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Spain is the third largest wine producer in the world, behind France and Italy. It has a long tradition in winemaking, with credit for introduction of the vine usually shared by the Greeks (the word "Iberian" is claimed to have a Greek origin) and the Romans (the Roman word for Spain is "Hispania"). There is some evidence, however, linking the earlier Phoenicians to the beginnings of viticulture here. "Modern" Spanish wine can be said to date to the mid-19th century, when a couple of forward-thinking Rioja producers actively
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Spain is the third largest wine producer in the world, behind France and Italy. It has a long tradition in winemaking, with credit for introduction of the vine usually shared by the Greeks (the word "Iberian" is claimed to have a Greek origin) and the Romans (the Roman word for Spain is "Hispania"). There is some evidence, however, linking the earlier Phoenicians to the beginnings of viticulture here. "Modern" Spanish wine can be said to date to the mid-19th century, when a couple of forward-thinking Rioja producers actively sought assistance from experienced winemakers in Bordeaux. By the mid-1960s, temperature-controlled stainless steel fermentation tanks had been introduced at the Miguel Torres winery in Catalonia; "such was his success," Spanish wine expert John Radford has noted, "that most of the rest of Spain followed suit."
Today Spain is home to every type of wine imaginable, from bubbly, to refreshing white, to profound, ageable red. And at the lower end of the price continuum, Spain dominates the terrific-wine-under-$10 category (in our opinion, even more than Australia).
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