Spain

If you had to determine a national drink for Spain, no doubt it would be Spanish wines. Spending a warm summer night drinking wine and eating tapas in a square is one of the most typical pictures of life in Spain. Used for cooking, drinking and even to throw over people (like the wine festivities in Jumilla), wine is ever present in the Spanish day to day, and occupies an important part of the country's production and exportation.

Spain's unique geography and situation are responsible for the wide range of climates available throughout the country which give rise to a large number of different grape varieties which can be cultivated there. Vineyards stretch from the green, rolling hills of the north to the arid expanses of the south, and all the differences between them, from weather to the richness of the soil and the water, are what makes Spanish wines so special and unique. The influence of the Cantabric Sea, Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea play a very important role in the ripening of the fruit, and even the breezes blowing from them contribute to the differences between Spanish wines.