Wines from the Canary Islands easily remind you of their volcanic origin, as well as the beauty of the islands. Even Shakespeare mentioned the Canary wines in one of his plays, and the English once opened a consulate on Tenerife because of the wines – but nowadays the islands are almost exclusively famous for tourism, and most people don’t even know there are wines coming from there.

Canary Island culture is actually as distinct from Spain as Hawaii is from the rest of United States, and many Europeans travel to the islands for their year round delightful mild climate. The name actually comes from the local breed of dogs (canes), not from the bird species of canaries, and was once known as the last stop on any voyage from Europe to the New World across the Atlantic Ocean.

I would recommend visits to the markets in Tenerife followed by a visit to one of the many excellent fish restaurants where you can get some tasty fresh seafood perfectly accompanied by the local wines. For a great local experience, go to Tenerife at the end of January to experience the carnival, then rent a car if you want to get away from the massive amounts of tourists, and drive up to the northwestern part of the island for wine growing mountain terraces in Tacoronte-Acentejo, where vines grow at altitudes up to 1000 meters.

Just north of Portugal lies the Galicia wine region, with a lot of rain and great earth for growing grapevines. The regional wine producers love to experiment with new ideas, and a trip to the area can give even the most educated wine lovers surprises of great quality and originality. Rías Baixas is probably the most famous subregion in Galicia, producing aromatic white wine along the Portuguese border. 

I would recommend starting off in the regional capital Vigo with some sightseeing, and a visit to the Sal Negra Restaurante for local wine and seafood, before renting a car to go south for a visit to Rias Baixas. Visit Bodega Argro de Bazan for a modern winery, Pazo Senorans for the historical experience in a 14th century building and Bodegas As Laxas with an estate by River Miño. From there, you have the possibility of crossing the border for the stunning Peneda-Geres national park in northern Portugal.

You might have heard of Campo de Borja, Cariñena, Calatayud or Somontano if you’re interested in Spanish wine. These are all wine regions making a name for themselves lately in the wine world, and situated in the Aragón region, just south of Navarra. Wines from Aragon are typically full bodied reds with high alcohol, great for meat or stew, and made with Garnacha, Tempranillo, Mazuela and Cabernet Sauvignon. There are whites as well coming from the region, in which case you will notice Viura and Moscatel grapes.

I would recommend a visit to Bodega Pirineos in Barbastro, the region capital of Somontano situated close to the mountains. Wines from the Somontano are often referred to as the “new world wines of southern Europe”, with their elegance and vibrating fruity aromas. This is a great region to visit if you’d like to combine your wine experience with hiking in the Pyrenées.

There’s no doubt to what the most famous wine coming from Andalucia is – just say Sherry, and most people will know what you mean. There are however more wines from Andalucia than just the drinks from Jerez (which is actually the Spanish spelling of  ‘Sherry’, and the name comes from the place – just like the name Champagne is derived from the origin). Look around Malaga, Montilla Moriles and Condado de Huelva and you will find both sweet and dry desert wines as well as fortified wines from innovative vintners.

As in most of Spain, Castilla y Leon wines are typically red. However, in the middle of the region, you will find the Rueda wine region, famous for white wines typically based on Verdejo grapes and lately complimented by Sauvignon Blanc. If you enjoy the reds more, you will be happy to stumble into the Ribeira del Duero wine region, which produces meaty reds and has in relatively short time become one of the giants of the Spanish wine world – much because of the Tempranillo grapes being perfect for growing in the area. Other wine regions in Castilla y Leon includes Toro with their full bodied (yet not overwhelming) reds and Bierzo which is storming the wine world with their intence and lively whites, while Cigales produces some fruity and refreshing Rosé wines. 

Situated northwest of Madrid, this is the very birthplace of modern Spain, and as such is home to some of the finest heritage of the country. While visiting the wineries of Rueda, a good base for your stay is Valladolid in the north, or in one of my favorite towns, Segovia to the southeast. Another alternative is Salamanca to the west, from which you can easily visit Portugal’s Douro region as well. Going into the countryside, you will find the Duero river flowing through winelands, giving necessary water to the vines in the dry hot summer days, and the mountains affecting the climate to lower the effect of the Atlantic Ocean.

In the middle of Spain, just south of Madrid, you will find the largest continuous wine region in the world, which produces half of the Spanish totals. On top of that, La Mancha is one of the oldest wine regions, and well worth a couple of days outing if you’re on a trip to the Spanish capital which is “just around the corner”. Within the region, there are a number of cities and villages, with Toledo probably the most famous, but Alcazar de San Juan, Pedro Muñoz and Socuéllamos are also well worth a visit when driving through the countryside. 

If you see a few battered windmills, you might think back to Don Quijote’s fictional adventures in the area, which is located on a plateau between Madrid and Andalusia. Having little rain and moderately hot summers, the area produces fully ripened grapes. For the reds, you will find Cencibel is the main grape, accompanied by Cabernet Sauvignon, Garnaca, Merlot and Moravia. White wines from La Mancha contain Airén, Macabeo and Pardilla according to regional standards.

Catalonia is the second of ten Spanish wine regions on this trip through the Iberian peninsula. Some of the tips were included in the text we sent to GotSaga, but we felt that each region deserved more space than we could give through just one post. If you enjoy the text, feel free to follow us on Twitter, Facebook or using RSS.

Already 2500 years ago, in the 6th century BC, the Phoenicians were growing Mourvedre grapes in the Barcelona area – where it had probably been brought from the Caucasus and Anatolia Regions. In the 6th century, there were Chardonnay grapes growing in this western Spanish region. Much later, the region was the birthplace of the sparkling wine Cava, which is nowadays accompanied by some powerful red wines and dry whites, where most wines are blends.Catalonia includes famous subregions such as Priorat, Penedes and Tarragona. Wines from the region can however simply have Catalunya on the label, basically meaning the wine doesn’t fit with any other DO classification area. Starting off any wine tour, you should definitely go from Barcelona, visit at least one of the multitude of great wine bars such as Monvinic, Ginger, La Viña del Señor or Vinatera del Call. I would love to give more recommendations for things to do or places to visit in Barcelona, but with lomited space comes fewer recommendations – and of course you should have to visit the many amazing places in the city which aren’t wine related as well.

Considering that Catalonia is one of the most dynamic wine regions in the world, it’s difficult to give you the ‘perfect trip’ through the area, but I would certainly recommend the origin of modern Spanish wine making in Penedés, finding out where the Cava production first began, and visiting the great vineyards of the Priorat region. You will probably need a few trips to the region before starting to feel like you covered some ground though, and a good idea is probably to follow the wine world in differing between Priorat, Penedès and Tarragona, and take one subregion at a time.

For a few interesting vineyards, try out Codorníu for the place where the first Spanish sparkling wine was made, Freixenet for the current Cava (sparkling wine) champion or Miguel Torres for the largest wine vat in the world in one of the most sophisticated and advanced vineyards in the region which is close to Barcelona, the Sitges beach resort and the Montserrat monastery.

Rioja is the first of ten Spanish wine regions we will pay a visit in this new series. Some of the tips were included in the text we sent to the great guys over at GotSaga, but we felt that each region deserved more space than we could give through just one post. If you enjoy the text, feel free to follow us on Twitter, Facebook or using RSS.

Rioja, probably the most famous Spanish wine region, doesn’t only produce great wines, but also has some excellent places to sit down and try those wines – or perhaps fly above in a hot air balloon. With seven rivers flowing through, mountains for skiing, hiking or climbing combined with great places for horse riding there’s something for everyone.

The main place to stay is the regional capital Logroño, which is a nice base for your wine tour to take off. The city has some great wine bars and taperias around the market and of course a lovely cathedral, being on the pilgrim route to Compostela. For someone who has never been to the region and enjoys letting others do the planning, I would recommend the La Rioja Alavesa wine tour. The tour takes you through the mountains, along the rivers and into a few charming medieval towns with relaxing wine tastings. If you however decide to go without a guide, it’s still an easy task to navigate through Rioja, and I would recommend visits to Bodegas Muga, Baron de Ley and Bodegas Riojanas as places with interesting character.

Looking at grape varietals, the region allows Tempranillo, Garnacha Tinta, Graciano and Mazuelo for the reds, while the whites show up with Viura, Malvasia and Garnacha Blanca. The Tempranillo is the most dominant, with a vast majority of vines, as in most of Spain. Look out for words such as Crianza, Reserva and Gran Reserva to see if and how long the wine has been aged in oak barrel – although longer doesn’t have to mean better.

While writing this post, I’m actually having a Crianza 2006 Viña Amate from Rioja with my girlfriend (from FashionStylizer), which I would certainly recommend. It’s full of Tempranillo and Garnacha grapes, giving complimenting aromas in the great 2006 year vintage – excellent both by itself and with a bloody steak.