Spain’s melting pot of historic producers and exciting modern projects offers a wealth of options for fine wine collectors at many price levels, even if trading on the secondary market is a work-in-progress.

From legendary Rioja and Ribera del Duero to mountain Garnacha, Spanish reds are in a rich vein of form quality-wise.

Collectors are taking notice. Spain’s secondary market presence remains minor, but Vega Sicilia topped the Liv-ex Power 100 ranking in December last year.

Many leading Spanish labels also continue to be a source of relative value.

This report focuses mainly on reds, drawing on data and exclusive reporting for Decanter Premium subscribers to deliver an introductory guide to top names, vintages and market performance.

That said, Spain’s bewitching and long-lived Sherry styles, high-end sparkling cuvées and superb white wines are not to be overlooked, as demonstrated by a host of top medals at the Decanter World Wine Awards 2025.

A downloadable PDF version of the Collector’s Guide: Spain is available here

Key Spanish fine wines to know

Tempranillo in various guises (as Tinto Fino in Ribera del Duero for example) takes centre-stage for reds, but not exclusively. Garnacha is a driving force behind several small-volume, sought-after bottlings, and a wealth of other varieties play important roles.

Historic Rioja producers, like R. López de Heredia, join Ribera del Duero powerhouses Vega Sicilia and Dominio de Pingus as the most-searched-for Spanish names on Wine-Searcher.

Wines in bold were among those recently named in Decanter’s list of ‘10 Spanish icons to try before you die’ (See also February 2025 magazine issue).

This list can only ever provide a snapshot, yet it still demonstrates Spain’s exciting blend of tradition and dynamism.

Rioja’s DOCa denomination is celebrating its centenary year, and several top producers pre-date this, but many of today’s leading Spanish labels have also emerged on the international stage in the past four decades.

Vega Sicilia dates back to 1864 and extraordinary mature vintages still turn up at auction, but the arrival of the Álvarez family in 1982 took things to the next level. Dominio de Pingus, led by Danish-born winemaker Peter Sisseck, quickly shot to fame after its inaugural 1995 vintage.

Exploring terroir and preserving old-vine heritage have been key themes. Álvaro Palacios helped to rejuvenate Priorat’s wine scene and his L’Ermita, now a Gran Vinya Classificada, debuted with the 1993 vintage. Other pioneers include Clos Mogador, created by René Barbier, and Clos Erasmus.

Comando G in the Gredos region, west of Madrid, has achieved cult status after founders Daniel Landi and Fernando García first launched the flagship ‘Rumbo al Norte’ with the 2010 vintage – a 100% Garnacha sourced from an historic 0.3 hectare plot. It’s the youngest entrant in Decanter’s Spanish wine icons list.

Another entrant, Muga’s Prado Enea Gran Reserva, is a leading Rioja to know.

Other key Spanish names, although far from an exhaustive list, include Muga, Artadi, Roda, Telmo Rodriguez, Benjamín Romeo (Contador), Ramón Bilbao, Torres, LVMH-owned Numanthia, and Xavier Ausàs, the ex-Vega Sicilia technical director who founded his own Ribera del Duero project in 2016.

More projects to discover

Discovery is one of the great joys of wine, and Spain is a treasure trove in this regard. Decanter’s first Rioja report, published earlier this year, named Carlos Sánchez and Sandra Bravo (Sierra de Toloño) among standout producers.

There are developments aplenty, too; witness Rioja’s new single-vineyard classification, introduced in 2017 or the consolidation of its ‘White Revolution’.

Vega Sicilia already has its Toro-based Pintia winery and Rioja venture Macán with Benjamin de Rothschild, but is also building a winery in the Albariño stronghold of Rías Baixas in Galicia.

Decanter’s Spain editor, Ines Salpico, recently explored new-wave Ribera del Duero, noting: ‘An exciting array of new projects is introducing the region to a younger audience seeking fresher, lower-intervention, ready-to-drink wines.’

One example is Bendito Destino, El Olmar 2021 (96pts) from London-based sommelier Terry Kandylis.

‘Garnacha and white varieties [are] co-harvested, co-fermented in concrete and aged for two years in a used French oak barrel,’ said Salpico. ‘It’s a superb, elegant wine, with outstanding detail and purity.’

Top Rioja vintages

Vintage guides often clash with a wine world that defies generalisation.

Caveats aside, some top Rioja wines from exceptional vintages ‘develop great complexity over decades and stay in pristine shape even after a century or more’, said Pedro Ballesteros Torres MW in a Rioja vintage guide for Decanter.

‘Such acclaimed vintages from the 20th century include 1948, 1952, 1955, 1964, 1982, 1994 and 1995.’

Rioja’s DOCa council lists several other years as ‘excellent’, such as 1934.

More recent five-star vintages include 2001, 2004, 2005 and 2010, said Ballesteros Torres, who also gave ‘4+’ ratings to 2012, 2016 and 2019.

All gran reserva wines, and some reservas, should be built for ageing, but not all wineries reference the classification system.

‘Know your producers; names are more relevant than classifications and vintages,’ Ballesteros Torres wrote.

Five Decanter Wine Legends through time

• Torres, Gran Coronas Reserva, Cabernet Sauvignon 1970
• R López de Heredia, Viña Tondonia Blanco 1964
• Bodegas Roda, Roda I Reserva 1994
• Vega Sicilia, Unico 1964
• Dominio de Pingus, Pingus 1995

Winery release strategies

Many top Spanish wines are released after several years of maturation, or ‘when ready to drink’. This partly reflects minimum ageing rules in some cases, but producers also run to their own schedules.

Alongside Unico 2015, Vega Sicilia also recently presented its Alión 2021 (95pts, Decanter). Technical director Gonzalo Iturriaga described 2021 as ‘a super vintage’ in general.

Some wines are offered ‘en primeur’ (on a futures basis), such as those of Álvaro Palacios. UK merchant Corney & Barrow told Decanter’s Market Watch recently that it would launch its offer for Dominio de Pingus’ 2024-vintage wines in August 2025.

Some UK merchants also recently launched pre-arrival ‘en primeur’ offers for the already-bottled La Rioja Alta, Gran Reserva 890 2011 (£780 6x75cl in bond, Lay & Wheeler).

La Place de Bordeaux is increasingly a source of international fine wine releases, too, and single-site Rioja wine Yjar, by Telmo Rodriguez, is among a new wave of Spanish entrants.

Aged white Rioja unicorn

Long-aged white Rioja can be a true rarity and a wonder. Marqués de Murrieta’s Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial Blanco was first produced in 1917, and only 13 vintages have been released.

Last release: 1986 vintage (97% Viura, 3% Malvasia) | 99pts (Decanter). Bottled in 2014 after 20 years of ageing in American oak barrels and nearly six years ‘settling’ in concrete tanks.

Source: Capellanía vineyard, Ygay estate, Rioja Alta

Production: 8,125 bottles

Price: £825 (1x75cl ex-vat) via Hedonism | £650 – £1,000 (1x75cl, in bond) via BBX Marketplace, Berry Bros & Rudd.

Hunting value

Value is relative, of course. López de Heredia’s Viña Tondonia Reserva, a Decanter Rioja icon, averaged well under $100-a-bottle on Wine-Searcher (See ‘fine wine market’ section below), and even Vega Sicilia’s Unico is generally priced below Bordeaux first growths.

Shopping through a producers’ range can bring rewards. Pingus ‘Psi’ is ‘a brilliant entry-point into old-vine fruit in the region’, said Guy Seddon, head of fine wine buying at Corney & Barrow, in last year’s offer brochure.

A wealth of under-the-radar wines also offer plenty of opportunities for intrepid collectors keen to build a drinking cellar.

Three value Spanish reds under $50*

Rioja

Bodegas Palacios Remondo, Finca La Montesa, Rioja, Oriental 2021

96pts | $19

From the historic family estate of Alvaro Palacios, ‘Very young now, this [Garnacha-dominant wine] will give much pleasure as it matures.’ – Sarah Jane Evans MW.

Ribera del Duero

Magna Vides, Tinto, Ribera del Duero 2022

96pts | $29

Magna Vides was created by Pablo Arranz and Andrea Sanz to preserve their grandparents’ legacy. ‘It is yielding some of Ribera’s most exciting and elegant wines.’ – Ines Salpico.

Bierzo

Luna Beberide, Paixar Dragonte A Serra, Vino de Paraje 2022

97pts | $34

From Mencia vines at 700 – 1,000m altitude, this wine is ‘at once wild and finessed’. Slate soils ‘deliver a steeliness and vibrancy’ for long and elegant ageing. – Beth Willard.

*Global average retail price per 75cl, ex-tax.

Spain on the fine wine market

Average global retail prices for leading Spanish wines have risen in the past five years, suggested data from Wine-Searcher, although prices will vary by vintage, market and merchant.

As in other areas of the wine world, prices can rise over time as supplies diminish. Muga’s Prado Enea 2001 averaged $209 in May 2025, for instance, well above the wine’s $97 average price.

However, Spain remains a relatively minor player on a fine wine secondary market dominated by French juggernauts Bordeaux and Burgundy.

While quality is high, it is a commonly-held trade view that many collectors prefer to keep treasured bottles for their own future pleasure – rather than trade them.

Matthew O’Connell, CEO of the LiveTrade online trading platform at international merchant Bordeaux Index, said active trading on Spanish wines was generally limited, with Vega Sicilia a rare exception.

Spain accounted for 2.4% of trading by value on Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade, in 2024. That is comparable with the Rhône (2.8%), but behind a big five of Bordeaux (36.2%), Burgundy (22.6%), Champagne (11.8%), Tuscany (9.8%) and the US (6.1%).

Vega Sicilia has dominated trading on Spanish wine, in value terms, in 2025 so far at Liv-ex. The five top-traded wines are:

• Vega Sicilia, Alión 2020
• Vega Sicilia, Alión 2019
• Vega Sicilia, Unico 2014
• Marqués de Murrieta, Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial 2014
• Vega Sicilia, Valbuena 5.° 2019

Liv-ex data also indicated a mixed recent performance on price for several leading Spanish wines.

A tough market

Current fine wine market conditions remain subdued. A boom period up to late 2022 has given way to one of the most challenging phases in recent history.

The Liv-ex 1000 index, which tracks prices of many of the most collectible wines, has dropped around 22% in two years and was nearly back at its mid-2020 level.

It has, nevertheless, more than tripled in the past two decades.

Vega Sicilia: New ground but prices soften

Within a subdued landscape, Vega Sicilia last year became the first Spanish producer to head Liv-ex’s Power 100 ranking of global brands.

‘This is overwhelmingly a story about Unico, and to some extent [multi-vintage] Unico Especial,’ said Liv-ex.

US demand drove trading, although signs of a pull-back in April and May could reflect wider buyer hesitancy in the face of import tariffs, noted Liv-ex’s head of market intelligence, Tom Burchfield.

Unico prices have also dropped after peaking in March 2023 – albeit they have risen significantly over 20 years (See Liv-ex Unico index).

Spain at auction: A rising force?

Online auction house Idealwine sold 3,500 bottles of Spanish wine at auction in 2024, up 83% versus 2023. The top lot was a bottle of Unico 1923, sold to a private buyer in Poland for €2,438, including taxes.

Other highlights included a bottle of Rumbo al Norte 2020 at €813, and a bottle of Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especial (red) 1934 at €550.

Sotheby’s saw Spanish wine auction sales double last year. Its five best-selling Spanish producers were:

• Vega Sicilia (76% of total Spain auction sales)
• Pingus (8%)
• ‘Vina Sastre’ Pesus (4%)
• Álvaro Palacios (3%)
• Clos Erasmus (2%)

The remaining 7% of Spanish wine sales featured various names, including Marqués de Murrieta, Terroir Al Limit and Artadi.

Nick Pegna, global head of wine and spirits at Sotheby’s, said: ‘Vega Sicilia has always dominated [our Spain sales], because the wines are so sought-after, particularly Unico but also Valbuena.’

He highlighted the availability of decades-old Unico at auction.

‘The time they’ve had in oak means they can age incredibly well,’ he said. ‘They’re generally quite sensibly-priced, but people who want them absolutely love having them.’

Large-format Unico can be a real treat. US auction house Hart Davis Hart sold a six-litre bottle of the 2008 vintage for $5,975 in June 2025 (high estimate: $3,500).

Spain to attract new collectors?

Pegna said current figures must be seen in the context of Sotheby’s focusing on mature wines at auction. ‘You’re almost looking back in time a little bit to what people were collecting 15 years ago.’

He said several factors make Spain well-positioned to attract a new generation of collectors, including relatively accessible pricing and its status as a destination.

‘I think there’s a new generation for whom food and wine tourism is going to be their landing point in this world,’ Pegna said.

Spain excels here, he added. ‘Whether it’s Artadi El Pisón, López de Heredia, Vega [or] Pingus, there will be so many wines that people will come across for the first time at these moments and I think they will stick with them.’

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Disclaimer

Please note that this report has been published purely for informational purposes and does not constitute financial or investment advice. The report includes Wine-Searcher monthly global average retail prices in US$ to provide a consistent point of comparison, as well as data and opinion from other trade sources. All of this information is subject to change, and the prices and availability of wines cited will vary between countries, currencies and retailers. Decanter and the editorial team behind this report do not accept liability for the ongoing accuracy of its contents. Seek independent and professional advice where necessary and be aware that wine investment is unregulated in several markets. Please be aware that prices can go down as well as up.

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2024 was a big year for Vega Sicilia. The Ribera del Duero powerhouse celebrated its 160th anniversary – not least with a lavish event at London’s National Gallery, under the watchful eye of dramatic masterpieces from the Spanish Masters – and rose to the top of Liv-Ex’s Power 100 ranking.

Perhaps a landmark moment that marked the beginning of a new chapter in the world of fine wines, one in which ‘outperforming underdogs’ have become established frontrunners.

The momentous year built up anticipation for Tempos Vega Sicilia’s 2025 releases – in particular the 2015 iteration of the iconic Unico.

Scroll down for tasting notes and scores of Tempos Vega Sicilia’s 2025 releases, including Unico 2015

A new, personal chapter

It was not just among critics and collectors that Unico 2015 created a pre-release buzz. The vintage had a particular meaning for technical director Gonzalo Iturriaga, who presented the first Unico produced under his full leadership with a mix of nervousness and joy.

It was in 2015 that Iturriaga took over from Xavier Ausàs after his lauded 25-year tenure at the helm of Tempos Vega Sicilia (TVS) following the retirement of the great Mariano García.

Big shoes to fill no doubt, especially considering the ambitious portfolio growth led by Ausàs.

Iturriaga is humble – and pragmatic – and admits that the responsibility he inherited relies more on the preservation of a style and lineage than leaving a personal imprint.

And yet it is impossible for a winemaker not to lead his wines along a preferred path.

Iturriaga’s steps seem to follow a gentle classicism, built upon technical ability and expressive restraint. This allows the style of Vega Sicilia and the character of the vintages to come through with vividness.

It is therefore perhaps a combination of personality and vintage that shapes Unico 2015. Its completeness and roundness provide an interesting counterpoint to 2014’s sharper edges.

If one of Unico’s hallmarks is approachability upon release (and its equal potential for cellaring – not an easy technical feat), 2015 does not disappoint.

Plural takes on uniqueness

Unico’s younger Ribera del Duero siblings also perform well in two vintages – 2020 for Valbuena 5º and 2021 for Alión.

Each wine is also meaningful for Iturriaga: the former requiring him to spend long stretches alone in the cellar due to the pandemic; the latter for its expressiveness and energy.

2021 ‘is a super vintage,’ said Iturriaga. ‘I love its detail and potential. We’ll see great wines from this year. And 2024 promises something similar.’

Being responsible for the flagship Ribera del Duero range is perhaps the most visible but arguably not the hardest of Iturriaga’s tasks as TVS’s technical director.

Overseeing the projects in Rioja (Macán, in partnership with Benjamin de Rothschild) and Toro (Pintia), pose a different set of challenges and, in a way, higher scrutiny, as they stand against more-established names in both regions.

In Rioja, the shared responsibility of building a brand alongside Benjamin de Rothschild might seem easier than it is. Perceived as ‘outsiders’, the Macán wines are yet carving their space.

In the bottle one finds really elegant – and, again, technically pristine (which is not to say they are ‘technical wines’) – examples of modern Rioja.

Both Macán 2020 and Macán Clásico 2021 show purity of fruit and increasingly deft wood integration (one of Iturriaga’s ongoing concerns).

He’s also working on incorporating greater percentages of grapes (namely Garnacha and Graciano) that he believes will benefit the balance of the Macán wines.

To this end, the partnership is currently planting its own field blends.

Ripeness with bite

Having had the opportunity to tour the Pintia winery with Iturriaga, I was impressed by the pragmatic, highly-efficient design, one which he contributed himself and indeed reflects his reflective, precise, no-nonsense demeanour.

The latter is reflected in the wines produced there. They capture, with technical acumen, the powerful essence of Toro’s old, ungrafted vines. Fruit intensity and vibrant acid are leveraged to integrate alcohol and tame the tannins.

This technical ability is again showcased in the newly-released 2020 vintage. Iturriaga mentions that picking at the precise right time (‘we like to harvest “al dente”, when the grapes are mature but still retain a good crunch,’ he explains) and managing maceration are key.

But there are also clear signs of the new approach to ageing, with some batches matured in clay amphorae. This seems to help carve the tannins and give polish to the flavours, while retaining the alluring, savoury rusticity that is so characteristic of Toro’s best wines.

It’ll be interesting to see where Iturriaga and his team take Pintia having recently started to work with field blends peppered with Garnacha.

Eastern promises

An increasingly important part of the TVS portfolio, the Oremus wines have so far been classic examples of ‘old-school’ Tokaj: technically correct, pure but perhaps allowing winemaking and style to take the lead.

I was therefore pleasantly surprised by the latest vintage of the Mandolás Dry Furmint. It marks a departure from a ‘style first’ approach, allowing for the true character of the Hungarian grape to come through.

Furmint’s filigree aromatics lift the textural richness and moreish nuttiness, showing how a lighter hand in the cellar can underscore complexity and character. Iturriuaga confirmed that this is the desired vision for all of Oremus’ wines.

I’ll therefore be curious to taste, in 2026, the 2021 vintage of the longer-aged Petrács, whose current, 2020 release doesn’t yet show the expressiveness of the Mandolás 2021.

Overall, TVS’ 2025 releases show consistency but also an ever so gentle change in trajectory, no doubt a function of Iturriaga’s soft confidence and attentive listening skills.

Tempos Vega Sicilia 2025 releases scored and tasted:

Wines grouped by style and ordered by score

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Spanish Icons: Vega Sicilia, Unico

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López de Heredia, Viña Tondonia, Rioja

First vintage: 1913

Among the world’s most recognisable vineyard names, López de Heredia’s Viña Tondonia has become a brand in its own right.

Its Reserva is treasured as one of Spain’s most accessible icons, both stylistically and budget-wise, consistently delivering power and poise, drinkability and staying power, quality and value.

See below for a must-try vintage of López de Heredia, Viña Tondonia

The exceptional vintages, which after more time in barrel become Gran Reservas, on the other hand, command significantly higher prices in both the primary and secondary markets. Likewise, Tondonia’s white and rosé iterations are among Spain’s most collectible – and unique – wines of both categories.

Now in the capable hands of fourth-generation María José López de Heredia, the winery is determinedly committed to tradition and heritage.

‘We are obsessed with not changing our style,’ she says. ‘It’s not only what our customers want but also what we believe in. We want our wines to reflect our land and region, Rioja Alta, as well as the history that brought us to the present. We are faithful to both our viticultural and oenological traditions.’

Founder Rafael López de Heredia built the eponymous winery in Haro in 1877 and, after nearly three decades as a bulk wine trader, began the establishment of the vineyards that now provide the only source of fruit to Bodegas López de Heredia’s wines: Tondonia, Bosconia, Cubillo and Gravonia.

Replanted between 1901 and 1907 after being decimated by phylloxera, Tondonia covers just over 100ha on the right bank of a meander of the Ebro in Rioja Alavesa.

Tempranillo makes up the majority of plantings, with smaller percentages of Garnacha, Graciano, Mazuelo (Cariñena), Viura and Malvasía. ‘Every vintage is a challenge. Quality is a goal that can never be seen as achieved. Experience can give us confidence but the character [of the wines] is built every day,’ says María José.

‘All generations have had to work hard, with constancy, inquisitiveness, conviction and a deep understanding of nature.’

Constancy is indeed what first comes to mind when thinking of Viña Tondonia and its wines, which have a strong character but soft edges, are comforting but never boring, unapologetic yet unassuming – just what you expect an icon to be.

The wine to try before you die

López de Heredia, Viña Tondonia Reserva, Rioja, 2012 – 94pts

£27.50 (ib)-£56 Widely available via UK independents US$55-$72 Widely available

70% Tempranillo, 20% Garnacha and 10% Graciano and Mazuelo, bottled in January 2022, having matured in 225L American oak barrels for six years.

All you can expect from a classical Viña Tondonia with its focused intensity and muscular yet very elegant tannins. At once assertive and silky, with juicy red and blue fruit gliding over the palate while being pleasantly pulled back by an energetic, iodine verve.

Subtle, hovering, brooding notes of tobacco, mocha and wet forest floor.

Drink: 2025-2040 Alcohol: 13%

Spanish Icons: López de Heredia, Viña Tondionia

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In a year when travel was almost impossible, wine has been a fine companion. In terms of varieties I have been drinking a vinous A to Z: everything from Albillo (Cebreros) to Zibibbo (Pantelleria, Italy). Specifically I have been enjoying Cariñena from Priorat and Rioja, plus Garnachas – white, red and hairy – from Terra Alta, Rioja and Gredos, as well as Greek Xinomavro from Naoussa and Xarel.lo from Catalunya.

Scroll down for Sarah Jane Evans MW’s top 10 wines of 2021

Not forgetting Mencía (Bierzo) and Merenzao (Galicia), both of them elegant and fresh, plus Palomino (Sherry and unfortified versions from the Jerez area, as well as Rueda, Tenerife…) Of course, I also tasted plenty of Tempranillos.

Finally I cannot forget a really memorable Riesling, and a famous Cabernet Sauvignon. More of them below.

My top 10 here are some of the very many wines I’ve enjoyed this year tasting Spain for Decanter.

The problem is, Spain is not a country to capture in 10 wines.

There are so many wines I have had to omit from this list. Valencia in its entirety, for instance, where so many good things are happening. In 2021 I failed to travel to the wineries in the Alforins area including – Celler del Roure, Fil.loxera, Javier Revert, Los Frailes.

I would have called in on Pepe Mendoza at Casa Agrícola in Lliber, and taken a detour to Baldovar 923. Next year!

All of these should be on your shopping list, for ‘travel’ at home.

My last trip before lockdown in 2020 was to Alicante, a visit that included MG Wines’ historic Fondillón cellar. I’m excited to be able to include a Fondillón here, a unique wine from Alicante. Then 18 months later my first trip was to Rioja, to host the blind tastings for Decanter’s Rioja guide (published with the January 2021 issue). There we tasted some outstanding wines, including some exciting discoveries in the much-debated vinedo singular category.

Now to that Riesling. My life is not all Spain. In London, hosting the Daily Pour magazine programme on Pall Mall TV, I have the chance to spend time talking and tasting some exceptional wines. The Egon Müller Scharzhofberger Kabinett 2020 was one of them. A miraculous wine, of ringing intensity; a bottle that stops you in your tracks. It was a privilege to taste it. As the best wines do, it also brought memories flooding back: of Egon Müller himself, visiting and tasting at his home, with Scharzberg looming behind.

Another memorable moment was meeting Tor Kenward, who brought with him glorious memories of his life as a Napa Valley vintner plus a bottle of Black Magic, the wine golfer Phil Mickelson made a sell-out when he drank it out of his prizewinning Wanamaker Trophy. The third was a glinting sample of inky 2021 Carignan brought by Justin Howard-Sneyd MW from his property Domaine of the Bee in Roussillon.

The Carignans of Priorat (especially Mas Doix 1902) figure in my all-time top 10, but I have to say, this French upstart was very promising!

Sarah Jane Evans MW: My top 10 of 2021

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If you listen to the man responsible for its existence, the success of Spain’s most celebrated cult red wine is almost entirely down to forces beyond his control.

Fate, good fortune, the right place at the right time… these are the motifs in Peter Sisseck’s story of how he came to hit the jackpot with his tiny-production Ribera del Duero in the mid-1990s – and how it continues to command some of the highest wine prices in Spain, a quarter of a century later.

Scroll down to see scores and tasting notes for the latest Pingus releases

But if it’s true that there’s something a little implausible about the story of Dominio de Pingus, then it’s also true that its telling might prompt the listener to pull a kind of reverse Lady Bracknell. To have one successful wine project may be regarded as fortunate, to have two (or three) looks, well… might it be that Sisseck deserves some credit himself?

The Pingus legend starts with Sisseck’s background, far from the vinous mainstream, in Denmark. But if his industrialist family ‘were not wine buffs, or “five-bottle men”’, Sisseck says, they nonetheless liked wine. A precocious interest soon developed. ‘Some people collected stamps; I collected wine labels.’

Bordeaux inspiration

One family member helped turn the boyish collector’s impulse into something more serious: Sisseck’s uncle, Peter Vinding- Diers, was a respected consultant winemaker in Bordeaux, and it was during childhood visits to the region that Sisseck developed an idealised vision of the wine-grower’s life.

‘It was very glamorous,’ Sisseck says. ‘Not in a château-ish way, but it was cultured; just the conversation. I met people like Anthony Barton, who are icons today. Suddenly I saw something I wanted to do.’

Not quite ready to leave his family and friends in Denmark, Sisseck studied agricultural science in Copenhagen rather than go to a winemaking school overseas. ‘I’m happy that I didn’t get programmed,’ Sisseck says. ‘I was blessed to be a free-thinker, not to be dogmatic.’

Still, he was soon learning the specifics of wine in Bordeaux – before fate intervened again. ‘29 June, 1990: I was on my way to California. I believed that one time in your life you should go west, my boy, so I was quite keen to try my luck there. Paul Draper [of Ridge Vineyards] kindly offered me a job, but I couldn’t start until after August. In the meantime, I was offered the opportunity to go and look after a newly planted vineyard in Ribera.’

Spanish scene

That project, Hacienda Monasterio, ‘was an incredible opportunity. The idea was to make one of the most truly vineyard-based wines. We didn’t want to buy grapes, it wasn’t a revolutionary thing [in the world] – but it proved to be very revolutionary in Spain, and still is.’

Sisseck never did make it to Ridge, and celebrated 30 years with Hacienda Monasterio in 2020, though his involvement is much reduced these days. ‘I live next door,’ he says. ‘Now and again I pop over and kick their asses! I’m not hands-on, but I will help with the blends and vinification, and the bigger picture.’

His years setting up the project provided a crash course in the local conditions at a crucial point in Ribera del Duero’s development. As Sisseck says, while wine production in the region predates the Romans, its more recent (post-medieval) history had, with one important exception, been one of isolation and decline. ‘Rioja has much more of a developed wine tradition. Ribera was – is – the New World.’

The exception, of course, was Vega Sicilia, with whom Sisseck worked closely, sourcing vines and sharing resources while developing the vineyard for Monasterio.

The 1980s had seen the beginnings of a renaissance throughout the region, albeit not one without its issues. ‘It started off really nicely in the beginning,’ Sisseck says, ‘with small- size wineries, 30,000 cases volume, most of them having their own grapes or [sourcing them from] very good neighbour friends, old vine-based.’ Large-scale, ill-advised and poorly executed planting soon took its toll, however. ‘In 10 years, it had turned into one of the most badly done vineyards in the world.’

Going solo

With Spain entering one of its periodic moments of intense economic crisis in the early-to-mid 1990s, and with the 1993 Monasterio vintage ‘not exactly flying out of the door’, Sisseck, by now married with two young children, began to worry about his livelihood. ‘Would I still be in a job in a day or two?’

But he was still convinced of the area’s potential. ‘Talking to my friends in Bordeaux, they said, “Why don’t you make a wine for yourself?” It was the time of the garage movement, of course, and in travelling around the area I’d got to know the region, and [the village of] La Horra I liked very much, with its big concentration of old vines. I wanted to make very pure Tinta Fina, with no technology: a small project, very old vines, let the wine make itself, natural yeast.’

And that’s exactly what he did. On what he calls a ‘gravelly tongue’ of land over a clay- limestone foundation in a ‘sea of silt’ in La Horra in the middle of Ribera del Duero, he found a 4.2ha vineyard planted with bush vines in 1929, effectively in two plots separated by 500m. ‘The wine I made from there became Pingus 1995. I had never tasted anything like it and that was really special,’ Sisseck says of that first 12-barrel production.

He showed it to Vinding-Diers, who was impressed and advised him to sell it en primeur on the Bordeaux Place. ‘Everything was aligned,’ Sisseck says. Bordeaux was in an optimistic mood after a series of difficult en primeur campaigns, and Sisseck’s friends were able to get the wine to the big critics – Stephen Tanzer, Michel Bettane, and, crucially, Robert Parker all loved it. ‘It went ballistic. It wasn’t planned; there was no business plan. It was the first time that this thing had happened to a Spanish wine.’

In late November 1997 came the event that established Pingus’ place in wine legend. The year had started off badly for Sisseck as it was, with frost wiping out any prospect of a Pingus vintage. Then a ship containing 75 cases of Pingus 1995 – nearly a quarter of the total production, destined for the US market – sank in the deep Atlantic off the Azores. A disaster it may have been, but demand for the wine in the US suddenly soared, and the net effect was that the bottle price more than doubled to some $450 – and a star was born.

Pingus at a glance

Dominio de Pingus

Established 1995

Vineyard 4.2ha

Grape varieties Tinta Fina (Tempranillo)

Annual production 5,000 bottles

Region Ribera del Duero

Flor de Pingus

First commercial vintage 1996

Vineyard 30ha across four sites

Grape varieties Tinta Fina and 5% Garnacha

Annual production 50,000 bottles

Region Ribera del Duero

Psi

Established 2006

First vintage 2007

Vineyard 200ha

Grape varieties A blend from mostly old vines

Annual production 350,000 bottles

Region Ribera del Duero

The evolution

Since that explosive first vintage, ‘everything and nothing has changed’, says Sisseck. The vineyard remains the same, although it has transitioned to biodynamics and has been divided into five sub-plots, reflecting the subtle gradations of sand and clay.

Thanks to global warming, there have also been changes in the way it is managed. The yields are higher and the harvest is, generally speaking, earlier, both being decisions imposed by the behaviour of the vines rather than the dogma of the winemaker.

‘Harvesting earlier is not necessarily a choice: you have to work towards it, as the vineyards become better balanced,’ Sisseck explains. ‘We have been working them for 25 years now – they are very fit old men.’

According to Sisseck, the warming climate has also influenced work in the cellar. Up until 2004, the policy was to use 100% new oak, understandable since the 1995 vintage had been made that way as he ‘had to buy everything new’, and why change a winning recipe?

Then came 2005, ‘the first very warm year’. He says: ‘One of the first things I noticed was that with slightly higher alcohol, the impact of the new barrel felt more intense. Alcohol itself is a high extractor, so 12% alcohol will taste less woody than 15%. In 2006, we started experimenting with wood. It took me a while, but by 2012 we weren’t using any new wood – we use 12-month-old used barrels.’

Other wines

The source of those used barrels takes us to another chapter of the Pingus story. First produced commercially in 1996 in response to Sisseck’s American importer, who ‘wasn’t content with the small quantities we could give him’, Flor de Pingus is the ‘village wine’ that sits alongside the Pingus ‘grand vin’.

‘It’s not a second wine, it’s the “other” wine,’ Sisseck says, stressing that it has always used different vineyards: until 2004 the grapes came from a vineyard rented from a neighbour of Vega Sicilia; since 2005 it has its own four sites covering 30ha in La Horra, including a small proportion of Garnacha.

Inspired by the lushness of Pomerol Le Pin, Sisseck says he still looks for ‘that sexiness’ in Flor, which today uses 25% new oak.

The Burgundian model extends to Sisseck’s third Ribera project, Psi. Sisseck’s ‘regional’ wine, Psi was conceived in the mid-2000s as a means of conserving Ribera del Duero’s old- vine heritage, much of which was sacrificed to a local scheme that sought to make highly fragmented vineyards easier to farm by concentrating them into larger, contiguous plots.

‘I could see why the scheme was going on, but at the same time, a lot of the vineyards were really great and it was sad to see so many being pulled out,’ Sisseck says. ‘In the eastern part of Ribera, they hadn’t been through this concentration. I thought we could help them get a good return out of their old vineyards, but they had to be compensated properly.’

The success of his project meant Psi’s production soon outgrew the slightly ad-hoc winemaking facilities, which by 2016 were spread across the wineries of seven different co-ops. Psi’s purpose-built winery now makes 350,000 bottles a year, from 800 plots of ‘mostly old vines’ covering 200ha, and including one-tenth of the old vines in Ribera.

From Ribera to Jerez

Sisseck likes to describe himself as a ‘specialist in limestone’. And his latest collaboration with the owners of Hacienda Monasterio cements the idea: a fino Sherry-focused project based on two vineyards (2ha in the pago Macharnudo Alto and 8ha in pago Balbaína) planted on some of the best historic sites in the limestone soils of Jerez.

For Sisseck, this is the consummation of a desire to make a worthy white wine partner for Pingus in what he believes is Spain’s greatest white wine region and idiom. It also connects perfectly with his work in the limestone soils of Château Rocheyron, the St-Emilion estate that he co-owns.

Sisseck’s interest in the soil is not merely academic. Like many of the best wine-growers of his generation, he has a deep and longstanding commitment to biodynamics. And he clearly relishes the idea of connecting Pingus to an older tradition. ‘When you think of Janasse and all the great guys in Côte-Rôtie, they were farmers, they had apricots; the old châteaux were farms, they were working farms. A vineyard is not sustainable in itself. We have to try to understand it as part of a bigger ecosystem.

‘This cult of wine that we’ve had for the last 20 years, I cannot deny that I’ve benefited greatly from it,’ he continues. ‘But sometimes it saddens me a bit. I recently read a lot of books by Hugh Johnson, one of the true greats, and refreshingly he makes wine belong to a tradition of culture and doesn’t solely focus on just the wine itself.’

And so he turns to his latest project. ‘We’ve been making cheese,’ Sisseck says with a smile. ‘We need to start making something from the cows.’ Queso de Dominio de Pingus? Something tells me that may be one to watch.

A Spanish great: the latest Pingus releases tasted

Read next:

Spanish wine in 2021: Top trends and the 10 bottles worth seeking out

10 great Spanish winemakers you need to know

Top 10 Spanish whites for your cellar

What makes wine a superior beverage is its capacity to improve with age, sometimes for a very long time. However, there are very few wines that have this potential. They need to be fine wines, to be soundly structured and to have something else that shows up with time in bottle. There is no precise definition as to what the ‘something else’ consists of.

Therefore, wine writers recommend best time ranges to enjoy the wines based upon their own experience and assimilation. On this occasion, Sarah Jane Evans MW and I decided to do something different to find our selection of Spanish wines to keep in your cellar.

We are proposing a number of wines, available in the market, which we feel are very likely to improve with ageing. The rationale for our selection is that we tasted the wines in pairs, comparing the latest vintage in the market with a 2012 or older vintage. The wines recommended comply with three conditions: they are premium wines, they are very good now, and they got better with bottle ageing.

Spain is a country of great diversity; we thought it would be more useful for professionals and consumers to explore that diversity instead of concentrating in a few places with a clear historic record of great ageability. Besides, Spain is undergoing a quiet revolution in its vine-growing and winemaking practices. New places, new grape varieties show up as potential pillars for classic wines with ageability, but in these cases there is little historic background to confirm this impression. We needed to check those assumptions against facts: a comparative tasting. Therefore, we tasted wines from a wide range of origins – wines that are not so obvious a choice when looking for wines for the cellar, but which have proved worth the cellaring effort.

Widespread potential

The most classic wine region, Rioja, would have filled five wine lists like this one without any difficulty. There are many stunning Riojas that are over 60 years old. However, other appellations are less evident to the wine lover. We intended to discover and highlight demonstratable potential in these places as well. In addition, we found some superb wines that have been transformed by viticulture. We thought it was worthwhile including some of those wines undergoing Spain’s quiet quality revolution, which are now showing great ageing potential.

There are all types of wines worth cellaring. Red wines obviously represent the majority of our selection, but the potential in some white wines is amazing. Cava and other sparkling wines provide a nice confirmation of what we suspected: the best Cava can improve in bottle over many years. Comments are unnecessary for sweet and fortified wines, made with the purpose of lasting forever. We received no rosé samples; this is on one hand a pity, because we know of a few rosé wines with a splendid potential; on the other hand, it is quite logical, as there are very few wines with such capacity.

We tasted 280 wines to reach this selection of just 24 recommendations. It was a very hard selection process; many wines deserving to be in this selection could not be included. We would appreciate the reader taking this selection for what it is – an exercise to highlight a number of wines that we loved and are definitely worth cellaring. However, there were many other wines that were very worthy of inclusion, but we had to omit from the final list.

Introduction by Pedro Ballesteros Torres. All wines were tasted by Sarah Jane Evans MW and Pedro Ballesteros Torres to decide on the top 24.

First published in the Decanter 2019 Spanish supplement

Top 24 Spanish wines you should have in your cellar

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Everything to know about the Priorat region...

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Priorat profile

Climate: Long hot summers with little rainfall, making it ideal for ripening Garnacha and Carinena.

Soils: Called ‘Ilicorella’, a red slate soil, with small bits of ‘mica’. This soil helps to reflect and conserve the heat.

While there are only two Spanish wine regions with the exalted “quality” DO certification, it’s Spanish wine juggernaut, Rioja that generally takes the majority of the spotlight from the much smaller Priorat.

While wine is thought to have been produced in the region since Roman times, what we recognise as the more familiar style of winemaking is generally credited to the arrival of monks from the Chartreuse Order in France, in the 12th century.

With a steady increase in terms of production and quality through to the 19th century, phylloxera’s arrival in 1890 was devastating and it wasn’t until several people with a mind to create clean, barrel-aged wines starting in the 1970s that fortunes changed for the region.

The 1989 “Clos” vintage is largely credited as being what brought Priorat back into the international wine spotlight given that influential wine critics at the time rated it and successive vintages quite highly.

Local families started their own cellars throughout the 1990s in a Second Wave, which overall led to the collapse of the old village cooperative wineries from the early 20th century in the name of producing even higher quality wines. It has been on an upward swing ever since, despite stumbles during the 2008-09 financial crisis.

Five Spanish grape varieties to know

The twelve ‘vins de vila’ (see map below) are designated areas for growing grapes within the DOQ Priorat, which producers can label their wines with. This system was established in 2009.

Top five Spanish wine regions to see 

Wine style

The wines, once known for their full-bodied strength coming from Grenache and Carignan have changed markedly in recent years. Despite alcohol levels in wine the world over rising due to climate change, there has been a huge pull back in oak profile and grape hang time to create fresher and more immediately approachable wines with fewer French grapes in the blends.

What many consider to be Priorat’s ‘Third Wave’ (in just 40 years of recent winemaking history) has shown that the wineries can adapt and change while staying true what defines this as one of Spain’s highest-quality regions.

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Understand this labelling term...

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What is a Vino de Pago?

The 21st century is showing us Spanish winemakers who want to embrace more finite classification methods and in turn make the higher-quality vineyards of the Iberian Peninsula more visible to the world’s wine drinkers.

One of the fruits of these efforts has been the “Vino de Pago” system that came into legal being in 2003.

Perhaps a foreign term for people who don’t know it yet, the easiest way to think of it is like a French-wide Grand Cru system that while based in Spain’s Denominations of Origins (DOs) functions independently of them. It’s important to note that within the region of Catalonia, a separate classification system exists only for their wines that functions in the same manner but is called “Vi de Finca”.

The term “pago” can make for a play on words as the most typical use is for a “payment” in Spanish but when related to olives or more importantly, grapes, it’s a defined area or “single vineyard”.

To become a certified pago, there are several requirements: the pago needs to be owned by the winery who produces the wines, the pago has to be within a registered DO, and the pago has to demonstrate unique characteristics that make it worthy of receiving the status.

Once certified, a new DO is created for the pago in question and it enters the official list – of which there are 17 at the moment (see below), with several more pending final approval. As with all qualifications placed under national DO regulations, the Ministerio de Agricultura y Pesca, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente (Ministry of Agriculture) has the final approval in awarding it.

The reason for chasing down this certification for the wineries is that it allows them state on the label what is designed to be a higher qualification of quality than DO or even the top-level DOCa which is only held by Rioja and Priorat currently.

Largely, these classifications have been dominated by the regions of Castilla-La Mancha and Navarra perhaps as a way to show a higher-level of wine production in regions that aren’t as well known in Spain.

However, the much more well-known regions such as Rioja, Bierzo, or Priorat don’t have any vineyards with the Vino de Pago certification and none are currently planning to apply. To a large degree, these three regions have chosen to define their own high-quality “pago” vineyards at a local level by creating a quality pyramid from the ground up as opposed to the top down in Spanish system seen with Vino de Pago.

All of these various qualification systems will undoubtedly persist into the future, however as winemakers in Spain have been on a steady drive to define, promote, and enjoy the top wines emerging from one of the world’s largest wine producers.

The Vino de Pagos

• Campo de la Guardia ( 2009, Toledo)
• Casa del Blanco ( 2010, Ciudad Real )
• Dehesa del Carrizal ( 2006, Ciudad Real )
• Dominio de Valdepusa ( 2002, Toledo )
• Finca Élez ( 2002, Albacete )
• Pago Guijoso ( 2004, Albacete )
• Pago Florentino ( 2009, Ciudad Real )
• Pago de Arínzano ( 2009, Navarra )
• Pago de Otazu ( 2009, Navarra )
• Prado de Irache ( Navarra)
• Pago de Aylés ( año 2011, Zaragoza )
• Pago El Terrerazo, de Bodegas Mustiguillo ( año 2011, Valencia )
• Los Balagueses ( 2011, Valencia)
• Pago Chozas Carrascal ( 2012 Valencia )
• Pago Calzadilla ( 2011, Cuenca )
• Pago Finca Bolandín, Bodega Pago de Cirsus (2014 Navarra).
• Pago Vera de Estenas (2013, Valencia)

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Production, exports and consumption of Spanish wines...

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Spanish wine industry in numbers

In terms of vineyard area, Spain has the highest amount in the world – almost one million hectares (2.4 million acres).

However, the drier climate and poorer soils result in lower production levels, around 42 million hectolitres per year, below those of Italy and France.

The mountainous orography of the country and its sheer extension result in an amazing variety of wine styles. In quantitative terms, almost half the production is concentrated in one single region: Castilla-La Mancha.

Spain wine industry has been characterised in the last years by two major features, unheard of in the past.

Less domestic consumption

First, Spain is no longer a great wine consuming country. Since the 1970s, the home market has been continuously dwindling, to such an extent that the present per capita wine consumption in Spain is much lower than in the UK. If we also consider, adding to the figure, that more than 70 million tourists are included in the statistic, the picture is very dark.

Spain is a huge wine exporter, at levels that are comparable to Chile and Australia. More than two thirds of Spanish production, around 24 million hectolitres, find their way in foreign markets. The whole production system is steered towards exports, at all price levels.

From that point of view, Spain would indeed be better defined as a ‘new world’ country rather than a classic European producer. The frantic innovation pace in the wine industry in present Spain confirms this new world image.

Pricing

The second characteristic of Spanish wine is its average prices. Almost half the wine production is sold at unbeatably low prices (in a normal vintage).

No other country can compete with Spain (in particular, with the regions of La Mancha and Valencia), in terms of price to quality ratio. Do not try to find indication of origin for those wines, they are distributed in all kinds of wine products.

Importance of exports

Exports are increasingly important, and there is no sign of it slowing down. In 2016 and 2017, volumes did not increase, but total value did relevantly.

The importance of quality wines, those under an appellation of origin (DOC), is increasing at steady paces. But the value of Spain’s annual wine production, around €4.8 billion, is still far away from France’s or Italy’s.

Still red wines are the main production chapter (€2.7 billion in value), followed by still white wines (€1.1 billion), sparkling, rosé and fortified.

Although production volume for DOC wines is comparatively low (1.3 billion litres), the value is more than double value that of bulk wines.

More on Spanish Fine Wines

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Whether you’re jetting off to Spain this summer, or simply enjoying a glass of Rioja in the garden at home, it’s important to know what you’re letting yourself in for when you pick up a bottle of Spanish wine. See below for our quick and easy guide to Spanish wine labels…

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How to read a Spanish wine label

The label is your friend and guide — it’s not there to confuse you, it’s there to tell you what’s inside the bottle and where it’s from.

Going deeper, you might want to know how the wine was made — for example, did it spend some time in oak?

See below for a quick lesson on Spanish wine labels, with a little extra on Rioja reds and Cava…

A quick Spanish lesson — key terms you need to know

Bodega Winery or wine cellar. Adega is another word you might see, which also means winery.

Cosecha The year the wine was made; the vintage or harvest, also referred to as vendimia.

Denominación de Origen (DO) Some wines will have DO labelled after the name of the region, meaning that this is a quality-controlled appellation that has been awarded a higher status of winemaking. You can also spot a DO wine by the black label on the back, known as the contraetiqueta.

Denominación de Origen Calificada (DOCa) A cut above DO wines, those labelled DOCa must have met tightly controlled and challenging quality criteria. Only two areas currently make the grade: Priorat and Rioja.

Joven Translates to ‘young’ and refers to wines not destined for ageing, rules are unspecified about whether they are oaked or not. These are generally drunk during the year of release.

Vino Tinto Red wine. Although Spanish white wine translates directly vino blanco, red wine is not rojo (red), but tinto (dark coloured).

Roble The Spanish word for oak, meaning the wine has spent an unspecified time in oak barrels — usually not very long.

Rosado Rosé wine.

Viejo Literally meaning ‘old’, by law this can only be used on the labels of wines aged for three years or more.

Vino de la Tierra (VdlT) It might seem a bit of a mouthful, but really this just means ‘wine of the land’, and refers to wines from regions that don’t qualify as DOs (yet).

Rioja Unravelled

Oak is sacrosanct in the Rioja wine world, and it forms a large part of the character of its red wines. So it’s important to communicate what degree of oak ageing a wine has been subject to, for this there are the following terms:

Crianza The literal translation is ‘bringing up’, which makes sense given that these wines are one step on from ‘joven’ in Rioja terminology. Crianza wines must have been aged for a minimum of two years, with one of those spent in oak casks.

Reserva You can usually expect these wines to be made from a ‘reserve’ of better vintages. By wine law, these red Riojas must be at least three years old; a minimum of one year in oak and the rest in the bottle.

Gran Reserva The ultimate in oaked vino tinto, these wines are made from only the best vintages. To make the cut, they must be aged for for five years or more, which should include at least 18 months in oak casks.

Cava Encounters

The popular Spanish sparkling Cava is made using the traditional method, often written on the bottle as método tradicionel. It’s the same as that of Champagne, which involves sugar being added to the wine after the sediment from its second fermentation is removed.

The label will generally tell you how much sugar was added at this point, and therefore how sweet or dry the final wine will be. Look for these terms to guide you:

Brut Nature, Brut Extra & Brut These French terms are a hangover from the origins of the traditional method. Brut Nature is the driest type of Cava, as very little sugar is added. Brut Extra is the next category up, involving up to 6 grams of residual sugar per litre. Plain Brut Cava may contain up to 12 grams of sugar.

Seco, Semiseco & Dulce Now we’re talking Spanish, Seco meaning dry. This generally contains between 17 and 32 residual grams of sugar, Semiseco Cava can contain 32-50 grams. Finally Dulce takes the prize for the sweetest Cava category, at 50 or more grams of sugar per litre.

Created by Decanter in partnership with ARAEX Grands

How well can you read a Spanish wine label and do you know what to look for in the glass?...

Scroll down and click in the box to start the Spanish fine wine quiz.

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• Light-bodied red wine quiz

• Wine glossary quiz – Test your knowledge

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Spanish wine expert Pedro Ballesteros Torres MW shares his advice on what to put in your cellar and when to drink...

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What you need in your Spanish wine cellar – a guide

Bearing in mind present day’s diversity and quality in the country , it’d be easy providing recommendations for a large cellar to be filled with just Spanish wine.

It’s much harder to advice on a short list representing the country while providing different opportunities to open a bottle.

The selection below is intended to be eclectic and functional, but if is far from being comprehensive.

For each category, several dozen names will deliver what is expected, just have your wine seller advising you.

Classic Spain, to keep as long as you wish

• Rioja Gran Reserva, aged for several years in American oak
• Modern Rioja “autor” style, not having any particular ageing indication, many times referring to a single vineyard
• Top Ribera del Duero, often indicating Reserva, from the best brands
• Priorat, particularly “vi de finca”
• Palo cortado Sherry
• Old amontillado from Montilla
• Fondillón from Alicante

Deep Spain, powerful and round, to drink or mid-term ageing

• Cava de Paraje Calificado CPC
• Red Bierzo
• Aged Toro
• Garnacha from Central Spain: Gredos, Manchuela, Méntrida
• Old-vine Garnacha from Navarra, Campo de Borja and Calatayud
• Monastrell reds from Alicante and Jumilla

The renewed Spain, original and refined wines, with a sense of place, to drink in less than 5 years time

• Top Albariño from Rias Baixas
• Great Ribeiro blends
• Malvasía volcánica from Lanzarote
• Fino en rama from Jerez
• Godello from Galicia and Bierzo
• Bobal from Requena, only top brands
• Red Galician wines, only autochthonous grape varieties
• White and red wines from Tenerife, only autochthonous varieties

Joyful Spain, fresh and fruity wines to drink within the year

• Rueda, Verdejo or Sauvignon Blanc. Avoid the cheaper stuff
• Txakoli, all 3 appellations
• Rosé from Navarra
• Carbonic maceration reds from Rioja (“cosecheros”)

Sweet Spain

• PX from Montilla-Moriles
• Off-dry to sweet muscat from Navarra and Alicante
• Sweet garnatxa from Catalonia

Expert tips for building your collection, from our previous guide

Insider tip #1

Try lesser wines from the most prestigious estates – they often provide unbeatable value.

Insider tip #2

Ignore the ‘official’ vintage ratings, provided by the appellations, as they are useless. During this century, not a single vintage in any region has been less than ‘Good’!

Insider tip #3

Spain’s dry climate is ideal for organic and biodynamic viticulture. Many top wineries do not indicate that they are organic on the labels, but you should find it on the winery website.

Insider tip #4

Spanish wine is good value for money, but avoid anything sold as a bargain. Heavily discounted wines tend to be mediocre.

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Ever considered the origins of Spanish winemaking? Learn about the history of this region...

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Spanish wine history

As is the case with the many countries that ring the Mediterranean Sea, winemaking initially arrived to Spain with the Phoenicians around 1,000 BCE, but took hold more seriously with the Romans. Pliny the Elder, in the 1st century CE made special note of the wines coming from around Tarraco, modern day Tarragona in the Catalunya region.

While the Visigoths occupied Spain after the fall of the Roman Empire, it was their overthrow by the Moors in the 8th century CE that led to a general decline in wine production that didn’t start to grow again until the Reconquista of Spain in the 12th century. The higher alcohol content (as well as the eventual advent of the fortified wines of Sherry fame) allowed the wines to travel well and Spain beginning a tradition of exporting that continues to this day.

Growth in exports raised steadily throughout the following centuries and saw massive expansion during the 17th and 18th centuries to Spain’s colonial holdings.

In the mid-19th century, Rioja, while producing wines of note for some time became a power to reckon with as shown by the founding of several of today’s well-known estates.

The second half of the 19th century was a boom for Spain as France’s wine industry had been crippled by the onset of the root louse, phylloxera and they were readily buying Spanish wine in bulk to bottle in France, a practice that continues in earnest in the 21st century and is fomenting conflict with Southern French winemakers. But, 160 years ago it was the French winemakers who crossed the border and brought with them more advanced winemaking techniques which greatly improved the quality of Spanish wine, with a heavy emphasis on Rioja.

In a mere 20 years after the founding of these still highly-regarded estates, some 16,000ha of vineyards were planted and in 1880 a rail link was completed to Bilbao from the village of Haro. The made Haro the de facto centre for shipping wine up to France and, despite the sleepiness of the town today, it was a key economic centre for the region during this time. Tribute is paid to this time in the annual La Cata del Barrio de la Estación which features all of the wineries in the historic neighbourhood around the train station.

This initially excellent time for Spanish wine quickly turned sour as first powdery mildew crossed the Pyrenees in 1850, followed by phylloxera a few decades later on the eastern shores. Rioja managed to avoid the ravages for some time, but phylloxera finally arrived in 1901 and while the solution of grafting on to American roots had long been known, it was a massive financial undertaking. Many of the French winemakers who had established themselves in Rioja returned back to France.

In many other regions, countless viticulturists emigrated from the Spain in general to find their fortunes elsewhere in the world. Those who stayed replanted and fully changed the face of the vines grown as countless old varieties were lost in favour of more uniform and more productive selections, such as what have become the core white grapes used in Cava.

The magnitude of the Spanish Civil War impacted wine production and a great deal and in the second half of the 20th century another quality revolution in Spain washed over Spain. For Rioja, the start of the 1970s and specifically the vintage of 1970 put the region back on the maps of the wine world from which is has manage to stay firmly upon for generations of wine drinkers now.

In other regions, such as Penedès, winemakers began to introduce more scientific and clean winemaking. The consistent quality of these news wines has led to Spain’s being one of top three wine producers in the world.

But, in addition to the ability to produce huge quantities of wine, every year we see more singular, icon wines emerging showing that Spain is readily capable of finesse in addition to creating well-priced wine for the masses.

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Everything you need to know about this key Spanish wine region...

In partnership with ARAEX Grands

Rioja fact file

Rioja DOC covers 63,500 ha of vineyards, spreading through three administrative regions: La Rioja, Basque Country and Navarra, 144 municipalities, and hundreds of distinctive vineyard sites.

Climate: Moderate maritime climate, influenced by the Atlantic Ocean.

Soils: Mostly clay soils, with some limestone.

Grapes: Red – Tempranillo, Garnacha, Mazuelo, Graciano, Maturana Tinta.

White – Viura, Malvasía de Rioja, Garnacha Blanca, Tempranillo Blanco, Maturana Blanca and Turruntés de Rioja Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Verdejo.

Annual production 2017: 349 million kg*

Max. yield per hectare: Red – 6,500 kg. White – 9,000 kg.*

*Source: Consejo Regulador de la D.O.Ca. Rioja

Despite being the most renowned Spanish region, few connoisseurs understand the full picture of quality and diversity in Rioja. Entry-level consumers see Rioja as attractive mid-body, soft vanilla-scented food-friendly red wines.

This makes sense, since this style of wines can be found in all supermarkets. Many people go up the ladder into higher categories, but most of them remain at that level or move on to other wine regions, thinking erroneously that Rioja has little else to offer.

This is a pity. There is great diversity in Rioja. It is a wine country on its own; few regions can claim to excel in young and old red and white wines, rosé, sparkling and sweet.

Whites can be fruity wines made of up to nine different varieties and their combinations – complex expressive terroir wines from single vineyards – are rare jewels that are aged on oak for decades, or anything in between. Rosé wines can be pink, fruity charming beverages, complex rosés made on their lees or the unique wonder of rosé aged for almost a decade in old oak vats.

Red wines go from juicy carbonic maceration to extracted long-maceration wines, from single vineyards to mastery regional blends, from almost reductive styles to seductively oxidative gran reserva, from wines to drink before the next harvest to wines to drink next century, from dense Tempranillos to floral Garnachas to elegant Gracianos to wild Mazuelos.

This is not all; sparkling wines are also made using the traditional method, and most relevant Rioja sparkling wines are sold within the Cava appellation.

Now that vermouth is also back to the forefront, do not forget to try the century-old formulas of some bodegas. You will be surprised and delighted. Or try the rare supurados, amarone-style delicious sweet wines – one of several Rioja sweet wine styles.

A second argument to love Rioja is the best wines’ ageing potential: Rioja is one of the five classic wine areas in the world that can consistently show many old, often centennial, wines of unsurpassable quality, both red and white (and even a rosé!). Icon Rioja is a smart long-term investment.

There is another Rioja feature that is likely to evaporate swiftly: low prices. No classic region matches Rioja’s amazing offer at mid-range prices. Rioja is a top quality region and, for a short time I am afraid, a land of wonderful wines at good prices, an affordable opportunity to taste greatness.

Rioja sub regions

Present Rioja regulations only distinguish three historical wine regions: Rioja Baja, Rioja Alta and Rioja Alavesa.

Until recently, the most popular Rioja brands used to be blends of grapes from two or three of those sub-regions, although some boutique wineries used to produce wines coming from their own vineyards in just one sub-region.

 Fact file

Rioja Alta: Grapes – Tempranillo, Mazuelo

Hectares: Over 27,000*

Rioja Alavesa: Grapes – Tempranillo, Garnacha, Mazuelo and Graciano. White – Viura, Malvasia and Garnacha Blanca

Hectares: Over 13,000*

Rioja Baja: Grapes –  Garnacha

Hectares: Over 24,500 hectares*

*Source: Consejo Regulador de la D.O.Ca. Rioja 

Late last century, the market success of a new wave of producers that put more emphasis on the vineyard developed interest for vineyard designation. After a long debate process, it seems that by 2018 the DOC Rioja will adopt new rules, including recognition of the municipalities and single vineyards (“Viñedos Singulares”).

To qualify for this classification, producers will have to comply with certain rules, including having vines more than 35 years old, that grapes are entirely hand harvested and a tasting committee will oversee it. This label with then be combined with the current Rioja labelling rules on barrel-ageing.

The objective is to have a Burgundy-like scheme with generic wines, villages and the crus. Thankfully Rioja is more complex than any law. I think that classic cross-zone blend wines will shine in their unique style, many other wines will be renowned because of their single-vineyard quality and there will be a myriad of in-between high quality proposals.

The only thing that Rioja lacks is simplicity.

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Explore the wines of Rioja with some of our recommendations…

Rolland & Galarreta Rioja

With state-of-the-art winemaking and vineyards located between 450 and 700 meters altitude, the wine is made from grapes of low yielding vines at least 25 years old. On the palate, it shows soft tannins and liquorice, a velvety structure and a long, delicious and persistent finish.

Lar de Paula, Merus 4

The winery itself has been built with a single purpose in mind: transforming the finest grapes into great wine through a process in which excellence is the primary concern. The wine has very powerful toasty notes (cocoa and coffee) of high quality wood, perfectly blended with ripe fruit.

Castillo Labastida, Reserva Especial

Grapes sourced from vineyards around the village of Labastida (Rioja Alavesa) of an avergae age of 55 years old, at an altitude of between 500 and 560 hectares in the foothills of Sierra Cantabria. The wine is full, with a good presence of the tannins, although these are offset by the glycerine-like character, resulting in a fleshy feel. Long lasting and lingering.

Luis Cañas, Reserva Familia

Grapes for this wine are sourced from vineyards of at leat 50 years of age with low yields and hand picked. Complex variety of aromas which combine to give us an intense, sophisticated wine.

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As the third largest wine-producing country, there’s no lack of diversity in Spanish wine. But with so many options, finding the perfect pairing can feel like a daunting task.

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Pairing Spanish wines: From the sommeliers

Top Spanish somms Guillermo Cruz, Best Sommelier of Spain 2014 and Head Sommelier at Mugaritz restaurant, and Manuel Jiménez, Best Sommelier of Spain 2017 and Sommelier at La Cava de Pyrene, share their tips and favourite flavour combinations for matching Spanish wine with food.

Putting Cava back on the dinner table

Vintage Cava is undergoing a renaissance following the announcement of the Paraje Calificado, and these complex sparkling wines make fantastic food wines.

“These Cavas are often vinified in oak and many spend more than five years in the bottle, so they are complex, full bodied and are generally dry, with a low dosage,” explains Jiménez, suggesting that you try Cava Paraje Calificado with more substantial cuisine.

“They pair wonderfully with traditional roasted lamb with aromatic herbs and roast apple or plum; or with wild turbot and black butter.”

Cruz is also an advocate of pairing Cava with an assortment of dishes and on the dinner table he likes to pair Cava Gran Reserva Brut Nature with oyster tartare.

“The long ageing period of the Cava with extended contact with the less gives the wine a controlled oxidation, which pairs well with oyster tartare which has an iodised note that mimics the perception of oxidation. The bubbles of the Cava do all the rest – cleaning the palate and creating an affinity between the liquid and solid textures.”

Thinking beyond the Sherry triangle

The Spanish aperitif of choice, Sherry is a staple in every tapas bar across the country and is classically served with the holy trinity of Jamón ibérico, olives and local seafood. But there’s a greater scope for sherry pairings according to the somms.

While Cruz says that Manzanilla sherry from Sanlúcar with grilled prawns is a classic ‘go-to’ pairing, his absolute favourite sherry pairing at Mugaritz is very old Palo Cortado (VORS) with garlic in a lamb reduction.

“Palo Cortado is a special accident whereby the flor of a Fino sherry stops developing and the wine goes through oxidative ageing too. With this dish, the garlic is the protagonist which we confit and serve with a lamb reduction. The pairing is a complete contrast, and one of the most beautiful I have ever tried.”

Jiménez also loves off-piste sherry pairings, and in addition recommends looking for unfortified wines from the region of Jerez – “there are some very austere white wines being made there, with low acidity but an aromatic purity and chalky texture in the mouth, which is fantastic with shellfish like mussels and oysters. Most of all [when planning pairings], you need to respect the fresh produce – simplicity isn’t easy!”

Spanish reds for a range of dishes

Rioja is known for its easier-drinking Tempranillo-based reds which are traditionally paired with local roast pork, chorizo and aged cheese. But for a Gran Reserva Rioja, Cruz recommends trying higher protein meat, and his top pairing suggestion is grilled pigeon with white truffle.

“The protein of the meat with the tannins of the wine make one of the most classic and elegant combinations.” For the more robust Tempranillo wines of nearby Ribera del Duero, his classical pairing recommendations are with fattier meats like suckling pig and roast kid.

On the other end of the red scale, Jiménez recommends the extraordinary pairing ability of lighter red wines from Galicia.

“If there was a style of Spanish red wine that is especially food-friendly, this is it. For Asian cuisine, these light Galician reds (particularly from Ribeira Sacra) are becoming much more common pairings. Especially for sushi, with its spices and spiciness, and with fattier fish, red varieties like Merenzao and Bastardo are light and elegant with sharp acidity and notes of crunchy red fruit and spices. Light Mencia wines, or Caiño, Sousón and Mouraton are also becoming the secret weapon of Spanish sommeliers!”

For heavier dishes, Jiménez recommends trying old-vine Garnacha from Aragon.

“These Garnacha wines from old vines at altitude are capable of withstanding much more complex, heavy dishes than just the typical ‘red meat with red wine’ pairing… Try them with game served with truffle sauce; or duck with cassis; or a civet (traditional Spanish stew) with wild boar. The pairing is surprisingly well balanced.”

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Explore further afield in Spain and discover a new region to try....

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Spanish wine regions to discover

DO Méntrida

Sitting essentially between Madrid and Toledo, DO Méntrida has never suffered to have a ready market for its Grenache-based wines. There have however been many ebbs and flows in terms of quality, and the wholesale emigration of people from the region to the cities has taken its toll in terms of massive decreases in production due to the abandonment of the vineyards.

However, while the majority of production has been tied up in the larger producers and cooperatives, the last decade or so has seen many smaller producers taking advantage of the old-vine plots of Grenache tucked away in the Gredos mountains.

Largely planted on poor, granitic soils at higher elevation these have allowed for a unique, lighter profile of Grenache to emerge, which has helped define the quality possible in contemporary times.

DO Terra Alta

Terra Alta’s total production has long been higher than that of its neighbours, although its actual number of bottles lower as it has provided countless kilos to larger producers in Catalunya who source grapes that are then bottled as the regional, DO Catalunya. Due to its high altitude (thus the name, which means, ‘high land’) it benefits from a continental-coastal climate that allows for warm days and even ripening of the grapes, but cool nights that maintain acidity.

Starting in the mid-2000s, smaller producers started to grow and give friendly challenge to the larger cooperative producers. With these smaller producers, there has been a heavy focus on white Grenache and in fact, production is now split evenly between white and red wines.

They are indeed able to make unique varietal wines from white Grenache that, in recent vintages have shown not only the potential of a grape that is usually blended due to its inherent strength, but also the potential of their little region at the border of Catalunya and València.

Txakolí

The production of Txakolí is contained completely within the borders of Basque Country. For anyone who has not visited this region, it offers a very different take what Spain “should” be. With 1,200mm of average yearly rainfall, it sees more than triple of what Spain’s more famous regions receive. Given this verdant, lush tendency, the profile of the wines as well as the varieties of the grapes are unlike those typically associated with Spain. With an Atlantic orientation and terraced vineyards that often have an ocean view, the influence of salt air as well as the cool temperatures distinctly impacts the overall flavour profile of the wines.

Txakolí is essentially shorthand for one of three DOs: Getariako Txakolina (the oldest), Bizkaiko Txakolina, and Arabako Txakolina. The wines heavily lean towards whites which comprise about 90% of production. That remaining 10% lies in the rarely-found reds and rosés.

For the white wines, the typical style is a lightly fizzy, frizzante/pétillant as well of a great wealth of acidity and generally low alcohol of around 11% although this is changing and dependent upon the vintage. There are also many still wines now as well. Authorized grapes include but are not limited to: Hondarrabi Zuri, Gros & Petit Manseng, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, and Chardonnay for the whites and Hondarribi Beltza for the reds. Despite this range to work from, it’s Hondarrabi Zuri which is far and away the dominant grape for production.

Given the magnitude of the acidity, the wines pair wonderfully with the local seafood pintxos and can be found served all over the region including the main cities of Bilbao and Donostia (San Sebastián). The serving method is as unique as the wines given that they’re usually poured from a height of one metre into a tumbler glass below. The say that the drop opens up the wines. Whether this has any real effect or not, given how these are usually quite young wines, it makes for good photos and a fun tale to tell when back home.

DO Bierzo

At the border of Castile y León and Galicia, Bierzo has made waves in the wine world. Its star grape has been the red, Mencía grape which occupies some 2/3 of the planted vineyards. The rise of this region in the early 2000s is due to a handful of key producers, who have worked to redefine Bierzo.

The slate soils of the region have proven to bode well for the Mencía grape which many producers have taken from being a grape known to make simple, fruity wines to what are now wines with layered complexity. It is a finicky grape that requires exacting precision when choosing when to harvest, but it can ideally have lower alcohol compared to what is often found in other Spanish regions.

As is often the case, the old vineyards of Mencía, that are low yielding, have shown capable of producing very intricate and complex wines.

Toledo & La Mancha

There are countless curiosities about wine in Spain. For instance, many people would assume that the most typical grape would be Tempranillo due to its fame and wealth of production from the likes of DOC Rioja, DO Ribera del Duero, DO Toro, and many others. But, it’s actually a white grape called Airén that claims this title and it comprises over 25% of all the vineyard plantings in Spain with the majority based in Castilla-La Mancha, wrapping around the city of Toledo.

To date, it has been exceptionally rare to find varietal wines produced from Airén as the vast amount of production is distilled for brandy. Slowly, things have been changing as several producers have been working to reduce yields and make use of old vines to create crisp, neutral wines but this is an involved process given the modern history of the grape.

Above and beyond Airén, what is more typically found from La Mancha are red wines and at very friendly prices. The profile of these wines is changing as well from being what was Spain’s Languedoc, producing untold hectoliters of wine to new cellars opening with a focus on quality production. The wealth of old vines on limestone soils with cool summer evenings due to the elevation at 1,100m on Spain’s central plateau have shown that there are all the right ingredients for excellent wines to emerge.

More on Spanish fine wines

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Five grapes that are making great wine in Spain right now...

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Five Spanish grape varieties to know

Tempranillo

Tempranillo forms the backbone of Spain’s most world-renowned red wines from Rioja and Ribero del Duero. It’s an early ripening and versatile grape, that can make young and juicy reds with strawberry notes, or structured oak-aged wines with a more leathery and savoury character.

You can find Tempranillo blended with Garnacha, Mazuelo and Graciano, but it also holds its own as a single varietal wine.

Depending on where you are, it may be found under other names, including Tinto Fino, Tinta del Pais, Tinta de Toro, Ull de Llebre, Cencibel — or Aragonês and Tinta Roriz in Portugal.

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Try Hiru 3 Racimos from Luis Cañas – where they carefully cultivate the vines following an agricultural system that makes maximum use of natural resources while limiting their impact on the environment.

Concentrated and fatty in the center, it is well-balanced and sweet with fine tannin. Very long and expressive, leaving a clear impression of the character of the terroir.

Or for a blended Tempranillo, try Altos de Rioja Pigeage, an exciting “boutique” winery in the heart of the best terroir of Rioja Alavesa is passionately led by a group of experienced professionals with impeccable credentials.

It has very powerful toasty notes (cocoa and coffee) of high quality wood, perfectly blended with ripe fruit.

Recommended by ARAEX Grands.

Albariño

This green-gold gold grape thrives off of the warm and wet conditions of Galicia’s Rías Baixas region, where it ripens early.

Continue up the coast and you’ll find it under the guise of Alvarinho in Portugal, where it makes single-varietal high acidity Vinho Verde wines.

Due to its thick skin and numerous pips, high volumes of berries are required to make the wines. But they are considered to be some of Spain’s most delicious dry aromatic whites, often with a zesty edge that makes them refreshing and perfect with seafood.

It can be blended with varying amounts of Loureiro, Treixadura, Torrontés and Caiño Blanco.

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Try Pazo de Señorans, Selección Añada – who are renowned throughout the world for their outstanding quality, intense aromatic character and unique freshness.

On the palate it has a strong personality, firm and profound, indicating immense volume that feels oily and heavy. The characteristic acidity and fruit flavours of the variety are well-balanced. An aftertaste of fruit and fine toasted notes.

Recommended by ARAEX Grands.

Garnacha

Garnacha is a late ripening and thin skinned grape primarily grown in northern Spain. As a single-varietal, such as those made from the old vines of Priorat, it often makes light red wines, fairly high in alcohol and redolent with red fruit flavours.

In Rioja, it’s often blended with Tempranillo, as it adds body and makes the wines more approachable for early drinking.

In Navarra, Garnacha is used to make rosé wines, as it’s naturally low in tannins.

Outside of Spain, it’s blended with Syrah and Mourvèdre in France’s Châteauneuf-du-Pape region, as well as Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale in Australia.

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Try the Garnacha from Bodegas Baigorri, where the force of gravity drives the vinification process in a winery that is as much a work of art as the wines it produces.

Similar to the way a privileged environment combines with skilled techniques to produce great wines, the surrounding landscape has been combined with a unique approach to the elaboration process to produce a stunning winery in harmony with the land.

It it balanced between its pleasant tannins and its acidity. It shows graceful, bright, fruit flavours which are smooth, leading to a long mineral aftertaste.

Recommended by ARAEX Grands.

Verdejo

Verdejo thrives in the high altitude vineyards and calcareous soils of Rueda in northern Spain, the first region in Castilla y Léon to gain Denominación de Origen classification back in 1980.

Verdejo typically makes aromatic white wines, with notes of citrus and melon. It’s known for its high acidity and adds body to blends with Sauvignon Blanc or Viura grapes, generally making up at least 50%.

Verdejo was historically used to be used to make sherry-like wines, as it oxidises easily. For more modern styles, many winemakers keep oxidation at bay by picking the grapes during lower nighttime temperatures.

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Try Bodega Val de Vid Verdejo Crianza, where they use the latest technology combined with traditional vinification methods, to produce white wines of exceptional quality and a singular expression of their soil and climate.

The wine is fresh, elegant and smooth, but well structured. Tasty, aromatic and with easy entry into the mouth. Complex and persistent end with pleasantly bitter touches as is typical of this variety.

Recommended by ARAEX Grands.

Hondarrabi Zuri Zerratia

Hondarrabi Zuri Zerratia is one of the three main indigenous grapes used in the production of Txakoli wines, which are light, slightly sparkling and dry, making them similar in style to vinho verde or picpoul de pinet wines.

This white grape is predominantly used in Txakoli de Bizkaia wines, and produces pale, light-bodied, mineral wines with flavours of citrus fruit and flowers.

The grape is the same as French grape Petit Corbu, primarily found regions of in South West France.

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Try G22 from Gorka Izagirre, where they aim to revitalise the Basque region and boost the cultivation of local grape varieties, producing unique wines that mirrored the great potential of this magnificent viticultural area.

It is a full and dense wine. The nice fruity sensation always allows space for floral and balsamic essences on the after taste. Very complex.

Recommended by ARAEX Grands.

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Explore the world of Cava and how it is made...

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Cava profile

While it may seem apt to compare Cava to Prosecco as they are often found at similar price points, it shares more in common with classic sparkling wine production such as Champagne or Franciacorta in that it is made in the ‘traditional method’ with secondary fermentation in the bottle as opposed to the tank fermentation used in Prosecco.

Young vs Old

While younger wines can be crisp and fresh, it’s in the aged wines where this method of production lends lovely creaminess and lingering, nutty autolytic notes with boundless complexity.

The rules

A key difference in Cava is that the Denomination of Origin is actually given to the process of making the wine instead of a specific place or region as is seen in other sparkling wine appellations.

While 95% of all Cava production is focused in Catalonia and of that, 90% specifically in the Penedès area, there are seven other provinces in Spain where it can be produced.

When digging in to the full range of Cava there are a great many styles to be found but it can be easily perceived as a “budget” sparkling wine.

Given this, there has been a great deal of activity by the DO and producers to promote their mid and upper range bottles.

For example, the top end Cava de Paratge that is designed to help to demarcate a range of Cavas and has existed for some time, but it hasn’t been immediately obvious to the wine drinker, that are single-vineyard wines with unique characteristics.

In 2017, the first twelve Cava wines were allocated the ‘Cava de Paraje Calificado’. They meet specific criteria, including vines being at least 10 years old, lower yields and 36 months bottle ageing on the lees.

The grapes

There are many grapes that can be used in Cava, including a number of international varieties such as Chardonnay or Pinot Noir.

Three Catalan grapes provide the backbone of most Cava production: Macabeu, Parellada, and Xarel·lo.

Like Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier of Champagne or Glera of Prosecco, these grapes have come to define the classic Cava profile.

Macabeu is seen to give the wines fresh fruitiness, Parellada gives aroma and acidity, and Xarel·lo, the structure.

Ageing and ‘serious’ Cava

With time, there are more varietal Cavas being created with only the Xarel·lo grapes as it’s able to stand quite admirably on its own and make sparkling wines that can age for decades. Some producers have been quoted as saying that ‘The ultimate ageing potential of Xarel·lo is yet unknown’.

Cava sits poised to raise its profile greatly in the coming years. While it will always be a wine easy to pair with countless dishes due to its vibrant acidity, there are many cellars ready to show that, 900km south of Champagne, serious bubbly can be produced as well.

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The following Cava wines have been recommended by ARAEX Grands…

Villa Conchi Cava: Loyal to his initial philosophy, Javier Galarreta has selected excellent vineyards and modern facilities to produce a “different” Cava. Since 2009, he has been travelling extensively in Catalunya to find partners capable of producing an elegant, fresh sparkling wine.

In the heart of the Penedès, he discovered the vineyards and qualities he was looking for to make such a style of wine. During his quest to find this Cava, Javier’s mother Conchi passed away in July 2010 and wasn’t able to taste and savour her son’s latest challenge. Villa Conchi is not only a modern, elegant Cava which shows what Spain can offer; it is also a tribute to a woman who was always a source of inspiration for elegance and distinction.

Villa Conchi Brut Selección: Made with 30% Xarel.lo, 30% Parellada, 30% Macabeo and 10% Chardonnay. Each variety is picked and fermented separately. For the second fermentation, the bottles are kept in underground cellars at a constant 15º-17ºC where they are in contact with their lees. This cava spends a minimum of 12 months in the bottle. 

Villa Conchi Brut Rosé: Made with 100% Trepat grapes. We obtain the free-run juice which we ferment at a temperature of 16ºC. The second fermentation takes place in underground cellars without exceeding 17ºC and in contact with the lees. This Cava spends a minimum of 12 months in the bottle.

Villa Conchi Brut Reserva

: Cava made with 30% Xarel.lo, 30% Parellada, 30% Macabeo and 10% Chardonnay following the traditional method. Harvested manually only selecting the best bunches of grapes. Disgorging and addition of expedition liquor with no sugar. This cava spends a minimum of 20 months in the bottle.

Villa Conchi Brut Imperial: Cava made with 40% Xarel.lo, 30% Macabeo, 20% Parellada and 10% Chardonnay following the traditional method. Harvested manually only selecting the best bunches of grapes. Disgorging and addition of expedition liquor with no sugar. This cava spends a minimum of 20 months in the bottle.

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Whether you’re a lifelong devotee of Spanish wine or still on the road to discovery, these are unmissable destinations for travellers and oenophiles alike. From luscious green Galicia to the sun-drenched coast of Cava country, Decanter’s experts share their must-see sights of Spain.

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Top five Spanish wine regions to visit

Cava country

Pay a visit to the home of Spanish sparkling, and immerse yourself in Cava while taking in the mountain scenery and sun-drenched beaches. We’re talking about Penedés, an area of Catalonia in north east Spain — its capital Sant Sadurní d’Anoia is less than an hour by train from Barcelona.

Start off with some of the more dynamic winery tours…

Penedés’ villages also have plenty of fun-filled wine traditions, like the Fiesta de la Filoxera in September — when locals dress up as the vine-destroying Phylloxera parasite bug and dance through the streets with firecrackers.

Nearest airport: Barcelona

Learn more about Cava

Rioja

You’ve probably drunk plenty of this region’s delicious wines, but perhaps not considered it for a holiday…Until now. With 60,000 hectares of vines spread over three provinces, Rioja might be vast — but if you know where to go it can make an unforgettable getaway.

For easy winery hopping head to Haro Train Station Wine Quarter, where you’ll find the highest concentration of century-old wineries on the planet – in September they run the Haro Wine Festival…

Or if you want to get involved with people throwing over 100,000 litres of red wine at one another, arrive June 29 for the Batalla del Vino, or ‘wine battle’.

Nearest airport: Bilbao

Priorat

Although the revival of Priorat wines can be dated around the 1980s, its winemaking traditions go back as far as the middle ages when Carthusian monks planted vines. They found the rugged beauty of the area so profound they called it Scala Dei, meaning ‘ladder to God’.

Perched up high in south-west Catalonia, Priorat has remained largely unspoilt. Its soaring mountains are still tracked by roads made more for hooves than wheels (4×4 required), and it’s stone-built towns maintain a quiet traditional feel — but with some fantastic restaurants thrown in.

Wander through the Gratallops village for a cluster of restaurants and bars to explore.

Nearest airport: Barcelona

Learn more about Priorat

Rías Baixas

Once you’ve got over the Galician pronunciation you can plunge headlong into this land of aromatic Albariño and fresh seafood — Rías Baixas (ree-ahse by-shas) is undoubtedly one of Spain’s top food and wine destinations (pictured top).

This is Green Spain at it’s best, with verdant river-riddled countryside and a coastline dotted with fishing villages. You can base yourself in the famous medieval pilgrimage destination, Santiago de Compostela. Meander through the streets of the Old Town, and begin with a glass of local wine in Hostal dos Reis Católicos — once a 15th-century hospital, now an elegant five-star hotel just across the square from the cathedral.

There are boat trips which can take you along the towns and coastal vineyards of Rías Baixas. Many include a stop at A Lanzada beach and La Toja island, with a mussel and wine tasting thrown in too.

Nearest airport: Santiago di Compostela

Jerez

Finally, Jerez, the ancient heartland of Andalucía and fountainhead of Sherry wines. Forget any preconceptions you may have about all Sherry being sickly sweet or for nonagenarians — it’s multiplicity is staggering and it’s prized in the hippest hottest tabancos.

You won’t have to work hard to get a taste, the city is packed with bodegas and every pavement has its bars, with tables made from blackened Sherry butts.

You can also wander about the small, flat town centre on foot, confident in the knowledge you’re never far from a cool glass of fino.

In the early morning or evening, climb to the top of the Moorish fortress Alcázar, the view of Jerez vineyards stretching to the horizon is well worth the effort.

Nearest airport: Jerez

Complete guide to Sherry

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Planning a trip to Rioja Alavesa? Stay in Laguardia the heartland of Rioja Alavesa winemaking and visit some of Spain’s most exciting estates while you are there. See recommendations below supplied by ARAEX Grands:

Bodegas Amaren

Bodegas Amaren is the search for perfection in all fields. The vineyard, its selection, its elaboration and its ageing are all lovingly taken care of in order to achieve wines that bring emotion and pleasure.

The grapes used to produce Amaren wines come from small plots located on slopes and terraces planted with low-yield old vines that produce exceptional wines.

Bodegas Baigorri

Bodegas Baigorri returns winemaking to its origins in a state-of-the-art facility that is as much a work of art as the wines it creates.

Built around the winemaking process, an elegant glass structure emerges from the soil and welcomes the visitor with a stunning display of the surrounding vineyards, emphasising that it is here where the process begins.

Altos de Rioja

Altos de Rioja is passionately led by a group of experienced professionals with impeccable credentials in the world of Spanish wine. Joint owners and longstanding winemakers Roberto San Ildefonso and Bienvenido Muñoz together with flying winemaker Jean-Marc Sauboua are creating a range of uniquely modern Rioja wines.

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Ribera is Spain’s answer to Burgundy and the cradle of some of the best wines in the world, writes Pedro Ballesteros Torres MW. Here, terroir is everything…

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Ribera del Duero profile

Fact file

Climate: Short, hot summers and cold winters. It is protected from any maritime influence by a ring of mountains. The vineyards are situated at high altitude.

Grapes: Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Merlot and Garnacha.

Soils: Clay/sand, with layers of limestone, marl and chalk.

Vineyard area:22,552 ha *

Wineries: 288*

Annual production (2017):97.8 million bottles*

Max. production per hectare: 7000kg*

*Source: Ribera del Duero DO.

Wine lovers know that Burgundy is a classic region that delivers an amazing variety of red wines mostly from one grape variety, thanks to its diverse terroirs.

Those terroirs are defined in a complex legal system that sets up a hierarchy for the land, classifying it in categories going from plain Burgundy to Grand Cru. Imagine now that Burgundy were just one appellation, with no legal hierarchy of terroirs. Individual producers would define the terroirs; all terroirs would appear the same in the labels.

Anyway, the diversity and the quality ladder would still be there, but you will need to find it out in different ways… This is Ribera del Duero. Ribera is the cradle of some of the best wines in the world. Instead of matching an archetypal profile definition, the top Ribera wines are virtuoso interpretations of diverse terroirs and a single grape variety, occasionally blended but always dominant, Tempranillo.

While Burgundy follows a North-South axis, Ribera occupies a 115 km long stretch of land, following an East-West axis.

The climate is continental, with harsh winters, hot summers and high daily temperature variation. It is a dry area with very diverse soils, including clay, sand, limestone, marl and chalk. It consists of three distinctive regions.

The core towns of each region are:

• Peñafiel
• Roa
• San Esteban de Gormaz

Around Peñafiel, wines tend to be fruitier and rounder in youth, then ageing graciously.

At the Roa sub-zone wines are characterised by their elegant structure and firm backbone.

In the more continental and smaller area of San Esteban de Gormaz the wines, coming from pre-phylloxera vines growing in sandy soils, render unique purity and depth of fruit expression.

To make things more complicated, many great Ribera wines are blends from a number of vineyards, often from at least two of those sub-zones.

Despite its long history, Ribera is a young appellation, just 35 years old. Now approaching adulthood, there is a growing pressure to classify terroirs, broadly in line with the Burgundian model.

But laws develop slowly: for a few years wine lovers will have to deal with a simple labelling system based upon trust on the producer. Some people think this is a better way to approach excellence.

Promotion: A word from our sponsor ARAEX Grands

The following Ribera del Duero wines have been recommended by ARAEX Grands… 

Rolland & Galarreta, Ribera del Duero

Two cultures and two different winemaking styles but a common goal have brought together French winemaker and consultant Michel Rolland and Spanish wine entrepreneur Javier Galarreta.

This wine is rich, concentrated and fleshy and shows elegance and complexity. On the palate, it shows silky tannins, with a succulent structure and excellent depth.

Cair, Ribera del Duero Crianza

After a long search to find the right terroir and vineyards, Juan Luis Cañas settled in La Aguilera, a small hamlet in the northern part of the DO, rich in old vines planted in chalky-clay, sandy and gravel soils.

Full and powerful on the attack with good balance. A meaty, juicy mouth feel with sweet tannins. Long, lingering finish.

Valtravieso, Ribera del Duero

This dynamic winery (pictured top) blends tradition with state-of-theart production processes to make a wine that is unique, full of sensations and expresses the singularity and personality of the region.

The wine has a good attack in the mouth which demonstrates its good structure, with some sweetness brought about by an excellent glycerine which rounds the tasting. Balanced tannins and acidity.

In partnership with ARAEX Grands

What to look out for...

In partnership with ARAEX Grands

Latest trends in Spanish fine wine

A few decades ago, Spain was an easy country for wine geeks to study. Two regions, Sherry and Rioja, whose wines had clearly defined taste profiles, one dominant red grape variety, Tempranillo, and a sea of cheap stuff.

There were some emerging regions, built upon Tempranillo, eventually Garnacha, but Spain’s future used to depend on the adoption of modern viticulture and French varieties. Nowadays, Spain is much more complicated.

Traditional styles are reinventing

First, there is not a clear definition of Rioja or Sherry.

Both are in a process of diversification and re-creation, resulting in dozens of different styles, often with amazing quality.

Then, the emerging red wine regions of the past, such as Toro, Ribera del Duero or Priorat, are now classic wine countries, and a high number of new fine wine regions appeared: Bierzo, Alicante, Utiel-Requena, Penedès, Gredos, Jumilla, Aragón, Canary and Balearic Islands, Arribes, Galicia, Empordà.

Our judges praised Galacia and surrounding areas in the Spanish Atlantic reds panel tasting, last year.

‘The aggregated effect of scientific developments in viticulture and oenology, climate change, a resurgence of the perceived value of indigenous varieties and a market eager to reward niche identities resulted in a new area for fine red wines.’

Exploring more grape varieties

Most of those new regions are building their prestige upon anything but Tempranillo: Mencía, Garnacha, Bobal, Callet, Cariñena, Monastrell, Listán, Prieto Picudo.

French varieties are still there, sometimes rendering great wines, but the trend is for the autochthonous stuff.

This revolution is even more impressive with white wines. 30 years ago, there was little hope for them.

Now, the range and quality of Spanish white wines is impressive: Albariño, Godello and many other varieties in Galicia, Verdejo in Rueda, Xarel.lo in Catalonia, Garnacha Blanca, Viura, Malvasía, Gual, Moscatel, Merseguera – to name some.

For example, according to Wines of Rioja, white Rioja increased its market share of all Rioja wines in 2017 to 6.4%, compared to 4.8% the previous year – an increase of 53.8%.

Total sales of white wines from Rueda have more than doubled since 2010, according to the DO Rueda trade body.

White wine shares within the whole Spanish category hold almost a quarter of the market share, to 23.4% says Wines of Rioja.

Focusing on their origins

Concerning styles and winemaking, two major features set the fine wine trends.

First, increasing self-confidence. Thanks to this, producers do not aim to create wines that look like others’, but concentrate on styles that are truer to their origins. They do not bother to mask their wines under excessive oak or over-maturity.

They are concerned about balance and freshness. Elegance, the most elusive objective in wine making, is now the mantra for quality.

Organic and biodynamic vineyards

Secondly, vineyards are deemed now the most important quality factor. Because of that, vineyard designation processes are now the hot topic in Spain, and the country has become the world’s leader in terms of organic and biodynamic vineyards.

Spain accounts for 27% of the world’s organic wines, according to from Spanish Organic Wines, and the DO with the highest number of organic and biodynamic vineyards is Cava.

They also report that sales of organic and biodynamic Spanish wines are thriving in export markets.

Sarah Jane Evans MW talks through some of the fine wines that will be available for guests to taste at the first masterclass of our Spain & Portugal Fine Wine Encounter, including several vintages of Pingus and a Carignan from 1902.

Preview of our upcoming masterclass with Sarah Jane Evans MW

Where: The Landmark Hotel, NW1

When: Saturday 24 February, 11am

How to book tickets

More details

In just one month’s time Spain and Portugal’s top producers will be heading to London for Decanter’s first big tasting of 2018.

More than 70 producers will be pouring their wines in the Grand Tasting rooms, whilst three masterclasses and three Discovery Theatre sessions will be taking place elsewhere in the elegant surroundings of the five-star The Landmark Hotel.

The first masterclass kicks off at 11am with Sarah Jane Evans MW presenting her esteemed view of the best of Spain. In a first for a Decanter Spanish Fine Wine Encounter, this Masterclass brings together some of the most exciting wines from across the whole of the country in one session.

Joining Sarah Jane Evans MW at the tasting will be Peter Sisseck – owner of cult wine Pingus, making his first-ever appearance at a UK Decanter Fine Wine Encounter.

He will be bringing celebrated vintages of both Pingus and PSI, for the first time. Don’t miss the chance to learn their inside story from the man himself.

Also in the tasting are Mas Doix 1902, the outstanding old vine 100 per cent Priorat Carignan made in tiny quantities; López de Heredía’s Viña Tondonia white Reserva 2004 – an original, aged for 13 years; an Amontillado, from a very famous old bodega in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, brought to light by new owners Bodegas Alonso and a unique Albariño, from ungrafted centenarian vines, by the pioneering Eulogio Pomares.

If you want to find out what is really happening in Spain today then join us at this exceptional masterclass.

Tickets are only £50 – book today

How well do you know these two Spanish fine wine powerhouses? Test your knowledge on Rioja and Ribera del Duero with the decanter.com quiz.

Rioja and the Ribera del Duero are two of the most recognisable names in Spanish wine. They share many similarities as well as a few differences, which make each region’s wines unique and exciting. How much do you know about them?

Scroll down to take our quiz and find out.

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Playlist 18 Videos

Video highlights: Spanish Fine Wine Encounter 2012 02:53

Decanter Fine Wine Encounter 2016: Discovery Theatres 01:00

Video highlights: Decanter Fine Wine Encounter 2011 03:54

Decanter Fine Wine Encounter 2017 01:25

Decanter Fine Wine Encounter 2016 02:24

2016 Decanter Shanghai Fine Wine Encounter consumer video 02:22

Decanter Shanghai Fine Wine Encounter 2015 video highlights 03:55

Video: Decanter Shanghai Fine Wine Encounter highlights 04:26

DFWE 2014 video: Contino - 40 years of excellence masterclass with Jesús de Madrazo 01:56

DFWE 2014 video: Creating Cult Classics in Traditional Bordeaux masterclass with Jonathan Maltus 03:06

DFWE 2014 video: Brunello di Montalcino masterclass with Ian D'Agata 03:42

DFWE 2014 video: Château Léoville Barton masterclass with Lilian Barton-Sartorious 02:26

DFWE 2014 video: Louis Roederer masterclass with Jean-Baptiste Lecaillon 03:20

Video: Decanter Fine Wine Encounter 2014 highlights 03:06

Video: Decanter Italy Fine Wine Encounter 2014 03:13

Video: Decanter Spain & Portugal Fine Wine Encounter 2014 03:24

Video: Decanter's 'Discoveries from Greece, Italy and Bulgaria' tasting 04:49

Video: Decanter Fine Wine Encounter 2013 highlights 03:25

Watch the video highlights from this year's Great Spanish Fine Wine Encounter held at The Landmark Hotel in London on Saturday 18th February with behind the scenes footage and exclusive interviews with winemakers from Vega Sicilia, Marques De Murrieta and La Rioja Alta plus Sarah Jane Evans MW.

Written by Georgina Hindle

Playlist 18 Videos

Video highlights: Spanish Fine Wine Encounter 2012 02:53

Decanter Fine Wine Encounter 2016: Discovery Theatres 01:00

Video highlights: Decanter Fine Wine Encounter 2011 03:54

Decanter Fine Wine Encounter 2017 01:25

Decanter Fine Wine Encounter 2016 02:24

2016 Decanter Shanghai Fine Wine Encounter consumer video 02:22

Decanter Shanghai Fine Wine Encounter 2015 video highlights 03:55

Video: Decanter Shanghai Fine Wine Encounter highlights 04:26

DFWE 2014 video: Contino - 40 years of excellence masterclass with Jesús de Madrazo 01:56

DFWE 2014 video: Creating Cult Classics in Traditional Bordeaux masterclass with Jonathan Maltus 03:06

DFWE 2014 video: Brunello di Montalcino masterclass with Ian D'Agata 03:42

DFWE 2014 video: Château Léoville Barton masterclass with Lilian Barton-Sartorious 02:26

DFWE 2014 video: Louis Roederer masterclass with Jean-Baptiste Lecaillon 03:20

Video: Decanter Fine Wine Encounter 2014 highlights 03:06

Video: Decanter Italy Fine Wine Encounter 2014 03:13

Video: Decanter Spain & Portugal Fine Wine Encounter 2014 03:24

Video: Decanter's 'Discoveries from Greece, Italy and Bulgaria' tasting 04:49

Video: Decanter Fine Wine Encounter 2013 highlights 03:25

Decanter has announced a star-studded line-up of Spanish winemakers for its upcoming Fine Wine Encounter, including Vega Sicilia, Marqués de Murrieta, Alvaro Palacios and La Rioja Alta.

The event, now in its second year, will feature 50 top Spanish wineries with 300 wines to taste as well as three top masterclasses, a Sherry pop-up bar and an education zone with Sarah Jane Evans.

Wine enthusiasts will have the chance to discover Spain’s greatest wines all under one roof as well as experience three exclusive masterclasses throughout the day.

The masterclasses include The Legendary Wines of Bodegas with Marqués de Murrieta, Pioneering The New Spain with Alvaro Palacios and 100 Years of Excellence with La Rioja Alta.

Also for the first time at a Decanter Fine Wine Encounter, wine aficionados will have the chance to taste rare vintages of one of the world’s most celebrated wineries as Spain’s first growth Vega Sicilia will host an exclusive lunch with six of its renowned wines.

Over three courses in the Empire Room of London’s Landmark Hotel, Vega-Sicilia oenologist Xavier Ausás will present Alion 2007, Pintia 2007, Valubena 2006, Unico 2000 and Unico 1994.

Regarded as Spain’s ‘first growth’ and most prestigious wine estate, Vega Sicilia is a symbol of elegance, finesse and complexity in winemaking. Its wines are revered around the world for their unique personality.

Encounter visitors will also be able to sample some fantastic Sherries from award-winning Bar Pepito. Bringing the best of Jerez to London, Bar Pepito specialises in a range of the most exciting styles of Sherry, and will be showcasing a top selection at the Encounter, along with Spanish ham and cheese to taste.

Single tickets to the grand tasting event (£40) plus masterclass tickets (£65) can be purchased here while tickets to the Vega-Sicilia lunch (£100 for the lunch only or £120 which includes a grand tasting ticket) can only be purchased by calling the Decanter office on 020 3148 4513. Note that places are strictly limited so please book early to avoid disappointment.

Written by Decanter.com staff

Playlist 19 Videos

Video: Spanish Fine Wine Encounter 03:16

Decanter Fine Wine Encounter 2017 01:25

Decanter Fine Wine Encounter 2016: Discovery Theatres 01:00

Decanter Fine Wine Encounter 2016 02:24

2016 Decanter Shanghai Fine Wine Encounter consumer video 02:22

Decanter Shanghai Fine Wine Encounter 2015 video highlights 03:55

Video: Decanter Shanghai Fine Wine Encounter highlights 04:26

DFWE 2014 video: Contino - 40 years of excellence masterclass with Jesús de Madrazo 01:56

DFWE 2014 video: Creating Cult Classics in Traditional Bordeaux masterclass with Jonathan Maltus 03:06

DFWE 2014 video: Brunello di Montalcino masterclass with Ian D'Agata 03:42

DFWE 2014 video: Château Léoville Barton masterclass with Lilian Barton-Sartorious 02:26

DFWE 2014 video: Louis Roederer masterclass with Jean-Baptiste Lecaillon 03:20

Video: Decanter Fine Wine Encounter 2014 highlights 03:06

Video: Decanter Italy Fine Wine Encounter 2014 03:13

Video: Decanter Spain & Portugal Fine Wine Encounter 2014 03:24

Video: Decanter's 'Discoveries from Greece, Italy and Bulgaria' tasting 04:49

Video: Decanter Fine Wine Encounter 2013 highlights 03:25

Decanter French Fine Wine Encounter highlights 01:45

French Encounter 2013: Sandrine Audegond, AdVini 02:23

Video highlights of the Decanter Spanish Fine Wine Encounter, which took place on February 19 2011 at the Landmark Hotel, NW1, London.

Playlist 19 Videos

Video: Spanish Fine Wine Encounter 03:16

Decanter Fine Wine Encounter 2017 01:25

Decanter Fine Wine Encounter 2016: Discovery Theatres 01:00

Decanter Fine Wine Encounter 2016 02:24

2016 Decanter Shanghai Fine Wine Encounter consumer video 02:22

Decanter Shanghai Fine Wine Encounter 2015 video highlights 03:55

Video: Decanter Shanghai Fine Wine Encounter highlights 04:26

DFWE 2014 video: Contino - 40 years of excellence masterclass with Jesús de Madrazo 01:56

DFWE 2014 video: Creating Cult Classics in Traditional Bordeaux masterclass with Jonathan Maltus 03:06

DFWE 2014 video: Brunello di Montalcino masterclass with Ian D'Agata 03:42

DFWE 2014 video: Château Léoville Barton masterclass with Lilian Barton-Sartorious 02:26

DFWE 2014 video: Louis Roederer masterclass with Jean-Baptiste Lecaillon 03:20

Video: Decanter Fine Wine Encounter 2014 highlights 03:06

Video: Decanter Italy Fine Wine Encounter 2014 03:13

Video: Decanter Spain & Portugal Fine Wine Encounter 2014 03:24

Video: Decanter's 'Discoveries from Greece, Italy and Bulgaria' tasting 04:49

Video: Decanter Fine Wine Encounter 2013 highlights 03:25

Decanter French Fine Wine Encounter highlights 01:45

French Encounter 2013: Sandrine Audegond, AdVini 02:23