The Spanish Wine Masterclass

This masterclass covers Spain’s most important wine regions, including Rioja, Ribera del Duero, Rías Baixas, Priorat, Rueda and Jerez. You’ll explore the key grape varieties, regional styles and winemaking traditions that make each area distinctive.

These terms refer to the minimum amount of time a wine has been aged in oak and bottle before release — and they’re legally defined.

A Crianza must undergo a minimum two-year ageing process, with at least one year in 225-litre oak barrels.

A Reserva requires a minimum of three years between oak and bottle, with at least one year in barrel and six months in bottle.

And a Gran Reserva requires five years of ageing in total, with a minimum of two years in oak and two years in bottle.

Both regions produce Tempranillo-based reds and share the same Crianza, Reserva and Gran Reserva ageing classifications, but Ribera del Duero typically has a deeper colour, higher tannins, a fuller body and more intense black fruit flavours, while Rioja tends to have abundant red fruit aromas and flavours, complemented by notes of vanilla spice.

 Rioja benefits from a more moderate continental climate which allows grapes to mature gradually, while Ribera sits at higher average altitudes with sharper temperature differences between night and day and hotter summers, so grapes tend to ripen faster.

DO — Denominación de Origen — is the foundation of Spain’s quality wine system, with each region governed by a regulatory council that sets the boundaries, permitted grape varieties, yields and production standards.

DOCa — Denominación de Origen Calificada — sits above DO and is reserved for regions that have maintained the highest quality requirements over a sustained period; currently only Rioja and Priorat hold this status in Spain.

Sherry is a fortified wine produced from white grapes — primarily the Palomino variety — grown around the city of Jerez de la Frontera in Andalusia, and it ranges from the palest, driest styles to darker, richer, oxidatively aged wines.

In the masterclass, Sherry styles may include the bone-dry Fino or Manzanilla, the amber-hued Amontillado or the rich, nutty Oloroso — all made using a fractional ageing and blending process called the solera system.

Throughout the session, you’ll enjoy a menu of Spanish-style tapas chosen to complement the wines, showcasing how beautifully Spanish wine and food work together. 

The Spanish Wine Masterclass takes place at our partner venues in central London. Venues vary depending on the date of the experience – confirmed venues are available on our calendar.

Cava is a sparkling wine produced primarily in Spain’s Catalonia region using the traditional method — the same second-fermentation-in-bottle technique used to make Champagne — but made from native Spanish grapes, principally Macabeo, Xarel·lo and Parellada.

While both wines share the same production method, the grape varieties, climates and terroirs are quite different: Champagne is produced in the cool, chalk-rich soils of northeastern France, while Cava grows in a warmer Mediterranean environment, giving it a fresher, more fruit-forward character — and, it should be said, a very attractive price point.

Spain is home to over 600 native grape varieties, though a handful of key ones appear most widely.

Tempranillo is Spain’s most celebrated red variety, producing wines with aromas of berries, plum, tobacco, vanilla and spice, and it forms the backbone of wines from Rioja, Ribera del Duero and beyond. 

For whites, Albariño from Rías Baixas produces dry, aromatic wines with citrus and peach character and bright acidity while Verdejo from Rueda delivers crisp, herb-tinged freshness — and Palomino is the key grape behind the extraordinary world of Sherry.