Thursday 7 May 2009

Spain, the final frontier, to boldly go....

Okay I am excited about the Star Trek movie but that is irrelevant.....

Spanish wines are so easy. I’ve just enjoyed a couple of days taking in the best that Spain has to offer and it did not disappoint. Great wine, full of flavour, fruit and it is so easy to drink. Admittedly most of the time it was washing down some superb Tapas but somehow the two go together like they are inseparable. Okay I have to admit to having a soft spot for Rioja, it is my drink of choice when I just fancy a glass of wine, satisfying on so many levels. The beauty of drinking it in Spain is not only the food but the constant sunshine and the incredibly cheap prices compared with anywhere outside of the country. The Euro’s relative strength to the Pound and Dollar may have hurt but when you think about the quality and satisfaction received from Spanish red wine, it’s very tempting to move there permanently.

I can strongly recommend the 2005’s, 2004’s and indeed most of this decade if you want a solid, reliable fruity wine with bags of flavour. Tempranillo, Gamacha (Grenache) and Carinena (Carignan) compete and meld to form this excellent wine. Personally I like Marques de Riscal, Vina Ardanza and Marques de Caceres, all readily available outside of Spain.

I’m off to the London International Wine Fair next week for two days of overdosing on every wine imaginable, wish me luck.

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