A top Rioja Reserva for less than £20? Sounds very appealing to me. This is very much a modern style Rioja, with the emphasis on Tempranillo (97% of the blend here, with 3% Graciano for added backbone) and the ability to age further in bottle rather than drinkability on release. This is sweetly oaked, with fine tannins, fresh, minerally acidity and a core of red and black fruits. Long, textured and very complex, it’s still a very young wine, so hold off if you can.
Country: Spain
NV Tio Pepe, Fino En Rama, Jerez
( £13, 15% )If you love Fino Sherry – and who doesn’t? – this is about as good as it gets: an unfined, unfiltered fortified that was bottled in April when the flor yeast is at its thickest on the surface of the wine, giving it that bready, savoury complexity. More deeply coloured than the regular Tio Pepe, this is a salty, tangy delight that’s absolutely brilliant with a plate of anchovies or almonds. Essence of Andalusia.
2009 Cillar De Silos, Ribera del Duero
( £15.50, 14%, Oddbins )Serious, concentrated, inky Tempranillo from Ribera with excellent structure and acidity. This is less oaky than some of this bodega’s releases and better for it in my view, with flavours of plum and spice, a touch of vanilla and a backbone of tannin. Should age well, too.
2011 Cillar de Silos, Joven de Silos, Ribera del Duero
( £10.50, 14.5%, Oddbins )The young red from Cillar de Silos is still a pretty substantial wine, with masses of juicy, plummy, brambly fruit, notes of violet and raspberry on the nose and a backbone of tannin. Bring me a leg of lamb!
Priorat: from tradition to hi-tech to terroir
by Victor de la Serna
When the International Wine Academy, the august Geneva-based institution, first visited Catalonia two decades ago, its members didn’t make it to Priorat: the roads were bad in 1994, accommodation almost...
2011 Vega de la Reina Sauvignon Blanc, Rueda
( £6.49, 13%, Majestic )International varieties are overshadowed in Spain by local grapes, but Sauvignon seems to have found an ideal spot in Rueda, producing wines that are delicious as well as distinctive. This is a total bargain if you buy two bottles, and I promise you wont’t regret having a spare in the fridge. It’s got flavours of pink grapefruit and passion fruit, a hint of gunflint on the nose and, pithy, refreshing acidity. Not many places could better this at £6.49 for a tasty Sauvignon Blanc.
Everyday value?
by Matt Walls
Lined up against the wall in my hallway, they stood quietly like forlorn commuters queuing for a bus. These were not bottles to make a taster salivate. Why didn’t I...
2008 Bodegas Ochoa, Mil Gracias Graciano, Navarra
( £11.99, 13.5%, Hennings Wine Merchants )Graciano is more readily associated with neighbouring Rioja (and then only in small quantities) than Navarra, but this one from the youthful Adriana Ochoa is superb. It’s almost Italian in style, with marked acidity, some spice and a fair bit of tannin, but there’s some black cherry and bramble fruit to add sweetness and flesh to the bones.
2004 Cune Imperial Reserva, Rioja
( £14.99, 13.5%, The Co-operative )This was a Christmas deal at The Co-op, so the price may have crept back up again in 2013, but this is still one hell of a wine: a Reserva Rioja from a top producer in a legendary vintage. It’s just starting to show its class, so don’t be afraid to tuck it away for a few years. Savoury and sweet with good structure and spice and finely judged oak.
2011 La Casa de Sitios de Bodega, Sauvignon Blanc, Rueda
( £6.49, 13%, The Co-operative )Spain is often overlooked when people are looking for new sources of Sauvignon Blanc, but the cool (comparatively speakig) region of Rueda has been making some very drinkable examples since the 1980s. This good value quaffer is a case in point: stony and fresh with notes of beeswax, honey and gooseberry.
2010 Vega Ariana, Rioja
( £5.99, 14%, Waitrose )Blended by Waitrose’s Spanish buyer, Nick Room, this is a tasty introduction to Spain’s best-loved wine style, a Tempranillo-based red with a hint of sweet, coconutty American oak, lots of soft red fruits, bright acidity and supple, palate-caressing tannins.
2010 Minarete, Ribera del Duero
( £5.49, 13.5%, Aldi )This wine was a hit when I recommended it on Saturday Ktichen recently, so I thought I’d give it another outing. It’s impressive value at just over a fiver and works really well with lamb dishes. The Tempranillo (Tinto Fino) in Ribera is fresher than in Rioja because it’s grown at altitude, and that’s the case here: fine tannins, bright red fruits and good balance.