'Spanish Wine Labels'
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At first, trying to make sense of a Spanish wine label may seem to be a daunting task; but it's not really that difficult. Rather than run a course in label interpretation, let's just try and get a handle on the basic terminology.
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First of all keep in mind 6 basic quality levels:
- Vino de mesa
table wine without a geographic denomination
- Vino joven
young wine, usually from a qualified DO region, sometimes with a bit of ageing, but not enough to be a "roble" or "crianza"
- Roble
"roble" means oak, some regions allow this term on the label for lightly oaked wines that don't reach "crianza" standards
- Crianza
aged 2 years, at least 6 months in oak
- Reserva
quality wine, normally aged at least 3 years, at least 1 year in oak casks, 2 years in the bottle, made from top vintages
- Gran Reserva
quality wine, aged at least 2 years in oak plus 3 years in the bottle, made from exceptional vintages
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- Bodega:
The name of the vineyard. In this case, the vineyard is Martínez Bujanda.
- Region:
The location where the grapes have been grown. This label shows that the grapes where grown in the Rioja region, the largest and best known area for grape growing in Spain.
- Varietal:
The type of grape used to make the wine. Here, Garnacha grapes where used. Other popular varietals in Spain include, Tempranillo, Graciano, Mazuelo, Viura, Malavasia, Xarello, and Parellada.
- Vintage:
The year the wine was made. The wine in this bottle dates back to 1990.
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