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).
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
What comes to mind when you hear the word Alicante? You might think of the sun-soaked mecca of Spain’s sprawling Mediterranean coast beloved of golfers and sangria enthusiasts, or of the medieval port city of Alicante itself and its denominated zone of uncomplicated, strong and rustic wines.
This is the sort of wine we exist for and precisely why we aspiringly named ourselves Curious Wines back in 2008. This is Maturana Tinta de Navarrete, a grape deemed lost to history until modern testing revealed it to be unique and unrelated to anything else grown in Rioja.
Carbonic Maceration is a wine fermentation method that’s synonymous with France’s pretty Beaujolais region.
Committed wine drinkers could rattle these off in their sleep but, anyway, here are the world’s top 10 most-planted wine grapes: 1. Cabernet Sauvignon; 2. Merlot; 3.
The C-wordOkay, let’s be clear: sparkling wine can be any old fizz, but Champagne is always a particular sparkling wine made in a certain way and that can come only from the legally-delimited Champagne region of northern France. (Now, that should keep the Champagne lawyers happy.
Innovative VINO DO PAGO is Spain's most illustrious appellation, the highest classification that can be attained under Spanish wine law.
Lactose-intolerant oenophiles will be happy to hear they can enjoy a chilled glass of vinous ‘Cream’ without keeling over – it is dairy free! This Sherry style – whose defining trait is its sweetness – was christened in a moment of inspiration by a nineteenth-century no ..
SOME ADVISE DECANTING EVERYTHING right down to the simplest white, but that's probably overkill.
HOME TO 10,000 GROWERS farming 120,000 hectares, Bordeaux’s 57 appellations churn out everything from weedy dishwater to the world’s most lionized, weepingly-expensive wines.
THE LANGUEDOC, France’s most ‘new world’ wine region, is a massive, diverse expanse, arcing from Montpellier southwest around the Gulf of Lyon towards the Spanish border.
SAUVIGNON BLANC, the world’s eight most-planted grape, hails originally from Bordeaux and the Loire but is today cultivated in every country that makes wine. Famous regions that specialise in it include Sancerre, Pouilly-Fumé, Bordeaux, Casablanca (Chile), Friuli (Italy) and the Adelaide Hills.
PORTUGAL IS A REFRESHINGLY EXOTIC ‘mainstream’ wine producer: hardly anyone has heard of its regions, with one notable exception; mention of its extensively-used native grapes – 200 are in use – prompts blank-faced head scratching in all but the most devoted oenophiles; and its big wine ..
GRENACHE, the world’s 7th most-planted grape, is an increasingly-fashionable Mediterranean variety that is grown extensively across the wine world's warmer spots, particularly either side of the Pyrenees and in South Australia.
Port is a sweet, fortified wine made most often in red styles in northern Portugal's hot Douro region, a ruggedly handsome valley 75km inland from Oporto.
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