Tag: Rioja

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…

We all know and love a Rioja but mention Rioja and most people will associate it with Spanish red wine but have you tried the white version from this iconic region of northern Spain. The wine known as Rioja Blanco is primarily made from the Viura (aka Macabeo) grape which has to make up at least 51% of the blend. Other grapes used to name a few, are Malvasia, Garnacha Blanca and Tempranillo Blanco but…

A quick round up of four wines this time, I know the weather is nice and chilled fizz, whites and rosé’s should be featuring but I still enjoy a big red even when the sun is shinning. It’s been a good few days for reds and the three I feature I shared with friends who all thought, as did I, that they were very good indeed. Conde San Cristobal – Ribera del Duero 2015 Blend…

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…

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…

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…