Spanish wine history

Home to some of the world’s oldest productive vines – there are Albariño vines in DO Rías Baixas that have been producing grapes for over 200 years - Spain is also believed to be home to more hectares of old vines than any other country.

Sherry producers like to say they deal with two types of terroir. “First,” says Fermin Hidalgo, owner of leading Sanlúcar de Barrameda-based Bodegas Hidalgo La Gitana, “the ‘classic’ terroir we all know: climate, soil, etc. The second terroir is the one related to the wineries… Biological ageing is part of our terroir.”

Watch the Preview of the Spanish Wine Scholar Program, with Rick Fisher, Spanish Programs Director

Many wine regions in Europe like to reference their long history, typically dating the arrival of the first vineyards back to the time of the Roman legions. Viticulture in Jerez may well have an even longer history than that; it’s entirely possible that the first vines in the region were planted by the Phoenicians around the time they established the nearby port city of Cadiz in 1,110BC.

Spanish Wine Scholar® launches in October 2019 and we are excited to announce the program has been endorsed by Wines from Spain, the public face of ICEX Spain Trade & Investment government agency.

From April 16-21, 2023, Wine Scholar Guild will land on the shores of southern Spain to host a special session of our internationally-recognized Spanish Wine Scholar® study and certification program in the beautiful coastal town of Málaga. If the spectacular weather and roughly 112 miles/180 kilometers of coastline are not enough to entice you, then consider some of the other top reasons to visit and study in one of Spain’s most beautiful cities. See more about this unique opportunity to study Spanish wines with WSG in Spain here.