Spain is the biggest exporter of wine in the world. Photo: LexnGer

It was the Romans’ favourite drink, a muse to Picasso and fell victim to the fascist regime of dicator Francisco Franco. Wine blogger Timmer Brown lifts the lid on everything you (probably) didn’t know about Spanish wine.

1) Spanish wine was the Romans’ favourite tipple
Wine has been produced in Spain since the first century AD. The Roman historian Pliny the elder raved about wines made from the area known today as Alella, which is 20 minutes from Barcelona. Another Roman, Ovid, noted the most popular wine in Rome (from Spain of course) known as Saguntum, was only good for getting your mistress drunk. Remnants of an ancient Roman wine press where found in Teia, near Alella, and have developed an interactive museum tour to see just how wine was made during this time.

2) A record breaking exporter
Spain is the top exporter of wine in the world.  In 2014, Spain exported 22.8 million hectolitres with the majority of it going to France. Not only is Spain a top exporter, but in 2014 it was the third largest producer of wine, behind France (1) and Italy (2) with 42 million hectolitres produced. While everyone thinks of Rioja when they think of Spanish wine, the top area for volume is actually Castille-La Mancha near the capital of Madrid.

3. Different classifications 
Spain has 78 sub-regions of wine across 17 provinces of the country, including the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands. They are classified as Denominación de Origen (DO) and Denominación de Origen Calificada (DOC). Both denote wineries meet stringent requirements to produce wine, with the DOC designation being the highest quality…

Other Facts like “Spanish wine was Picasso’s muse” …saying that Picasso is the muse of the Spanish wine … maybe for the wine made in Catalonia, but not for the rest of the Spanish regions who have other famous people that have shared and demanded the wide variety of Spanish wines; for example… what about Orson Wells and his falling for his beloved piglet with Ribera del Duero wine!!!

But…
…the author does not say in his article anything at all about other Spanish regions that produce great quality wines known all over the world such as Castilla y León, with several DOs like Toro, Rueda, Cigales, Arlanza and the best wellknown one: Ribera del Duero …Burgos and other provinced with an amazing historical patrimony named by the UNESCO (Cathedral, Saint Jacques’ way or Atapuerca site) broadcasts its wines all over the world.

Read more… here!

About Timmer Brown: Timmer moved to the Barcelona region four years ago after traveling the world for 15 years, working in marketing and public relations. He founded catalunyawine.com in 2014 to promote the wine region of Catalonia to the English speaking public. Now he travels to the vineyards of the region interviewing winemakers and exploring the history of the wine region. You can follow the journey on Twitter and Instagram @catalunyawine and also on the website.