Simply Spanish Wine

Welcome to another episode of our podcast series. This week, we’re starting our look at some of Spain’s most popular white grapes with Verdejo.

We continue our look at the main wine-growing regions in Spain with a trip to southern Spain. When we say southern Spain, we’re talking about an area that stretches all the way around from Valencia on the Mediterranean coast, through the Levante region and up into the Sierra Penibetica range which runs along the southern coast of Andalusia before arriving at the winemaking marvel that is the sherry triangle. So this is a big patch. So to make things easier we’re going to focus on 3 key aspects of this part of the country.

Matthew and Ben taste three different Mencía wines alongside each other and talk through their similarities and their differences. The wines tasted are:

All are available on the Simply Spanish Wine online store.

This week we’re continuing our trip around Spanish wine regions with a look at central Spain.

The northwest of Spain is a far cry from the sunny snapshots of the average holiday brochure. It’s always been rather cut off from Castilla-Leon and the rest of Spain by mountains, and that sense of isolation persists even today. So Galicia’s lush, green landscapes, windswept beaches, mountain ranges and river valleys, are a side of Spain many visitors rarely see. Which is a shame, because in many ways it’s the most appealing.

Ageing is one of those things that distinguishes wine from almost every other alcoholic drink. It’s the natural acidity present in wine which stops bacteria from developing and spoiling it, thereby allowing ageing to actually happen.

But not all wine is suitable for ageing. In fact, the vast majority of wine sold around the world is designed to be drunk no more than a couple of years after it’s bottled.

Cava is a premium product, but over the last decade or so it has perhaps been overshadowed by the likes of Prosecco and other, more cheaply made, but more aggressively marketed, sparkling wines. So, what’s special about Cava and why should you give it more than a second look?

Bryan MacRobert is part of the new generation of winemakers in Rioja who are moving away from barrel-ageing as the defining characteristic of their wines, and instead are looking to make fresher, more elegant wines which better reflect the essence of the traditional grapes grown in the region. In his own words, he “prioritises the vineyard over the cellar” and strives to make high-quality wines with a strong sense of place that really showcase the diversity of soils, climates, vineyards and grape varieties that exist within Rioja.

In this interview, Brayn talks about how he came to be making wines in Rioja and how he hopes to shake up the wine scene in one of Spain's most traditional winemaking regions.

Hear the name ‘Cataluña’ and you’ll probably think of Barcelona. And with it comes visions of tourist hoards traipsing down the Rambla, queueing for the Sagrada Familia, and topping up the tan on the city beach. But this part of Spain has something far more engaging than the region’s capital – wine. Lots of it. And it’s fantastic. So join us on a whistle-stop tour of the Denominaciones de Origen in this excellent wine-growing region.

Order a glass of red wine in any bar in Spain and you’ll almost always be asked whether you want a “Rioja or a Ribera”. They are two of the best known Denominaciones de Origen (DOs), and the ‘go-to’ red wines for Spanish wine fans around the world. But popular as they are, even quite seasoned wine drinkers would be hard-pressed to tell the main differences between the two regions.

Join us on another Simply Spanish Wine podcast as we give you a whistle-stop run-through of these two famous regions and some expert tips on how to tell them apart.