Okay, so several weeks ago I was at my neighborhood wine shop and wanted to test the “new guy” out on his recommendations. “So what is a great Rioja about $20?” I asked. He recommended the Xavier Flouret Fe 2005 (the X on the right).  So being the MW student geek that I am, I [...]

So today Pablo Alvarez Mezquiriz, Consejero Delegado of Bodegas Vega Sicilia, gave a fabulous tutored tasting of his wines including the Vega Sicilia Unico 1981, 1994, and 2004 along with the Vega Sicilia Unico Reserva Especial made from the three best years: 1990, 1996, and 1999. We also had a chance to try the Valbuena [...]

I read this quote in the October 15, 2012 issue of Wine Spectator … in this article, Alvaro Palacios was profiled and blames John Deere tractors for some of the current issues in Rioja, saying that Spanish winemakers bought them as a sign of prosperity when they made money. The problem was that tractors made [...]

Ah, Rioja! All those years spent at the International Wine Center studying the differences between the soil of the Rioja Alavesa above the Elbo river, and the Rioja Baja and Rioja Alta finally paid off. This was a scholarly trip with a group of very well-educated educators, with a focus on the wines and wineries [...]

  “20 wines!” exclaimed a fellow particpant at today’s Master Class tasting of Catalunya wines led by Josep Roca, Co-Proprietor, Sommelier, and Wine Director of the (Catalunya based) Michelin 3-star restaurant El Celler. He was in New York today to lead a Master Class tasting of 20 distinctive wines from Catalunya (all available in the [...]

…. So a great presentation today by Marnie Old, who gave a talk for Wines from Spain “Great Match” at the Metropolitan Pavillion about Cava. Marnie is a fabulous presenter whose enthusiasm for Cava came out loud and clear. The tasting room on the 4th floor of the Metropolitan Pavillion was beautifully set-up with well [...]

  Ah, Tempranillo … would this same varietal by any other name taste as sweet? In Toro, the tempranillo grape is called Tinto de Toro. Recently Manual Farina, winemaker and founder of Bodegas Farina in Toro, was in Manhattan to meet with distributors and journalists and talk about his wine. We met on a very [...]

So today I just got my “new” issue of Drinks Business (it takes way to long for it to come from the UK) and I was delighted to see on page 120 the publication recommended Brane-Cantenac, saying:  “Margaux Second growth Brane-Cantenac may not have the sex appeal of some of its neighborhing cru classes in [...]

  Vibrant Rioja (#riojabuzz) put on a fabulous grand tasting seminar today, with the most fabulous moderator and panelists! NYC’s top wine journalists and educators were treated to an exceptionally well orchestrated tasting, that very importantly, included key questions every fine wine writer and sommelier must address: 1. What is going on in terms of [...]

  Luis E. Garcia Sales Executive, and Sandra & Sandra “So is this a modern style … or traditional?” I asked Carlos Hubner-Arteta, President of Vinos Libres Wine Merchants, already knowing the answer.   Esperanza Castra, co-owner Grupo Matarromera I am here at the Graffit restaurant in New York, where the incredibly charming Esperanza Castro, [...]

  Spanish wine is always a favorite, and today journalists and the wine trade were able to tastethe wines of more than 40 Spanish wine producers at the Spanish Wine Cellar & Pantry, an exclusive showcase of up-and-coming wine and food products from Spain.  As a student in the Master of wine program, I really [...]

  Have you ever wondered about the Mencia grape? The first time I experienced it was at the Cervantes Institute in Manhattan, where wine program creator Helio San Miguel presented a checkerboard of wines made from the Mencia grape to try. Very interesting … A Do-It-Yourself and simpler approach is to ask your friendly wine [...]

  Care for a Cava? When you reach for a Spanish Sparkler on your supermarket shelf, chances are it’s from Freixenet, given their 200 million bottle production. Did you realize that the family-owned Freixenet sells 160 sparkling and still wine brands worldwide? Recently, I had the opportunity to travel to Spain to meet CEO Pedro [...]

  Hard to believe, yet the holidays are almost here! Soon, you’ll be walking into your supermarket or wine store for a celebratory sparkler and reach for the familiar "Freixenet" name, knowing the name spells "quality" that will be recognized by your family and friends.  After all, the winery and many of its other sparklers [...]

  “We green harvest in the vineyard by fifty percent,” says vivacious young Judit Llop, standing in a perfect-looking vineyard in the middle of harvest on a gorgeous sunny Fall day. “That’s why it grows so healthy and ripe.”

 Judit is the winemaker for Morlanda & Fra Guerau wineries located in the world-famous Denominacion de [...]

  Ribera del Duero!

 In Manhattan, this Spanish Denominacion de Origen (DO) sounded so glamorous and exotic, especially as it is home to the world’s most famous and expensive wines (Vega Sicilia, anyone?)

 Terroir of the Duero

 Wine students learn all about the soil (clay and sand), and the vineyards that stretch from the famed [...]

  Quick! Thick of Rioja (the famous Spanish wine) and what flavors come to mind? One of my favorite sommelier instructors thought that during a blind tasting, a Rioja can often be recognized by a dusty, leather saddle sort of scent, or by its American oak trademarks of dill and coconut. Actually, Rioja is a [...]

  Think of Cava sparkling wine, and chances are the familiar brown and gold label of Segura Viudas comes to mind. Few people realize that this popular wine is actually named after the man who founded it in the 1950s. Mr. Viudas was a grower who made sparkling wine – Cava – and sold it [...]

  You know Freixenet – of course you do! With production over 200 million bottles a year, it’s America’s favorite Cava (sparkling wine) for dinner parties, birthdays, and special events. Yet the story of why Freixenet controls market share and how it was able to hold on to it for so long is a story [...]

Aurora Ochoa of Penin Group and Marta Tornos Camacho of Groupo BSV  San Valero Winery (Groupo BSV) is a cooperative of 700 winegrowers who grow mostly garnacha vines, and collectively pool their grapes. They are launching two wines specifically designed for the US market: Sierra de Viento Garnacha old wine (Garnacha 100%) and Sierra de [...]