Wine Laws in Spain | Spanish Wine Quality System

The Wine Quality Systems (Wine Laws) in Spain is evolving. Their current hierarchy is shown below in decreasing order:

Denominacion de Origen Calificada (DOC or DOCA)
  • Rioja and Priorato the only places having this recognition from the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture at the moment.
  • All DOC wines carry a numbered back-label issued by the controlling body (Consejo Regulador) which guarantees the wine classification and the region of origin
Denominacion de Origen – Pago (DO Pago)
  • This is a relatively new category
  • It applies to those outstanding single estates which use their own grapes to make their wines
  • At present, there are not too many estates possessing this recognition, but it is expected to have more in next few years
Denominacion de Origen(DO) This Category is similar to Appellation d’Origine Controlee (AC) in France and has the following limitations

  • areas of production
  • types of wine grape varieties
  • Viticultural & Vinification methods
  • the wine should reflect the local style of where it is made
  • Same to DOC wines, all DO wines carry a numbered back-label for the guarantee of the wine classification and original wine region
Vino de la Tierra(VdIT) This is equivalent to Vin de Pays of France. There are more than 40 of these and below are the most important

  • Vino de la Tierra de Castilla
  • Vino de la Tierra de Castilla y Leon

As this quality category has less limitations than DO and DOC, wine makers always use this to experiment new ideas to develop more interesting wines.
Vino de Messa This is equivalent to Vin de Table of France

Spanish wines are commonly aged for a long time before released to the markets. Below are the different aging terms and their requirements:

Vino Joven Red Wines or White Wines or Rose Wines

  • Indicates that a wine has not been aged or only aged for a very short period of time
Crianza Red Wines

  • Must be aged for at least 2 years of which aged in small oak casks for at least 6 months

White or Rose Wines

  • Must be aged for at least 1 year
Reservas Wines are generally made with grapes in good vintages

Red Wines

  • Must be aged for at least 3 years of which aged in small oak casks for at least 12 months

White or Rose Wines

  • Must be aged for at least 2 years of which aged in small oak casks for at least 6 months
Grand Reserva Wines should be made with grapes in exceptionally good vintages

Red Wines

  • Must be aged for at least 5 years of which aged in small oak casks for at least 2 years

White or Rose Wines

  • Must be aged for at least 4 years of which aged in small oak casks for at least 6 months