Tag Archives: Spain

Cuatro Rayas, Cantarranas Verdejo 2018, Spain

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From central Spain this is a light, dry white. With flavours of apple and citrus, esp lemon and lime its quite refreshing. Simple in many ways but that’s OK because you will want to drink this as a summer quencher. Best with chicken or pork dishes if you have having this with food, personally I would drink it on its own.

This 2018 vintage got a bonze at the Decanter World Wine Awards but only got a  Commended at the International Wine Challenge, which may be a little stingy, but as a summer BBQ wine at £6 a bottle you won’t really care.
Cuatro Rayas, Cantarranas Verdejo 2018, Spain

Cuatro Rayas, Cantarranas Verdejo 2018, Spain

Hacienda Zorita, Abascal Tempranillo, Ribera del Duero, Spain

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So what’s the wine like after 10 years sitting in the bottle just doing it’s thing. Made with Tempranillo this is a vibrant dark looking wine. On the nose theres expressive black fruits, lots of blackberry, spice and oak under notes. Taste wise it’s dry, with excellent soft tannins. Complex flavours of blackberry, plum, cherry, vanilla, black pepper, and a hint of earthiness.

It’s a great wine, although at £25 a bottle it should be punching above the standard Tempranillo’s out there. Is it worth it? Yep.

Hacienda Zorita, Abascal Tempranillo, Ribera del Duero, Spain

Hacienda Zorita, Abascal Tempranillo, Ribera del Duero, Spain

Marks and Spencer’s Brut Cava, Prestige, Spain

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People poo poo Cava as a cheap sparkling wine. Yet a good Cava is just a good as champagne. Its made in the same method and has the same love and attention in the making, just with different grapes. In this case its made with local Macabeo and Parellada grapes, 25% Parellada, 75% Macabeo.

Its got green apple and lemon aromas which are joined with limes and stone fruit hints and finished with a light creaminess. Its high acidity makes it perfect to go with oysters and shellfish but I guess most people with drink it on its own, which is just fine.

At £10 a bottle its good value, get it on offer with £3 or £4 off and its great value.

Marks and Spencer's Brut Cava, Prestige, Spain

Marks and Spencer’s Brut Cava, Prestige, Spain

La Sonrisa de Tares, Godello 2018, Spain

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Lemon, tropical, citrus aromas and flavours abound in this white wine from Spain. Made with the Godello grape. It got a 88 points, Bronze medal at the 2018 Decanter World Wine Awards. There’s good acidity, minerality and balance.

I’ve never had this grape variety before but its nicely rounded and easy drinking. At under £9 a bottle its very good value, very nice wine and very worth a try. Its not going to set the world on fire but you will enjoy it.

La Sonrisa de Tares, Godello 2018, Spain

La Sonrisa de Tares, Godello 2018, Spain

 

Lambuena, Crianza, Ribera del Duero 2015, Spain

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Spain produces a lot of wine and some regions get better attention than others. Rioja is probably the most well known, mainly for cheap, red easy drinking wine. Ribera del Duero wines are a little less known but very accessible and affordable with many well under £10 a bottle. A decent one can age for 7+ years. This is a decent one. Deep purple in colour and high in alcohol seem fairly standard for a red wine from a hot region. On the aroma and flavour front theres lots going on, black cherry, vanilla, tobacco which are quite intense on the nose. Undertones of licorice, and sweet spice with hints of smokeyness come through on the taste. The balance and structure are very good with tannins that are softer than you may expect and sweetness that’s welcome.

This for me was an easy drinking wine but a wine that I wanted to savour, not guzzle. Excellent.

Lambuena, Crianza, Ribera del Duero 2015, Spain

Lambuena, Crianza, Ribera del Duero 2015, Spain

Amador Medrano Terra Finca El Encinal, Rioja, Spain

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Rioja is a wine most wine drinkers have had on many occasions. Its hard to get wrong, even the cheaper end of the market produces easy drinkable reds.

This is good, very good. Aromas of vanilla and black fruits as expected with vanilla from the aging in French oak. Its dry, bold, full of presence and with firm tannins and solid structure and richer flavours than many Rioja’s. We had this on its and with cheese. I probably prefer it on its own, mainly because the flavours are so well balanced.

At around £10 a bottle its one to buy.

Amador Medrano Terra Finca El Encinal, Rioja, Spain

Amador Medrano Terra Finca El Encinal, Rioja, Spain