Articles

A question of design: Casa Mariol Syrah

by  |  19-12-2018

A wine importer in the US once commented to me about the labels on Spanish wines: “The great thing here is that I either love them or hate them. Being neutral never happens.” Generally, if... more »

DO Tarragona also gets an update

by  |  18-12-2018

About 3-4 years ago public money was made available for the various DOs in Catalunya to “app themselves”. Due to this, various apps popped up and various levels of maintenance ensued as once the projects... more »

Wonderful Gran Reserva Cavas for unreasonable times

by  |  15-12-2018

It’s roundabout mid-December when the bubbly articles inevitably percolate throughout all manners of media. The codified thinking is that for these festive times, you’ll want what has been deemed the most celebratory of drinks: sparkling... more »

The wines of Terroir Sense Fronteres

by  |  12-12-2018

I’ve not been seen outside my tasting room much this year as it was one of those periods when I again took on all the wines of both DOQ Priorat and DO Montsant. The end... more »

Gifts for those wine type people you know and… dread?

by  |  10-12-2018 ~ 3 Comments

Wine type folks (*) are horrible to get gifts for. "Oh!" you're possibly thinking, "Surely, I can simply give them the gift of wine? No?" Forget about that pronto as most any bottle, unless insanely... more »

Continued Mornington exploration: Crittenden Estate – Peninsula Pinot Noir 2016

by  |  08-12-2018

Awhile back I’d written about an oddity that piqued my curiosity which was produced by Crittenden Estate on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, Australia. I’m not sure if that wine is a one-off, but it’s... more »

Üllo: Why the wine sulfites & headaches myth never dies…

by  |  06-12-2018 ~ 2 Comments

So as is typically the case, the claim was framed as such: "A wine filter that will make your pinot noir headaches disappear" and as always, the claim was most assuredly not true and probably... more »

VdT Castilla y León wines, for when DO doesn’t do it

by  |  04-12-2018

Perhaps you’ve never heard of it but the Spanish Autonomous Community of Castilla y León is the country’s largest. And no, it’s not Castilla y La Mancha of Don Quixote fame as that’s another region... more »

“Carinyena”, the original Carignan now free to be itself

by  |  29-11-2018

Carignan doesn’t see a whole lotta love. It’s most certainly no Pinot Noir nor Chardonnay nor Cabernet Sauvignon in terms of name recognition nor pan-global wine enjoyment. It’s not even at the level of Grenache... more »

A small taste of Málaga

by  |  26-11-2018

You are spoiled, simply spoiled, when it comes to wonderful food and drink in Spain. There are however those more spoiled than others and I posit that anyone in Catalunya or the Basque Country lives... more »