Along with France and Italy, Spain is one of Europe's big three wine producing nations with an ancient history of winemaking and a range of wines and styles providing global touchstones for producers around the world.
All seventeen of Spain's administrative regions produce wine to some extent, including the Canary Islands and Balearic Islands. The greatest concentration of vineyards is in Castilla-La Mancha, but the finest and most famous wines come from Galicia (Rias Baixas), Catalonia (Cava and Priorat), Andalucia (Sherry), Castilla y Leon (Rueda, Toro and Ribera del Duero) and of course Rioja.
Spain's wine grape varieties are less numerous than their European counterparts. They also receive far less fanfare as the Spanish wine industry has only recently begun to show any interest in varietal-led winemaking and marketing. Several hundred varieties are used in Spanish vineyards to some extent, but the vast majority of Spanish wine is made from just a small number of these.
The key red wine varieties, in order of acreage, are Tempranillo, Garnacha, Bobal, Monastrell and Cabernet Sauvignon. The leading white wine varieties are Airen, Viura/Macabeo and Palomino and Albariño.
