How to Read a Spanish Wine Label
Ever wonder what all those words on a Spanish wine label mean?
You’re not alone. Most people who walk up to the Spanish section in the wine store quickly turn around, overwhelmed by the number of options.
I mean, how are you meant to know the difference between a Denominación de Origen and a Vino de la Tierra? Does crianza mean a grape or something else entirely? And oh god, have I just bought something way too sweet if the label says semi-dulce? Sometimes it’s easier to stick with what you know.
But don’t let the language fool you! Once you learn just a few simple rules, you can shop the world of Spanish wine with ease. After all, most of the info on the labels is there to help you understand the stuff inside the bottle.
In just a few short paragraphs, I’m going to decode all of the junk on a Spanish wine label. Things like how to tell where it’s from, how it was made, and how much you should spend on it!
So let’s dive into Spanish wine labels!
Contents
It’s a European Thing
As every frustrated wine buyer knows, things in Europe don’t work the same as the new world. European wine labels can seem pretty opaque, loaded with confusing terms but also somehow leaving off the most important information: the grape.
I’ve been asked by countless people if Rioja is a grape or a place. (It’s a place, and a wonderful one at that!).
For most old-world wine bottles, the label will tell you where the wine is from, not what grape is inside. And it all comes back to the idea of terroir.
Terroir is annoyingly important in wine (annoying because it’s so difficult to pronounce. Either you sound like you have a speech impediment, or you sound like a tw*t for pronouncing it in a French accent).
Broadly speaking, it means the taste of the land. How everything about the wine’s environment, like climate, soil, and aspect, ends up affecting the final taste. It’s why a pinot noir from Burgundy tastes different from a pinot noir from Florida.
This is the first step to understanding Spanish wine labels. At their core, these labels are about telling you where the wine is from, and how it was made, to give you an idea about the type of wine that goes inside!
Decoding Spanish Wine Classifications
Spain has six quality classifications for wine. They range from the very basic (very bad) table wines all the way up to the most exquisite wines in the country. For the most part, they are determined by the region in which they are made, not the quality of that bottle of wine in your hand.
Like other EU countries, these fall into three groups. They are:
- Denominación de Origen Protegida (DOP)
- Indicación Geográfica Protegida (IGP)
- Vino de Mesa
Together, they cover 138 unique wine regions.
Denominación de origen protegida (D.O.P.)
The most important type of classification is the denominación de origen protegida (D.O.P.), or ‘Protected Denomination of Origin’. These are wines from a specific region, and express the terroir of that place. Generally, these regions have a long history of producing wine.
These regions each have a governing body (called a Consejo Regulador) that dictates where you make the wine, what grapes you use, and what you do in the winery. If you do it right, you get an official sticker to put on your wine label (see below).
You’ll find parallel systems in most EU countries, like Italian DOCs and French AOCs.
At the moment, there are 96 DOP wine-producing regions in Spain. Rioja, the first D.O.P., was established in 1925, followed by Jerez (Sherry wine) in 1932.
Of the six quality classifications, four of them fall under the DOP umbrella.
Denominación de Origen Calificada (D.O.Ca.)
Spain’s highest quality wine regions are stamped with Denominación de Origen Calificada (D.O.Ca.). (In Catalonia, it’s D.O.Q., for Denominació d’Origen Qualificada).
These labels mean the wine is from a region of exceptional quality, with a long history of deliciousness. At the time of writing, only two regions have this classification; Rioja and Priorat.
Denominación de Origen (D.O.)
Most Spanish wine that’s not Rioja falls under the D.O. designation.
Because each D.O. has certain winemaking rules, if you know the D.O., you know the grapes (even if they’re not on the label!). When I go to a bottle shop, I know that wines from D.O. Ribera del Duero must be at least 75% tinto fino (one of tempranillo’s many aliases) and bottles from D.O. Rueda have to include at least 50% verdejo.
As of 2019, there are 68 D.O. regions in Spain.
Vino de Pago (V.P.)
One of Spain’s newest classifications is Vino de Pago (V.P.). A “pago” is a vineyard, so these wines come from just a single estate. To be stamped as a VP, the vineyard has to be one of Spain’s best estates, but it doesn’t have to be in a D.O. region.
Apart from that, the VP label is pretty flexible. Each estate can come up with its own rules for grape growing and wine-making, which is a very different approach to the other regions.
So far, there are only 19 VP wines, but they are limited to just a few parts of the country. Aragon, Navarre, Castilla La Mancha, and Valencia are the only administrative regions to allow the label.
Vino de Calidad con Indicación Geográfica (VC)
Vinos de Calidad (V.C.) are like the middle child of Spanish wine. To be honst, you’re not likely to find many of these wines down at your local booze store (there are only 7 of them).
One of my favourite wines from Seville, Overo, is a VC.
Indicación Geográfica Protegida (IGP)
While not as important to quality wine as DOP categories, IGP labels are still worth knowing about. They indicate wine that comes from a specific region, but without the same history and reputation as a DOP location.
In general, there are fewer restrictions on grape varieties, yield, and wine-making practices for IGP regions than for DOPs.
Similar systems exist in France, with the Vin de Pays designation.
You are more likely to see the term “Vino de la Tierra” (VdT) on a Spanish wine label, but the two terms are interchangeable. At present, there are 42 regions falling under a VdT label.
Vino de Mesa
The last Spanish wine category is Vino de Mesa, or “Table Wine”. These wines are bad, plain and simple.
There are few (if any) quality controls on these wines, and no restrictions on where the grapes come from or how they are grown. In general, avoid these wines.
Understanding Ageing Terms on Spanish Wine Labels
Apart from the D.O., the other word taking up space on a Spanish wine label refers to its ageing. This isn’t the vintage, it’s the way it’s been matured in the winery before release.
In general, the words you’ll see are:
- Joven,
- Roble,
- Crianza,
- Reserva,
- Gran Reserva.
These terms mostly affect red wines, but they differ by region. That means that what a term means in Rioja might not mean the same thing just down the road in Ribera del Duero!
Each term lets you know how long the wine has spent ageing before coming out of the winery. Usually, it’s a mixture of time in oak and time spent in a bottle. Joven, or “young”, wines are the freshest, generally spending no time at all being matured.
Roble wines generally spend less than a year in a barrel, with crianzas sticking around in oak for a year to 18 months with up to a year in a bottle too. Reserva (“reserve”) wines mature for around three years in the barrel and the bottle. Finally, gran reservas are only produced in especially good vintages and usually spend upwards of four years in the winery.
What About Sweetness Levels?
The last thing you’ll want to be sure of is the sweetness level. You won’t always see this on a Spanish wine label, as it’s generally reserved for a handful of white wines and sparkling wines (called vinos espumosos in Spain).
The most important sweetness terms you should know are:
- Seco (dry)
- Semi-seco (semi-dry)
- Semi-dulce (semi-sweet)
- Dulce (sweet)
For Cava, you will also see the French sparkling wine terms Brut Nature, Extra Brut, and Brut used to distinguish very dry wines.
A word on Afrutado…
Ever hear a waiter ask if you would like un vino blanco afrutado?
It’s a common expression in Spain, so it’s worth knowing what it means. Afrutado literally means “fruity” (from fruta), so un vino afrutado means a wine full of fruity flavours. Usually, it’s a white wine, and the waiter almost always brings a verdejo from D.O. Rueda.
It’s a useful term to know, but be careful! A lot of the time, waiters will tell you that this means a “sweet wine”. The wine isn’t sweet, but the heavenly perfume of fresh fruit might give you the sensation of a sweet wine.
Read More
Learn more about the most important wine regions in Spain! Check out my guides to: