100x Spain, 100x Indispensable

Two intense days of tasting, three experienced juries, almost 300 wines, and the full spectrum of styles: the tasting Best of Spain 2022 offers everything you should taste and know regarding the status quo of the Spanish wine scene.

Experienced jury: the team of Best of Spain 2022 at Meininger Verlag
Experienced jury: the team of Best of Spain 2022 at Meininger Verlag

Even though the world has been spinning a little differently over the past two years, it hasn’t stood still when it comes to wine – certainly not with regard to the diversity of Iberian producers, who consistently perform at top notch. Spain once again lives up to its reputation as a highly exciting wine country in this assessment. These two days revealed great surprises and interesting developments, even for experienced professionals and Iberian connoisseurs. It was not easy to make the final selection of the most outstanding 100 wines from a total of 289 wines. The bottom line presents a very balanced picture, with a list of insider tips, shooting stars, and classics for every wine professional.

Best of Spain tasting-experts: Peer Holm...
Best of Spain tasting-experts: Peer Holm...
...and Christoph Nicklas
...and Christoph Nicklas

By the way, one should not neglect the rosé wines: Bodegas Pinna Fidelis’s oak-fermented Rosado from 2019 proved that this traditional style yields high-class, serious wines that function as brilliant food companions. 

Andalucia contributes an invaluable unique selling point for Spanish wine culture, demonstrating this with superb sherries in our tasting, both from biological and oxidative ageing. These products certainly deserve all the attention they are currently receiving in the German and international media.

Stars and rising performers

Some aspects of the Spanish wine landscape remain valid even in the face of exciting trends. Tempranillo, for example, has underpinned its status as Spain’s undisputed Tinto flagship – across all price ranges and many growing regions. 

Rougly 75% of the tasting were reds...
Rougly 75% of the tasting were reds...
...but sparkling, white wines and Sherry also demonstrated the versatility of Spain
...but sparkling, white wines and Sherry also demonstrated the versatility of Spain

Unbeatable in terms of value for price

The ever-impressive price-performance of the Spanish growths also remained valid in the tasting. Almost 30 wines in price categories I and II (i.e. up to a maximum of 5 euros ex cellar) were awarded one or more medals and are thus absolute best buys for Iberian everyday enjoyment at a high level. The upper mid-price segment (category IV, 8-10 euros ex cellar) recorded a significant increase compared to the previous edition of Best of Spain in 2020, both proportionally in terms of entries and qualitatively in terms of scoring. This is a clear indication that Spain is perfectly capable of catering to increasingly demanding palates.

Christoph Nicklas

 

>> Download the free PDF now to read the full report including the 100 rated wines.

 

 

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