Visitors to the Basque country will have definitely tasted the Txakoli, a local white wine that is drunk everywhere you go. But outside the region, the wine is extremely difficult to find despite the fact that it washes down well with food. When you visit the Azurmendi galaxy, a three Michelin star restaurant a few kilometres outside Bilbao in the idyllic Larrabetzu, you … [Read more...]
2017: A very fine and abundant vintage for Austrian wine with winemakers describing it as a picture perfect year
Austria has reported a harvest that is good in terms of quality and volume. While worldwide 2017 saw the lowest level of wine production in years, Austria's yield of 2.6 million hl (according to October’s third harvest estimate) amounted to a quarter above the five-year average, which will go a long way to filling cellars that in many places have been rather empty. True, there … [Read more...]
The natural wines of Goyo Garcia Viadero: Amazing in their purity
A swirl of the glass, I smell the wine and I get that preliminary 'animal' smell which indicates that this is a natural wine. Within minutes, the smell mellows down to reveal a stunning 100% Tempranillo. We had no idea at this stage that this was a natural wine though I could suspect from the smell. But this is one of those wines which really challenges your perception of … [Read more...]
Albert Jané (Acustic Celler): ‘Great wines are made in the vineyard’
Albert Jané is a passionate winemaker who is considered to be one of the pioneers of the D.O. Montsant region, in Spain. Coming from a winemaking family in the heart of Penedes, Albert had full confidence in the Do Montsant regionI had the pleasure of meeting him recently at a wine tasting event organised by La Buena Vida. The name of the winery ‘Acustic’ reflects not … [Read more...]
Rafael Palacios: Making magnificent white wines in Galicia, Spain
Rafael Palacios does not need any introduction among Spanish wine lovers. Considered to be among the best white wine makers in the whole of Spain, if not the best, he began his new wine project in Valdeorras in 2004 using the Godello grape which is an indigenous white grape variety of the Valdeorras region of Galicia. The Godello grape is a stunning variety that has been … [Read more...]
