Spanish wine has been enjoying an export boom to big markets like the UK and the US, with an award ceremony last week paying tribute to the best Iberian reds and whites.

The New Wave Spanish Wine Awards 2007 took place for the third year running in London, picking out the best of Spanish wines to hit the UK.

With judges drawn from both representatives of the Off Licence News (OLN) and of Wines from Spain, expert decisions were made as to the best wines emerging from the country, from a choice ranging from cavas to whites to sherries and dessert wines.

Distinguishing itself from the pack, a five-year-old Alabarino white wine, the Pazo Senorans Seleccion Anada 2002, was named as a top performer, improving the status of whites in relation to well-established Spanish reds.

With judges tasting over 700 wines available in the UK, the awards granted further publicity to the up-and-coming export market in Spanish wine, threatening to oust France and Italy from their European dominance.

While the UK is now a well-established import market for European wine, the USA is quickly becoming a nation of wine drinkers, with the current weakness of the dollar reported to be having less effect on imports than feared.

Jon Frederikson of the California-based Gomberg-Frederikson wine consultancy was reported to claim that wine exports into the US from Spain were still rising, alongside those from France, Italy, Germany and Portugal.