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How to order Spanish wine

I like Albariño wine a lot as it is similar to the Sauvignon Blanc that we regularly drink at home in Australia. My husband likes lighter red wines like Tempranillo and pinot noir. I can't drink red wine as I am allergic to sulfur which is a common additive to Australian wine. We both drink rosé.

I am just wondering if we will be able to get Albariño and Tempranillo throughout Spain or whether there are regional variations or similar styles we should know about. Also keen to know if Spanish rosé is always called rosé or whether it has name variations.

I also enjoy a sunset aperol spritz. It seems to be ubiquitous globally so I am not anticipating difficulty ordering this.

Posted by
2047 posts

Most bars and restaurants have wine lists. It will usually also be in English or you can ask the waiter. I always ask for recommendations based on my wine preferences. It's always nice to try something different as well because the Spanish wine in Spain always tastes much better than the imported wines. And usually, the wine labels aren't available in the US.

Posted by
1072 posts

Will you be visiting Galicia, the home Albariño?

We will be in Galicia for a week staying in Lugo and Santiago de Compostela towards the end of our trip. We are starting in southern Spain for a month staying in Catalunya, Valencia and Andalucia.

Posted by
7159 posts

If you want a local house wine just ask for a “copa de vino blanco de la casa” or “copa de tinto de la casa.” Blanco being white, tinto being red wine.

More often than not, it’s good wine and very inexpensive. We found Galicia in general to be very inexpensive with regard to food. At a couple restaurants we got the menú del día and it came with a bottle of wine, not just a glass.

We loved Lugo and walking the Roman wall.

Posted by
682 posts

…or, you could also order white Sangria. So refreshing.

Posted by
743 posts

Well, "sangría" is mostly intended at tourists and not available all over Spain, it´s mainly a Mediterranean thing in touristy places. I don´t know any local drinking sangría, except maybe on an outdoor barbecue in a really hot summer day. More common in the south and east of Spain, a real rarity in the rest of Spain (except in touristy places).

Spain has over 70 wine regions. The oldest one is Rioja D.O.C (Qualified Denomination of Origin) and in Galicia I believe there are 5 D.O.s. We normally do not ask for wine asking for the grape, but by the region. "I´d like a Rioja", or "I´d like a Priorat", for example, would be the customary words at a bar. And then the age, which is very relevant: a "cosechero" is a red, year wine; a "crianza" has spent two years aging, one of them in a barrel; then "reserva", more oaky; then "gran reserva", which is less common and rare in a bar. Price of a glass of wine may be around 2eur (quality wine), more expensive in Madrid, Barcelona and southern Spain, where there´s less of this wine culture. Albariño is more easily found in northern Spain, but they should have it in most places (although it´s an expensive wine, glass no less than 3eur), and we do not ask for Tempranillo but normally ask for a Rioja, where tempranillo grape is the queen for reds. We do not say "rosé" either, we ask for a "rosado" or "clarete" (a different thing, the last one is a mix of red and white wines), but it´s not that popular (at least here in the north). Aperol will be everywhere, mainly at the time of "aperitivo", that is, around 1pm, prior to lunch.

Posted by
1072 posts

Thanks again MikelBasqueGuide for your great advice.

I have only had Sangria once in my life (as a teenager) and didn't like it, so won't be going out of my way to try to find it.

we do not ask for Tempranillo but normally ask for a Rioja, where tempranillo grape is the queen for reds. We do not say "rosé" either, we ask for a "rosado"

In Australia it is most common to order wine by the grape variety, rather than the region. Although it is not out of place to ask for a "Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc" or a "Hunter Valley Shiraz". We are not wine aficionados by any means but usually prefer something a bit nicer than the "house red or white", possibly because in Australia house wines are usually pretty terrible.

Thank you for the advice about asking for a rosado. It is one of the wines that both me and my husband enjoy and often drink a bottle with dinner.

Aperol will be everywhere, mainly at the time of "aperitivo", that is, around 1pm, prior to lunch.

I realise that I have been drinking my aperol spritzes at the wrong time of day for Spain. I am on Italian (and Australian) aperitivo time where aperol spritz is a common after work/pre dinner drink. But when I am on holidays I think I can easily be convinced to change my aperitivo time to pre-lunch.

Posted by
743 posts

The "house" red or white may be terrible or may be a great wine. If you like white, try a Rioja white, made with Viura grape, sometimes with a small quantity of Malvasía. A Rueda white will be very fruity and with a lovely smell, ideal for the "aperitivo", which you´ll love on a Saturday or a Sunday, when families and friends meet in the bars areas to socialize and have a few drinks and tapas or pintxos before lunch (which is around 3pm on weekends and a bit earlier on weekdays). As a wine lover, you´re going to love Spain!!

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1072 posts

As a wine lover, you´re going to love Spain!!

We spent a week in Barcelona in October 2022 (our first time in Spain) and loved the Spanish lifestyle of drinks in the late afternoon with tapas. We loved our tiny taste of Spain so much we are coming back for 60 days.

In addition to drinking wine I will be testing out my poor Spanish language skills as during COVID lockdown in Australia in 2021 I started learning Spanish. People seemed to understand me in Barcelona, or may just have been very polite. "Lo siento, hablo español solo muy poco, muy muy poco" and a smile seemed to work most places. Plus a lot of "puedes repetir, mas despacio, por favor".

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743 posts

I have only had Sangria once in my life (as a teenager) and didn't like it, so won't be going out of my way to try to find it.

Actually, there´s not a real formula for sangria, every family makes it in a different way. So the sangría in one bar will taste very different to next one. In case you go for it, avoid those standing at the counter that have been there for hours. But again...a very touristy thing in most places and that locals normally avoid. The "tinto de verano" (wine with some soda) is much more popular, mainly in southern Spain in warm days.

Wow...two months in Spain...it´s such a heterogeneous country in terms of climate, landscapes, food, drinks, looks...that you´ll have many different experiences, hopefully all of them good! Thanks for coming back!

Posted by
3071 posts
  • Not all Spanish reds have sulfur, in fact, the better the wine the fewer chemicals are added.
  • Depending on where you visit, there'll be specialities worth tasting as well as specific D.Os (=appellation of origin). Know your wines... https://www.vinetur.com/documentos/article/14971/mapa_vinos_do.pdf
  • Rosé is called "rosado" in Spanish. If you visit Catalonia, where Catalan is the local language, you'd say "rosat" instead.
  • Aperol might not be necessarily available in small towns or many small cafes/bars. Albeit not exactly the same, Campari can be a substitute.
  • There are many producers of albariño and tempranillo so you'll manage to easily find it. Something else is that not all producers have the same quality, some are good, and some are s***
  • Despite being a wine producer powerhouse, you can also find imported wines from all over the world in Spain -moreover taking into account a number of "foreign" producers are owned by Spanish brands :))

Should you -or anyone reading- visit "my turf" here in Catalonia, here is some wine-related info that might come in handy:

https://cmsmultimedia.catalunya.com/mds/multimedia/485878/
https://cmsmultimedia.catalunya.com/mds/multimedia/485902/
https://cmsmultimedia.catalunya.com/mds/multimedia/485881/