Central and Southern Spain 3D Wine Map: La Mancha to Jerez

La Mancha, Valdepenas, Jerez, Jumilla, Málaga, and the wine regions of the Meseta and Andalucía in full 3D terrain.

This interactive 3D map shows 24 appellations of central and southern Spain on real terrain, from Vinos de Madrid, La Mancha and Valdepeñas on the Meseta through Valencia, Utiel-Requena, Jumilla and Yecla to Jerez, Montilla-Moriles and Málaga in Andalucía, drawn in 3D by SommGeo. Tilt and fly over the plateau and the mountains, check elevation and slope, and click any appellation for its grapes and character. The interactive map is part of SommGeo membership, which starts with a free 15-day trial.

• Appellations on the map: 24: 22 DOs and 2 Vinos de Calidad
• The Meseta: A high central plateau, with La Mancha’s vineyards at roughly 500 to 700 meters
• La Mancha: Spain’s largest DO, planted mostly to Airén and Cencibel (Tempranillo)
• Sherry country: Jerez, Manzanilla Sanlúcar de Barrameda and Montilla-Moriles in Andalucía
• Monastrell: The grape of the dry southeast: Jumilla, Yecla, Bullas and Alicante
• 3D tools: Tilt and rotate the terrain, elevation and slope readouts, daylight and shadow animation and a weather overlay

Central and Southern Spain covers an enormous range of geography, from the high, arid Meseta Central (the vast plateau that dominates the interior) to the coastal lowlands of Andalucía and the Mediterranean southeast. This is where Spain produces the most wine by volume, but the terrain story is more varied than the reputation for bulk production suggests. The Meseta sits at 600 to 800 meters (1,970 to 2,625 feet), making it one of the highest wine plateaus in Europe, while Jerez occupies the low, chalky albariza hills near the coast. This map covers the DOs of Central and Southern Spain with detailed popup data. The bookmarks are the best way to navigate a map this wide: use them to fly between La Mancha, Jerez, Jumilla, Málaga, and other key zones. The layer controls let you change outlines and shading.

What You’ll Explore

This 3D Fast Map covers the DOs of Central and Southern Spain, from the Meseta Central through Andalucía and the Mediterranean southeast. Click any mapped DO for detailed popup content covering grape varieties, classification details, and geographic specifics. Start with the bookmarks to fly between La Mancha, Jerez, Jumilla, and the other key zones across this wide geographic spread. Then use the layer controls to filter by regional grouping.

• Central and Southern Spain’s DOs mapped with detailed popup data
• Bookmarks to fly directly between La Mancha, Jerez, Jumilla, and other key zones
• Toggleable layers to control which regional groupings are displayed
• Elevation profile tool for measuring the Meseta’s plateau altitude and coastal transitions
• Daylight and shadow animation to visualize aspect and sun exposure
• Weather overlay to see how continental and Mediterranean conditions interact with terrain

Key Regions in Focus

The Meseta: La Mancha, Valdepenas, and the Central Plateau

La Mancha is the largest wine region in Spain, covering a vast stretch of the Meseta Central at 600 to 800 meters (1,970 to 2,625 feet). The altitude creates extreme conditions: scorching summers, cold winters, and diurnal swings exceeding 20°C. Airén dominates whites (once the most planted grape in the world by area and still Spain’s most planted white variety), while Tempranillo (locally Cencibel) leads the reds. Valdepeñas, at La Mancha’s southern edge near the Sierra Morena, sits at similar elevation to the surrounding plateau but has long maintained its own DO identity, with clay-limestone soils producing more concentrated Tempranillo. The elevation profile tool shows just how high the Meseta sits. Use the bookmarks to fly across the plateau and compare it with the coastal zones.

Jerez and Andalucía

Jerez (the Sherry triangle of Jerez de la Frontera, El Puerto de Santa María, and Sanlúcar de Barrameda) sits where the Guadalquivir meets the Atlantic. The albariza soils (bright white, chalky, moisture-retaining limestone) are the key: Palomino on albariza produces the base wines for Fino, Manzanilla, Amontillado, Oloroso, and Palo Cortado. The terrain is gentle rolling hills, but the ocean proximity and the Poniente and Levante winds are critical to the solera process. Further east, Málaga and Sierras de Málaga produce sweet and dry wines from Moscatel and Pedro Ximénez on steeper, mountainous terrain.

The Mediterranean Southeast: Jumilla, Yecla, and Alicante

The southeastern DOs occupy the transition between the Meseta and the Mediterranean coast. Jumilla, at 400 to 800 meters (1,310 to 2,625 feet) on limestone and clay, is Monastrell (Mourvèdre) territory, producing concentrated reds with real structure. Many vines remain ungrafted, as the calcareous limestone soils and arid climate kept phylloxera at bay until 1989. Around 1,000 hectares of pre-phylloxera, own-rooted vines survive. Yecla shares similar conditions on a slightly higher plateau. Alicante, closer to the coast, adds maritime moderation with both Monastrell reds and sweet Moscatel. The altitude difference between inland DOs and the coastal strip is clearly visible in 3D, and the elevation profile helps quantify how quickly the landscape drops from plateau to sea level.

Hopefully this index is useful on its own. To explore these regions interactively, with every boundary on real terrain and a full profile for each, start a 15-day free trial. To see what one of these maps is like first, a different map is unlocked for everyone every day.