Spanish Wine Law

EU wine law recognizes two main categories of wine:
- Table wine and quality wine
Spain has two levels of table wine:
- Vino de mesa: no region, grapes, or vintage on label
- Vino de la Tierra (VdlT): equivalent of Vin de Pays in France
  - An officially recognized area but below DO level
Spain has four levels of quality wine:
- Vinos de Calidad con Indicación Geográfica (VCIG)
  - New category: areas must wait five years to ask for DO
- Denominación de Origen (DO).
  - Over 65 exist
  - Regulated by a consejo regulador with detailed rules
  - Guarantees origin not always quality
- Denominción de Origen Calificada (DOCa)
  - DO must wait ten years to attain
  - Only Rioja and Priorat so far: stricter rules
  - In reality does not guarentee more quality
- Vino de Pago:
  - Single estates of exceptional quality
  - Must comply at least with DOCa rules
Aging requirements: national DO law…some regions set stricter limits
- Terms generally appear on front labels
- All have a back sticker with category
- Joven or vino de cosecha: no oak aging (generally should be drunk from latest vintage)
- Roble: Seen some oak (no legal requirements)
- In reality categories are just for reds
- Some wineries are ignorign categories and have “cosecha” sticker for wines with oak aging