La Vid | Fine Wines & Vinoteca

We are a Fine Iberian Wine Bar and bottle shop with a deep passion and reverence for terroir-driven wines made in the vineyard, not in the cellar.

Our mission is to provide Tampa Bay a unique experience into the world of the best wines of Spain & Portugal and gastronomic offerings of the utmost quality. In addition, we aim to have the finest Iberian wine selection in the area while offering a venue for parties and private events. 

We live to witness people enjoy our wines while smiling with satisfaction. We love to share our knowledge with others through tastings, classes, and just as a guest sitting up at the bar while enjoying a nice glass or bottle of our fine wines and more. 

Our wine bar, or vinoteca as we call it, is an upscale wine bar where we can share our wines and our passion in a superb ambiance—serving unique fortified wines such as sherry, vermouths, and ports, as well as Spanish ciders and Spanish beers. 

Our curated selection is full of vineyard treasures that are often hard to find. Spain is becoming a wine titan, and Portugal is becoming a wine prodigy and awing wine enthusiasts. We are living in exciting times. These are beautiful wines with class, grace, and elegance with an undertone of grit and over-delivered for the price time and time again. 

European Union is a political and economic union with 27 member states, Portugal and Spain. The EU has wine laws governed by legislation composed of regulations and guidelines enacted to support and protect EU grape growers, winemakers, traders, and consumers through policy, legislation, labeling, trade measures, and market monitoring.

There are also policies and legislation for food. For example, both wine and food items within the European Union can only qualify once placed in two categories, Protection of Geographical Indication (PGI) or Protected Designation of Origin (PDO). Thus, products may include wines, beers, cheeses, meats, cured meats, olives, fruits, vegetables, and bread.

PDO

P.D.O.

Protection of Designation of Origin

This is an origin-specific qualification concerned with food products. Which includes wine that is grown, produced, and processed from a specific area or region with local methods and procedures, aimed to maintain and preserve the reputation of particular products from particular areas with specific geographical and climatic factors. 

PGI

P.G.I.

Protection of Geographical Indication

This is also an origin that pertains to a specific area, place, or country that possesses certain attributes again that also uphold specific parameters for processing, preparing, or producing a given product. The main difference between this lower tier is that it is not as terroir driver as a PDO, and only a part of the production or preparation has to take place in the same region where the food products are grown. 

Basic table wine

The Spanish PGI

The Spanish PDO

Denominación de Origen Protegida 

  • Vinos de Calidad con Indicaión Geográfica – (VC) (quality wines with geographical indication) These are wines that are above PGI wines, but do not fully meet the requirements of the Denomination of Origin. 

  • Denominación de Origen – (DO) this denomination of origin, is the backbone of Spanish quality wines, each D.O. has its own regulating council that enforces the boundaries, grape varietals, pruning methods.

  • Denominacion de Origen Calificada (DOCa) or Denominació d’Origen Qualificada (DOQ)

    This prestigious designation is for wine regions that have upheld for at least 10 years the above-average quality of grapes and wines. Its practices exceed the requirements of other Denominations of Origin.  

  • Vinos de Pago (VP) – are wineries located inside other DOs, and they must own all their own vineyards and must bottle there on-premise. Vinos de Pago also has exceptional terroirs. Although just having a great terroir is not enough, the winery must demonstrate the quality of their wines consistently and go above and beyond the standards and minimums set forth by the regulating council in their respective Denomination of Origin. One could say that a VP is Spain’s version of a monopole. 

Is the most basic category, essentially their version of basic table wine. They are representing about one-fourth of the wines produced.

Is the Portuguese PGI wines with geographical indication, or in Portuguese as Indicação Geográfica Protegida, or IGP), which there are currently 14.

Is the Portuguese PDO, the highest designation for quality wines. There are 31 DOCs at the moment.