Andrea Ontiveros Flores, a sommelier and marketing & communications specialist from Alicante, Spain looks at two wine regions linked by trade and ambition.
To kick off the 2026 vintage, I started my vineyard visits in one of my favourite wine regions in north east Spain, Priorat.
It is still remarkable how such a challenging climate region continues to produce some of the best and most powerful wines, not only in Spain but across Europe. With highly concentrated grapes from old vines – many over a century in age, set on stunning steep terraces of black llicorella slate, and under the strict regulations of the Priorat DOCa, the region follows a “heroic viticulture” approach. This allows only hand harvesting in unforgiving landscapes where mechanisation is impossible and requires enormous physical effort. The result is a style of pronounced concentration and intensity: powerful expressions of Garnacha and the local Cariñena, with distinct depth, structure and naturally high alcohol.
One of the things I enjoyed the most during my visit to Priorat was its authenticity and the rural character that the region has carefully preserved. Small producers and truly local wineries across the comarca are the defining signature of Priorat, especially when compared with larger wine regions in Spain such as Rioja and Ribera del Duero. Even in Falset, the capital of the region, or Gratallops, often considered the heart of Priorat; production remains small and limited, making each wine producer feel distinctive and personal.
Wineries such as Clos Pachem and Celler Devinssi, both located in Gratallops, produce unique and expressive wines from local grape varieties, following Priorat’s distinctive approach, where soil and climate take centre stage in every bottle. Meanwhile, Sangenís i Vaqué in Porrera and the impressive Mas Doix in Poboleda are also highly regarded, known for their elegant wines with strong ageing potential, limited production, and a terroir-driven, low-intervention philosophy that preserves the natural character of native varieties.
And yet, most of these bottles are not meant for Spanish consumers, but for export markets such as the UK. Like many of Spain’s top-tier appellations, Priorat relies heavily on international demand, with the UK remaining one of the world’s most important destinations for bottled Spanish wine and a key premium segment. This is despite recent alcohol duty changes introduced last year, which have impacted higher-alcohol Spanish reds, like those from Priorat. But England and Wales are a large and long-established destination for Iberian labels, where consumer preferences lean towards fuller-bodied styles, often associated with higher alcohol levels. That is why Priorat producers typically price and position their wines with international buyers in mind. These bottles are not simply exported; they are conceived for export, with premium positioning and higher pricing from day one.
While it may be surprising to learn that Priorat bottles are not mainly consumed in the Spanish market but overseas, I found a link, and a certain similarity, with UK production. Even when producing top-tier wines, both are often perceived, in comparison with other regions such as Champagne for English sparkling, and Rioja and Ribera del Duero in the case of Priorat reds, as second-tier names in their own country. We know UK consumers drink Priorat, both in restaurants and in wine retail settings, but the UK also produces its own premium bottles, with increasing confidence and international recognition. The UK is therefore not just a consumer and a destination for fine wine, but is also becoming a producer in the premium segment.
So, both regions not only share strong trade links and fine wine production, but also a particular position where product perception and knowledge in their local markets show a significant gap compared with other regions. On the Spanish side, Priorat is not widely consumed, and there is limited awareness of the quality of its wines within its own country. Rioja and Ribera del Duero continue to lead local consumption and preference, especially when price is a deciding factor. Tempranillo-led wines benefit from consumer trust in familiar regional names. Priorat, with its Garnacha–Cariñena blends, is less understood and often more expensive at the top end. This is why it is typically more appreciated in export destinations such as the UK, where consumers tend to be more open to trying and paying for powerful Spanish styles.
On the UK sparkling side, Champagne continues to be seen as the benchmark and the default premium choice when opting for high-end sparkling wines, especially for celebratory occasions. English sparkling is widely perceived as the domestic alternative and is often more highly valued in export markets such as North America and Asia. But in both cases, the “second choice” category has something more to offer. Top Priorat wines can exceed many from Rioja and Ribera del Duero in many ways. Priorat often delivers more powerful and terroir-driven expressions, with deep, dark fruit, high alcohol, robust tannins, distinct minerality, and the acidity and structure needed for long-lived, complex examples from old vines. So, rather than being a safe alternative, Priorat is a bold one.
And English sparkling shares a similar ambition in its offering, consistently producing wines with greater precision, higher acidity, brighter fruit profiles, and a more pronounced mineral backbone, alongside greater freshness, a leaner structure, and sometimes a more classical style. So English sparkling is not a compromise; it is proving itself to be a direct rival, especially now that top English sparkling wines compete directly with Champagne in both pricing and quality.
But why does this gap exist? Why does there seem to be more interest overseas in particular styles of wine compared with domestic consumption? It appears that, especially for more expensive wines, demand is higher outside their domestic markets, and for local producers, the economics work better if they export rather than lower their prices to try to incentivise local consumption.
Consumer psychology plays a key role here. For most people in Spain, familiar grapes are the safer choice, sticking with tradition – such as Tempranillo or ‘Tinta del País’, which literally means “the grape of the country”. Brand power also matters: prestigious regions, such as Champagne, benefit from names that speak for themselves, where simplicity often wins over complexity in messaging. Distribution is another crucial factor. If most bottles are exported, both markets lose visibility of local premium and small-scale, in-house production. As a result, consumers tend to buy what they recognise at a fair local price, while producers price their wines according to perceived value, often leading to higher prices driven by demand abroad.
On the other hand, international drinkers tend to appreciate and show greater interest in different styles of wine from other regions, largely thanks to figures such as sommeliers and commercial teams who help position these labels abroad at higher prices. Wine specialists, retailers and commercial professionals act as a bridge, introducing premium wines like Priorat or English sparkling to other markets. They serve as translators of unfamiliar regions and can more easily justify higher pricing in strategic settings such as restaurants, where both categories tend to overperform compared with retail.
The picture is clear to me for both regions. Priorat’s intense reds and English fresh sparkling wines are, without doubt, premium categories linked by trade and a clear sense of ambition. Both face challenging climates: Priorat is hotter and drier, with some of the lowest vineyard yields per hectare in the world, while the UK contends with more volatile yet warming conditions that are increasingly allowing consistent ripening. Each is responding differently, one by seeking freshness while maintaining intensity and heritage, the other by exploring broader styles through youth and precision – yet both are positioning themselves as strong premium categories on the international stage. Perhaps both regions suffer from the same misconception in their home markets, not that they are second-best, but that they are second in line. In reality, they are not behind, they are playing a different game.
