blend of the pink-skinned Grolleau Gris and Gamay.

And while there is an argument that nouveau wines are best made with lighter-skinned varieties, Romain Le Bars in the Rhône Valley proves that this isn’t always the case. His dangerously drinkable Nouveau Nez cuvée is made from Cinsault, Grenache and Carignan.

Traditions old and new

Nouveau wines are popping up across France. However, there are other countries that have a deep-rooted history with this style of wine – Spain, for example.

Specifically in Rioja, where the wines are called cosecheros. Last year saw the launch of the first cosecheros tasting in London, hosted by Ben Llewelyn of UK importer Carte Blanche and writer Tim Atkin MW.

Here producers work with Tempranillo, foot crushing the grapes and using carbonic maceration. Like in Beaujolais, it is a style that is embedded in the culture, despite also falling prey to the tools of mass production such as thermovinification and commercial yeasts.

And while the Spanish perhaps don’t partake in the annual country-wide festivities, the Italians certainly do. Also released in early November, Italy’s answer is vino novello, also made with carbonic maceration and with a host of different grape varieties depending on the region.

Perhaps the most iconic in this mix is the Bardolino Novello from Veneto, which brings much joyous celebration to the shores of Lake Garda.

Sandridge Barton in Devon, UK, has been making its own nouveau wine since 1995. Spurred on by a disruption in Beaujolais supply during the outbreak of mad cow disease, they decided to try their hand at making one themselves.

Intriguingly, their nouveau was – and still is – a white made from the grape Madeleine Angevine (affectionately known as Mad Ange), chosen because it’s their earliest-ripening variety, going from vine to glass in just six weeks. This year spells their first release of a red nouveau made with Pinot Noir and carbonic maceration.

Balfour Winery has also adopted this new wave British tradition with its Essex-grown Pinot Noir Nouveau. Following the stellar conditions of the 2025 vintage, the estate’s head of wine Fergus Elias was keen to show that ‘English Pinot Noir has the ripeness, the fruit and the finesse to stand on its own’.

This is only the second vintage of nouveau, but with such excellent fruit to hand, they’ve made a wine that is ‘playful and purposeful’.

Down with the kill-joys

There are pessimists who want to put down nouveau wines simply as a marketing stunt or something to bolster cash flow. If that is indeed the case, then good on them. Hopefully everyone getting involved is making some much needed cash and shining a light on their region.

But I think it is so much more than that. As Llewelyn says, nouveau wines have historical relevance and value. In Rioja, they show the diversity of their grapes and region, they regulate supply – especially important in a place like Rioja where ageing requirements can extend up to five years – and they give affordable access to quality wines.

Isabel Fernández of Rioja’s Bodega Abeica says that these wines have been part of Rioja’s culture ‘since time immemorial’. Traditionally, they were made to be consumed within 18 months of harvest.

Her family has been making a cosechero wine for four generations, and she believes they can have good longevity and weight, so she uses a parcel of 100-year-old Tempranillo for her cuvée.

Echoing the sentiments of others I spoke to, she says that the crux of making a quality nouveau wine comes down to the quality of the fruit and the stems, especially when working with carbonic maceration and with low intervention cellar methods.

The biggest challenge facing nouveau producers? Poor quality fruit. Because in the end, the joy of nouveau – wherever it’s made – lies in its immediacy. It is a snapshot of a harvest that ultimately takes no prisoners.

Playful frivolity

From conversations with winemakers, it’s clear that these wines are moving into a realm of quality and artisanship. Climate change has brought riper grapes and earlier harvests, and as a result we’re seeing more of these wines made without manipulation – a gradual phasing out of what Jon Bonné, in The New French Wine, calls ‘industrial pop wine’.

For years, the market had grown used to nouveau wines tasting of candied banana and bubblegum – flavours I once assumed were a natural byproduct of carbonic maceration, but which in fact come from a specific yeast strain, 71B, which is no longer used to the same extent as it was in the 1980s and 1990s.

While I am a lover of Beaujolais Nouveau – especially in its newer, more natural iteration – there is even more scope for playful frivolity and experimentation in other regions and countries.

In an industry that can err on the side of stuffy and get bogged down in rules and labels, nouveau is a perfectly imperfect antidote for us to share abundantly and joyously.

Like my friends Greg Lane and Sarah Adamson of Scout Wines in New Zealand said of their Pinot x Pinot (a blend of Noir and Gris) take on a nouveau, they made it for no other reason than enjoyment, ‘to keep the house happy’.

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Between the 8th and 9th centuries, Christian monastic orders came in great numbers to central Galicia, searching for solitary places to pray. They found what they were looking for in the Miño and Sil river canyons.

Carved out by tectonic forces over millions of years, the slopes of these deep valleys reach near-vertical inclines in some places, discouraging any unwanted passers-by.

The numerous resulting monasteries that cling to these slopes would inspire the modern wine region’s name: Ribeira Sacra, or ‘sacred riverbank’. People have been cultivating vines here for centuries, carving terraces from unforgiving granite and slate and painstakingly carrying baskets of grapes up the impossibly steep slopes.

This is one of Europe’s great terraced landscapes, deserving to be mentioned in the same breath as Côte-Rôtie, Mosel or the Douro. But Ribeira Sacra has never received the same recognition.

Part of that might be due to its geographical barriers and historical struggles. Its isolation was great for the monks, but not so great for the wine trade.

And once the railways came to Galicia in the 1800s, many growers couldn’t compete with the cheaper wine arriving from flat, fertile Castilla y León to its west.

Faced with hardship, huge numbers of people abandoned their vines and left the countryside – a trend that continued into and throughout the 20th century and, in smaller measure, continues today.

A revival

As Spain moved back to democracy from 1975 and began to open up, new opportunities came calling, bringing both money and new winemaking technology to the countryside.

By the early 1990s, a few pioneering local growers had joined forces to create an official wine region and, in 1996, Ribeira Sacra became a Denominación de Origen.

Now, nearly 30 years after gaining DO status, Galicia’s most heroic wine region (see box below) is finally coming into its own – even as it faces some familiar challenges. As Spain reckons with a changing climate, the light, floral, acidity-driven red wines of Ribeira Sacra may help to future-proof the region.

At the same time, a global decline in red wine consumption, and a lack of young people to take on the strenuous viticultural work their parents and grandparents started, threaten to quash any success achieved thus far.

But not all is lost: a new generation of winemakers is taking over, making more innovative choices than ever, and working to bring public perception of Ribeira Sacra in line with the huge amount of work it takes to grow and make wine on the banks of the Miño and Sil.

Here we introduce eight producers who are driving that change.

Fernando González

Adega Algueira

It was love at first sight for Fernando González when his father-in-law took him to see a family vineyard. He began making wine in the late 1970s. After learning from fellow visionary winemaker Raúl Pérez, he founded Adega Algueira in 2005.

González considers himself a sort of mouthpiece for the region, spreading the gospel of Ribeira Sacra along with a warning of what could be lost if there’s no one to continue.

Luckily for González, second-generation Fabio has joined his father at the helm of the winery. Algueira farms about 25ha of traditional grapes such as Mencía, Merenzao, Brancellao and Godello.

María José Yravedra

Ronsel do Sil

Beginning her career as an architect in Madrid, María José Yravedra didn’t set out to make wine in Ribeira Sacra. But after completing her architecture degree, she studied winemaking and bought property in Parada de Sil, in the Ribeiras do Sil sub-zone.

She rehabilitated an old winery and named it Ronsel do Sil, after the wake (ronsel) left by passing boats on the river Sil. She farms 10ha and also purchases grapes from local growers, some of them coming from the higher-elevation QuirogaBibei sub-zone.

Ronsel do Sil makes a range of wines, from Mencía-based red blends to single-variety expressions of lesser-known indigenous grapes such as Merenzao.

Xabi Seoane

Pacio (Familia Seoane Novelle)

Close to where the Sil river flows into the Miño river at Os Peares, Xabi Seoane farms 4ha of vines as part of a fazenda, or self-sustaining family farm. His family planted vines here in 2002, including Mencía and Merenzao, and released their first commercially sold wine in 2004.

When Xabi took over, he added indigenous grapes such as Brancellao, Espadeiro, Loureira and Doña Branca, and experimented with new winemaking vessels such as granite tanks.

Having left the DO in 2012, Xabi returned in 2019 when he felt the organisation had evolved sufficiently. As a result, Pacio has had vintages both in and out of the DO.

Curro Bareño

Fedellos do Couto

After making wine in the Sierra de Gredos, Madridborn Curro Bareño (above) and Jesús Olivares came to Galicia. In 2013, they founded Fedellos do Couto (see ‘Beyond the DO’) with Argentinian Pablo Soldavini.

‘Fedellos’ is a Galician word that means mischievous or restless. ‘O Couto’ refers to the location of the winery in the Pazo do Couto, a 16th-century manor house.

Fedellos do Couto began making wine within the Ribeira Sacra DO, but left the appellation in 2016. Soon after, Soldavini left. Now, Barreño and Olivares focus on the area around the town of Castro Caldelas, as well as the Bibei river valley where they farm grapes around the village of Manzaneda.

Pedro Rodríguez

Adegas Guímaro

Pedro Rodríguez inherited a family winemaking tradition that dates back to long before the family were founding members of DO Ribeira Sacra in 1996. Guímaro (‘rebel’, in Galician) was a popular nickname for the winemaker’s grandfather and also applies to his approach to winemaking.

When he took over in 2001, he incorporated new techniques such as whole-cluster fermentation and ageing wines in foudres.

He makes two entry-level wines sourced from a mix of plots as well as single-vineyard reds, all of which are blends of Mencía and other traditional varieties like Caíño Tinto, Sousón, Brancellao and Merenzao.

Alfonso Torrente

Envínate

Though it’s not technically in the DO, it’s almost impossible to talk about Ribeira Sacra without mentioning Envínate (‘wine yourself’ in English). Alfonso Torrente, José Angel Martínez, Laura Ramos and Roberto Santana met while studying winemaking at university in Alicante, and together founded this multi-region project.

Torrente introduced the other three winemakers to his home region of Ribeira Sacra and they began making their ‘Lousas’ (the Galician name for the local slate soils) range of wines.

They currently make a village cuvée and two single-vineyard reds, sourcing fruit from across the region. Since 2017, they’ve marketed their wines outside the Ribeira Sacra DO because of disagreements with the consejo regulador authorities.

Paula Fernández

Dominio do Bibei

As its name suggests, Dominio do Bibei is in the Bibei valley, the easternmost part of the appellation and on the border with DO Valdeorras. The winery was founded in 2001 by Javier Domínguez, the brother of Galician fashion designer Adolfo Domínguez.

Until 2015, Priorat-based Sara Pérez and René Barbier Jr were the consulting winemakers.

Now, Paula Fernández (formerly of Dominio de Tares in Bierzo) leads the project, making wines mostly from Mencía, but with small percentages of the indigenous grapes Brancellao, Mouratón, Sousón and Caíño, as well as white grapes Godello, Albariño and Doña Branca (spelled Doña Blanca in other parts of Spain).

Adrián Rodríguez

Abadía da Cova

Adrián Rodríguez is the fourth generation of his family to make wine in Cuñas, on the banks of the Miño river in the cooler climate western part of Ribeira Sacra.

His great-grandfather Baldomero Moure Pérez planted vines on family property upon his return from Cuba, where he had emigrated as a young man to find work.

Over the years, the Rodríguez-Moure family became known for making wine and distilling orujo, the traditional Galician pomace brandy.

Today, Adrián continues the family legacy alongside sister Paloma and cousin José Moure. Together they have begun making single-parcel bottlings using indigenous grapes such as Brancellao and Merenzao, as well as white wines from Albariño and Godello, with Adrián in charge of the winemaking and viticulture.

Heroic viticulture in northwest Spain

The first people to grow grapes in Ribeira Sacra did so out of sheer determination – and with particular spiritual attunement. They dug narrow, stonewalled terraces into the steep hillsides and planted them with vines.

Today, the punishing geography is a double-edged sword: the steep terraced slopes allow grapes to soak up the sun – important in rainy Galicia – but they force growers to do everything by hand, from planting to pruning to harvest.

Workers pick grapes, put them into crates, then carry the crates on their back up slopes that range from a 35% gradient to near vertical.

It’s certainly a heroic feat – so much so that the wine world even has a name for it: ‘heroic viticulture’ is a term coined to acknowledge the enormous amount of effort it takes to grow grapes in the precarious conditions that exist in wine regions such as Ribeira Sacra.

Since 2011, CERVIM (Centre for Research, Environmental Sustainability and Advancement of Mountain Viticulture, based in Valle d’Aosta, northwest Italy) has given wine regions a specific seal for heroic viticulture if they meet certain criteria, such as cultivating vines at elevations above 500 metres, on slopes above 30% gradient, or on terraces or embankments.

European regions such as Valtellina and Trentino Alto-Adige in Italy, and Côte-Rôtie in France hold this distinction; in Spain, Ribeira Sacra is one of only a few DOs that can use the seal.

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