2010 Spain

For Spanish wine 2010 was a cooler vintage year than 2009 with a long ripening season and ideal weather from the end of August helping to facilitate the maturation of the grapes.

Harvest conditions were excellent and good sugar levels in the grapes noted in both Rioja and Ribera del Duero, inter alia . Permitted yields were reduced a shade in Rioja in an attempt to ensure continuity of good levels of supply but in an effort to avoid over-supply .

Rainfall over a couple of days in October in Rioja has not dampened the optimism of the growers, and it came too late to do any real harm. A good foil to the power of 2009, 2010 is set to be a uniformly elegant wine vintage and is, unsurprisingly, very good for white wines, with Galicia, Valdeoras and Rueda especially impressive.