Spanish Wine Experience

This week Roque and Luke are starting a new sub-series to the podcast. In Spain there are hundreds of grapes, and many of them are completely unknown outside of the tiny remote areas where they are made. In this new series, published every few weeks or so, they will take a look at the weirder and more wonderful grapes of Spain. The grapes you'll never see in any of the shops. This will also give t...

The wine world - like many - is a traditionally a very male-dominated industry; and perhaps even more so in Old World Spain. This week, the day after the International Day of Rural Women, Roque and Luke want to toast those women working in the fields and vineyards, and to an extended extent, in the industry itself.  They share a bottle of V de Valmores from Esther at Bodega Cuarto Lote and then pr...

This week Roque and Luke dive deep into a topic they've touched on on many wines over the years. The hot topic in winemaking and wine-selling: is the wine organic, biodynamic, natural or what? What does it all mean? What are the differences between the different labels? Is it all just marketing nonsense or are there real differences in the wines? To talk about this topic they open two bottles: LAN...

Yes, you read that title right. Vino de Mesa...table wine. Surely Roque and Luke aren't planning to drink 'bad' wine for the next 40 minutes? Well, not exactly. Table wine is often a term used to define the terrible, non-DO, non-VT, unmarked bulk rubbish made in such high quantities in x or y country. But are there any good table wines? This week, to talk about vinos de mesa, the lads tuck into a...

This week Roque and Luke want to head into a fairly unknown world. The world of white wine from a region almost exclusively known for big and heavy reds. A world of the mysterious Malvasia grape. A harsh world where vino blanco is a rare bird indeed. To help talk about this topic they enlist the help of the delicious Águedas by Bodegas Fariña. 

This week Roque and Luke decide once again to focus on one grape in particular. And that particular grape happens to be particularly tasty and one of their favourites. Moscatel. Somewhat misunderstood, this week they dive into the various style emanating from what is actually possibly the most versatile of all grapes. To toast the varietal they tuck in to the magnificent Uvas Cabrera dry Moscatel....

Another LOST episode this week. And Roque and Luke are very happy they found it; as it was the first one they recorded on opening the Madrid & Darracott wine shop! To celebrate they opened a bottle of Savina from Bodega Terramoll - one of only two wineries on the tiny Balearic island of Formentera. So let's step back in time and toast the end of summer with the Mediterranean blast from the past. 

We all - well, almost all - know about Cava. That charming and affable sparkling wine from near Barcelona in Catalonia right? Well...to an extent yes. But actually Cava can be made all over the countries. This week Roque and Luke wanted to have a little review of Cava to shine the spotlight on the non-Catalan regions. To do this they drink a truly glorious bottle of Tantum Ergo from the south-east...

You have definitely heard of rosé wine - or rosado in Spain. But have you ever heard about the other, lesser known, Spanish pink called Clarete? Probably not! This is a hybrid of red and white wine that comes out as delightful and rosy as any rosado. So what is this wine and what is like? Luke and Roque sample a bottle of Quelías from Bodegas Sinforiano to explore the issue! Wine available at our...

Recently Roque and I discovered a batch of podcast that we thought we had lost through the simple act of getting a new phone. But they had been saved! So here is the first of our resurrected pods: CORPINNAT, a new unofficial DO created by a few great Cava houses who decided to leave that DO. To discuss the changes and what it's all about they tuck into a delicious bottle of Torello Brut Reserva! ...

Roque and Luke have a fascinating wine to try this week. A bunch of friends who some years ago decided to try their hand at making wine...in the Picos de Europa mountains...in Cantabria. This is the opposite of wine country. The wine is Finca Morillas from the Picos de Cabariezo winery. What's it like? And what is going on in the world of Mountain wines? And who are these crazy mavericks? https://...

BIG NEWS: Something massive has happened in the world of Spanish wine. The mythical DO Ribera del Duero - home almost exclusively to be sexy Tempranillo-centric reds - has finally allowed white wines to be part of the Denominación de Origen. To discuss this Roque and Luke sample part of the new crop; the Valduero Albillo Mayor! https://www.madriddarracott.com/en/product/valduero-blanco/

This week Roque and Luke return to the legendary region of DO Rueda to try an historic, mythical and almost completely unknown style of fortified wine called 'Dorado'. This sherry-style wines are made of local varieties and are a real bargain if you can find them. To help them delve deeper into this world they glug a bottle of Dorado 61 by the winery Cuatro Rayas. 

This week try a super yummy wine from a super small region tucked in the low hills north of Seville. The VT Sierra Norte de Sevilla with its handful of producers and off the grid vibe is this week represented by the delicious Mirlo; an odd white from Bodega Tierra Savia. 

Vinos de Pago. Roque and Luke have had a couple of them over the years; but they thought they'd take the opportunity to cover them in a bit more depth. What are they? What are they like? Where are they from? Are they really the best? To help them talk about them they sample a bottle from Bodegas Otazu near Pamplona and toast the cancelled San Fermín fiestas!

It's hot in Madrid. Summer has arrived. This week Roque and Luke turn their focus to the wonderful world of Spanish rosé. People usually think either of French Provence pink or sweet American blush wines, but Spain has a very long and strong tradition. To help them talk about rosé they open the brand new vintage of Micro Cuveé Rosado from the Cepas de la Culebra winery! So get your sunny pink hat...

There's things happening in the local wine region around here. DO Vinos de Madrid has undergone some changes in the last year, so Roque and Luke thought they'd use that as excuse to drink more local plonk. Also they sample 3 wines from a BRAND NEW Madrid winery opened just before the Covid-19 outbreak from Bodegas Cuarto Lote. Enjoy!

This week Roque and Luke take a look at a concept of wine, and perhaps wine marketing, called Vino de Parcela. Or, in English, single plot or block wines. So what is this all about? Does it mean the wine is better? To try and get to grips with the concept more, they open 4 bottles from the DO Cigales winery La Legua! 

On their 100th official episode Roque and Luke decide to indulge in a broader topic. Roque hails from the southeast of the country, so they thought they'd take the opportunity to delve into the world of 'Mediterranean Wines'. To help them they sampled two Sericis wines: a Bobal from Utiel Requena and a barrel-fermented Merseguera from Valencia, courtesy of Bodegas Murviedro. 

This week Roque and Luke are trying something different. Instead of focussing fully on just a region, they want to spend more time focussing on the grapes themselves. The real stars of the show. This week the legendary Garnacha grape. To help them along their way they drink an absolute boozy beast of a wine: Brega, by Jorge Ordoñez. 

Ahoy there! This week Roque and Luke are sampling a tiny production wine from a tiny and remote area in the northwest of Spain. The Sierra de la Culebra, which only has a handful of wineries scattered in a non-regulated region where wolves still roam. We sampling the new Micro Cuveé from our friend Ruben and his mountain project!

This week Roque and Luke turn their attention to the geekier side of the wine world. We all know about oak barrels and ageing wines in them. But is that all there is? What about stainless steel, concrete, amphora? And do barrels have to be oak? Find out today as they crack open a bottle of Tinácula from DO Ribera del Júcar, which in itself has been aged in a slightly strange way. 

Something a little this week. The season for regional wine events has started all over the country and Madrid is no different. An interesting one popped up on the schedule and we wanted to document it: Ribera de Guadiana, a massive but fairly under-utilised wine region from Extremadura. It took place in the vast Lavinia wine shop. We learned a lot, drank a bunch and nearly destroyed the place. Enj...

This week Roque and Luke head back to one of the their favourite parts of Spain for red wines - Aragón. In this giant region of Spain there are 4 DOs already, but they are turning to a much lesser known Vino de la Tierra wine producing area: VT Bajo Aragón and a bottle of Generación 20 from Bodegas Tempore. Enjoy!

This week Roque and Luke return to where it all started. Episode 1 was all about Rioja. They sampled a classic red from the region but this time they are going to dive into the wonderful world of White Rioja! They open a bottle of La Candelera from Finca de la Rica. Expect the usual flurry of bad jokes as well as a nice helping of geeky information.