Last week English editor Yolanda Ortiz de Arri travelled to Logroño (La Rioja) to take part in a roundtable to discuss wine and young wine consumers as part of the 2018 edition of the city’s International Wine Forum. Keynote speakers were Spanish Masters of Wine Pedro Ballesteros, Fernando Mora and Andreas Kubach who, far from being indulgent, insisted on the need to focus on terroir in Spain, to strengthen and improve wines on the medium range and to encourage a cultural vision of wine -rather than the current technical approach- in order to reach out to consumers.

In line with some of these ideas, our wine of the week is a Rioja Reserva that has evolved considerably over time. Those who still think that Marqués de Murrieta Reserva is a classic wine marked by acidity and barrel ageing may be in for a surprise -the 2014 vintage shows how the terroir of the vast Ygay estate prevails over the winemaking process. The fact that Tempranillo represents 84% of the blend with more presence for Graciano, Mazuelo and Garnacha reinforces that feeling.

We are glad to be part of a major initiative aimed at boosting the visibility of women in the food and wine industry in Spain. A meeting held in Valencia earlier this week set the guidelines and future steps of a very much needed movement. All the details are in the link below.

Yolanda still had time to make a quick trip to Bilbao in the Basque Country and dine at Kimtxu, a Japanese-Basque tavern featuring a short but varied wine list that goes beyond the ubiquitous Rioja names found in the average restaurants in town. Beyond matching different types of food, wines are a great tool to add consistency and set the distinctive character of a restaurant.

Amaya Cervera

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The overriding challenges faced by Spanish wines, according to three Masters of Wine Yolanda Ortiz de Arri | November 13th, 2018 Last week, Spanish Masters of Wine Pedro Ballesteros, Andreas Kubach and Fernando Mora travelled to Logroño to take part in a roundtable at the city’s 13th International Wine Forum.

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Marqués de Murrieta Reserva 2014 Tinto Marqués de Murrieta, Rioja With production reaching almost 1m bottles, this widely available Reserva is increasingly focused on the terroir of the vast Ygay estate, in the outskirts of Logroño. Being in the central part of Rioja, the wine has a clear Mediterranean character. Very ripe cherry, thyme, scrubland and spicy aromas on the nose. The oak is almost unnoticeable, light years away from the style of the past. Round, balanced palate with well-defined fruit and polished tannins in a really versatile, food-friendly red. 17.0 points

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Against the visibility of women in the Spanish food and wine industry November 12th, 2018. More than a hundred professionals, representing many others, met yesterday in Valencia to boost the visibility of women in the gastronomy area in Spain. The meeting was attended by chefs, sommeliers, producers, scientists, journalists, businesswomen and organizers of events and conferences, among other work profiles. Together they have agreed on the first steps to achieve progress in giving visibility to the work of culinary women in the country.

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Kimtxu It probably wasn’t easy for Iván Abril, the Galician chef behind Kimtxu, to imagine the quick success of his Basque-Asian tavern, opened in June 2014. In a city with the culinary tradition of Bilbao, the overused concept of fusion food puts many people on the alert.

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Francisco Barona, the champion of old vines Amaya Cervera | November 5th, 2018 The large rugged hands of Francisco Barona reveal that he has worked hard in the fields since his youth. First in the family vineyards in Ribera del Duero, later at Château Pavie-Macquin in Saint Émilion and now in his own 32 hectares of very old vines dotted around the villages of Roa, Anguix, La Horra, La Aguilera and Pedrosa de Duero, in the province of Burgos.

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Wine tastings in November 2018 Yolanda Ortiz de Arri | October 31st, 2018 As we do every month, Spanish Wine Lover puts together some of the most interesting wine activities held in Spain throughout November. Highlights include the Most Festival in Penedès, with interesting films and documentaries about wine, the Fiesta del Vino Joven (Young Wine Festival) in Barcelona or independent wine fair Castes in Vilagarcía de Arousa (Galicia).

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Exploring the flavour of over 50 Spanish grape varieties Amaya Cervera | October 24th, 2018 I have known Félix Cabello, director of Spain’s largest collection of grape varieties in Spain, for 20 years. An occasional contributor to SWL, I frequently turn to him whenever I taste a wine made with some obscure grape, something which thankfully is becoming increasingly common in many Spanish wine regions.

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Spanish wines break through the glass ceiling Bill Ward | October 16th, 2018 A window into US enjoyment of Spanish wines does not contain glass. Boxed-wine options are rising steadily, but it’s larger and smaller vessels that are arguably the hottest options these days.

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Unfortified whites from Jerez: back to the roots and the soil Yolanda Ortiz de Arri | October 8th, 2018 Ten years have gone since Equipo Navazos brought back the old Jerez tradition of making unfortified white wines. Their Navazos Niepoort 2008 opened the way to this style —still made in limited, even experimental releases— but which is gradually entering the portfolios of a majority of quality producers in the Sherry Triangle and contributing to add dynamism to a world-class wine region that is still unknown by the general public at large.

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Spanish Wine Lover · Madrid · Madrid, Spain