The wines of Spain

Story one: Years ago, I visited the Federico Paternina winery in Rioja and toured its oldest cellars, so deep and dank the labels had rotted away and the only way we could tell even the decade in which the wines had been made was by their position in the cellar. We drank a rioja from the 1930s. It was an almost-religious experience.

Story two: Last week I walked into Crown Wine & Spirits in Coral Gables and came away with a $6 Spanish white, a 2006 Marqués de Cáceres. Made from the viura grape, it was light, crisp and bursting with ripe fruit -- a hit with my tapas of poached squid. I poured a light, bright, $9 red, the 2007 Zestos Especial, with my mushroom bruschetta. Again, a great value.

As the South Beach Wine & Food Festival arrives Thursday with a big Spanish wine pavilion complete with ribbon-cutting by King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofia, this is the state of Spanish wine:

• While a bottle of hallowed Vega Sicilia Unico red wine can cost $300, you also can buy a broad range of excellent Spanish wines for under $10.

• Spurred by European investment since Spain joined the European Economic Community in 1986, a new generation of winemakers is creating cutting-edge wines from previously disregarded regions. Example: that Zestos from Vinos de Madrid in La Mancha, which blends Spain's traditional tempranillo grape with French syrah.

• Spain's finest wines, its Vega Sicilias and tempranillo gran reservas, will age for decades -- far longer than the monster cabernet sauvignons of California. But it's the country's inexpensive reds and whites that are making friends with today's frugal wine fans.

''No question about it,'' says Chip Cassidy, wine buyer for the 31-store Crown Wine & Spirits chain. ``There are so many different areas in Spain producing incredible wines. I drink them myself for sheer economy.''

Spain, the world's third-largest wine producer, has doubled its annual U.S. exports to 5.6 million cases in the past decade. Those bottles range from light, dry whites like albariño in northern Galicia to muscular reds like the tempranillos of Ribera del Duero north of Madrid to the subtle but powerful fortified sherries of Jerez in the sun-scorched southwest.

And then there are areas like Priorato, an hour's drive southwest of Barcelona. It was a world-renowned wine producer in the 1800s, but then the phylloxera root-louse plague struck. By the 1970s it was making heavy, alcoholic wines that were seldom exported.

But in 1984, René Barbier lured a handful of fellow winemakers from around Spain with the mission of restoring Priorato's glory. They began with two unlikely grapes, garnacha and careña, known for making thick, jammy wines that soared to 15 percent alcohol.

The new winemakers planted the grapes in the fragile schist soil of Priorato's mountains. They added hints of such French grapes as cabernet sauvignon, merlot and syrah. And they made wines that astounded fans when they hit international markets.

Meanwhile, other young Turks are using interest-free EEC loans to bring back the floral, mineral-scented mencia grape in Bierzo, in northwest Spain. And across the country in Jumilla, they are finding new glories in the old, deeply colored bobal grape.

Here's a quick tour of Spain's major wine regions:

Rias Baixas: In Galicia, Spain's far northwest corner, where cold winds blow in from the Atlantic, this region specializes in light, crisp whites, the most popular of which is albariño.

Bierzo: Just emerging as a hot wine region, this lush area of hills and castles is home to the mencia grape, which makes ripe, smooth, fruity wines with hints of minerally.

Toro: Only 25 miles from the Duoro River region where the Portuguese grow grapes for port, Toro is a new wine area known for tempranillo grapes and big, sturdy wines.

Rueda: A wine producer for 1,000 years, mired in mediocrity under Franco, Rueda was rescued in the 1970s when the house of Marques de Riscal planted the crisp, juicy verdejo grape and has been booming ever since.

Ribera del Duero: This, not Rioja, is Spain's iconic wine area, home to Vega Sicilia, a blend of tempranillo, cabernet sauvignon, merlot and malbec famous for long aging.

Rioja: Home to Spain's most popular reds, made from the tempranillo grape, this northern region is using new techniques to produce light, bright, crisp and fruity whites as well.

Priorato: This fabled region southwest of Barcelona is once again making rich, powerful, smooth wines that have a knack for tasting like blueberry pie.

Penedès: The 200-year-old Torres wine empire makes reds here from cabernet sauvignon, garnacha, cariñena and syrah and whites from chardonnay, parellada, moscatel and gewürtztraminer. Penedès' other big wine is the sparkler cava, by Freixenet, Segura Viudas, Codorniu and others.

Valencia: Long an area for bulk wines, it is beginning to make some good wines, including reds from tempranillo, monastrell and bobal.

La Mancha: The largest wine area in the world, this region just south of Madrid is moving away from huge quantities of cheap table wine, limiting production to produce some credible reds.

Jumilla: Once known for sturdy, high-alcohol, oxidized red wines, this area in hot southeastern Spain is making some fresh, fruity reds today.

Jerez: This sun-scorched region at Spain's southern tip is carrying on a respected, centuries-old tradition of fortified wines that range from light, super-dry fino sherries to ultrasweet cream sherries.