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spotlight on spain

Spain has many classic regions where wine has been made for centuries and their names are instantly recognisable. Rioja is the most famous; the wines were known as far back as the 900s because the region is in the middle of El Camino de Santiago, the pilgrim trail which starts in France and ends in Galciia. There have naturally been lots of changes since then, but Rioja has always remained the most prominent Spanish region for red wine. Ramírez de la Piscina has a long farming tradition, and started making wine in 1945 although the first commercial vintage was 1961....

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langhe, montalcino, montefalco, nebbiolo, piemonte, sagrantino, sangiovese -

introductory italy

"Introductory" can seem a disparaging term. Instead of the truly great wines of a region or a producer, an "introductory wine" is the simple, drink-now, youthful, non-serious wine that a producer makes to bring in some ready money. Except that is rarely the case. They're less expensive than a producer's single-vineyard wines and aren't aged for as long, but they are important representations and—yes—introductions to a producer's portfolio. If quality is low, then no one is buying the more expensive wines. They also make us familiar with the style of wine a producer generally makes and is associated with. In...

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bío-bío, chile, cinsault, itata, país, sémillon -

a different side to chile

Last week, I hosted Chilean winemaker Roberto Henriquez in my back yard here in California. As I tasted the wines, we spoke for an hour about the identity of Chile's wines and his work in the vineyard, both of which he spoke passionately about. He's based in Bío Bío, one of the more southerly of Chile's regions, and also makes wines from neighboring Itata. Although both Roberto and the wines are most definitely Chilean, they represent a different side to Chile. Winemaking in Chile goes back to the mid-1500s, after the country was colonised by the Spanish. Religious missionaries brought...

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australia, canberra, collines rhoadiennes, france, rhône, shiraz, syrah -

syrah & shiraz

Up until the 1980s, it was commonly believed that Syrah came from Iran/Persia, near the city of Shiraz. There were many myths and legends about the origin story of the variety, none of them true. Syrah did not originate from Iran—it's a natural crossing of Mondeuse Blanche from Savoie and Dureza from Ardèche—but the myth gave the name Shiraz to the variety, which it's still called in Australia. Syrah/Shiraz takes on many forms. In the southern Rhône and Languedoc, it's usually part of a blend with Grenache, Mourvèdre, and other varieties like Cinsault and Counoise. In the northern Rhône, it's...

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austria, burgenland, carnuntum, chardonnay, zweigelt -

austria

Austria is a landlocked, largely Alpine country which bridges western and central Europe. It has many connections with neighboring countries, such as Hungary, Slovenia, and Italy, particularly in terms of wine. Because of the Alps, wine production is in the east of the country, in a horseshoe shape spreading from north of Vienna all the way south to the Slovenian border. It's an affluent country and that means the quality of the wine is consistently high. Blackpoolmatt's wine club has featured Austrian wine in the past, from Grüner Veltliner, which is the most planted variety, and from Blaufränkisch, perhaps Austria's...

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