Curious Small Sips #9: Solera system
Although the solera system sounds almost galactic, it is in fact an Earthly system of fractional blending used most commonly in the region of Jerez, in Southern Spain.
Curious Wine Blog
Curious Small Sips #8: Shiraz
Shiraz is the Australian name of the Syrah grape which orginated in the Rhône valley, in east-central France. From the early 19th century Shiraz (known back then also as Scyras, Syrah or Hermitage) was the dominant red variety in Australia.
Gnarly but Nice – Barossa’s Ancestor Vines Still Producing the Goods
South Australia’s rolling Barossa Valley is, to some, the elder statesman in the definitive wine region of Australia. Sitting just 35 miles from the state capital, Adelaide, Barossa was originally a settlement founded by German speaking immigrants from the region of Silesia (what is now Poland).
Curious Small Sips #7: Screwcap
Use of screwcaps (sometimes known as ‘Stelvin’, a type of screwcap first produced by Le Bouchage Mécanique in Chalon-sur-Saône, Burgundy, France) is today widespread and growing, especially for early drinking, white, non-premium or New World wines. Some countries (e. g.
Curious Small Sips: #6 Verdejo
A characterful grape with a distinctive blue-green bloom, Verdejo is the grape mascot (grapescot?) of Spain's Rueda region and the dominant constituent in blends from the area along with (the imported) Sauvignon Blanc.
Curious Small Sips #5: Blending
Blends are usually taken to mean blends of different grape varieties, of which classic examples include Bordeaux (Merlot, Cabernets Sauvignon and Franc), Champagne (Chardonnay, Pinots Noir and Meunier) and the southern Rhône’s ‘GSM’ (Grenache, Shiraz and Mourvèdre).
Curious Small Sips #4: Rioja
Rioja lies in Northern Spain, south of Bilbao, between two sheltering mountain ranges. It is divided into three subregions: Alta in the west (generally high and cool); Basque Alavesa (humid temperate); and flat, warm Baja where Garnacha reigns supreme.
Curious Small Sips #3: Monastrell / Mourvèdre aka The Dog-Strangler
In Spain, dark-hearted Monastrell is the fourth most widely planted red wine grape variety and some of the greatest examples can be found in the regions of Alicante, Almansa, Bullas, Jumilla and Yecla.
Curious Small Sips #2: Albariño
This aromatic white grape is the star of Spain’s Iberian peninsula, growing typically and abundantly in Galicia, an area hugged closely by the Atlantic Ocean and the Cantabrian Sea.
The Rare Vines of Navarrete – Part Two – Maturana Blanca
Back in November 2021 we fell under the spell of a special project undertaken by winemaker Carlos Rubio Villanúa from Don Jacobo (Bodegas Corral), centring around a mysterious grape called Maturana Tinta de Navarrete.
Curious Small Sips #1: Crianza
Crianza is a general Spanish wine term relating to the maturation of a wine prior to its sale. But it also has a locally-defined meaning: in Rioja, for example, a red Crianza must legally spend at least one year in oak barrel (generally not new) plus a year in bottle.
Ten Years of the Mad Hairy Fella
One of our most iconic wines, I first met El Gorú, not tramping the rocky, Mars-like terrain of Jumilla as I'd prefer to when wine sourcing, but running out the door of Prowein, Europe's biggest wine show, in 2013.
In Search of the Mad Hairy Fella — the Gorú in his Jumilla Spiritual Home
Back in 2016 during a trip to Cartagena with my small daughters who are 3 and 1 at the time, I decide to make the 150km pilgrimage across Murcia and into the wine region of Jumilla, to visit one of our most popular suppliers, Ego Bodegas.
Wine on tap: new 3 litre bag in box organic Tempranillo
Most of you will be familiar with the bag in box concept, that staple of festivals and student life back in the day where you had plonk on tap in an easy to carry package.
So you think you know (New Zealand) Sauvignon?
Although it feels like the 70s only happened twenty years ago it might come as a surprise to learn it is actually closer to fifty years ago (proving that you are older than you think).
Wine Made by Women — meet the pioneering female winemakers in Rueda, Aragon, Bardolino and Champagne who are changing the landscape.
International Women’s day is a perfect opportunity to celebrate the successes and achievements of a number of brilliant women at the helm of innovative, sustainable and design-led premium wine estates.
Enter the stylish world of organic Veneto winemakers, Terre dei Buth.
Veneto winery Terre dei Buth, purveyor of organic, vegan, fresh and fruity Prosecco, and elegant Pinot Grigio, is making a splash with a strong, clean design aesthetic and a genuine environmental sensibility. These factors combined make it one of a growing number of sustainable wine estates to watch.
How do you solve a problem like Sylvaner? (Clue: it might involve superstar premium Rheinhessen winery Bischel)
At the beginning of Argentinian French novelist Julio Florencio Cortázar’s experimental novel 62 Modelo para Armar, the protagonist and intellectual, Juan, asks himself the question ‘And why did I ask for a bottle of Sylvaner?’ You might wonder why indeed, as it seems like an inauspicious ..
Digging for buried treasure in Piedmont with Bosio Family Estate’s Barbera blend, ‘Truffle Hunter’.
What is it about the mysterious tuber-like truffle that seems so luxurious compared to its more pedestrian cousin, the humble mushroom? The truffle belongs to that top-tier of niche culinary curiosities which also includes famously rare delicacies such as Beluga caviar, Iberico ham and Foie gras.
Beauty and Terroir — The Importance of Place to Smith & Sheth
Let everything happen to you:Beauty and terror. Just keep going. No feeling isfinal.
A Pilgrimage to Bodegas Corral and Altos de Corral
The Chilean poet Pablo Neruda wrote often about the joys of traversing a great path and once mused that he might ‘examine myself with no witness but the moon and then whistle with joy, ambling over rocks and clods of earth, with no task but to live, with no family but the road’.
Talking About Our Generación – Unpicking Winemaking Traditions with Bodegas Tempore
Bodegas Tempore is truly a family affair. Grand custodian of the operation is Antonio, the patriarch, who turned a youthful 102 years old in July.
P.S. García on Preserving Chile’s Regional Identities
Felipe García is a winemaker and entrepreneur who began making wine in 2006 with an ambitious vision to create low intervention, sustainably orientated wines of origin which reflected a keen sense of place.
Drinking Wine in Rioja with Enrique Paternina & Carlos Serres
In the town of Haro, in Spain’s famous La Rioja region, lies a historic region often described as Haro’s ‘open air’ museum where at almost every corner you are greeted by bronze and stone statues depicting traditional trades.