Spain


Bodegas Monteabellón Verdejo 2009 (£12.50 Quaff Wine Merchants, Berry Bros & Rudd) White Bordeaux meets white Burgundy, with the musky pear skin and smoky tinned pear of the former and the creamy minerality of the latter, just let down by a slightly bitter finish. B Bodegas Naia K-Naia 2009 (£9 […]

Rueda – seven excellent whites


This post is dedicated to the memory of Julian Brind MW, who died on December 19th. A great sherry enthusiast and a man largely responsible for the pre-eminence of Waitrose in the UK supermarket wine world, he was also a thoroughly nice man with an ever-present twinkle in his eye. […]

Sherry from Waitrose & The Wine Society




Second lot of Spanish whites (first is here), this time majoring on what could stake a claim (along with Rias Baixas & Valdeorras) to be Spain’s finest white wine region. Hermanos Lurton Rueda Verdejo 2009, Spain (~£8) Reminds me of Bordeaux Sauvignon with its slightly nutty citrus and tinned pear […]

Spanish whites part 2: Rueda



Poggiotondo Toscana Bianco 2009, Italy (£8.99 Liberty Wines, Noel Young, Reserve) One of those wines that creeps up on you, initially fresh and floral with a citrussy bite, but then the taut, pine-like edge of Vermentino comes through, along with an almost volcanic minerality. B+ Raimat Albariño Viña 24 2009, […]

Assorted whites from Italy, Spain and Georgia