California — Four Regions, One Grape, Endless Variety

How to Buy Spanish Wine Without Getting Lost

Spain has one of the most practical and consumer-friendly label systems of any wine country, once you understand it. Saturday's episode consolidates everything from the week into a practical buying guide: the aging classification system that appears across all Spanish appellations, the vintages worth seeking in each region right now, value picks at every price point from fifteen to one hundred-plus dollars, and the sommelier script that gets you exactly what you want from a Spanish wine list.

Albariño & the Wines of Galicia: Spain's Other Identity

Everything we've covered this week has been rich, structured, powerful red wine from Spain's hot interior. Friday is a total tonal shift, we're heading to the cool, rainy, Atlantic-influenced northwest, to Galicia, where Spain's most celebrated white grape thrives. Today's episode covers Albariño and the Rías Baixas appellation, why this wine pairs so perfectly with seafood, the other white grape worth knowing in Galicia (Godello), and a brief look at the region's underrated reds made from Mencía.

Priorat: Spain's Most Dramatic Wine

Priorat is a small, remote appellation in Catalonia that produces some of the most concentrated, mineral, and expensive wines in Spain, and one of the most dramatic wine stories of the last forty years. Today's episode covers the ancient volcanic slate soils called llicorella that give Priorat its unique mineral signature, the old-vine Garnacha and Cariñena that dominate the region, the small group of winemakers who reinvented the appellation in the 1980s, and why a great Priorat is unlike anything else in the wine world.

Ribera del Duero: Spain's Bold, Ambitious Rival

Ribera del Duero sits at nearly 3,000 feet above sea level on Spain's central plateau, and that elevation, combined with a dramatic continental climate and the Tempranillo-based grape called Tinto Fino, produces wines of extraordinary concentration and structure. Today's episode covers the geography of Ribera, why the extreme diurnal temperature variation is the key to its character, its legendary flagship Vega Sicilia, and the producers who have built its modern reputation.

Rioja: Spain's Most Famous Wine, Finally Explained

Rioja is the wine most people order when they want something Spanish, and most people have only a vague idea of what they're actually getting. Today's episode explains everything: the three sub-zones of Rioja and why they produce different styles, the Crianza/Reserva/Gran Reserva aging classification that shapes every bottle, the role of American versus French oak in the region's identity, and the producers who represent both traditional and modern Rioja at its best.