The Spanish wine industry is as old as that of France. When phylloxera invaded the French vineyards in the late 1800s, many French winemakers fled their country - and a number ended up in the Rioja region. Here they taught the locals how to raise the quality of the wines made from the local grapes; the primary one being Tempranillo.
At one stage, Spanish wine was practically synonymous with Rioja, but in more recent years, wine from across the whole of Spain is gaining in popularity. Many of these will be made from traditional Spanish grapes, but more and more regions are starting to produce wines from international varieties, such as Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon.
However, Spain's wine industry is probably most famous for Sherry. The word 'Sherry' is an Anglicized version of Jerez, the port city from which Sherry is shipped worldwide.
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