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Spain beyond the classics: questions and answers

Txakoli, the Canary Islands, Sherry's solera, Garnacha's comeback, Monastrell and Catalonia's smaller DOs: short answers to the questions the higher exams ask.

Alper Billik · Advanced Sommelier

Updated October 2026 · 5 min read · Edited with AI

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On this page
  1. Why is Txakoli so fresh?
  2. What is Ribeiro Tostado?
  3. What makes the Canary Islands different?
  4. And the Balearics?
  5. How does the solera shape Sherry?
  6. Why the Garnacha revival in Aragón?
  7. Monastrell: Jumilla and Yecla versus Alicante
  8. Catalonia's smaller DOs
  9. The centre and north
  10. What are Vinos de la Tierra?
  11. Quiz: Spain beyond the classics
  12. Questions people ask

The short answer: past Rioja and Ribera, the higher sommelier exams ask about Spain's smaller places: what grows there, why, and what the wine tastes like. Here are short answers on the regions the Court of Master Sommeliers lists at the top level, each with the one fact to remember in bold. New to Spain? Start with Spain for Level 1 and Spain for the Certified exam.

Why is Txakoli so fresh?

The Basque Country faces the Bay of Biscay: cool, wet and humid. Vines are often trained high to keep air moving around the bunches. The main grape is Hondarrabi Zuri, which keeps sharp acidity in this climate. Txakoli is light, low in alcohol, often with a gentle spritz, and drunk young. There are three DOs: Getariako, Bizkaiko and Arabako Txakolina.

What is Ribeiro Tostado?

A traditional sweet wine of Ribeiro, in Galicia. The grapes, mainly Treixadura, are dried after harvest to concentrate their sugar, then pressed, fermented and aged. The wine is sweet but fresh, with dried fruit and honey. It is rare today, and part of Galicia's history.

What makes the Canary Islands different?

  • Phylloxera never arrived, so many vines grow on their own roots, and some old local varieties survived.
  • Volcanic soils and very little rain. On Lanzarote, in La Geria, each vine sits in a hollow dug into volcanic ash, behind a low stone wall against the wind. Malvasía Volcánica is the island's white grape.
  • The trade winds bring cloud and moisture to the northern slopes.
  • Cordón trenzado: in Tenerife's Valle de la Orotava, long vine canes are braided into horizontal ropes, worked by hand.
  • Grapes: Listán Blanco and Listán Negro above all.
  • DOs: Abona, Tacoronte-Acentejo, Valle de Güímar, Valle de la Orotava and Ycoden-Daute-Isora on Tenerife; Gran Canaria, La Gomera, La Palma, El Hierro and Lanzarote; and the island-wide DO Islas Canarias.

And the Balearics?

Mallorca has two DOs, Binissalem and Pla i Llevant. Local grapes to know: Manto Negro and Callet (red), Prensal, also called Moll (white).

How does the solera shape Sherry?

Barrels are arranged in levels, called criaderas, above the oldest level, the solera. Wine is drawn from the solera for bottling, never all of it, and topped up from the criadera above, which is topped up from the one above that. This fractional blending keeps a house style consistent year after year. Under flor, the layer of yeast that protects Fino and Manzanilla from air, the wine stays pale and tangy, with almond and bread notes. Oloroso is fortified higher, so flor cannot live; it ages with air and turns nutty and deep. More in fortified wines at every level.

Why the Garnacha revival in Aragón?

Campo de Borja, Calatayud and Cariñena hold large areas of old Garnacha vines. Old vines give small crops of concentrated fruit, and producers have learned to pick and make wine for freshness rather than sheer power. Calatayud's higher, cooler vineyards tend to give the most lifted wines. Campo de Borja promotes itself as "the empire of Garnacha".

Monastrell: Jumilla and Yecla versus Alicante

Jumilla and Yecla are inland, high and dry: Monastrell there makes ripe, dark, full-bodied reds, increasingly picked earlier for balance. Bullas, nearby, is Murcia's third Monastrell DO, with vineyards at altitude. Alicante has a coastal side and a cooler inland one, and keeps a unique tradition: Fondillón, a Monastrell left on the vine to over-ripen, then aged for many years in wood.

Catalonia's smaller DOs

Alella
What to rememberPansa Blanca (the local name for Xarel·lo) on sauló, a sandy granite soil, close to Barcelona
Empordà
What to rememberBy the French border; the Tramontana wind keeps vines dry and healthy; Garnatxa and Carinyena
Terra Alta
What to rememberInland and high; the home of white Garnatxa (Garnatxa Blanca)
Conca de Barberà
What to rememberUpland valley; the local red Trepat, often for rosé and sparkling; Parellada
Costers del Segre
What to rememberInland, around Lleida; dry continental climate; Spanish and international grapes

The centre and north

Méntrida
What to rememberToledo, near the Sierra de Gredos; old Garnacha
Arlanza
What to rememberBurgos, north of Ribera del Duero; Tempranillo (Tinta del País) in a cool, harsh climate
Cigales
What to rememberNear Valladolid; long known for rosado, with reds from Tempranillo
Uclés
What to rememberCuenca, in Castilla-La Mancha; Tempranillo

What are Vinos de la Tierra?

Spain's regional level, the equivalent of France's Vin de Pays and the EU's IGP. The rules on grapes and methods are looser than for a DO, which gives room to experiment. A label can show the vintage and the grape varieties.

Quiz: Spain beyond the classics

Question 1

What is the main grape of Txakoli?

  1. a)Albariño
  2. b)Hondarrabi Zuri
  3. c)Godello
  4. d)Verdejo
Show answer

b) Hondarrabi Zuri. Hondarrabi Zuri is the white grape of the three Txakoli DOs.

Question 2

Which statement about the Canary Islands is true?

  1. a)They are planted mostly on American rootstock
  2. b)Phylloxera has never reached them
  3. c)Their soils are mainly chalk
  4. d)They have no DOs of their own
Show answer

b) Phylloxera has never reached them. Phylloxera never arrived, so many vines grow on their own roots.

Question 3

Pansa Blanca, in Alella, is a local name for which grape?

  1. a)Macabeo
  2. b)Parellada
  3. c)Xarel·lo
  4. d)Garnacha Blanca
Show answer

c) Xarel·lo. Pansa Blanca is Alella's name for Xarel·lo.

Question 4

Which DO is best known for white Garnatxa?

  1. a)Terra Alta
  2. b)Empordà
  3. c)Alella
  4. d)Costers del Segre
Show answer

a) Terra Alta. Terra Alta is the home of Garnatxa Blanca.

Question 5

What is Fondillón?

  1. a)A Sherry style
  2. b)An aged wine from over-ripe Monastrell in Alicante
  3. c)A Cava category
  4. d)A Txakoli sub-zone
Show answer

b) An aged wine from over-ripe Monastrell in Alicante. Fondillón is Alicante's long-aged Monastrell, from over-ripe grapes.

Question 6

Which two DOs are on Mallorca?

  1. a)Binissalem and Pla i Llevant
  2. b)Abona and Lanzarote
  3. c)Alella and Empordà
  4. d)Arlanza and Cigales
Show answer

a) Binissalem and Pla i Llevant. Binissalem and Pla i Llevant are Mallorca's DOs.

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Questions people ask

Which Spanish regions come up at the Master Sommelier level?

The Court's top-level syllabus lists smaller DOs such as Txakolina, Bullas, Méntrida, Alella, Empordà, Terra Alta, Conca de Barberà, Costers del Segre, Arlanza, Campo de Borja, Cigales and Uclés, plus the island DOs.

Why are Canary Island vines ungrafted?

Phylloxera never reached the islands, so vines can grow on their own roots.

What is the difference between Fino and Oloroso?

Fino ages under a layer of flor yeast and stays pale and tangy. Oloroso is fortified higher, so no flor grows, and it ages with air, turning dark and nutty.

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