Apart from his famous phrase “in vino veritas” / “In wine there is truth”, Roman philosopher Pliny the Elder (23 to 79 BC) wrote in his “Natural History” that a woman’s menstruation spoiled wine, turned crops unproductive and fields barren. This phrase gave way to a misconception that was upheld from antiquity well into the 20th century by many...

With more than two thousand years of grape growing and winemaking history, and as the country with the largest planted surface of vineyards in the world, approaching Spanish wines for the first time can be quite intimidating. Different regions, climates, varieties, regulations,… yield different styles that can gratify very divergent palates. Familiarize yourself with the main categories, regions and...

Editor’s Note: With more people opting to save money with Airbnb and Casa Rural (rural house) rentals when visiting Spain, it’s difficult to know how to stock your wine cooler. Enter any retail shop or supermarket and you’re flooded with options. Hence, this guide is a precursor to your next trip – a helpful “how to” model to seamlessly ease you into...

Cider (Sidra) production in Spain is concentrated in Asturias and Guipúzcoa, two mountainous regions in the northern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. Both regions produce a similar style traditional cider: dry, still, and cloudy with sediment. Asturian cider is called Sidra, while the Basque name for the fermented apple nectar is Sagardoa. The Principado de Asturias is responsible for...