Spanish wine regions

DO & DOCa wine regions of Spain

VdlT wine regions of Spain

The mainstream quality wine regions in Spain are referred to as Denominaciones de Origen (similar to the French Appellations) and the wine they produce is regulated for quality according to specific laws.

In compliance with European Commission Regulation (CE) 753/2002, Spanish wines are classified into two categories, which in turn are further classified into sub-categories depending on the strictness of the criteria applied in producing the type of wine in question:^[1]

• Quality Wines Produced in a Specified Region (QWPSR)

(Vino de Calidad Producido en Región Determinada (VCPRD) in Spanish)

• Denominación de Origen de Pago (DO de Pago): these wine regions aspire to the very highest standards with extremely strict geographical criteria, centering on individual single-estates with an international reputation. There are currently only 10 estates with this status: 7 in Castile-La Mancha, 3 in Navarre and 1 in Valencia.
• Denominación de Origen Calificada (DOCa) (Denominació d'Origen Qualificada (DOQ) in Catalan): regions with a proven track record of consistent quality. There are only 2 wine regions with this status: Rioja and Priorat.
• Denominación de Origen (DO) (Denominació d'Origen in Catalan, Denominación de Orixe in Galician and Jatorrizko Deitura in Basque): mainstream quality-wine regions. There are 66 wine regions with this status.
• Vino de Calidad con Indicación Geográfica. A 'starter home' for wine regions climbing the quality ladder. There are 2 wine regions with this status.

• Table Wine (Vino de Mesa in Spanish)

• Vino de la Tierra (VdlT) "Country wines" which do not have EU QWPSR status but which may use a regional name. There are currently 46 Vino de la Tierra regions in Spain.
• Vino de Mesa (Table Wine) is bulk-grown, usually drawn from a wide variety of regions and hence has no vintage or area designation on the label, apart from "Produce of Spain". Production of this low grade of Spanish wine is falling year on year.

In 2006 a new Vino de la Tierra "super-region" was created called Viñedos de España (not listed below) which is permitted to blend wines from 11 different Spanish regions. This has yet to be ratified by the EU, however, and has been legally challenged by the regional governments of La Rioja and Castile and León.^[2]

Although almost all wine regions are confined to specific centres of production, some of the top denominaciones (Cava and Rioja in particular) are the product of more than one Autonomous Community. This is in contrast to Denominaciónes de Origen de Pago, where the location criteria are very strict indeed, often centering on specific plots of land and admitting only those wines produced in their immediate vicinity.^[3]

List of Spanish Denominaciones de Origen and Vinos de la Tierra by Community

Autonomous Community	Dominiaciónes de Origen (DO) (DOCa and DO de Pago in bold)	Vinos de la Tierra (VdlT) (VCPRD in bold)
Andalusia	Condado de Huelva Jerez-Xeres-Sherry Málaga Manzanilla Sanlúcar de Barrameda Montilla-Moriles Sierras de Málaga	Bailén Cádiz Contraviesa-Alpujarra Córdoba Desierto de Almería Granada Sur-Oeste Laujar-Alpujarra Los Palacios Norte de Almería Norte de Granada Ribera del Andarax Sierra Norte de Sevilla Sierra Sur de Jaén Sierras de Las Estancias y Los Filabres Torreperogil Villaviciosa de Córdoba
Aragon	Calatayud Campo de Borja Cariñena Somontano Cava	Bajo Aragón Ribera del Gállego-Cinco Villas Ribera del Jiloca Ribera del Queiles Valdejalón Valle del Cinca
Asturias	(none)	Cangas
Cantabria	(none)	Costa de Cantabria Liébana
Castile and León	Arlanza Arribes Bierzo Cigales Ribera del Duero Rueda Tierra de León Tierra del Vino de Zamora Toro Cava (one producer in Aranda de Duero)	Castilla y León Valles de Benavente (Vino de Calidad) Valtiendas (Vino de Calidad)
Castile-La Mancha	Almansa Campo de La Guardia (DO de Pago) Dehesa del Carrizal (DO de Pago) Dominio de Valdepusa (DO de Pago) Finca Élez (DO de Pago) Guijoso (DO de Pago) Pago Casa Del Blanco (DO de Pago) Jumilla La Mancha Manchuela Méntrida Mondéjar Pago Florentino (DO de Pago) Ribera del Júcar Uclés Valdepeñas	Castilla Gálvez Pozohondo Sierra de Alcaraz
Catalonia	Alella Catalunya Conca de Barberà Costers del Segre Empordà Montsant Penedès Pla de Bages Priorat (DOCa) Tarragona Terra Alta Cava	(none)
Community of Madrid	Vinos de Madrid	(none)
Valencian Community	Alicante Utiel-Requena Valencia Cava	Castelló El Terrerazo
Extremadura	Ribera del Guadiana Cava	Extremadura
Galicia	Monterrei Rías Baixas Ribeira Sacra Ribeiro Valdeorras	Barbanza e Iria Betanzos Valle del Miño-Orense
Balearic Islands	Binissalem-Mallorca Plà i Llevant	Formentera Ibiza Illes Balears Mallorca Isla de Menorca Serra de Tramuntana-Costa Nord
Canary Islands[4][5]	Abona El Hierro Gran Canaria La Gomera La Palma Lanzarote Tacoronte-Acentejo Valle de Güímar Valle de la Orotava Ycoden-Daute-Isora	(none)
Foral Community of Navarre	Navarra Señorío de Arínzano (DO de Pago)[6] Prado de Irache (DO de Pago) Otazu (DO de Pago) Rioja Cava	Ribera del Queiles
Basque Country	Txacolí de Bizcaia Txacolí de Getaria Txacolí de Álava Rioja (Alavesa) Cava	(none)
Murcia	Alicante Bullas Jumilla Yecla	Abanilla Campo de Cartagena
La Rioja	Rioja (DOCa) Cava	Valles de Sadacia

References

1. ^ BOE No.165 dated 11 de julio de 2003 (ed.): «Ley 24/2003 de la Viña y del Vino
2. ^ [Denominaciones de Origen e Indicaciones Geográficas] - Food - M.A.P.A
3. ^ [Denominaciones de Origen e Indicaciones Geográficas] - Food - M.A.P.A
4. ^ www.turismodecanarias.com Canary Islands
5. ^ http://www.gobiernodecanarias.org
6. ^ Hughes, Natasha, Decanter.com. "Julian Chivite bodega gets top classification". http://www.decanter.com/news/172731.html.