SPAIN

Spain has more land under vines than any other country in the world. However it is not the biggest producer in terms of volume. In fact Spain holds the third place behind France and Italy. The cause has to be researched in a combination of extremely low yields per hectar, mainly due to the arid climate, and the inexperience of many Spanish wine producers in fighting wine diseases caused by the growing humidity of the country. Spain has 1.2 million hectares cultivated with grapes (15% of the total vineyards in the world) and in 2004 produced 44 millions hectoliters of wine. In 2004 France has been the biggest producer with 56 millions hectoliters and Italy the second with 49 millions hectoliters. This production in Spain is unusual: following the record of 47 millions hectoliters in 2003, 2004 has been the second year in a row with enormous yields. Just a few years ago the average production was around 35 millions hectoliters per year.
Production is not the only aspect of the Spanish wine industry which is undergoing changes. In fact Spain, which just a few years ago was known abroad just through the regions of Rioja and Jerez (famous for Sherry), is earning international awareness thanks to the massive efforts towards "quality" which are taking part in many wineries from Galicia to Ampurdan and from the Basque Country to Andalucia. The percentage of high quality wines is constantly increasing and today almost 55% of all vine areas have a classification.

This explosion of new wines coming from every corner of Spain, is redrawing its map and changing its traditions. Today there are 64 recognized DOs and with them, a completely new set of laws and regulations. Priorat is certainly the region that in the last 20 years achieved top recognition and today it is one of the two DOC (Denomination de Origen Calificada) of Spain together with Rioja. In 2003 a new appellation category has been introduced in the Spanish wine industry: VCIG (Vinos de Calidad con Indicacion Geografica). It is a new station between the VT (Vino de la Tierra) category and DO (Denominacion de Origen). After five years as a VCIG, a region can apply to earn the DO status. The lowest-quality wine is called Vino de Mesa (Table wine).

Another important aspect to mention is the oak law. In Spain specific terms are given to wine in order to indicate the oak ageing time. The terms used, Crianza, Reserva and Gran Reserva are not necessarily indicative of quality, even though a wine that udergoes a longer ageing in oak is generally also highier in quality.

In Rioja, Ribera del Duero and Navarra a Crianza has to be aged a minimum of two years of which one must be in barrel. Everywhere else in Spain the time in oak has to be minimum 6 months. In Rioja Reservas must be aged a minimum of three years of which one has to be in barrel and Gran Reservas must be five years old before release with a minimum of two in barrels.