Say Hola to Spanish Wine

To the uninitiated, Spain makes some phenomenal wines

- NIKHIL AGARWAL

In Spain they have a saying, one should not go through life either being too drunk or too sober. The Spaniards definitely know how to find that balance perfectly.

I love Spain, in fact I love almost everything about it. The people, the food and the wine. It's hard not to like their way of life. Nothing like sipping on a glass of red and a casual tapas bar taking in all the culinary delights this country has to offer, and making new friends. And friendly they are.

Their wines are perhaps somewhat underappreciated in India but this however is changing quickly and we can see many wines from Spain making inroads to India from regions that are outside of Rioja and Ribera del Duero time To the uninitiated, Spain makes some phenomenal wines. If you drink French and Italian and have left out Spain in your go to list, perhaps it's you give it a sip. Spanish wines can and do offer great value for the most part, especially if they come from the not so known regions. At the same time, some even from the famed regions are extremely high quality with prices that are relatively friendly.

Rioja, perhaps Spain's most famous wine producing region has long been a personal favourite. The grape variety here is Tempranillo. This grape gives wines of red fruit character with good acidity and a fine tannin structure.

The Spanish love their oak. Oak ageing gives the wine more depth, vanilla and wood tannins to balance out the sour red fruit characteristics of the grape. If you like oak, vanilla and notes of pencil shavings and even leather in your reds, this country will tick all the boxes for you.