Five wines, five categories and five very different corners of Spain. The Spanish Ministry of Agriculture has named its best wines of 2026, ranging from Catalan Garnacha and white Rioja to Cava and an Andalusian Fino. Perhaps the biggest surprise, however, is the price: one of the winners can be found for less than €8 a bottle.
Spain Expat Press Editorial Team
Standing in front of a wine shelf in Spain can present something of a luxury problem. Rioja or Ribera? A Galician white? Catalan Garnacha? Rosé from Navarra? Or perhaps a Fino from Jerez?
Spain produces wine in such extraordinary variety that even experienced drinkers can occasionally struggle to choose.
Now there are at least five official recommendations.
Spain’s Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has announced the winners of the Premios Alimentos de España Mejores Vinos 2026, recognising outstanding wines across five categories: red, white, rosé, sparkling and fortified wine.
The awards form part of the wider Alimentos de España programme, through which the Spanish government recognises excellence in the country’s food and drink industry.
Only Spanish wines protected by a recognised designation of origin or geographical indication were eligible, and entrants were required to have previously ranked among the five highest-scoring wines in their category at the 2026 Bacchus international wine competition.
There was another important element to the judging.
This was not simply a question of which wine performed best in a tasting.
The Bacchus score accounted for 60 per cent of the final assessment. The remaining 40 per cent took into account factors including innovation, commercial development, sustainability, support for local agriculture and rural communities, and the international promotion of Spanish food and wine.
The result is a remarkably varied snapshot of modern Spanish winemaking.
Best red: Aires de Garbet 2021
Spain’s best red wine of 2026 comes from Empordà, in the far north-east of Catalonia.
Aires de Garbet 2021, produced by Cavas del Castillo de Perelada in Girona, is made entirely from Garnacha grapes.
The fruit comes from the spectacular Finca Garbet vineyard, and the wine is aged in French oak.
With a market price of around €48, it is certainly not an everyday bottle for most households, but nor does it enter the three-figure territory increasingly occupied by some of Spain’s most prestigious wines.
For visitors looking for a particularly good Spanish red to take home, it is one name worth remembering.
Spain’s best white comes from Rioja
Mention Rioja and most people immediately think of red wine.
This year’s winner in the white category is a reminder that the region has considerably more to offer.
Los Altares 2016, produced by Unión Vitivinícola in Cenicero, La Rioja, is made using old Viura vines alongside smaller traditional varieties grown in high-altitude vineyards.
The wine draws on an older Rioja tradition: whites designed not simply to be drunk young and fresh, but capable of ageing and developing considerably greater complexity.
For international wine drinkers who associate Rioja almost exclusively with Tempranillo-based reds, Los Altares may be one of the most interesting winners on the list.
The surprise from Navarra: Spain’s best rosé for under €8
For the average shopper, however, perhaps the most interesting winner comes from Navarra.
Inurrieta Mediodía Rosado 2025 has been named Spain’s best rosé in this year’s awards.
Produced by Bodega Inurrieta in Falces, it is made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Graciano, Garnacha and Syrah.
And then there is the price.
A bottle can be found for around €7.65.
That means one of the wines officially recognised by the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture costs less than a glass of wine in some restaurants in Marbella, Madrid or Barcelona.
It is also a useful reminder of one of the great attractions of buying wine in Spain: quality does not necessarily begin at €30, €50 or €100 a bottle.
Sometimes it is sitting on the shelf for less than ten euros.
Cava: a familiar name takes the prize
The winner in the sparkling category is another bottle that does not require a special-occasion budget.
Cuvée D.S. 2019 comes from Sant Sadurní d’Anoia, the heartland of Catalan Cava production, and is made by Freixenet, one of the most internationally recognised names in Spanish sparkling wine.
The Cava sells for approximately €14 and was recognised for qualities including its aromatic complexity, creamy texture and balance.
It is another example of an award-winning Spanish wine that can realistically be bought for an ordinary dinner rather than saved for a wedding anniversary.
Andalusia wins with a classic from Cádiz
No overview of Spanish wine would feel entirely complete without looking south to Jerez.
The award for the best fortified wine goes to Fino La Honda, produced by Osborne in El Puerto de Santa María, Cádiz.
Made from Palomino Fino grapes, the wine undergoes around 12 years of biological ageing using the traditional criaderas y soleras system.
A bottle costs approximately €31.50.
For many foreign visitors, Fino remains far less familiar than Rioja, Cava or Albariño. In Andalusia, however, this style of wine forms part of a centuries-old culture.
A dry Fino can also be one of Spain’s great gastronomic discoveries, particularly alongside Jamón, almonds, olives, seafood or pescaíto frito – Andalusia’s traditional fried fish.
Award-winning does not necessarily mean expensive
Perhaps that is the most interesting conclusion from this year’s selection.
The five winners span completely different price points, from a Navarra rosé costing less than €8 to a considerably more expensive Catalan red.
They also represent five very different Spanish wine traditions: Empordà, Rioja, Navarra, Cava and Jerez.
In that sense, the winners amount to a small wine tour of Spain.
For shoppers who would rather not spend half an hour studying labels on their next visit to a Spanish supermarket or wine merchant, these are the five names to remember:
- Red: Aires de Garbet 2021 – DOP Empordà
- White: Los Altares 2016 – DOCa Rioja
- Rosé: Inurrieta Mediodía Rosado 2025 – DOP Navarra
- Sparkling: Cuvée D.S. 2019 – DOP Cava
- Fortified: Fino La Honda – DOP Jerez-Xérès-Sherry
The Premios Alimentos de España have a broader purpose than simply selecting five bottles. The awards are intended to recognise quality while supporting innovation, sustainability, protected regional production and the international reputation of Spanish food and wine.
For consumers, however, this year’s results deliver a much simpler message.
You do not need to be a wine expert – or spend €50 – to drink an award-winning wine in Spain.
Sometimes, you do not even need €8.
