Spanish Wine and Sherry: Regions, Pairings and What to Drink with Tapas

A plain-English guide to Spanish wine: the main regions, sherry from fino to PX, cava for the holidays and what to drink with jamón, Manchego and tinned fish.

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Spanish food and Spanish wine grew up together: fino with ham in Andalusia, Albariño with seafood in Galicia, cava with everything in Catalonia. You don’t need to be a wine expert to get it right — you need a few rules and the right bottle for the plate.

Spanish wine regions, explained

Rioja, Ribera del Duero, Priorat, Rías Baixas, Rueda, Jerez and Cava: what each one makes and how to read the label (Crianza, Reserva, Gran Reserva). → Spanish wine regions explained

Sherry, explained

The most misunderstood wine in the world, and the best partner for ibérico ham. Fino, manzanilla, amontillado, oloroso, Pedro Ximénez. → Sherry explained

What to drink with Spanish food

Jamón, Manchego, tins, olives, tapas: the pairings that work, in one table. → Spanish wine pairing

Cava for the holidays

Spain’s traditional-method sparkling wine: sweetness levels, age categories and why it’s the best fizz for salty food. → Cava explained

Our picks on Amazon.co.uk

Our top picks

• For ibérico ham

  Fino, D.O. Jerez

  Tío Pepe Fino Sherry (75cl)

  Ham, tapas, aperitif

  Check price on Amazon

• For seafood and tins

  Manzanilla, D.O. Manzanilla-Sanlúcar de Barrameda

  La Gitana Manzanilla Sherry (75cl)

  Seafood, tins, fried fish

  Check price on Amazon

• For parties

  Cava Brut, D.O. Cava

  Freixenet Cordon Negro Brut Cava (75cl)

  Parties, fried tapas, toasts

  Check price on Amazon

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