A list of the best Spanish wines, chosen by a Spaniard
I live in Ronda and work in wine, and this is the list I’d give a friend. Ten bottles you can actually buy, from a £12 fino to a Ronda red that makes 350 bottles a year. Each one is here because it’s the best example of a region, grape or style, not just because it’s famous.
Everyday bottles (under £20)
Wine for a Tuesday, or for when six people show up and nobody told you. If you want more at this price, I’ve written a full guide to [LINK: cheap Spanish wines].
Tío Pepe Fino
Region: Jerez, Andalusia
Grapes: Palomino
Price: ~£12–15
I’ll start with the one that surprises British friends most. In Andalusia, fino isn’t something your aunt keeps next to the Christmas cake. It’s a bone-dry, chilled white wine we drink with jamón, olives, fried fish and almonds, often before the red has even been opened.
Tío Pepe is the one you’ll find everywhere, and there’s no snobbery in that. It spends years in barrels under a layer of yeast called flor, which keeps the air out and gives the wine its signature: salty, nutty, with a tang of green apple and fresh bread. It’s sharp, clean and very good with food.
Two rules: serve it fridge-cold, and finish the bottle within a few days, because it doesn’t keep like a port. At a feria you’ll see it poured into jugs with lemonade and ice; that’s a rebujito, and it’s how a lot of Andalusia gets through May.
Can Blau
Region: Montsant
Grapes: Cariñena, Garnacha, Syrah
Price: ~€12–15
Montsant wraps around Priorat like a horseshoe. It has much of the same terrain, old vines and dry heat, without the Priorat price tag. Can Blau is the clearest proof of that.
The Cariñena brings dark fruit and backbone, the Garnacha adds warmth and perfume, and a little Syrah fills in the middle. It comes out dark and spicy, with blackberries, a little liquorice and enough grip to go with anything off the barbecue. At this price it has no business being this good.
If you ask me for one reliable, interesting red for everyday drinking, this is the one I give you.
Pétalos del Bierzo
Region: Bierzo, Castilla y León
Grapes: Mencía
Price: ~£18–22
If you think Spanish red means heavy, oaky and 15% alcohol, this bottle is here to change your mind.
Bierzo sits in the green north-west, next to Galicia, and its grape is Mencía: fresh, floral and full of red fruit. Pétalos is made by Descendientes de J. Palacios, the project of Álvaro Palacios (the man behind L’Ermita, see the splurge box below) and his nephew Ricardo, working with old vines on steep slate slopes.
In the glass it has raspberries, violets and a stony, almost peppery finish. It’s light enough to serve slightly cool and serious enough to make you stop talking for a second. For roast chicken, mushrooms or a Sunday lunch, few Spanish reds under £25 match it.
Special-occasion bottles (£20–60)
This is where Spain is hardest to beat: wines that would cost twice as much from Burgundy or Bordeaux.
CVNE Imperial Reserva
Region: Rioja
Grapes: Tempranillo, Mazuelo, Graciano
Price: ~£28–35
Ask most people to picture Spanish red and they picture Rioja. CVNE Imperial is one of the best reasons why.
CVNE (you say it “Coo-nay”) has been making wine in Haro since 1879. Imperial is the flagship: years in oak, then more years in bottle before it’s released, so by the time you open it the hard work is done. You get red fruit, vanilla, cedar, a little tobacco, and a softness that only proper barrel time gives. It’s elegant rather than heavy, and consistent year after year.
If I had to pick one wine to show a newcomer what classic Spanish red tastes like, it would probably be this one.
Gramona Imperial
Region: Penedès, Catalonia (Corpinnat)
Grapes: Xarel·lo, Macabeo, Chardonnay
Price: ~£30–38
I promised you a cava, and here’s the twist: some of Spain’s best cava producers no longer put “cava” on the label.
In 2019 a group of top Penedès houses, Gramona among them, left the Cava DO and created Corpinnat. The rules are stricter: organic grapes, harvested by hand, made on the estate and aged longer on the lees. It’s the same traditional method as Champagne, made to a higher standard than the cava you find on offer at the supermarket.
Gramona is the house I’d point you to first. Their wines spend a long time on the lees, and you can taste it: brioche, toasted almonds, baked apple, and a fine, persistent bubble that doesn’t go flat halfway through the glass. Put it next to a Champagne at twice the price and you’ll be surprised.
If you only want a cheap bottle for mimosas, any cava will do. If you want to understand Spanish sparkling wine, start here.
Do Ferreiro Cepas Vellas
Region: Rías Baixas, Galicia
Grapes: Albariño
Price: ~£30–40
Conversations about Spanish wine are dominated by red, which is a shame, because Galicia is making some of the most interesting whites in Europe.
Most Albariño is made to be drunk young: fresh, zesty, on a terrace with a plate of prawns. Cepas Vellas (“old vines”) is something else. It comes from vines up to 200 years old, some of them planted before phylloxera, which is almost unheard of for this grape. You still get green apple, white peach and the salty breeze of the Atlantic, but with a texture and depth most Albariño can’t reach, and it gets better with a few years in bottle.
If you’re after the best Spanish white wine and can only buy one, this is it. With pulpo a la gallega it’s hard to beat.
Pintia
Region: Toro, Castilla y León
Grapes: Tinta de Toro (100%)
Price: ~£45–55
Pintia is what happened when the family behind Vega Sicilia, Spain’s most famous wine, went to Toro. Tinta de Toro is genetically Tempranillo, but in the heat of Toro it becomes something much more muscular.
It’s not a delicate wine. Dark fruit, cocoa, spice, serious tannin and plenty of weight. Give it an hour in a decanter, or a few years in the rack if you have the patience. In Spain we’d call this a vino de pelo en pecho, literally a “chest-hair wine”, and we mean it as a compliment.
If you’re curious about Vega Sicilia but not about spending £400, this gets you into the family for a fraction of the price.
La Rioja Alta 904 Gran Reserva
Region: Rioja Alta
Grapes: Tempranillo, Graciano
Price: ~£55–70
Some wines become reference points. La Rioja Alta 904 is one of them.
It was much cheaper not long ago, and it’s still worth it, because it stands for a way of making Rioja that few bodegas still bother with: long barrel ageing, patience, and bottle time before release that most producers have quietly dropped for faster turnover. The result is complete calm. Dried cherries, cedar, leather, a hint of tobacco, and tannins so smooth you barely notice them.
If you can’t find it: look for Muga Prado Enea Gran Reserva (~£50–60). It’s rounder and more generous where the 904 is tighter and more classical. Muga still makes its own barrels in Haro, one of very few wineries that do. Open both side by side one day; it’s the best Rioja lesson I know.
Worth the stretch (£60+)
Two bottles for when the occasion deserves it. Both are cheaper than most of the famous wines they get compared with.
Clos Mogador
Region: Priorat
Grapes: Garnacha, Cariñena, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon
Price: ~£65–85
At the end of the 1980s five winemakers turned up in Priorat, a forgotten, almost abandoned corner of Catalonia, and built one of Spain’s most exciting regions from scratch. René Barbier was one of them, and Clos Mogador is his flagship.
The key is the soil: llicorella, a crumbly black-and-gold slate that gives Priorat its unmistakable mineral, almost graphite note. On top of that you get dark fruit, wild mountain herbs, a smoky intensity and a very long finish. It’s not a shy wine.
Some people in the trade say this would be their one bottle on a desert island. I understand why. If you want to know why Priorat gets mentioned in the same breath as Burgundy and the Rhône, this is the bottle that explains it.
Yo Solo
Region: DO Sierras de Málaga
Grapes: Tintilla de Rota, Romé
Price: ~€60-80
This is the one I’d be surprised if you’d heard of, and the one I’m proudest to include.
Yo Solo comes from La Melonera, a winery on the outskirts of Ronda, my town. It’s made from two grapes that nearly disappeared: Tintilla de Rota, an old Andalusian variety, and Romé, a local red that almost nobody else grows. Around 350 bottles a year. The name means “I alone”, and it fits.
It won’t be at your local shop, and I’ll be honest, that’s part of the appeal. Ronda has spent the last thirty years quietly reviving its wine tradition, and this bottle is the best argument I know that the most interesting things in Spanish wine right now are happening off the usual map.
What makes Spanish wine so interesting
Spain has more vineyard land than any country on earth — more than France, more than Italy — but makes less wine by volume, because most of its best regions sit at 600–900 metres. The vines work harder, yields drop, and the swing between hot days and cold nights gives grapes ripeness and acidity at the same time.
Spain also has around 400 native grape varieties, most of which the rest of the world has never met. Tempranillo gets the attention (fairly — it’s excellent), but producers are quietly reviving near-extinct grapes: Maturana Tinta in Rioja, Bruñal in the northwest, the indigenous varieties around Ronda. The next decade of Spanish wine is going to be interesting.
How to read a Spanish wine label
Four terms that actually matter:
DO / DOC / DOP — Denominación de Origen. Region of origin and quality classification. DOC (or DOCa) is the higher tier — only Rioja and Priorat hold it.
Crianza — minimum 24 months ageing, at least 6 in oak. Usually a producer’s entry-level aged wine.
Reserva — minimum 36 months, at least 12 in oak. More complexity, more age.
Gran Reserva — minimum 60 months, at least 18 in oak. Only made in the best years.
One thing worth knowing: the categories don’t tell the whole story. A young Joven from a serious producer in a great region can beat a Gran Reserva from a bodega just ticking regulatory boxes. Use the classification as context, not verdict.
What is the best Spanish wine?
There’s no single answer, but Vega Sicilia Único is the wine most consistently named as Spain’s finest by critics and collectors — made at the same Ribera del Duero estate since the 1860s and typically aged a decade before release. For something more accessible, CVNE Imperial Reserva from Rioja gives outstanding quality at a fair price.
What are the most famous Spanish wines?
Rioja is the most famous and the best-selling Spanish wine by far, with CVNE, Muga and La Rioja Alta among its classic names. Beyond it, Vega Sicilia is the most celebrated single estate, and Priorat’s L’Ermita and Clos Mogador are the famous modern icons. Fame and quality usually overlap here — but not always, which is the point of this list.
What is the best Spanish red wine under €100?
La Rioja Alta 904 Gran Reserva (~€55–70) is the answer most serious Spanish wine professionals give — a benchmark classical Rioja with rare composure at the price. Clos Mogador from Priorat (~€60–70) is the pick if you want something more modern, mineral and concentrated. Both are exceptional and sit at the two poles of Spanish fine wine.
What is the best Spanish white wine?
Do Ferreiro Cepas Vellas from Rías Baixas — old-vine Albariño with a depth and precision most whites at the price can’t match. For everyday drinking, any young Albariño from Rías Baixas or Verdejo from Rueda serves you well at €10–15.
What Spanish wine regions should I know beyond Rioja?
Priorat is the most important — old-vine Garnacha and Cariñena on slate, producing some of Spain’s most serious age-worthy reds. Ribera del Duero for Tempranillo at its most structured. Rías Baixas for Atlantic whites. And for something genuinely unfamiliar, Ronda in Andalusia: high-altitude vineyards, indigenous grapes, and producers starting to attract serious attention.
What is the best cheap Spanish wine?
Can Blau from Montsant at €12–15 consistently outperforms bottles twice its price. For a broader selection, see our full guide to the best cheap Spanish wines — 10 bottles under €15 that all earn their place.
Is Rioja really the best wine in Spain?
The top Riojas are among Spain’s finest, but they aren’t the whole picture. Priorat rivals anywhere in Europe for intensity and terroir. Ribera del Duero has Vega Sicilia. Rías Baixas makes world-class whites. And producers in Bierzo, Toro and Ronda are making important wine most lists haven’t caught up with. Rioja is the best-known Spanish wine — which isn’t the same as the best.