Where are you in Spain? And do you like reds?

There's usually an aromatic white wine to go with the local fish wherever you are in Spain, eg Castillo San Diego in Cadiz, Rias Baixas and Monterrei wines in the north, Vina Sol or Vina Esmeralda in Catalan. But apart from the northerners, which can improve over two-three years, theyre for youthful consumption.

Calling GregT.

Derek pretty much took the words out of my mouth. I'm a fan of some Rioja as well but they are decidedly not similar to Pinot Grigio.

As far as bringing wine back to the states, well we have great selections here in many east coast stores but old Rioja, speaking of the reds now, can often be had fairly cheaply in Spain and compete with some of the greatest wines on the planet!

If I was coming back from Spain that's what I would be stuffing my bags with!

There are whites all over but some of the more interesting ones have been mentioned, and moreover, you are in Andalucia.. So I really have to agree with the suggestion regarding sherry. Try some before you buy if you don't know them, and beware - a fino style sherry should be consumed fairly soon after opening, much like a white wine. An oxidized sherry such as an oloroso or amontillado can be left alone for a while. So if you're in a tapas bar and they have an open bottle and it's an oxidized sherry, try it. If they have an open fino, I've found that those aren't always so great. See if you can get them to open one for you.

And sherry isn't all. As a matter of fact, in the south of Spain, there is a tradition of making fortified wines. Andalucia has four “Denominación de Origen” areas:

Jerez, which the English transmogrified to "Sherry".

Malaga - known for sweet desert wines and now they are even making some table wines. If you want something different, that might be something to look at.

Montilla Moriles - also produce what we lump together under the category called "Sherry"..

Condado de Huelva - an area hardly anyone knows about that makes both sweet and dry wines, mostly whites.

Palomino, the grape that is used in sherry, traditionally isn't all that satisfying as a still-wine grape, but if you get a chance, try a couple. You probably won't get to try them back home. If you want them for yourself, I'd say buy whatever you've tried and loved. If you are buying for someone else, I've found that unless someone has already expressed an appreciation of it, a dry sherry isn't always a successful gift. But sweet wines seem to be universally appreciated and even better, they often tend to last fairly well too.

In addition to those mentioned, you might want to look for some madeira. When I'm overseas, I tend to look for things that I can't get back home. So personally, I'd go for the more out of the way stuff.

Following up on GregT's remarks about how you don't want to be drinking oxidized manzanillas and finos, I find that these two varieties of sherry do not age well in bottle, either. Not at all bottles to lay down, since fresher is better, almost like a beer. That is obviously a problem drinking them in North America and over here in Japan, since as a consumer we don't even get our hands on the bottles at retail until many months after bottling. They still can be nice over here, but just aren't as vibrant as when newly bottled. Shouldn't be a problem for someone in Cadiz or Sanlucar de Barrameda or Jerez de la Frontera, though!

Dry amotillados and olorosos, and of course the sweeter versions, definitely survive time in bottle better. But I do love the briskness of finos and manzanillas, and how they stimulate apetite. Am almost salivating just thinking about them... ;-)

Salud!