A) Classification of wines according to quality regulations applied during the production process
Quality Wines Produced in Specified Regions - QWPSR (VCPRD)
Governing Bodies (Consejos Reguladores)
In Spain, the European law on Quality Wines Produced in Specified Regions is administered by the Office of the Deputy Director-General of Quality Wines, an agency of the Ministry of Agriculture. In practice, however, the relevant monitoring functions are carried out by the Governing Bodies. These organizations are made up primarily of wine growers, wine producers and oenologists who establish all the rules and regulations related to the wine-making process in each geographical area: varieties of vines that can be grown in each region, the most suitable ways of pruning the vines, the production ceilings per hectare and the direction new research and future technologies may take, among other matters. In short, they regulate the cultivation, production and ageing of Spanish wines so that, when these products reach the consumer, they will offer the guarantees that the consumer demands.
The QWPSR represent the top level of quality and monitoring of wine production and are broken down into several groups:
Estate Wines (Vinos de Pago)
This is one of the innovations found in the Vineyard and Wine Act. It is the highest established category for a wine, and comprehends wines of recognized prestige made from grapes grown under climatic and soil conditions distinctive to a certain 'place' or 'rural site'. The production and marketing of these wines must comply with a comprehensive quality control system that must, as a minimum, fulfil the requirements applied to a Qualified Denomination of Origin. Further, these wines must be made and bottled in the winery of the specific vineyard or within the municipal area where that vineyard is located.
In cases where the entire vineyard is located within the boundaries of a Qualified Denomination of Origin, and is registered under that designation, it will be allowed to receive the name of “qualified vineyard,” and the wines produced there shall be labelled as 'qualified vineyard wines'.
Qualified Denomination of Origin Wines - QDO (Vinos de Denominación de Origen Calificada - DOCa)
This category is reserved for wine that has achieved high levels of quality over a long period of time. The first designated wine to enter this class was Rioja, in April 1991.
The requirements that must be fulfilled to attain this status include the following: Denomination of Origin (DO) status for at least the previous 10 years; all products must come to market bottled in wineries located in the region where they are produced or which follow a suitable quality control system imposed by their monitoring and regulating body.
Denomination of Origin Wines - DO (Vinos de Denominación de Origen - DO)
Wines bearing the DO distinction are prestigious Spanish wines produced in a demarcated production area and are made according to parameters governing quality and type. Each DO must be regulated by a Governing Body (Consejo Regulador) that is responsible for ensuring the use of grapes of the authorized varieties, and compliance with parameters governing production per hectare, approved methods of wine making and ageing times. In order for wines to be given Denomination of Origin status, the production area is required to have been recognized over at least the previous five years as a region producing quality wines with a geographical indication.
Quality Wines with a Geographical Indication (Vinos de Calidad con Indicación Geográfica)
This is another category established for the first time in the Vineyard and Wine Act. It designates wines made in a certain region using grapes grown in that same region whose quality, reputation or characteristics are due to the 'geographic environment', the human factor or both, as regards the production of the fruit and the making or ageing of the wine. They are identified on their labels by the phrase Vino de calidad de... [Quality wine from...] followed by the name of the region where they are produced.
Table Wines - TW (VDM)
This is the lower echelon of the wine classification system. In recent years it has given refuge to adventurous vintners who have created wines in regions outside the QWPSR rules, but whose quality has reached levels similar to, or occasionally even superior to, the wines produced in the QWPSR regions.
Table wines are divided into two subcategories:
Country Wines - CW (Vinos de la Tierra - VT)
These products come from certain areas of Spain where a perfectly identifiable wine is made with definite local characteristics, in compliance with vinicultural and oenological standards that are not as demanding as those governing QWPSR production. This classification includes, as an added requirement to having a geographical indication, a minimum alcohol content and an indication of the organoleptic, or sensory, characteristics of the product.
Table Wines
All other wines are included in this subcategory.
For further information, the reader can consult the Vineyard and Wine Law and the regulations governing Country Wines.
In addition, extensive information on Spain’s wine growing regions where Quality Wines Produced in Specified Regions originate can be found by using the relevant search engine.
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