Garnacha Archives •

La Maldita, the ‘Cursed one’

Another bottle from Spain, this time a Garnacha but from the Rioja region where Tempranillo is king. La Maldita literally translates to ‘The Cursed one’ referring to the fact that Garnacha is very difficult to grow due to its thin skin and low yields in an area which only boasts around 10% of all vineyard plantings in Rioja. The grapes are sourced primarily from estate-owned vineyards located largely in the sub-region of Rioja Baja. Predominantly…

Spanish Wine

Climbing the Stairway to Heaven

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…

Misc

Celebrating my 60th with wine, what else !

I recently celebrated my 60th birthday and judging by the number of wine-related cards and bottles I got I think, perhaps some is trying to tell me something. Not that I’m complaining as I still get enormous pleasure from receiving that special bottle of fizz or that sought after Rioja and I was very grateful for the generosity of family and friends. This picture shows a small selection of some of the gifts I received…

Spanish Wine

The Cubist Old Vine Spanish Garnacha

Picking a wine on nothing but the name, label or bottle sometimes works, more often it doesn’t. That’s exactly what I did when buying this ‘Cubist Old Vine Garnacha’ that was made in the mountains south-west of Aragon in northeastern Spain with 100-year-old vines, hence the ‘Old Vine’ on the label. I paint a bit and Picasso happens to be one of my favourite artists, so I actually picked it because I liked the name…