Spanish Wine Experience

WE'RE BACK! After a long silence, Roque and I are back doing the Spanish Wine Experience. We have some big news to explain our absence. All will be revealed in this, the first episode of SEASON TWO of the SWE. Also, we sample a new DO. A Vino de Pago from the north of Navarra.

It's SUMMER and this week chaos reigns as Roque and Luke are joined on the podcast by not one, but two guests! Debbie Musgrove and Joy Figueroa join the pod as the SWE team walk through a live production of Sangria and other wine-based Spanish summer sippers. Salud and felid verano!

BIG NEWS! It's the last DO!!!Roque and Luke have come to the end of the official 71 denominaciones de origen! A final journey to the Canary Islands, in this case DO La Palma, to drink a bottle of Piezas N2 by Matías Torres. A very small production white wine made from the unique Albillo Criollo grape. They chat mega tsunamis and the perfect dream winery. But don't worry, this is not the end, there...

On this week's podcast Roque has a very specific and peculiar challenge for Luke. Three wines, covered up, and ready to be sampled. Which grapes and regions lie in front of him? Have his studies paid off? Has he earned his pins? Let's find out if Luke can identify the wines Roque has chosen on this blind wine tasting challenge special!

This week the SWE boys head to the unknown VT Ribera de Queiles in Aragon/Navarra to drink a sturdy Tempranillo/Cab Franc blend called Numbernine from Winery Arts; part of the Vintae group. They talk the meaning of 'tinto' and their respective alcoholic holidays.

This week Roque and Luke see that there's life beyond the DOs as they travel to the depths of the Sierra de Aralar in Andalucía to try a beefy unique bottle of red from the mountain village Almonaster la Real. A bottle of Bemoles - a blend of Monastrell, Syrah, Merlot - from Bodegas Cerro San Cristobal. They also chat wine books and, surprisingly, turnips!

This week Roque and Luke try an utterly unique Spanish island wine. They are heading for the last time back to Tenerife in the Canary Islands to drink a bottle from DO Valle de Güímar. A sweet fortified red made from the unusual grape Baboso Negro, Contiempo comes from the Arca de Vitis winery in the south east of the island. They also talk future pods and Spanish wine descriptors.

This week Roque and Luke open a absolute beast of a wine. A boozy monster from the Segovia Vino de Calidad Valtiendas region. A throaty red from Bodegas Zarraguilla called Vennur. As well as discussing Segovia and the merits of vultures, they also chat wine experiences.

This week Roque and Luke sample an utterly unique style of wine that they picked up from Bodegas Oliveros down in DO Condado de Huelva. A bottle of Vino Naranja, orange wine. What is this bizarre wine and why is it orange?? They also talk the minutiae of jamon and old vines!

Today Roque and Luke get stuck into a real unknown classic. Habla del Silencio... from VT Tierra de Extremadura. This big juicy blended red from Bodegas Habla is worthy of more fame than it has. They chat conquistadores and festivals and get some breaking crime news!

Another day, another island. This week Roque and Luke try a super hard-to-find bottle from the little hilly island of La Gomera; another gift from their intro man Jim Paluzzi! A bottle of Los Roquillos by Vinos Roque Cano from DO La Gomera. They chat about Roque's upcoming visit to the island as well as wine thefts!

On this week's pod the SWE team head south to one of the most beautiful corners of Spain. Granada! But more specifically the Alpujarra region. A bottle from VT Cumbres del Guadalfeo called Noladós from the Buenavista winery in Ugíjar. A big sexy Bordeaux style blend that gets Roque and Luke reminiscing about the area.

This week Roque and Luke dive into a bottle from DO Gran Canaria; a gift from their voiceover man Jim Paluzzi! La Montaña by Francisco Marrero Hernández: a mysterious possible blend from the island of Gran Canaria. Info was hard to come by. They also chat about Spanish wine and wildlife holidays an varietal variety. Cheers!

This week Roque and Luke sample a bottle from their first Vino de Calidad, from Lebrija in the southwest of Spain. But what is this unusual denomination? Frasquito, a sherry style drink from a range of wines by the only winemaker in the area: Gonzalez Palacios. They chat DOs, winemaking and silly wine traditions! Salud!

This week Roque and Luke share a bottle from one of the most difficult regions to find. Hiding in plain sight they drink to DO Tierra del Vino de Zamora, the only 'land of wine'. Today it is the turn of Bodega Malandrín and of a bottle of their Malandrín Superior; a throaty Tempranillo. They chat about this quiet corner of Spain and also discuss, much to Luke's delight, barrels!

This week Roque and Luke sample a bottle from Spain's newest DO: DOP Islas Canarias! They pop the cork out of a bottle of Hollera from Bodegas Monje; another dusty Listán Negro red wine that hails from Tenerife. They chat Islands, historic wine and wine education.

This week the SWE chaps head down to Roque's homeland; more specifically his hometown! They sample some bottles of the local wine region from his dad's cellar. Vino de la Tierra Campo de Cartagena. Rare wines from a region with only one principal producer! Bodegas Serrano, wines made by Manuel Martinez Meroño. They drink a white, rosé and young red from his Viña Galtea range and an old boy from th...

This week Roque and Luke head to Mallorca; in fact Luke just got back from the island. In tow he has a bottle of Pere Seda Reserva from DO Pla i Llevant. A big blend that includes a fun local grape. They chat island culture, wines and gastronomy as well as Mallorca's glitterati. Salud!

This week Roque and Luke sample a spicy little number from the Canary Island Tenerife and the mouthful DO Ycoden-Daute-Isora. They get stuck into a bottle of Listán Negro red from Bodegas Viñatigo. As well as island life they also dive into a chat that sounds like a sci fi movie: clones, crosses and hybrids.

This week Roque and Luke head back to La Mancha to the little known and very hard to find region of DO Mondéjar. Odd given it's right next door to the capital! They sample a bemusing bottle of Arís, a white wine from Bodega Mariscal and made from the Torrontés grape. They also discuss a new wine controversy: handpicked grapes versus machine harvested. Salud!

This week sees Roque and Luke switch up their surroundings and head to the centre to sample a bottle of DO Manzanilla-Sanlúcar de Barrameda at special guest Fabio's house. The trio tuck into a Micaela by Bodegas Barón and sample a splash of Barbiana. The group discuss the finer details of this fortified southern wine whilst dabbling in the usual nonsense and behaviour.

This week Roque and Luke head to the most quixotic wine growing region in the country and Spain's second most expansive wine growing region: VT de Castilla. Delving the depths of La Mancha they opt for a bottle of Pétrola from Bodegas de Alort. They blather in about the official state-mandated way 'to tapas' as well as some food pairing logic.

This week Roque and Luke head to the Wild West of Spain. Andalucia's dusty cowboy corner and a bottle of Cristina Calvache's Syran from VT Ribera del Andarax. As well as Sergio Leone and Eastwood references they share thoughts on Spain's liquor laws!

This week Roque and Luke try something completely different. It is wine, chief, but not as we know it. Masquerading as wine (or is it?) the SWE team discuss and try three different wine-based drinks from Felix Solís, Vicente de Gandía and Copaboca. Art, the concept of wine, market forces, R.E.M... The wine podcast that flirts with being nothing about wine.

This week Roque and Luke celebrate a new arrival with a rather more unknown but nonetheless important wine region. Southern Spain's DO Montilla-Moriles. They get stuck into a sensually sweet bottle of Tierra de Oro Pedro Ximénez and discuss what it means to be Spanish, as well as diving into the strange processes behind this region so deserving of our time.