For a region now considered one of the great names in Spanish wine, it’s actually incredibly young... at least officially. The DO was only founded in 1982.

Spain does wine travel differently. In many regions, your tasting room isn’t just surrounded by vines, it sits beneath medieval walls, ancient fortresses, and centuries of history. From the iconic hilltop castle of Peñafiel to the dramatic rock fortress of Almansa, these villages combine two of Spain’s greatest attractions: wine and history. If you’re planning a road trip through wine country, these are five villages where you can explore a castle in the morning and be sipping local wines by lunch. 

So you’ve decided you want to go to Ribera del Duero .

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Spain makes some of the most diverse and exciting wines on the planet, but the labels can read like a bureaucratic fever dream.

You’ve landed in Spain. The sun’s already flirting with the rooftops, your stomach is growling, and the menu in front of you might as well be written in a secret code.

Tempranillo is the safe bet, the one Spain puts on the tourist brochure.