660. Château Langoa Barton, Saint-Julien, 1988 
659. Beaulieu Vineyard, Georges de Latour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley, 2000 
658. Bodegas Guelbenzu, Lautus Ribera del Queiles VdlT, 2004 
657. Podere Brancaia, Il Blu IGT Toscana, 2004 
656. Marc Colin, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru “Les Vide-Bourses”, 2006 
655. Domaine du Colombier, Hermitage Blanc, 2007 Gran Reserva
649. Lopez de Heredia-Viña Tondonia, Viña Bosconia Rioja Gran Reserva, 1991
I wonder if this bottle – stored close enough to the wine shop’s light to be warm on purchase – might have been a …
385. Vegaval Plata, Valdepeñas Gran Reserva, 1999
A gift from a part-colleague, from Valdepeñas (she is, as is the wine). Given to me as an intro to the wines of the …
La Rioja Alta: benchmark classical Riojas especially top flight Gran Reservas
La Rioja Alta, established in Haro in 1890, is certainly one of the major players in high quality, traditionally-styled Rioja. In their top pair …
Marqués de Murrieta: Rioja aristocracy built around Castillo Ygay
There are many Rioja bodegas with the vaunted title Marqués in their name – Riscal, Cacéres, Concordia inter alia. In the UK, those of …
CVNE: Combining volume and classical quality
CVNE, the Compania Vinicola del Norte de España, is popularly known as Cune (‘koo-nay’) in Spain – so much so that they adopted Cune …
Contino: Château-style Rioja and Graciano pioneers
Contino were the first Rioja bodega to be set up in the mode of a Bordeaux château, with estate grapes from vineyards surrounding the …
Ramón Bilbao: modern Rioja with altitude
Ruth and I first visited Ramón Bilbao just as tourists in 2014, when visiting Haro the first time. In 2018, by random allocation, we …
348. Bodegas Montecillo, Rioja Gran Reserva, 1996
A very pleasant way to say goodbye to my 1-month flatmate, Lucy. Having said that, it definitely improved over days, suggesting that, as a …
Rioja: Spain’s classic region is changing
Rioja, the most famous wine region in Spain. Home to Tempranillo and the American oak barrel. One of only 2 regions, with Priorat, carrying …
Muga: seamlessly blending classical and modern in Rioja
The first time we visited Haro, we were not able to book into Bodegas Muga. Therefore, the first thing we did before the 2018 …