Spain has devoted over 1.17 million hectares of its area to viticulture.
This puts Spain at the top of the list in terms of area under
viticulture, but the low yield means that this country falls third -
behind Italy and France - in wine production.
Wine regions in Spain are classified according to the quality of wine
they produce, slotted into standards prevalent all over Europe. The
highest quality of wine comes from "Denominaci�n de Origen de Pago
, or DO de Pago. Geographical criteria here are extremely strict, with
only single-estates being given the honor of the DO de Pago. Out of the 9
estates in Spain with DO de Pago status 6 are in Castile-La Mancha and 3
are in Navarra.
The next grade of wine is Denominaci�n de Origen Calificada, or
DOCa. Regions with this status are known for their consistency and
quality, but do not reach the standards of the DO de Pago. There are,
surprisingly, only 2 regions which hold DOCa status -Rioia and Priorat.
Thirdly, we arrive at mainstream wines. Regions which produce
high-quality mainstream wines are given the status of Denomiaci�n de
Origen or DO. Spain has 66 wine regions which have acquired DO
status.
Finally, we come to the Vino de Calidad con Indicaci�n Geogr�fica.
This category serves as a catch-all for wineries that are just
beginning to raise their quality to classifiable levels. Currently,
Spain has 2 regions in this category.
Table wine, however, is a different grade of wine that is not considered
classification-worthy by the European QWPSR (Quality Wines Produced in a
Specified Region) authorities.
Vino de la Tierra is "country wine", which is usually sold with a
regional name. Today, Spain has 46 such regions.
Lastly, we come to the Vino de Mesa. "Mesa" is Spanish for table, so
"Vino de Mesa" quite literally means "Table Wine". This is bulk-grown,
over a wide variety of regions, and has no special value for
connoisseurs. They are sold with a "Produce of Spain" label, without any
dates or designated area. The number of such producers is falling
steeply.
Labelling of Spanish wine bottles is usually done according to the age
of the wine. Wine is aged in barrels, though some wine may also age in
the bottle itself. The words "vino joven" and "sin crianza" denote a
young wine.
Crianza wines are the youngest of the aged wines, followed by Reserva
and Gran Reserva. The rules of ageing for each of these wines varies,
according to whether the wine is white, red or ros�.
Hopefully, this outline will help you identify the quality and age of
your wine, at least according to the rules. Individual preferences, of
course, always matter.