Category: Spanish Wine

Still in relative lock-down, still enjoying a glass of wine in the garden in splendid isolation with the sun shining. Not ideal but it’s where we are and rightly so, hopefully we can get back to socially enjoying a glass or two with family and friends soon. Now, is there a more recognisable red wine in the world than Rioja, well, for me, probably not but I hope regular readers will forgive me for enthusing…

Grenache or Garnacha is one of the most widely planted and versatile grape varieties in the world thriving in hotter climates where a lot of other grapes would struggle. So following on from the impressive Kilikanoon yet another very decent Grenache but this time a 100% Garnacha from the Navarra region of Northern Spain. I like to chill some of my reds slightly especially in the warmer weather and Garnacha is perfect for this. This…

Us Brits are a funny lot, just into April, the sun comes out, the temperature rises a few degrees, suddenly garden furniture comes out , Gazebo’s are erected, barbecues are dusted down and of course chilled white wine makes an appearance. To be honest I did all of the above as well, even put my shorts on. The two white wines I tasted were the Mar de Frades Albarino and the Val de Loire Sauvignon…

Part 1 (all about the white) This Decanter event has always been a highlight for me, never fails to impress and this year was no exception. The luxurious Landmark Hotel in Marylebone, was the perfect venue with its grand ballrooms featuring a host of producers, retailers and winemakers giving us the chance to taste the best wines that Spain & Portugal have to offer. Regular readers will know my passion for Spanish wines and I…

It certainly wasn’t the label that attracted me to this bottle, it’s pretty bizarre, to say the least. I bought it because I like Grenache or Garnacha but this kind of threw me, initially I didn’t like it then I did and this went on a while before I realised that the bottle was almost finished (not that I drank it all myself ) and I still couldn’t quite make up my mind. This was…

Scala Dei 2011 If you like your wines with a bit of muscle and intensity then Scala Dei translated from Latin to literally mean ‘Ladder to God’ is one to try. Made by Carthusian monks in the Scala Dei winery, founded in the 12th century and found in the Priorat region south-west of Tarragona Spain. I actually picked up this bottle in a small supermarket down a back street in the historic old town of…

If you ever visit Jerez in Spain then one Winery you must visit apart from all the excellent Sherry outlets is the Luis Perez Bodega situated just on the outskirts of Jerez de la Frontera. This was by far the standout highlight of our visit to the region and a place my wife and I hope to return to in the future. This is where we first tasted the sublime ‘El Muelle’ Palomino Fino, a…

With the weather improving and thoughts of summer barbecues ahead here are a couple of excellent white wines that generally don’t hit the headlines as much as they should.The first is an Austrian Gruner Veltliner sold in Morrisons and the other a Spanish Godello (although this particular one I bought in Spain, Godello is now widely available in most supermarkets and wine retailers). I first reviewed these wines a little while ago but thought I’d…

Most people look forward to the first bank holiday of the year and a nice long weekend, maybe a break away or just chill out at home with the family. The Easter break, normally fish on good Friday, plenty of sport, Sunday mass, traditional roast lamb and relax and recover on Monday before heading back to work. Now the burning non-religious issue for me was what to drink with our Sunday lamb, well, not so…

Majestic Amersham were holding a Spring showcase tasting in their plush new store on the 3oth April, so I thought on a cold rainy night, what better way is there to spend a few hours than tasting wine. I arrived a little early partly to have a look around the new shop and I was suitably impressed. Everything was neatly on display with all the portable shelves immaculately adorned with bottles lined up from around…

No apologies for starting this review with a resounding WOW!, this Marques De Los Rios Rioja Blanco Reserva 2013 made by Baron de Ley is quite simply stunning. Word of warning though, this may not be to everyone’s taste but one thing is for certain, this bottle will cause a reaction which may be good or bad. How many of you guys have tried white Rioja? if not, why not, you don’t know what you…

On the evening of the 6th March 2018 my wife and found ourselves on the 35th floor of Londons Sky Garden attending the ‘Wines from Spain’ event in the esteemed company of the three wine Amigos Olly Smith, Tim Atkin MW and Oz Clarke. Regular readers of this blog will know I love Spanish wines so for me, this was heaven and being on the 35th floor we were closer than you think. Armed with…