Spanish coastal vineyards with a Mediterranean fishing village in the distance at golden hour — Wine tasting in Spain & Mexico · Mediterranean coastFig. 01

English Edition·Spring 2026

Wine tasting
in Spain
& Mexico.

Practical guides to wineries near major Spanish and Mexican cities. The kind of recommendations a friend who lives there would give you — addresses, prices, what to skip.

By Mateo Iriarte·Editor

Explore the map →Wine tasting near Logroño

Nº 01·Spain

Spanish wine regions

Nº 01

D.O. Bierzo

Bierzo

El Bierzo is a region between Galicia and Castilla, both geographically and viticulturally. The appellation has existed since 1989, but the transformation came when Álvaro Palacios and his nephew Ricardo Pérez Palacios moved to Corullón in 1999 and proved that Mencía — the native red grape — could yield top-tier wines. Today there are two Bierzos: the valley (young, fresh, fruity Mencía) and the slate hillsides of Corullón, Valtuille, and Villafranca (old-vine Mencía with serious slate minerality). The Godello white rounds out the offering.

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Nº 02

D.O. Jerez-Xérès-Sherry

Sherry

The Marco de Jerez took its time with me, I'll say upfront. For years I thought sherry was what my dad poured before Sunday paella, and not much else. It took a morning at Tabanco San Pablo, with Sonia (the sommelier, whose humor at eleven in the morning is much appreciated) lining up five glasses for me, to understand what this was actually about. The Marco isn't just another wine region: it's the oldest D.O. in Spain (1933) and makes a kind of wine you can't find anywhere else on earth. Geographically, the Marco is a triangle: Jerez de la Frontera, El Puerto de Santa María and Sanlúcar de Barrameda. All three cities sit on the same albariza soil (white limestone that holds moisture like a sponge) under Atlantic weather — which is what makes biological aging under flor (that layer of yeast that forms on top of the wine in barrel) even possible. No reds here. Only fortified whites: Fino, Manzanilla (Sanlúcar only), Amontillado, Oloroso, Palo Cortado, Pedro Ximénez, Moscatel. Palomino Fino dominates, over 95% of plantings. Pedro Ximénez and Moscatel are reserved for sweet wines. The criaderas-y-soleras system — stacked barrel rows where younger wine feeds older — defines the region and means every glass is technically a blend of many vintages. No vintage on a sherry label (except specific declared ones). Just solera age. The bodegas are cavernous cathedrals of oak with high ceilings to keep temperature stable. Sherry visits are some of Spain's best-developed: well-staffed, with flamenco shows, restaurants, technical tastings. September has the Fiesta de la Vendimia. May has the Feria del Caballo. Any time works though — Atlantic weather keeps Jerez cool even in August. Sanlúcar adds beach to the plan: Manzanilla matures next to the sea, and the local prawns are famous for a reason. Don't leave without trying almadraba tuna if you hit May-June.

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Nº 03

D.O.Ca. Rioja

Rioja

I've been coming to Rioja since before I could tell a Crianza from a Reserva, and the place still surprises me. Rioja divides into three sub-zones — Alta, Alavesa, Oriental — and each makes wine its own way, even if they all end up under the same D.O.Ca. label (the first in Spain, by the way, granted in 1991). Alta is Haro country, big historic houses, more structured wines. Alavesa, north of the Ebro, high-altitude vineyards, fresher wines, stone villages. Oriental — formerly called Rioja Baja, until someone decided to rebrand — is warmer, Garnacha country, having a moment. 65,000 hectares of vine between the Sierra de Cantabria to the north and the Cameros to the south, spread across three provinces. Tempranillo dominates (87% of plantings are red). The traditional Crianza / Reserva / Gran Reserva oak-aging model still defines the region, though more and more wineries are doing parallel single-vineyard bottlings. American oak ruled for a century; today there's roughly as much French as American. Two natural bases for wine tourism: Logroño (the capital, the legendary Calle Laurel tapas street, more hotels) and Haro (smaller, but the Barrio de la Estación packs seven historic wineries into 500 meters — one of the strangest density anomalies in the wine world). September and October are peak months — harvest, best light, vines turning color — but also the busiest. May still gets you green countryside and less harried winery staff. Don't believe the "cool northern Spain" line in August: it gets hot.

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Nº 04

D.O. Penedès

Penedès

Penedès is the most visitable wine region near Barcelona — about an hour by car or commuter train — and one of the most historically important in Catalonia. This is cava country (the appellation is now separate, but Sant Sadurní d'Anoia remains the heart), but also still wines worth the trip: aged xarel·lo whites, high-altitude garnacha reds, and projects like Torres' Mas La Plana that put the region on the international map back in the 1970s. Catalan gastronomy comes with the territory — calçots in season, escudella in winter, Mediterranean seafood year-round.

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Nº 05

D.O.Q. Priorat

Priorat

Priorat is, alongside Rioja, the only Spanish appellation with Qualified status (DOQ in Catalan, DOCa in Spanish) — the highest tier of the Spanish system. The wine region collapsed after phylloxera (1893) and practically disappeared until the 1980s, when René Barbier, Álvaro Palacios, Carles Pastrana, and three other "brewers" settled in Gratallops and reconverted the slopes of llicorella (Precambrian slate) into one of the world's most prestigious red-wine regions. Powerful wines, marked minerality, high alcohols held together by firm structure. Old-vine Garnacha on slate slopes is the soul of the appellation.

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Nº 06

D.O. Ribera del Duero

Ribera del Duero

My first trip to Aranda was November 2019, and I still remember the cold of that morning in the Vega Sicilia courtyard. Ribera del Duero makes the driest, most powerful Spanish reds, but the climate the grapes grow in is brutal: cold nights even in summer, hot days, a 25-degree daily swing that is — literally — what makes Ribera, Ribera. That diurnal swing produces grapes with thick skins and high natural acidity, the foundation of the long-aging wines the region is known for. The D.O. runs 115 km along the Duero river between Soria and Valladolid. Four provinces, vineyards at 700-900 m altitude, and a single dominant grape: Tinto Fino or Tinta del País — Tempranillo, but adapted to this demanding terrain. Cabernet, Merlot and Malbec are allowed in small percentages. Most Ribera is 100% Tinto Fino. Aranda de Duero is the practical base: 33,000 people, an old town honeycombed with medieval underground cellars (over 7 km of tunnels), asadores where roast suckling lamb (lechazo) is mandatory. The famous wineries — Vega Sicilia, Pingus, Pesquera, Aalto — sit between Valladolid and Burgos, so Aranda is a good base even if some require half an hour of driving. Unlike Rioja, wine tourism here is less developed: many wineries need bookings days or weeks ahead, and there are fewer hotels. The trade-off: the landscape is yours, without tour buses.

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Nº 07

D.O. Rías Baixas

Rías Baixas

Rías Baixas covers five sub-zones along the Atlantic coast of Galicia that turned Albariño into one of Spain's most exported white grapes. The appellation dates from 1988, but Galician viticulture goes back to the Romans — and the high-trellised pergola system (the traditional emparrados over granite) is a defining feature of the landscape. Whites with saline freshness, marked acidity, a citrus profile, and a floral edge. The best vineyards sit a kilometer from the ocean, and you can taste it. Today the most interesting wineries are those aging Albariño on lees or in neutral oak — that's where the "gastronomic white" status the variety was denied for years finally arrives.

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Nº 08

D.O. Toro

Toro

Toro is probably the Spanish appellation that has transformed most in the last 20 years. Until the 1990s it was a rustic, high-alcohol bulk-wine region — and in a decade it became serious investment territory (Vega Sicilia arrived in 1997 with Pintia, Numanthia followed). The star is Tinta de Toro, a local variant of Tempranillo adapted to stony soils and brutal summers: wines with structure, firm tannins, intense color. Old vines (some pre-phylloxera centenarians on their own roots, thanks to sandy soils that the phylloxera couldn't penetrate) are the region's most valuable asset.

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Nº 09

D.O. Utiel-Requena

Utiel-Requena

Utiel-Requena is the most important wine appellation in the Valencia region — a high plateau at 700-900 meters, about 60 km west of Valencia city. The native bobal grape is the headline: for decades it was sold in bulk, but a wave of small and mid-sized producers has spent the last 20 years proving bobal can compete with Spain's most serious red varieties — fresh, structured wines with a clear identity that doesn't copy tempranillo or garnacha. There's also serious work being done with macabeo whites and high-quality sparklings.

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Nº 10

D.O. Vinos de Madrid

Vinos de Madrid

D.O. Vinos de Madrid is the only wine appellation in the Madrid region and one of the most underrated in Spain. Three sub-zones — San Martín de Valdeiglesias, Navalcarnero, and Arganda — with poor granite soils, vineyards up to 900 meters, and a handful of small producers reinventing what wine from Madrid can be. The standout grapes are old-vine Sierra de Gredos garnacha and Albillo Real, a native white grape barely known outside Madrid that is now producing some of the most interesting whites in the country.

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Nº 02·Mexico

Mexican wine country

Nº 01

Valle de Guadalupe

Guadalupe Valley

Valle de Guadalupe sits in Baja California, 90 minutes south of Tijuana and 20 minutes north of Ensenada. It's the heart of Mexican wine country, producing around 70% of the country's wine. Jesuits planted the first vines in the 1700s, but the modern boom started in the 1980s when winemakers like Hugo D'Acosta proved the valley's Mediterranean climate could compete seriously with any other wine region. There are now over 150 wineries, from garage producers to large commercial operations. The style is eclectic: Cabernet Sauvignon and Nebbiolo dominate, but you'll find Tempranillo, Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, and experiments with obscure varietals. What distinguishes the Valle from anywhere else isn't just the wine — it's the combination of winery and architecture. Places like Encuentro Guadalupe, La Lomita, and Bruma are design destinations as much as wineries. The food scene matches. Restaurants like Deckman's en el Mogor, Fauna and Animalón do "Baja Med": local ingredients (clams, yellowfin tuna, avocado, cilantro), refined technique, plenty of fire. It's one of the great moments in modern Mexican cooking, and seeing it in its natural setting — with valley wines alongside — is worth the trip alone. September kicks off the season with the Fiestas de la Vendimia. The mild months (March-May, September-November) are best for visiting; summer can easily exceed 35°C.

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Nº 02

D.O. Jerez-Xérès-Sherry

Sherry

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Wine tastingin Spain& Mexico.

Wine tastingin Spain& Mexico.

Wine tasting
in Spain
& Mexico.

Wine tasting
in Spain
& Mexico.