{"id":2026,"date":"2022-10-31T10:08:28","date_gmt":"2022-10-31T17:08:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/?p=2026"},"modified":"2023-09-15T07:52:14","modified_gmt":"2023-09-15T14:52:14","slug":"spanish-wines-vs-other-wines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/spanish-wines-vs-other-wines\/","title":{"rendered":"Spanish Wines vs. Other Wines (French, Italian &#038; More)"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>img#mv-trellis-img-1::before{padding-top:66.69921875%; }img#mv-trellis-img-1{display:block;}img#mv-trellis-img-2::before{padding-top:66.69921875%; }img#mv-trellis-img-2{display:block;}<\/style>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\"><em>As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases with no additional costs for you.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For a long time, I have wondered why Spanish wines had a bad reputation compared to neighbors France and Italy. The Spanish wines I have tasted are easily as good as more expensive French and Italian wines and, in some cases, tasted remarkably similar. Recently I got to spend 15 days at a Spanish winery and got my questions answered.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Spain has the most hectares of vineyards in the world, yet produces 5 million hectoliters less wine than Italy and France. The reason is Spain exports bulk wine to France, Italy, and Portugal, where it is blended into their wines. In some cases, Spanish is rebranded as a wine of a neighboring country.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let&rsquo;s take a closer look at how <strong><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/spanish-wines-explained\/\" target=\"_blank\">Spanish wine<\/a> <\/strong>compares to the wines of France, Italy, Portugal, and Chile.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Depositphotos_7285744_L-1-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Spanish Wines vs. Other Wines\" class=\"wp-image-2030\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Depositphotos_7285744_L-1-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Depositphotos_7285744_L-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Depositphotos_7285744_L-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Depositphotos_7285744_L-1-960x640.jpg 960w, https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Depositphotos_7285744_L-1-1080x720.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Depositphotos_7285744_L-1.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 760px) calc(100vw - 40px), 720px\"><\/noscript><img loading=\"eager\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%201024%20683'%3E%3Crect%20width='1024'%20height='683'%20style='fill:%23e3e3e3'\/%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" alt=\"Spanish Wines vs. Other Wines\" class=\"wp-image-2030 eager-load\" sizes=\"(max-width: 760px) calc(100vw - 40px), 720px\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Depositphotos_7285744_L-1.jpg\" id=\"mv-trellis-img-1\" data-src=\"https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Depositphotos_7285744_L-1-1024x683.jpg.webp\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Depositphotos_7285744_L-1-1024x683.jpg.webp 1024w, https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Depositphotos_7285744_L-1-300x200.jpg.webp 300w, https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Depositphotos_7285744_L-1-768x512.jpg.webp 768w, https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Depositphotos_7285744_L-1-960x640.jpg.webp 960w, https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Depositphotos_7285744_L-1-1080x720.jpg.webp 1080w, https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Depositphotos_7285744_L-1.jpg.webp 1200w\" data-svg=\"1\" data-trellis-processed=\"1\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Spanish Wines vs. Other Wines<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p><strong>TIP:<\/strong> <em>If you want to check out the best refrigerator for wine storage, I recommend trying out the Avation (18 bottles) compressor refrigerator with Wi-fi smart app control cooling system. You can find this refrigerator by clicking&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/geni.us\/ivation_refri_18\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>here<\/strong><\/a>&nbsp;(Amazon link).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Spanish Wine Production Statistics&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Spain ranks number one in the world regarding the number of hectares of land under vineyards but ranks third in wine produced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Spain has 1 million hectares of <a href=\"https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/is-buying-a-wine-at-the-vineyard-cheaper\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">vineyards and produces 40.7 million hectoliters of wine<\/a> per year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table aligncenter is-style-stripes\"><table><thead><tr><th>Country<\/th><th class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">Hectares of Vineyard<\/th><th class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">Hectoliters of Wine<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>Spain<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">1 000 000<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">40 700 000<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>France<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">750 000<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">44 700 000<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Italy<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">702 000<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">45 000 000<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Portugal<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">224 000<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">3 700 000<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Chile<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">212 000<\/td><td class=\"has-text-align-center\" data-align=\"center\">1 033 000<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Wine Production Statistics<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The reason why Spain produces 10% less wine from 33% more vineyards is that Spain exports bulk (cheaper) wine to France and Italy, where it is blended with French and Italian wines and sold as wine produced and bottled in France\/Italy. This means that both France and Italy are able to produce and export more wine than can be harvested from their own vineyards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Spanish Wine vs. Italian Wine<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-background\" style=\"background-color:#fff0f3\"><strong>Recommendation box: <\/strong><em>Everything you need to enjoy your wine as much as possible. All recommended products are personally tested and regularly used by experts from this website (Amazon links):<\/em><br><br><strong>  &gt; <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/geni.us\/ivation_refri_18\" target=\"_blank\">Ivation Wine Cooler<\/a><\/strong> &ndash;<em> Energy-efficient wine cooler for 18 bottles with Wi-fi smart app control cooling system.<\/em><br><strong><strong>  &gt; <\/strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/geni.us\/gusto_nostro_wine_rack\" target=\"_blank\">Wine Rack<\/a><\/strong> &ndash; <em>Beautiful, elegant wood rack for up to 7 bottles <em>and the choice of vertical or horizontal storage<\/em>.<\/em><br><strong>  &gt; <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/geni.us\/durand_opener_vintage\" target=\"_blank\">Durand Wine Opener<\/a><\/strong> &ndash; <em>Classic vintage wine opener (we like all these classic staff<\/em>).<br><strong>  &gt; <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/geni.us\/Iceberg_decanter_aerat\" target=\"_blank\">YouYah Iceberg Wine Decanter<\/a><\/strong> &ndash; <em>The most beautiful and handy wine decanter we personally use.<\/em><br><strong>  &gt;<\/strong> <strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/geni.us\/bormioli_rocco_glasses\" target=\"_blank\">Bormioli Rocco Wine Glasses<\/a><\/strong> &ndash; <em>A set of eight elegant and traditional wine glasses made in Italy.<\/em><br><strong>  &gt; <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/geni.us\/vintorio_aerator\" target=\"_blank\">Vintorio Wine Aerator<\/a><\/strong> &ndash; <em>Simple but really useful wine aerator for a reasonable price.<\/em><br><strong>  &gt; <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/geni.us\/vacu_vin_wine\" target=\"_blank\">The Original Vacu Vin Wine Saver<\/a><\/strong> &ndash; <em>The best wine saver on the market in a package with two vacuum stoppers and two wine servers.<\/em><br><br><em>And if you want to become a true connoisseur of wine, we recommend reading the book <strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/geni.us\/wine_folly_book\" target=\"_blank\">Wine Folly: The Essential Guide to Wine<\/a><\/strong> (Amazon link), where you will find all the information you need about winemaking, wine varieties, flavors, and much more.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In Italy, wine is produced in 20 distinct wine-producing regions. Comparatively, Spain has 60 wine-producing regions, each with a unique soil and microclimate combination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thanks to astute marketing, Italy has a reputation for supplying some of the best-tasting wine in the world. For many years Italy has been best known for its Chianti, a red wine from Tuscany. These days it is Prosecco, a sparkling white wine from Veneto that has become more popular.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When it comes to some of the more widely known varieties, such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Syrah, are grown widely in Spain as well as Italy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, in areas such as Tuscany, it has become more profitable to plant more Sangiovese, which is difficult to grow outside that region, and to import the Cabernet, Merlot, and Syrah for blending.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Italian Wine Production Statistics&nbsp;<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Italy produces the most wine of any country in the world yet ranks only third behind France and Spain in terms of the amount of land under vineyards.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This means that Italy produces 6.4 million hectoliters (or 852 million bottles) more wine than its entire grape harvest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>TIP:<\/strong><em> Most wines go bad once you pop the cork within a day or so. But a <strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/geni.us\/coravin_model_2\" target=\"_blank\">Coravin Wine Preservation system<\/a><\/strong> (available for a great price on Amazon) can extend the life of your opened wine for weeks or even months. It is awesome. You should check it out to see if it fits your lifestyle.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Italy makes up for its shortfall by importing bulk wine from Spain, blending that into its own wine before bottling it as <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Italian wine\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" href=\"https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/differences-between-french-and-italian-wine\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Italian wine<\/strong><\/a>. I spent some time over these past few weeks at a Spanish winery that exports Cabernet Sauvignon to an Italian wine production corporation that does not press any grapes or ferment any wine. They buy bulk wine, blend it, and bottle it as an Italian product.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Chianti Story<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Chianti, the red wine from Tuscany, is easily Italy&rsquo;s most famous red wine. It was the most exported Italian wine up until Prosecco took over the number-one spot. However, Chianti is still the most exported Italian red wine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Over the decades, the minimum requirements for a wine to be classified as a Chianti have shifted. Originally Chianti was almost exclusively made from Tuscan Sangiovese grapes with small amounts of Cabernet, Merlot, and Syrah blended to give Chianti wines from different wineries a distinct character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>More recently, the minimum amount of Tuscan Sangiovese needed for an authentic Chianti was set at 80% before being lowered to 75%.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In order to increase yield, Tuscan wine farmers planted more Sangiovese as this grape variety struggles to grow well outside of Tuscany. They were then able to import Cabernet, Merlot, and Syrah from Spain for less than it would cost to produce in Italy at lower volumes and use the imported wine for blending. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, these days authentic Italian Chianti contains up to 25% of blended Spanish Cabernet, Merlot, and Syrah so as to increase the yield of Chianti from Tuscan vineyards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>TIP:&nbsp;<\/strong><em>Check out the 7 common reasons why your wine turns brown and how to fix it in&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/can-wine-turn-brown\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>this article<\/strong><\/a>. Find out how to wrap wine bottles in plastic wrap in <strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/why-wrap-wine-bottles-in-plastic-wrap\/\" target=\"_blank\">this article<\/a><\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Spanish Wine vs. French Wine<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The key aspect that makes French and Spanish wine different is the length of the vegetative season. For instance, in the Languedoc region of France, the vegetative season runs from mid-March until mid-October. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By contrast, in the La Rioja region of Spain, the vegetative season is from the beginning of March till the end of November and sometimes even into December.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The weather during the harvest season in France can be somewhat fickle, making the quality level of French wine inconsistent between vintages. Spain&rsquo;s weather is more consistent and hotter all through their long summers, meaning that if you enjoy a particular Spanish wine, you can expect the same quality from the following vintages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This means that the grapes have more time to mature on the vine before harvest in Spain, making for a fuller flavor, heavier fruit and flower notes on the nose, and a heavier tannin base. Spain&rsquo;s hotter climate results in grapes having higher sugar levels and, consequently, higher alcohol levels during fermentation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I have a friend in Andalucia who starts his Cabernet Sauvignon harvest in the third or final week of October each year, at a time when the vineyards around Montpellier in France have already been pruned for the winter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>TIP<\/strong>: <em>To find out more about the best Spanish wines, read <strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/spanish-wines-explained\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/spanish-wines-explained\/\" target=\"_blank\">this article<\/a><\/strong>. Have you ever wondered if buying a bottle of wine directly from the Vineyard is cheaper? We answer that question <strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/is-buying-a-wine-at-the-vineyard-cheaper\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/is-buying-a-wine-at-the-vineyard-cheaper\/\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">French Wine Production Statistics<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>France produces the second most amount of wine in the world, almost equal to that of Italy. France has a similar challenge to Italy in that its vineyards cannot produce enough wine to meet the demand for French wines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This means that France produces 3.45 million hectoliters (or 460 million bottles) more wine than its entire grape harvest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Because French wines are limited by a maximum yield of 55 hectoliters per hectare of vineyard, the only way for French wine producers to increase production is to either plant more vineyards and wait for them to come into production or to import wine and blend that into French wine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Previously much of the imported wine came from the island of Sardinia (Italy), but now almost everything comes from Spain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The 55hl Dilemma<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The 55-hour limit imposed by French wine regulators (that has been copied in other wine-producing countries) creates an interesting dilemma. If a vineyard yields higher than 55 hl\/ha on the first pressing, theoretically, the yield is too high to produce quality wine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Usually, the second and third pressings of the grapes are sold off as bulk juice to fruit juice manufacturers. If the yield from the first pressing is too high, then that can be included with the bulk juice and not made into wine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If, however, the juice has already been fermented into wine, then in theory, the entire production should be destroyed (poured down the drain) because that is what a wine inspector would order. Sometimes, if the surplus is relatively small, it is the excess that gets destroyed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>TIP:<\/strong> <em>If you are interested in buying a wine decanter, I recommend purchasing these two top-quality decanters:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/geni.us\/usdoqo_decanter\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>USBOQO Wine Decanter<\/strong><\/a>&nbsp;(check it out on Amazon &amp; read customer reviews)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/geni.us\/Iceberg_decanter_aerat\" target=\"_blank\">Iceberg Wine Decanter<\/a><\/strong>&nbsp;(check it out on Amazon &amp; read customer reviews)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Years ago, I had a friend who was a hobby winemaker with his own tiny garage cellar who loved to experiment with different interesting wine blends. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Occasionally when one of the commercial cellars had a 55hl dilemma, he&rsquo;d get a call asking if he wanted to help with the destroying of a 100-liter surplus of a specific cultivar. The cellar would be happy that they were within their 55hl limit, and so was my friend for being able to help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Cava vs. Champagne Story<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>There was a time when sparkling wine in Spain was called Champagne, like everywhere in the world. However, all that changed when France trademarked the name Champagne for only the sparkling wines produced in the region of Champagne. This immediately gave Champagne an exclusive status as an export product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Spain chose the term Cava for their sparkling wine instead of just reverting back to the generic term of &ldquo;sparkling wine.&rdquo; I read about the process of changing the name in Michael Eaude&rsquo;s book &ldquo;Catalonia a Cultural History.&rdquo;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The adoption of the name Cava was spearheaded by the Freixenet winery in Catalonia. Instead of losing the name Champagne costing the company market share in the lucrative US market, Freixenet was able to expand its presence in the US to the point where Cava now counts for a significantly higher sales volume than Champagne.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here is a video of the sommelier, Madeline Puckette, conducting a blind tasting between Champagne and Cava.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/wDa9OVLaq4U\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The 2018 Francis&eacute; Case<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>According to an article in the Spanish newspaper El Pais in 2018, a 2-year long French investigation of &ldquo;wine fraud&rdquo; had been concluded and was set to go to trial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The wine in question was francis&eacute;, a rose that stated prominently on its label that it was &ldquo;Vin de France,&rdquo; while the small print on the back label only stated that it was bottled in France. In truth, it was 100% Spanish rose that had been bottled in France and sold to bistros and restaurants as French wine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Due to better mechanization, the production cost, excluding bottling, at the time rose was 30 euros per hectoliter in Spain compared to 78 euros in France. This meant that the francis&eacute; corporation could buy and bottle Spanish rose at well below the winery production cost in France. Doing so was not illegal, but labeling the wine as French was illegal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The 1985 Antifreeze Case<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The antifreeze in wine scandal broke in Austria and came to trial in 1985. For a little context, antifreeze becomes sweet to the taste when mixed with alcohol. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, besides preventing wine from freezing in the cellar during an icy winter, it also makes wine sweeter tasting. However, Diethylene-glycol, the active ingredient in antifreeze, is poisonous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During the trial, the Austrian winemaker testified that he had been taught about using antifreeze during his apprenticeship at a winery in Champagne. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During subsequent testing, trace amounts of Diethylene-glycol were found in multiple vintages of wine from different Champagne wineries and had to be recalled by the French wine regulator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>TIP: <\/strong><em>If you want to know why most wine bottles are green, read <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/why-are-wine-bottles-green\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>this article<\/strong><\/a>. Another interesting fact that you may have noticed is that white wines are often in clean bottles, find out why in <strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/why-are-white-wines-in-clear-bottles\/\" target=\"_blank\">this article<\/a><\/strong>. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Spanish Wine vs. Portuguese Wine<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Depositphotos_8534021_L-1-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Spanish Wine vs Italian, French, Portuguese and Chilean Wine\" class=\"wp-image-2032\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Depositphotos_8534021_L-1-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Depositphotos_8534021_L-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Depositphotos_8534021_L-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Depositphotos_8534021_L-1-960x640.jpg 960w, https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Depositphotos_8534021_L-1-1080x720.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Depositphotos_8534021_L-1.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 760px) calc(100vw - 40px), 720px\"><\/noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Depositphotos_8534021_L-1-1024x683.jpg.webp\" alt=\"Spanish Wine vs Italian, French, Portuguese and Chilean Wine\" class=\"wp-image-2032 lazyload\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Depositphotos_8534021_L-1-1024x683.jpg.webp 1024w, https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Depositphotos_8534021_L-1-300x200.jpg.webp 300w, https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Depositphotos_8534021_L-1-768x512.jpg.webp 768w, https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Depositphotos_8534021_L-1-960x640.jpg.webp 960w, https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Depositphotos_8534021_L-1-1080x720.jpg.webp 1080w, https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Depositphotos_8534021_L-1.jpg.webp 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 760px) calc(100vw - 40px), 720px\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Depositphotos_8534021_L-1.jpg\" id=\"mv-trellis-img-2\" data-trellis-processed=\"1\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Spanish Wine vs.<\/em> Italian, French, Portuguese,<em> and Chilean Wine<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>On the whole, Portugal gets more rainfall than Spain, meaning that grapes tend to have larger, juicier berries which account for paler wines and variances in flavors when compared to Spanish wines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Portuguese Wine Production Statistics&nbsp;<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Portugal produces 8.2% of the volume that France produces, which is not surprising as Portugal is a smaller country. However, Portugal&rsquo;s land under vineyards is only 30% of France&rsquo;s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This means that Portugal produces 8.62 million hectoliters (or 1.149 million bottles) less wine than the maximum harvest allowed by the 55hl\/ha regulation. This means that there is room for making the Portuguese wine production process more efficient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Looking At Albari&ntilde;o<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Albari&ntilde;o is a white grape cultivar grown in both Spain and Portugal. In Spain, Albari&ntilde;o is grown near the coast in the South of Galicia, just North of the Portuguese border. While in Portugal, it is grown just south of the border and also near the Atlantic coast.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This small corner spanning the Spain\/Portugal border gets 67 inches of rain, making it the wettest area of the Iberian peninsula. Only Albari&ntilde;o grapes have thick enough skin to withstand this amount of humidity.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Follow along with wine educator Christine Marsiglio as she examines and tastes Albari&ntilde;o from both sides of the border for comparison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>TIP:<\/strong> <em>A suitable wine glass is the basis for enjoying well-being while drinking your favorite wine variety. Here are our favorite ones (Amazon link):<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/geni.us\/bormioli_rocco_glasses\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Bormioli Rocco Crystal Wine Glasses<\/a><\/strong>: <em>A set of eight elegant and traditional wine glasses made in Italy for a reasonable price.<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/geni.us\/riedel_vinum_glasses\" target=\"_blank\">Riedel VINUM Wine Glasses<\/a><\/strong>: <em>Luxury set of two wine glasses suitable for any occasion. We just love them!<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/geni.us\/zwiesel_stemless_glass\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Schott Zwiesel Tritan Crystal Glasses<\/a><\/strong>: <em>If you like unusual alternatives, a set of six stemless glasses made of crystal glass. <\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Mateus Rose Story<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Mateus Rose is Portugal&rsquo;s best-known brand of table wine outside the borders of Portugal. Yet, you will find it difficult to find any Mateus Rose in Portugal as the entire production is intended for the more lucrative export market.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The original Mateus rose was made from Braga and Shiraz grapes, but the demand was so high that the Sogrape corporation could not meet demand, even with the entire Portuguese Braga and Shiraz crops. At the time, Mateus Rose already controlled over 40% of the Portuguese table wine export market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The decision was made to introduce Mateus Rose tempranillo, which is produced by many Spanish wineries and bulk shipped to the Mateus bottling plant in Portugal. The brand recognition that Mateus Rose enjoys is so strong that nobody second-guesses that the tempranillo variety doesn&rsquo;t originate in Portugal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I had the opportunity to taste the newest tempranillo rose before it got shipped to Mateus at an Andalucian winery. The winemaker shared the urban legend that the total amount of Mateus rose (including tempranillo) bottled each year since 2021 now exceeds the total Portuguese grape harvest of all grape varieties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>TIP:&nbsp;<\/strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/storing-wine-cork\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/storing-wine-cork\/\"><strong>This great article<\/strong><\/a> is full of tips on&nbsp;how to store wine with a cork. <strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/how-to-save-wine-without-cork\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/how-to-save-wine-without-cork\/\" target=\"_blank\">This article<\/a><\/strong> discusses&nbsp;how to store wine without a cork.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Spanish Wine vs. Chilean Wine<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Chile is what is known as a &ldquo;new world&rdquo; wine producer, while Spain, Italy, France, and Portugal are &ldquo;old world&rdquo; wine producers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This means that many of Chile&rsquo;s vineyards are still relatively young and not yet yielding their maximum volume per hectare, nor the more intense flavors that come from older vines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Chilean Wine Production Statistics&nbsp;<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Like Portugal, Chile is a relatively small country. Chile&rsquo;s vineyards are only 5% smaller than Portugal&rsquo;s. However, Chile&rsquo;s wine production is at only 28% of Portugal&rsquo;s. The likely reason for this is that Chile is still expanding its vineyards, and many of these are either too young to produce fruit or not yet at the 55hl\/ha yield that you get from older vines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Chilean Competitiveness In The Wine Market<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Chile has very wide-ranging microclimates as well as soil types. This means that there is an area of Chile that will be ideal for growing nearly every type of grape variety available in &ldquo;old world&rdquo; countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When planting a new vineyard, it takes 4 years before the vines begin producing fruit. Therefore in order to make their vineyards cash-flow positive, they begin selling wines that are younger than European wines, with only two or three years of maturation compared to Europe&rsquo;s 7 to 10 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To be competitive, Chile sells its wines at a discount, below the price that many European countries are able to produce wine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By way of example, here is a Wine Library TV tasting that was done in 2007, showing how reasonably priced top-quality Chilean wine is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Ypst6tnA5ww?start=185\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>TIP:&nbsp;<\/strong><em>To learn&nbsp;how to store white wine after opening, read <strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/how-to-store-opened-white-wine\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/how-to-store-opened-white-wine\/\" target=\"_blank\">this article<\/a><\/strong>. To discover if wine fridges are only for storing white wine, check out <strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/are-wine-refrigerators-only-for-white-wine\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/are-wine-refrigerators-only-for-white-wine\/\" target=\"_blank\">this&nbsp;complete guide<\/a><\/strong>. For a&nbsp;complete breakdown of how to store wine long-term in 8 simple steps, read <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/how-to-store-wine-long-term\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/how-to-store-wine-long-term\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">this guide<\/a><\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Conclusion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Spain has the largest area of vineyards of any wine-producing country in the world. It once had a reputation for producing cheap and inferior wines because its high-quality wines were all exported in bulk to Italy and France, where they were rebranded as Italian or French.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>More recently, Spain has begun producing its top-tier wines itself rather than exporting them in bulk. This has gone a long way to restoring Spain&rsquo;s reputation as an old-world producer of fine wines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-background\" style=\"background-color:#ebf5f5\"><strong>TIP:<\/strong> <em>Check out this page for a complete list of wine products and accessories I love. You&rsquo;ll find my recommendations for wine refrigerators, decanters, and aerators and the best place to buy wine online. <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/recommended-wine-products\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Click here to see the complete listing<\/strong><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For a long time, I have wondered why Spanish wines had a bad reputation compared to neighbors France and Italy. The Spanish wines I have tasted are easily as good as more expensive French and Italian wines and, in some cases, tasted remarkably similar. Recently I got to spend 15 days at a Spanish winery &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":2030,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"disable-in-feed":false,"article-schema-type":"","disable-critical-css":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2026"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2026"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2026\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2803,"href":"https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2026\/revisions\/2803"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2030"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2026"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2026"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pinotsquirrel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2026"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}