Collector’s Guide: Spain
Far from a leading player in the world of fine wine investment, Spain nonetheless offers the serious wine collector and enthusiast a wealth of high-quality, long-lived and well-priced treasures.
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.
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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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Chris Mercer is a Bristol-based freelance editor and journalist who spent nearly four years as digital editor of Decanter.com, having previously been Decanter’s news editor across online and print.
He has written about, and reported on, the wine and food sectors for more than 10 years for both consumer and trade media.
Chris first became interested in the wine world while living in Languedoc-Roussillon after completing a journalism Masters in the UK. These days, his love of wine commonly tests his budgeting skills.
Beyond wine, Chris also has an MSc in food policy and has a particular interest in sustainability issues. He has also been a food judge at the UK’s Great Taste Awards.