SWE Ep. 190 - Redefining Rioja
Spanish Wine Experience
It's almost Christmas! So to end off the year prior to this festive we are heading back to the big boy himself: La Rioja. Things have been changing in the last couple of years. So with a bottle of Brunes by Bodegas Vivanco in our glasses, we chat singular vineyards, village wines, intriguing grapes and bubbles!
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SWE Ep. 189 - Cabernet Franc
Spanish Wine Experience
A slightly differente episode today. We decide to celebrate International Cab Franc Day by diving into the life and history of this French grape. Or...is it French? We sample a bottle of Abadal Franc from the tiny Catalan DO of Pla de Bagès!
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SWE Ep. 188 - Almeria
Spanish Wine Experience
Yee haw and giddy up! This week Roque and Luke head down to the depths of Almeria, towards the long coast of southeast Spain to a winery making a delicious red in the middle of cowboy country. Sierra Almagrera is a blended tinto from a region not usually famed for viticulture, so is it any good?
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SWE Ep. 187 - Sweet Canary Wine!
Spanish Wine Experience
Today Roque and Luke talk vertical tastings, wine events, and enjoy a very rare bottle of one of the finest sweet wines they've ever tried. Dulce Salmor from the Viña Frontera COOP on the tiny island of El Hierro. Truly amazing stuff!
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SWE Ep. 186 - Spain's Newest DO! Campo de Calatrava
Spanish Wine Experience
That's right, Spain has recently welcomed into the Denominación de Origen family another new regulated wine region. Eagle-eyed listeners might recognise the name as this used to be a VT. But not any more. So we crack a bottle of Phoenix by Quinta de Aves and talk all things DO!
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SWE Ep. 185 - Zalema/Listan: Two Grapes from Huelva
Spanish Wine Experience
Time for a weird grape double edition. Huelva, an episode we have been to before years ago, known for its sherry-esque wines and sweet vinos. We have a bottle of Líbero, a fascinating 50/50 blend of two grapes only found in this Andalusian hideaway: Zalema and Listan de Huelva. Enjoy!
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SWE Ep. 184 - Details Matter...
Spanish Wine Experience
Regions, grapes, statistics, numbers, facts and figures; over the last few years we've covered a lot. So, over a bottle of very alcoholic red wine (Loxarel OPS) this week we have decided to compile all the main stats of the Spanish wine world. ALL of them! Lots of pub quiz answers to be found.
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SWE Ep. 183 - Basque Bubbles!
Spanish Wine Experience
Roque loves sparkling wines. Luke loves the Basque Country. If only there was a way to bring these two things together. Well there is! The Pais Vasco is famous for its crisp white wines, but a few producers are making reds, roses, sweet wines and bubbles. This week a bottle of Izar Leku accompanies a podcast full of wine, history, and the usual ridiculous jokes!
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SWE Ep. 182 - Weird Grapes: Forastera
Spanish Wine Experience
Time for another episode of 'what the hell grape is that?!' Roque spent New Year in the Canary Islands, lucky bugger, but he still did his job and brought us back a bottle of something weird from Tenerife using a very rare grape from another island entirely: Forastera!
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SWE Ep. 181 - WE'RE BACK! Feat. Underwater Wine
Spanish Wine Experience
We. Are. Back. We have been away since March 2023! Why? Where were we? What have we been up to? All will be explained. Also, we enjoy an amazing gift from listeners Sheree and Ian; an Albariño aged...underwater??
info_outlineRoque and Luke managed to find another of the rare Vino de Calidad regional wines. On a recent trip to the Leon area in the northwest, Luke picked up a bottle of Prieto Picudo red from the miniscule Valles de Benavente region. Bodega Otero's 2014 reserva in fact! The question is, where the hell is the region and who's there making wine anyway? Well, let's find out!