Rioja is one of the wine world`s biggest brands and has changed somewhat over the years, with many efforts to promote the young, unoaked wines that are so antithetical to true Rioja identity. They should be marked by American oak and most still are. Navarra has always looked eastward for the grape varieties for its wine, Somontano is almost French with Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc. Toro is on the border of Christian and Muslim occupied areas, and Ribera del Duero can be lovely, complex and elegant. Tempranillo under various synonyms is king grape here. (CW 23/01/12)

Torres dominated Penedes makes innovative and modern styled still wines as well as being the heart of Cava production – a side of the industry that does need some investment in thought and quality. Also near Barcelona, Priorat and Montsant are valuable repositories of old vines, mostly hill grown, making concentrated wines. Garnacha and Carinena are much grown. (CW 23/01/12)

Green Spain, so called because like Manchester it rains every day. When you occupy the north-west corner of Spain with one coast on the Atlantic and the other on the bay of Biscay, what do you expect? Albarino is top grape here with some old fashioned training systems to keep it off the floor and less damp. Albarino was thought to be Riesling, or a clone of it for a long time – the story was that German monks brought it, but sadly this story doesn`t correlate with the genetics. (CW 23/01/12)

Dominated by windmills and Airen, the white grape which is still nearly one quarter of Spain`s production. It is quite possible that what sent Don Quixote mad was La Mancha`s extreme continental climate with very hot and dry summers and freezing winters, it`s a harsh environment. More plantings of Tempranillo – known here as Cencibel – are coming on stream and pre crash investment is still making a difference in the overall quality of the wines. (CW 23/01/12)

Including places like Mallorca, Murcia, Madrid and so on, it is difficult to sum up these areas, suffice to say that they have a lot of potential, as an estate agent might say, that from our tastings has yet to be realised. (CW 23/01/12)