Spain

Spanish wine includes red white and sparkling wines produced throughout the country. Spain has over 1.2 million hectares planted in wine grapes, making it the most widely planted wine-producing nation, but the second largest producer of wine in the world, behind Italy and ahead of France and the United States.  This is due, in part, to the very low yields and wide spacing of the old vines planted on the dry, infertile soil found in some of the Spanish wine regions.

The country is ninth in worldwide consumption with the average Spaniard drinking, on average, 21.6 liters per person a year.

The country has an abundance of native grape varieties, with over 400 varieties planted throughout Spain, though 88 percent of the country's wine production is from only 20 grapes — including the reds Tempranillo, Bobal, Garnacha, and Monsatrell; the  whites Albarino, Airen, Verdejo, Palomino, and Macabeo; and the two Cava grapes Parellada and Xarello.