It is believed that the Phoenicians were the ones who introduced vine growing and wine-making techniques in the Iberian Peninsula some 3,000 years ago. The different peoples and cultures that populated Spain throughout the centuries took distinct attitudes towards the grape and wine-growing activity development. Some blocked this development, while others strengthened it with new wine-making techniques, grape varieties, and so on.

Spain’s wide variety of soils and climates has long created an extensive range of wines, each with differentiated characteristics. Conscious vineyard growing, together with painstaking wine-making techniques that have become more and more sophisticated, have helped many of these wines achieve renowned international prestige.

Spain serves as a clear example of the tremendous capacity the grape vine has to adapt to the most diverse geographic and climate conditions and to soil variations: from the characteristic heat and dryness in some southern areas to the humidity of the north, passing through the cold, harsh winter of the Castilian plateau.

Wine- making and ageing methods have undergone a spectacular evolution all over the world in the last few decades. Innovative concepts have been introduced, such as effective harvest control, surveillance of the primary aromas of the fruit, temperature control and sanitary conditions in the winery.

With respect to wine ageing, a common technique in New World countries (Australia and America) is the use of oak chips that, in contact with the wine, confer the aromas and flavours naturally present in wood to it. This is a practice that helps cut down costs, as it means less time for the wine in the winery and requires no barrels or space to store them.

In contrast, these practices have been highly criticised in Spain by the Control Boards for the Designations of Origin. Specifically, the Rioja Board was the first to prohibit this method, understanding that barrel ageing is of strategic importance for the sector and that the process itself is used to classify wines as crianza, reserva and gran reserva. In addition, the traditional method of ageing in barrels gives the wine greater structure and complexity during the micro-oxygenation process.

• Quality Wines Produced in Specific Regions (VCPRD by its Spanish acronym)
• Pago (Terroir) Wines (DO Pago) - 5 Areas: the highest category for a wine.
• Designation of Origin Wines (DO) (DOCa) - 1 Area: intended for wines of great quality over a long period.
• Designation of Origin Wines (DO) - 67 Areas: prestige wines from a specified wine-producing area having a wine-making process regulated by a Control Board.
• Quality Wines with a Geographical Indication - 2 Areas: wines made in a specific area aimed to becoming a DO.
• Vinos de la Tierra Wines (VdlT by its Spanish acronym) (Country Wine): wines from specific areas in which wine is made following standards that are not as demanding as the DO ones. The wines called Viñedos de España ('Vineyards of Spain') are included in this category.


• Table Wines (VDM by its Spanish acronym)
• Vino de Mesa (Table Wine): intended for wines not included in any other higher classification.

· Map - Grape and wine-growing regions in Spain
  Download the map (3.55 Mb pdf acrobat)

· Mapa - Grape and wine-growing regions in Spain, highlighting the places Nos Riqueza is present
  Download the map (1.06 Mb pdf acrobat)