Though Spain has a long winemaking history (it is the world's third largest producer of wine), for long it was the low man in the wine-world's totem pole. The big jolt to the wine biz in Spain happened in 1979 when Miguel Torres - who owned a bodega (Spanish for winery) - used the techniques that he had learnt at Dijon, France to win the first prize at a big wine contest in France. Spanish wine suddenly started happening. It's stories like this and that of Stags Leap which convince us that there is an Indian wine which is just waiting to be made which will one day knock the living daylights out of the French Grand Crus at some competition.

Two things to know about Spanish wines to get a reasonable idea are the various qualities and the various regions. The equivalent of the AOC system here is the Denominacion de Origen or DO. At the top is the DOC in which the "C" stands for Clacificada .The thing to remember about Spanish wines is that there is major focus on aging in oak barrels.

The various grades are :

1) Joven (literally "young") wines are not required to be aged in casks before release.

2) Crianza wines spend a year in oak barrels and two years in bottles before release.

3) Reserva wines are from select vintages and are aged for a year in oak casks and two
in bottles.

4) Gran Reserva, from outstanding vintages spend at least two years in oak casks and three years in bottles.

The wines in Spain are named for the regions (like in France) and these are called denominaciones. The ones to know are the following :

Rioja : More properly Rio Oja (Oja is a tributary of the Ebro) and the best-known denaminacion. It's in the central part of northern Spain. While there is some white wine that is produced here, the biggies are all red wines made from the Tempronillo grape with quantities of Granacha. Although some Gran Reservas can be expensive there are a lot of good value wines here.

Ribera de Duero : This denominacion runs along the Duero river, southwest of Rioja and was officially named only in 1982. It is supposed to be very much in demand nowadays. The big names are Bodegas Vega Sicilia and Alejandro Fernandez at Pequera de Duero.

Penedes : This region is in Catalonia and the aforementioned Torres is from here. Cava, Spain's own sparkling wine is largely made in Penedes and are largely made by the method' champenoise.

Andalucia : Spain's hottest region is also home to Sherry -named for the town of Jerez - and other fortified wine. This region has been exporting wine since the Phoenicians established trading links in 1100 BC. Unusually for Spain, their most interesting white wine is not named for a region but for a grape - Albarino. This is made in Galicia.