Regulations governing wine
The wide diversity of soils and climates in Spain has long produced an extensive range of wines, each showing pronounced characteristics. The careful cultivation of vineyards, united with the painstaking and increasingly sophisticated techniques used by Spanish vintners in making their wines, has won international recognition and prestige.
Since Spain joined the European Union, Spanish wines have been adapted to European standards. This means that they have been classified into two major groups: Quality Wines Produced in Specified Regions (QWPSR) and Table Wine (TW).
More recently, Spain passed law 24/2003 of July 10—the Vineyard and Wine Act. This legislation, together with the subsequent regulations governing Wines of the Country completed in September of the same year, describes the different classes of wines according to the degree of monitoring and exigency applied to the production process. These documents, in turn, have allowed clearer definition of origin and quality protection system to be defined.
The Vineyard and Wine Act also establishes minimum standards for crianza—the process of aging wine in wood and in the bottle—which unify the requirements to be met according to the indications relative to aging categories.
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