If you’ve been tuning into the Curious blog for the last few months you’ll have worked out that the wine producing nations of the northern hemisphere have been busy with the 2011 harvest. Check out the harvest at Château Bauduc if you missed that post.

The attached video shows the harvest in Aragón, Spain. I love this kind of thing because it reminds us that good produce isn’t just thrown together in a science lab or a factory. Like good food, it is important to appreciate the source, the components and the hard work and passion that goes into these things – that’s what helps us to enjoy them even more.

If you are the observant type, you may have noticed that producers in the southern hemisphere have already released their 2011 vintages. It’s amazing to think that as early as March of next year we’ll start to see wines from the 2012 vintage hitting the shelves from the likes of Chile and South Africa.

The above video shows glimpses of harvests throughout Aragón in northeastern Spain. This large area, of which Zaragoza is the capital, encompasses Cariñena (where La Granja wines are sourced from), Campo de Borja and Somontano.

The Principality of Catalonia is located in the northeast of Spain with the main concentration of wine production taking place southwest of Barcelona. This large region is made up of numerous sub-regions, including Penedès, known for its Cava. But it’s not all about the fizz in Catalonia.

Penedès

The most productive of Catalonia’s sub-regions, Penedès has enjoyed a strong export channel due to its proximity to Barcelona. Interestingly, it was the first wine region in Spain (and one of the first in the world, if not the first) to start using temperature controlled stainless steel tanks for fermentation. It’s renowned for Cava (more on that here), but its still wines are very commendable also. It’s a region full of exciting boutique wineries, as well as larger operations such as Bodegas Torres. Miguel Torres was one of the first to experiment with international varieties here. Garnacha, Monastrell and Cariñena are also grown on the lower land near the coast, mostly making for very quaffable local wines.

Priorat (Priorato)

Lying next to Tarragona, Priorat has arguably more potential than any other wine producing region in Spain. Cariñena and Garnacha grapes are grown in small quantities from old vines on steeped terraces, and produce robust, minerally, inky reds. The secret is said to lie not only in the old vines, but the unique soil. Jancis Robinson claims this is “one of the world’s most directly taste-able influences of terroir”. Now that’s saying something. Cabernet, Merlot and/Syrah are also used to add extra layers of interest.

Tarragona

A great source of communion wine to the Christian world doesn’t say much about the quality coming from Tarragona. Being a port town, logistically, Tarragona is in a great location and provided much of Catalonia’s wine to the Roman Empire back in the day. It was best known for its sweet red fortified wines, which became cheap alternatives to Port, but there have been reasonable efforts to focus on better quality, whether that be through improved fortified wines or through red and white wines from mainly international varieties.

Costers del Segre

Situated around the city of Lerida, the landscape here is dry and the temperature range fluctuates from below freezing in winter to around 35 °C in the summer. Along with Tempranillo and Macabeo, international grape varieties are grown such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. The estate of Raimet covers about a third of this small zone, with other high quality producers making up the rest, including Castell del Remei.

Get down to the practical, with 20% off Spain until the end of April.

D.O. Bierzo in Northwestern Spain is quickly becoming one of the most recognised regions of Spain, and is home to the Mencía grape, a red grape variety producing fragrant red wines. It is so strongly believed that this vine is related to Cabernet Franc, the local synonym is Cabernet. Only time will tell if Bierzo is to be the next Priorat, a premium region that few knew little only ten years ago.

We were keen to fill the Bierzo gap after being without one for a while. There’s some lovely high-end wine coming from this small region, which officially forms part of Castilla y León, but we really wanted to get something the everyday wine drinker could buy an try. La Mano Mencía Roble was our choice.

Here’s what Jay Miller (Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate) had to say:

“It is a glass-coating opaque purple color with an alluring perfume of mineral, spice box, cedar, boysenberry, and black cherry. Sweetly fruited, savory, and built for pleasure, it finishes with no hard edges. This lengthy effort is a great value that over-delivers in a big way. It is a splendid introduction to the Mencía grape.” 89 points

La Mano is the Spanish word for hand, as this wine is made by the hands of people who have always worked with Mencía vines. It is produced by Vinos de Arganza, who began in 1966 as a bottling plant before going into wine production in 2000. Along with a number of other producers in the region, Vinos de Arganza have given Mencía a lease of life by improved canopy management and by reducing yields, allowing for more concentrated and complex wines to be made.

The vineyards get some protection from the surrounding mountains, avoiding possible frost damage. In this region the soils are composed of clay limestone and the vineyards are made up of terraces and small parcels. The climate is affected by the Atlantic (the Galician area) and by Continental (the Castilian area) influences. Spain is the land of American oak, which I’m a big fan of. After fermentation in stainless steel tanks, La Mano went into American oak for three months before bottling.

La Mano, also recommended by Blake Creedon (Irish Examiner), is proving to be a superb addition to our new wines from Spain, all of which will have 20% until the end of April.

Like wine isn’t subjective enough, but let’s face it, Cava’s better than Prosecco, right? That’s a silly statement, I know. Am I not drinking the right Prosecco? I even hear people say Prosecco is better than Champagne. Now that’s a statement!

This isn’t about deciphering who’s right and who’s wrong. Wine is like that. There are people who just love the fruity sweetness of a Moscato d’Asti, the zippy acidity of their favourite sparkling Sauvignon Blanc, or the biscuity savouriness of the finest Champagne.

When it comes to the big three, in order, I prefer Champagne, Cava and lastly Prosecco. In terms of value for money, Cava is number one. This is not to say Prosecco comes last because I hate it. I love the stuff, I just think in general Cava offers a little more complexity and interest.

What makes them different

Prosecco

Prosecco is the name of the grape variety, grown in Italy’s northern Friuli territory. The wine is made fizzy by the tank method, which involves a second fermentation in giant tanks rather than in bottle. It is then settled and the clear wine pumped off the lees before being bottled under pressure. The price can remain price competitive because it is less labour intensive and because of the time saved during production.

Cava

Cava is the neither the name of a grape variety or a region. It is simply the type of wine. The majority of the grapes are grown in Penedès, not far from Barcelona. The traditional varieties are Macabeo (aka Viura), Parellada and Xarel-lo, but more recently Chardonnay, and even Pinot Noir, has found its way into blends, making for a more accessible style worldwide.

Cava is made using the traditional method (méthode traditionnelle), where second fermentation takes place inside the bottle the wine will be sold in. The base wine is bottled with a measured amount of sugar and yeast. The second fermentation will give just the right amount of fizz whilst raising the alcohol level an extra 1-1.5%. It also leaves a sediment of dead yeast cells. This is the key to those complex, savoury flavours. They are removed before release to market by a method known as disgorgement.

As part of our Spanish sale, we have 20% off Cava from our multi-award winning Cava house, Mont Marçal, until the end of April. Our 90 Parker Point Extremarium will be back in stock next week. Pop us a mail if you would like to join the list of reminders.

I came across this video last week via @RiojaWein. I’m constantly corrected by my younger brother who seems to have become a foreign language expert of late. Proper pronunciation in any language is not my forte, so this quirky video now has me saying the key Spanish wine words in the right way, at a time (during our Spanish sale) when I need it most.

I’m going to start going to Spanish classes soon. Could listen to her all day

This video has been updated by Warren Edwardes, the man behind http://blog.edwardes.org and http://hydeparkwines.co.uk. The full transcript can be found here.

Cariñena is the largest Spanish DO in the wider region of Aragón, which also encompasses Calatayud, Somontano and Campo de Borja. It used to produce monstrous reds consisting of up to 19% abv until regulations were tightened in 1990. Now you shouldn’t see a Cariñena wine over 14%. That might make some people sad.

This is where the grape variety Carignan is originally from, now widely grown in southern France. It is still grown in Cariñena, but here it is known as Mazuelo. The main red grape variety is Garnacha (pictured), although Tempranillo and Cabernet Sauvignon are now becoming more prominent in its place, with lesser amounts of the white Macabeo (or Viura) and Garnacha Blanc also being cultivated.

Garnacha performs well in this hot climate, but in the 1980′s it didn’t really do itself justice with such high alcohol levels. Now Cariñena is known for its well-balanced, robust, but not too robust, red wines, and even produces some notable light and fruity wines.

So how does one get light wine out of hot, arid regions? Well, it’s made possible with ‘carbonation maceration’. Don’t let that term frighten you. It’s used in Beaujolais as well, and involves fermenting whole grapes as opposed to crushed grapes. The juice is fermented inside the grape resulting in very low tannins in the wine.

Some of the regions main co-operatives have modernised to a very high level and are staking their claim as having some of the country’s best value offerings. Among them is the co-operative behind the highly rated La Granja range. The good (or bad) news is they are all below 14% abv.

Madrid was an awesome start to the annual Kane brothers football trip. The aim, to visit each of Europe’s best stadiums for one weekend every year, watch a match, take in the atmosphere, get a taste for the culture, and importantly for us, sample the food and drink.

We arrived in Madrid early on Saturday morning after catching the Ryanair flight from Dublin, and taking advantage of the amazing subway network, it didn’t take us long before we got checked in to our hotel, got a quick shower and grabbed a beer.

Hungry as well as thirsty, it was a lovely surprise to have some complimentary tapas land our way shortly after the beer was set down. Tapas vary, from a simple plate of cured ham, to meatballs, or a side of paella and a bowl of olives. But in a lot of places in Madrid, we were getting a few portions with each round of beer ordered. I think you really notice how poor the quality of beer is on tap in Ireland when you try it on the continent. Even with stout, you have to come all the way to Cork for a decent pint! (feel free to lambaste me below)

An afternoon of beer and tapas soon past in the city centre before we made our way out to the home of the Galácticos. Santiago Bernabeu lived up to all the hype. A capacity of over 80,000, the terraces were steeped and the seats were tight. The fans were close to the pitch. We didn’t expect the infrastructure in the surrounding area and the stadium itself to be as modern and impressive as it was, it was incredible. Real Madrid beat Alicante side Hércules CF two nil, with two goals from Karim Benzema, the second of which was very well taken.

We found a great tapas bar after the game I would recommend to anyone going to Madrid. La Soberbia is located just off Puerta del Sol, on C/ Espoz y Mina. It had everything you could want. The atmosphere, the food, the wine, the service – all top drawer. We started with a Fino Sherry and then moved on to a lovely Albarino and then numerous bottles of Verdejo. Things got a little fuzzy after that. The second night we found some great Rioja and Ribera del Duero.

Of all the tapas bars we went to, we couldn’t find a bad bottle of wine. The entry level wines in restaurants in Spain seem to be on a par with the mid-range wines we get here in an Irish restaurant. Of course, price has a lot to do with it, but while the disposable income is lower in Spain, they still have a lower tolerance for boring or bad wine, which we inevitably find as house wines in too many restaurants in Ireland.

So what’s the verdict on Madrid? Well, there aren’t too many tourists. Many of the locals can’t speak English, so I get the chance to embarrass myself trying to speak the native tongue. There’s not in fact a huge amount to see for tourists, but as a result a more authentic side of Spain is on display compared to, for example, Barcelona. The infrastructure is second to none and if you’re there to shop, think New York style department stores, such as Macys and Bloomingdales. You’ll be in heaven.

The football is great, but it’s what you do with your evenings that really had us fall in love with the place. We found the social scene to be intoxicating. Hours upon hours of grazing and chatting over good food and good wine. You don’t go in and stuff your face for an hour and a half and go home. Dinner might take four hours and the bars stay open late so there’s never a rush to get out and get fed.

Is a weekend in Madrid a must do? You can bet your bottom dollar it is, a fanatic of the beautiful game or not.

Some people just love animal labels. It’s something I enjoy observing as they place one animal after the other on top of the counter. A giraffe, a lizard, an elephant and a squid. Yes, a squid.

There’s some more good news for curious animals lovers. Just in time for the March/April sale, we introduced eight new wines to our Spanish range. These included three red wines under the La Granja label, meaning “the farm” in English. Adding to our already extraordinary line-up of furry mammals and slithering reptiles, we’re delighted to introduce a pig (Tempranillo), a hen (Syrah) and a zebra (Tempranillo/Garnacha).

I’m always the first to say a wine shouldn’t be judged on its label, so obviously we didn’t bring these in for the fun of it. All three are made by a quality driven co-operative sourcing grapes in Cariñena, a DO (Denominación de Origen) in Spain’s north-east. This is the Spanish equivalent to the French Vin de Pays. Here’s what Robert Parker had to say about the pig, keeping in mind 86 points is a great score for a wine priced at €7.99 (currently €6.39).

The least expensive wine to be recommended in these pages in close to 30 years, the 2009 La Granja Tempranillo is a 100,000 case cuvee made at a co-operative in Carinena. Dark ruby colored, it offers up a nose of red cherry accompanied by a whiff of incense. Sweet, ripe, and tasty on the palate, this nicely balanced effort will deliver uncomplicated, straight-ahead pleasure over the next 2-3 years.

Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate #188, June 2010, 86 points

About the winery

The Bodega was established 1945, in Almonacid de la Sierra, and came under the ownership of San Nicolas de Tolentino, the patron of the village. This cooperative has today approximately 280 members and 1,700 hectares of vines cultivated.

The red wines produced are made from the Garnacha and Tempranillo. For some years now Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah are also cultivated, but to a lesser degree. Garnacha is sourced mainly from vineyards above the Village of Almonacid, at about 600m altitude, while Tempranillo and Syrah is sourced from vineyards below the village. Many of these vines are over 50 years old and therefore some of oldest vines in the D.O. Cariñena.

La Granja range, along with the rest of Spain, has 20% off for the months of March and April.

We’re going all Spanish this month as part of our 20% off promotion and we’ve a tapatastic goodie box to give away in March’s contest.

Up for grabs:

• One copy of Culinaria Spain, a 488 page panorama of the cultural and culinary traditions of Spain, including the most important winegrowing regions of the land and over 200 traditional recipes;
• Four terracotta tapas dishes to help test out a few of the recipes; and
• Three bottles from our brand new La Granja 360 range of Spanish table wines to help wash the tapas down.

To win, you must be subscribed to the Curious Wines newsletter. We’ll be including a not-too-difficult question and instructions on how to enter in our March newsletter going out soon.

Just missed it? Sign-up here and you’ll automatically get it sent to you.

Buena suerte!

A fortified wine described by renowned wine critic Jancis Robinson as the “world’s most neglected wine treasure”. If you haven’t got aboard this train yet, now is the time. Despite a difficult thirty years or so for the industry, Sherry is making a comeback.

Overproduction and a market flooded with poor quality Sherry in the 1970′s and early 1980′s resulted in some serious image problems, leading to a gradual decline in demand from consumers. It wasn’t helped by the sweetened up “cream Sherry” that was finding its way onto supermarket shelves across the country. Finally though, the industry has pulled itself together after learning from its past, and with fresh interest and growing demand, consumers are being opened up to a range of better quality choices. Hurrah!

Sherry takes its name from the town of Jerez in the south of Spain. The main grape variety is Palomino, producing two basic styles; Fino and Oloroso. After fermentation is complete, Brandy is used to fortify the wine. Here’s what Norman Miller had to say about styles of Sherry. It’s from an article in The Guardian that is well worth a read.

Sherry’s fortunes have improved recently though, and it’s being celebrated once again for its taste and variety – after all, sherry ranges from the driest wines on earth to the sweetest. Fino is the lightest: bone dry with hints of grass, green apple and citrus. Its cousin manzanilla has a tang imparted by the briny breezes blowing through the seaside wineries of Sanlúcar de Barrameda – one of three places, along with Jerez de la Frontera and El Puerto de Santa Maria, that define south-west Spain’s “sherry triangle”. Amontillado is a matured fino with nutty, caramel notes, while oloroso is generally sweeter and more complex, with hints of caramel and toffee, dried fruits and spice. The sweetest is Pedro Ximenez – often just known as PX – the dark intensity of which is perfect with dessert and also a robust match for cheese.

Miller also sees a revival for Sherry, a revival that was helped by restrictions put in place after the market suffered decline. Large areas of vines were uprooted to reduce supply. Company’s are now restricted by how much they can sell every year. The Sherry ‘houses’ came together to end bulk exports, and as well as this, they helped boost the higher end of the market with the introduction of age-dated Sherries, indicating solera wines where the bottled product has a minimum average age of 20 years and 30 years respectively. Age dated categories for 15 and 12 year old wines have also been created.

To help win more people over the Sherry, we have four award-winning Sherries, including an Oloroso crowned “Best Sherry” at the International Wine Challenge.