Glossary

Cosecha

The Spanish for vintage, so Cosecha 2001 on the bottle means it's from the 2001 vintage.

Crianza

Wine in its third year, matured for at least one year in oak.

Reserva

Aged for at least three years, of which at least one is in an oak cask.

Gran Reserva

Aged at least two years in an oak cask and three years in a bottle.

Spanish wine

Before we opened our Barcelona office in Barcelona, and started to travel to Spain regularly, I was rather dismissive of Spanish wines. That, I have come to realize, was a huge mistake. At that time, you saw very little Spanish wine on sale in England, apart from a variety of mediocre, unsubtle and headache-inducing Riojas and "sub-champagne" Cavas. Now, with first-hand knowledge, I have realized that Spain produces a marvellous variety of lovely wines which are also excellent value for money. And, as more and more of us discover this, the high-street wine trade is beginning to offer more of the range that Spain produces.

Even house wines in Spanish bars and restaurants are usually pleasant, sometimes very good, and always good value. This, I think, contrasts with France, where drinking the house wine can a big risk. But in a Barcelona restaurant, you can pay less than 10 euro for a three-course lunch with wine, confident in the knowledge that the wine will be very drinkable.

Spain has more than 20 denominated regions, and hundreds of grape varieties. Even after three years of fairly dedicated sampling, you are only just starting to get acquainted with them. But once you've sampled a few, some favourite regions do establish themselves. Click here for my three favourite Spanish wine regions - a purely personal choice - with an example of one or two specific bottles that I've really enjoyed. They're all red wines, because that's what I prefer to drink, and there is a bias towards Catalonia, which is purely incidental! And to the right is the ultimate Spanish wine - Rioja!

Rioja - the ultimate Spanish wine!

Rioja is the Spanish wine we are most used to seeing in the shops in the UK. In Spain, you can buy Rioja in wine shops at prices from 2 euro to 200 euro. There are some superb Riojas, and even the inexpensive ones can be very pleasant. It's made mainly from Tempranillo, which is also called Cencibel. The distinctive character of Rioja comes mainly from aging in American oak. I like the output of Bodegas Ontanon - and especially both the crianza and the reserva - although I've only had it in England. Another that we've enjoyed in restaurants in Barcelona is Faustino.