🏷️ DO (Spain)

DO (Spain) is a Spanish wine category, "denomination of origin": the wine is made in its own zone under set rules. DO is the Spanish wine category "denomination of origin". The wine must come from a defined area and be made by set rules: which grapes, what yield per hectare, how to age it. Today Spain has about 70 such areas.

DO sits in the middle, between simple wines and the top categories. Above it stands DOCa, which means Rioja and Priorat. There are also Vino de Pago, single estates with their own name, and "Viñedo Singular", special vineyards. A category of similar level is VC, "quality wine with geographical indication".

All these categories belong to the single European system of protected names, PDO. DO is the Spanish version: it shows that tested rules stand behind the name on the label.

Well-known DOs include Ribera del Duero, Rueda, Penedès, Rías Baixas and many more. Each area is run by its own council that watches quality.