This blog began as a record of taking the WSET Diploma, during which I studied and explored wines and spirits made all around the world. Having passed the Diploma and become a WSET Certified Educator, the blog has become much more: a continual outlet for my passion for the culture of wine, spirits, and beer.
I aim to educate in an informal, enlightening, and engaging manner. As well as maintaining this blog to track my latest enthusiasms, I provide educational tastings for restaurants and for private groups. Details can be found on the website, and collaborations are welcome.
Wine is my primary interest and area of expertise and this blog aims to immerse the reader in the history of wine, to understand why wine tastes like it does, and to explore all the latest news. At the same time, beer and spirits will never be ignored.
For the drinker, whether casual or professional, today is a good time to be alive.
Cava can be confusing and controversial. There are several breakaways making very similar wines due to concerns over quality—but there is still lots of great Cava being made within the designation. So why are there these rival regional entities and how do we know what to buy? Here’s an overview of the situation.
An intense week tasting lots of Cava in New York while running from restaurant which demonstrated just how many good producers there are making wine which reflects their families’ long histories and the land the grapes are grown in.
A trip to Catalunya to learn all about Cava, confirming that the wines are a reflection of place and realising the importance of blending for sparkling wine.
Two regions on either side of the Spain-Portugal border, both making exciting yet extremely different wines from Albariño/Alvarinho which are expressions of culture and identity as well as winemaking.
Rancio is an extreme style of wine made in Mediterranean France and Spain, and a strong part of Catalan culture and history. It may not be the most popular style, but it’s fascinating and there is still some amazing examples being made as I discovered on my recent trip.
Catalunya may be more known for its red wines, but there’s plenty of great white wine made too from an array of varieties such as Garnatxa Blanca, Macabeo, Pedro Ximinez, and Malvasia. Should we be drinking these wines when we can’t afford white Burgundy?
Priorat is one the most rugged, beautiful wine regions. I recently visited, and learnt all about the soils, slopes, and grape varieties—and heard lots of different opinions about how best to make wine in the region. Surrounding Priorat is Montsant, an unsung region that may become better known in the near future.
Plantings of grapes in Priorat go back to the 12th century: a region full of history yet which really only entered the modern world in the 1990s. Here’s an overview of the region, its soils, climate, and grape varieties, summarising my podcast interview with Ricard Rofes of Scala Dei, Priorat’s oldest winery.
How to find the best Cava and why we should be drinking more of it… As with any other wine region, seek out the small producers who marry tradition and innovation to make distinctive wine.
Cava is sparkling wine from Spain made in the traditional method. It’s too often simple, inexpensive, and lacking identity. However, things are changing, with more of an emphasis on regionality, vineyard location, and grape varieties. Here’s an overview of why we should be more excited about the future of cava.
Rioja is one of Spain’s most historic regions, steeped in tradition. But a recent visit showed that Rioja is slowly changing, as producers place greater emphasis on expressing terroir. There’s plenty of debate on how best to do this—Rioja is a more contradictory and dynamic region that its reputation perhaps suggests.
Sherry is one of my favourite of all wines, and I finally had the chance to visit recently. Tastings at various producers provided lots of insights into trends in sherry production and consumption, as well as the opportunity to explore the many different styles of sherry first-hand.
A visit to the Basque country involved eating lots of pintxos with txakoli in San Sebastián and Bilbao. To complete the experience, I visited Ameztoi, the second largest producer of the light-bodied, low-alchol, highly acidic white wine. Stunningly located on the Atlantic coast, Ameztoi also make rosé, red, and sparkling and are a great introduction to a region that’s both historic and very new.
Winemaking in Rioja has traditionally been all about blending, bringing different sub-regions and grape varieties together to create a reflection of the region as a whole. I recently met a producer who has a very different attitude, refusing to use the Rioja designation on their labels and making single-vineyard wines. Should other Spanish producers follow suit and make wines that are more individual expressions rather than regional blends?
Cava is known for being simple and inexpensive, but producers are finally beginning to think about making more expressive, structured wines. I learnt about the new Paraje designation, created with the aim of improving the quality and reputation of cava.
Montilla-Moriles, 150km inland from sherry, is best known for providing Pedro Ximénez grapes for intensely sweet styles of sherry. But I discovered the region produces remarkable wines in its own right.
Terroir usually refers to where the grapes are grown and how the land and the climate affect the style of wine. That's true in sherry, but the terroir is also about where and how the wines are aged. No other wine quite reflects the subtle variants in how it's been made.
The varied world of Spanish wine, from the historical and traditional to the much more contemporary.
