Txomin Rekondo’s restaurant is a wine lover’s dream. He’s allowed his cellar to get completely out of control. With 150 000 wines, and a wine list that consists of a…
Term starts again, and a tasting at the Perfect Cellar
Holidays are over, and the wine tasting calendar starts again here in London. I was in town for the first tasting in a long time – a small portfolio tasting…
Ojuel Supurao, a remarkable, traditional, sweet red Rioja
Website: http://ojuelwine.com This is something quite unique. It’s a sweet red wine from Rioja, made by Ojuel, a small winery whose focus is on making an old-style sweet wine from…
Four decades of Beronia Gran Reserva Rioja
I recently got the chance to taste (and drink) Beronia Gran Reserva Rioja from three different decades, spanning four decades in all, which was pretty cool. I’m not the greatest…
IWC day three, plus some beer, plus some nice Riojas
Just finished day 3 of the International Wine Challenge at Lords. It is going well, and I’m enjoying tasting with some excellent wine trade colleagues. Everyone seems to be a…
A brilliant Rioja: Phincas
I was introduced to this wine by David Sampedro Gil, the winemaker behind DSG Vineyards, a relatively new project looking to make a range of wines from some of Spain’s…
Remirez de Ganuza, a top Rioja property, shows that modern can be good
Regular readers will know that a winery that employs solely 100% new oak (with 20% American), and selects as far as taking the tips off grape bunches (these are less…
A classic Rioja from Vina Tondonia
One of Rioja’s most traditional producers is López de Heredia Viña Tondonia. These wines are remarkable: they are made in a very traditional, somewhat oxidative style, but they always seem to…
Baron de Ley’s Graciano and Maturana
Following on from my recent report of new varieties in Rioja, I was pleased to see that Tesco are now stocking two wines from Rioja producer Baron de Ley’s new…