French Wines

New wine protest in le Boulou at the French-Spanish border

by  |  24-05-2017

Heading north from Barcelona Airport, I was greeted to the signs as seen above warning that there was going to be a “manifestation” or protest by the Southern French winemakers on the 23rd of May.... more »

Bodega Otazu’s Vitral, the 2,000€ ruse

by  |  24-02-2017

A few days ago, word came down that there is a new, ultra-premium-priced wine from Spain, the Bodega Otazu – Vitral 2013. Undeterred by the idea of a mere 1,000€ for Pingus or l’Ermita, they’ve... more »
Photo via winery press release

Abadal 3.9 is the newest Vi de Finca

by  |  19-12-2016

It has just been announced that Abadal’s 3.9 is be the newest Vi de Finca in Catalonia as certified by INCAVI, the Catalan wine authority. This now brings the total to nine of these certified... more »
Picapoll Negre in DO Montsant

The new-old wine grapes for Catalonia

by  |  14-11-2016

The Catalan wine institute, Incavi recently announced the approval of a batch of new grapes for use in Catalan wines. Now it’s up the various DO bodies to approve them as well, but this is... more »

Winexpo to kvevri, the state of Georgian wine

by  |  13-06-2016

This past June 3rd-5th marked the 9th annual Winexpo held in Tbilisi, Georgia. This wine fair, open to both professionals and the general public, provides a great opportunity for any and all interested in the... more »

Dumb SUV driver wipes out old vines

by  |  11-03-2016

Last weekend, a group of retired Barcelonians, out on a weekend jaunt in an undoubtedly ridiculous SUV destroyed a number of old vines when they drove in to a field claiming that they were “looking... more »

Meet DO Terra Alta and the 2015 harvest

by  |  13-01-2016

So, where to start with DO Terra Alta? It’s probably best to say that they’re the most southern of Catalonia’s denominations of origin. They’re also one of the highest in terms of altitude with elevations... more »

Celler Ardèvol in Porrera now with visits

by  |  19-12-2015

Back when we were researching the Priorat book, when it came time to do a profile of Ardèvol, we ran in to a bit of a dead-end as Pep Ardèvol wasn’t all that interested in... more »

The one Euro wine blind tasting

by  |  02-11-2015

Recently, on the social mediaz of Spain a video was released on El Comidista that basically showed a cheap, one Euro bulk wine tricking the professionals in to thinking it was some grand, yet small... more »

Saving a river for the wines and well being of Priorat

by  |  20-10-2015

Anyone who visits the winemaking region of DOQ Priorat in Catalonia these days will notice a number of handmade signs dotting the region that state, “Volem lo riu Siurana viu” which in Catalan means, “We... more »