in the glass
Spanish wine for tapas: the regions and grapes you will hear about
A short map of Spanish wine, from Rioja's Tempranillo to sherry, Albariño and cava, and what the glass at each bar might be.
Save your place at the bar ↗Spanish wines in five lines
| Wine | Where from | Known for |
|---|---|---|
| Rioja and Ribera del Duero | Northern Spain | Red wines made from Tempranillo |
| Albariño | Rías Baixas, in Galicia | White wines in the north-west |
| Sherry | Jerez de la Frontera | A fortified wine |
| Priorat | Catalonia | Garnacha is the main grape |
| Cava | Mostly Catalonia | Sparkling wine made by the traditional method |
A country made of vineyards
Spain has more than 1.2 million hectares of vines, the most widely planted wine-producing nation in the world. It is the third-largest producer by volume, behind Italy and France, and second in wine exports. Castilla-La Mancha is the largest producing region, with about a third of the output, followed by Catalonia and La Rioja. Madrid has its own appellation too: Vinos de Madrid is among Spain's denominations of origin.
Tempranillo and the reds
About 88 percent of Spanish wine comes from only twenty grape varieties. Tempranillo is the second most widely planted, after Airén, and it is the grape of Rioja and Ribera del Duero. Jumilla is known for Monastrell, and Priorat in Catalonia uses Garnacha as its main grape. Reds like these pair easily with the cured meats and fried plates of a tapas bar.
White, from the north-west
In Galicia, in the north-west, Rías Baixas is known for white wines made from Albariño. A glass of it is a natural pairing for seafood tapas, and it is a good reminder that Spanish wine is more than red.
Sherry and the bar habit
Jerez de la Frontera is the home of sherry, a fortified wine. Sherry and tapas are linked in the origin stories too: one tale has a waiter in Cádiz covering a sherry glass with cured ham. It is the wine most tied to the tapas legend.
Cava, the sparkling one
Cava is a sparkling wine made by the traditional method. It began at the Codorníu winery in Catalonia in the late nineteenth century, and about 95 percent of Spain's cava still comes from Catalonia, the home of the Penedès region. One of the other Madrid tours listed here ends with a cava toast on a rooftop on its evening start.
What the walk pours
On the Madrid tapas and wine tasting tour you choose one drink at each of the four bars: wine, beer, a soft drink or mineral water. The guide explains the wine regions as you go, and the bars are picked for a particular dish, a style of wine or their atmosphere. No particular bottle is promised, so treat this note as a map, not a menu.