Peñín Guide once again raises the number of wines awarded 100 points to eight.

The Peñín Guide to Spanish Wines has once again awarded 100 points to eight wines in its 2026 edition, matching the figure from 2025. In the 2024 edition, four wines received such high scores. It wasn't until the 2023 edition, after more than 200,000 tastings over 33 years, that this top score was awarded for the first time. It was awarded to two wines. Until then, the leading Spanish wine guide had been very reluctant to award 100 points. It had always been maintained that "absolute perfection does not exist."

In the ranking of Spanish designations of origin, Jerez and Manzanilla de Sanlúcar once again lead the way, as they do every year, with the highest scores in the new Guide, with an average score of 93.16 points; followed by Montilla-Moriles, Vino de Calidad de Cebreros, and the DO Calificada Priorat.

The Peñín Guide tasting team emphasized that "this year, the concept of terroir, so championed in the wine world and so malleable when viewed from a certain perspective, has focused on the native."

2026 Edition 9,500 wine tastings from 2,000 wineries

To compile the new edition, approximately 9,500 wine tastings were conducted, featuring wines from around 2,000 wineries. All of them are now available on the Peñín website. The authors of this guide state that "this year's scores offer a diverse and diverse view of the different ways to achieve success, with wines of very different styles."

The 2026 Peñín Guide to Spanish Wines in book format will be available during the month of October, in Spanish, English, and German, through the Peñín online store and in bookstores throughout Spain.

If last year they awarded 100 points for the first time to a sparkling wine, the Enoteca Gramona Brut Nature 2011 (Corpinnat), this distinction will go to the Homenatge a Josep Mata Capellades 2004 by Recaredo (also from Corpinnat) in the 2026 edition. Of this latest sparkling wine from the family winery in Sant Sadurní d'Anoia, they say that "it clearly demonstrates that with age, the Catalan style of sparkling wine can also be recognized."

Two fortified sherries, the Amontillado Tradición VORS and the Tío Pepe Cuatro Palmas from González & Byass, have also risen to the top of the Guide's list. The wine from Bodegas Tradición is described as "a great sherry, with distinct aromas and flavors." And the Cuatro Palmas is described as "a memorable, unique, and inimitable wine within Jerez."

Spain is at its best qualitative moment in history, and is currently one of the best countries in the world in terms of quality and diversity.

Carlos González Sáez Director of the Peñín Guide

Three red wines have earned top recognition from the guide, headed by Carlos González and Javier Luengo, director and editor, respectively. They are the Castillo Ygay 2012 from Marqués de Murrieta (DO Calificada Rioja), Artuke La Condenada 2023 from Bodegas y Viñedos Artuke (DO Ca. Rioja), and Alabaster 2022 from Teso La Monja, a wine from the Eguren family (DO Toro).

Of the wine from Marqués de Murrieta in Logroño, they say that "it's a Rioja classic that dazzled with its finesse and complexity, bringing out all its regional power." Of the red from Bodegas y Viñedos Artuke in Baños de Ebro, in Rioja Alavesa, they consider it "the best representation of Rioja freshness through the fruity depth of the Tempranillo grape." And of the Eguren wine from Valdefinjas (Zamora), they note that "it's a high-flying Toro wine, rounded and powerful, but very fresh."

And two Galician whites have also tasted the honey of the 100 Peñín points: O Raio da Vella Albariño 2023 from Bodegas Forjas del Salnés by Rodrigo Méndez (DO Rías Baixas) and Sorte O Soro 2023 by Rafael Palacios (DO Valdeorras). Of Rodrigo Méndez's wine, they reveal that it climbed point by point in its modesty until it became one of the best whites of the year. And of Rafael Palacios' white, they write that "it is a Godello that has it all: minerality, salinity, strength, tension, depth, and great aging capacity."

The director of the Peñín Guide, Carlos González Sáez, told La Vanguardia 's Comer channel that "for us, this is a historic year, as there has never been so much quality so closely linked to diversity." He also highlighted that "for several years now, very good wines have been made in practically all Spanish wine-growing regions, crafted in very different styles: concentrated, light, fresh, fruity, balsamic... But in this edition, and thanks to the coincidence of three great vintages—2019, 2021, and 2023—more than half of the wines tasted exceeded 90 points, reaching over 95 out of around 440, something that had never happened before."

On the other hand, Carlos González believes that "the rise of small producers, linked to more artisanal winemaking, has contributed to the arrival of more and better wines, although these productions are very scarce and difficult to obtain." For all these reasons, they believe that "Spain is at its best qualitative moment in its history, and is, today, one of the best countries in the world in terms of quality and diversity."