Food & Drink ~ The simple guide to ordering wine in Spain

It is simple to order wine in Spain if you know how, below is a quick guide to help you enjoy your wine and order precisely what you want.

Tinto ~ Red Wine
Instead of the standard Rioja, why not try Ribera del Duera wines from central Spain. They are better value and just as good.

Tinto de Verano ~ Red Wine Spritzer
Served across the country, the cold summer drink is one part red wine, one part sparkling soda or water and in some places rum is added.

Crianza ~ An Aged Wine
A red that has been aged a minimum of two years with at least six months in a barrel. (White Crianza wines must be aged for at least one year.)

Rosado ~ Rose
Most Spanish rosados are made from Garnacha grapes or sometimes Tempranillo. Rosados can be quite dark in colour and are usually dry and tangy.

Cava ~ Sparkling Wine
Cava is Spain�s most popular sparkling wine Freixenet and Codorniu are its two main producers.

Blanco ~ White Wine
A good tip when ordering white wine is to order whatever is produced locally.

Rioja ~ Spain�s most famous Wine
This wine region produces medium-bodied reds that feature Tempranillo grapes. There are also Rioja whites, but the region is mostly famous for it�s red wine.

Reserva and Gran Reserva
Reserva red wine has spent a minimum of one year in oak and two years in a bottle,  while Gran Reserva has spent two years in oak and three years in a bottle. Gran Reserva is more expensive as it has been aged for longer.

Food & Drink News ~ Spanish wines were the star at this year�s Vinexpo

The biannual event of Vinexpo was held in the French city of Bordeaux last week, it is one of the world�s leading wine fairs. Over 40 countries attended and this year�s guest nation was Spain. There were around 2,300 producers in attendance, with 100 of them being from Spanish wineries.

The link between wine and gastronomy in Spain is highly important and unbelievably more so than in France. For this reason Spain sent a team of 12 chefs, led by the two top chefs Ferran Adri� and Jos� Andr�s, to prepare dishes to accompany the wine tastings.

Spain, now exports more wine than any other country and has seen an increase of 43% in it�s exports in the last 5 years. Despite this it is only third in terms of earnings, this is due to selling more wine at wholesale. Spain produces some great wines, but it doesn�t produce enough wine that sells at good prices. To improve the country needs to do more to promote the many different types of wines it produces and not just the regions of Castilla-La Mancha and Rioja.