Catalan Wines

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 »

Drinking 240 year-old Sherry will land you in jail

by  |  19-09-2015

During a tour through Crimea by Russian president/leader-for-life Vladimir Putin and former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi (who all British press add “disgraced” to the beginning of) they apparently drank a very rare bottle of... more »

Ivory Coast, now Spain’s #1 export market in Africa

by  |  18-08-2015

Naturally when one thinks about African wine, one thinks only about South African but of course that’s not the only chapter in the book as there are wines produced in North Africa as well as... more »

For a blind 100 points

by  |  11-07-2015

For those who may not be up-to-date on such things in the wine world, last week, the most recent batches of scores for The Wine Advocate came out for Spain. While many people refer to... more »

The first Xarel·lo Summit

by  |  28-06-2015

While Xarel·lo is a white grape widely planted in Catalonia, it is often easily dismissed as merely one part of the principal three grapes in the typical Cava blend. There are many in the region–especially... more »

The rise of Teixar, the newest Vi de Finca in Catalonia

by  |  19-06-2015

When tasting wines for the Montsant book there were thankfully many surprises unearthed. For a region that just a few years ago was written off as “basically a cheap Priorat”, it was exciting to see... more »

Wildfire threat to Mas Martinet’s Els Escurçons vineyard

by  |  11-06-2015

A wildfire broke out in Gratallops, Priorat on June 9th on the mountains around Mas Martinet and quickly moved towards the vineyard of Els Escurçons. Planted in 2000 by Sara Peréz when she took over... more »

A year for the table

by  |  23-10-2014

At the beginning of May, during the Fira del Vi, I stopped in to visit a friend in the village of Capçanes in Priorat as he was out removing excess growth in his small vineyard... more »