Spain

Home to the world’s largest vineyard area, Spain boasts a winegrowing history that is ancient and discontinuous. Several events throughout its three millennia of viticulture have threatened the industry, including the Moorish conquest of Iberia, the phylloxera crisis, a devastating Civil War, and several decades under a fascist regime, during which winemaking customs lost favor to bulk production and cooperatives. Today, Spain’s languages, cultures, and food and wine traditions remain distinct—long after the country's unification in the late 15^th and early 16^th centuries.

Spain’s heritage styles—its deep-hued rosados, nutty rancios, and slowly aged gran reservas—are now joined by more contemporary aesthetics. While some growers have adapted to a modern palate, others hold to tradition. Others still seek to reimagine classic Spanish wines for the 21^st century, reclaiming indigenous grape varieties and marrying innovation to ancestry. Born from these varied philosophical approaches is a Spanish wine industry equipped with the diversity and talent to capture new generations of consumers while safeguarding a long-cherished identity.

History of Spain

Ancient History

Anthropological studies have found trace evidence of Vitis vinifera in Spain dating as early as 3000 BCE. Fragments of vine wood and other vestiges of ancient grapes have been identified at three sites in Southern Spain. The introduction of viticulture to Iberia, however, is widely attributed to the Phoenicians, who arrived and established what would become Cádiz in today’s Andalucía approximately