Why I love Spanish Wines.
 
I love Spanish wines . . . there, I admit it. I have had a smoldering obsession with them for some time. I can't entirely explain what I find so beguiling, except to say that there is an amazing amount of good, even great, Spanish wine out there. The fact that many of my fellow wine lovers haven't discovered the country yet merely adds a note of adventure to the affair.   
 
Wines from Priorat, near the Mediterranean coast, provide a great example of what I love about Spanish wines in general. In Priorat, grapes from old vineyards (often in excess of 100 years) planted to traditional Spanish grape varieties such as Garnacha (called Grenache in France) and Carineña (Carignan), are grown and vinified using modern, often groundbreaking, techniques and made into spectacular, powerful reds that still reflect an intense connection to the place that they are grown. More importantly, the wines are delicious, and intensely satisfying to drink.    
 
A thousand variations on this theme exist throughout the country. In the Ribera del Duero, modernist producers such as Tinta Pesquera sit alongside traditionalist producers such as Vega Sicilia, both making extraordinarily wonderful wines. In sherry, the modern distaste for sweet wines has led to a re-discovery of artisan-produced dry sherries in all ranges of sherry styles. The revolution in white wines throughout the country is no less stunning, highlighted by crisp minerally whites from Rias Baixas, Rueda and Txakolina all made from ancient, native Spanish grape varieties.
 
Alas, other wine lovers are beginning to discover Spain, and I realize that the rest of the world is soon to follow. The truth is that with this much good wine, Spain is impossible not to love.
 
Jake Kosseff, Wine Consultant and 2006 "Best Young Sommelier in America"