Offbeat Spain: stunning Atlantic reds

See our Guide to Luis' tour of offbeat Spain.

In Spain it used to be simple: the cool, damp north produced white wines, while the warmer and drier south produced reds. But times are a-changin' and exceptions are now as numerous as the rules. As a reaction to the overoaked, overextracted and overboring reds produced in too many places, many turned their sights to cooler climates to produce more elegant, fresher reds with more acidity, wines that you'd enjoy with food rather than amaze in a blind tasting where the-bigger-the-better is too often the strategy to shine.

So the north...