Mallorca: The Last Spanish Wine Frontier

The allure of Mallorca lies in images of escaping the hectic mainland life and living an island dream (if only for just a few days) and walking carefree on the beach of the Mediterranean while the sand crumbles softly beneath your toes. But then you head to a local restaurant for the freshest seafood the […] Continue Reading →

Pla i Llevant: An Island Region of Growing Quality

I feel a little sheepish to admit this, but Catavino has never been to an Iberian island. Of the 30+ islands floating carelessly off the Spanish, Portuguese and North African shores, we’ve only heard rumors of their incredible beauty, natural diversity and ample tourism. The Balearic Islands have sat squarely on my radar for years, in […] Continue Reading →

Wines of Andalucia: On the Rise and Worthy of Far Greater Attention

I wish I was a winemaker, it seems such a wonderfully exciting, creative and honest thing to be. The skill and dedication required to make great wine beggars belief – the life consists of seriously hard work, but to the observer it seems attractive – idyllic even. Whenever I hear about mavericks who create little […] Continue Reading →

Pairing Wines with Portugal’s Faithful Friend: Bacalhau

Editor’s note: In 2009, Catavino contributor Andrea Smith dove into the origins, popularity and over-fishing of cod fish or “Bacalhau” in my native Portuguese. Today, I pick up where Andrea left off with a greater focus on how to prepare the dry, salted version of this flavorful fish, featuring four dishes and a few wines […] Continue Reading →

Rioja Reserva, Pandering to the Lowest Common Denominator?

It is a fashion, of late, to praise ‘modern’ winemaking and its techniques. Up until very recently – if it isn’t still going on – the argument held that because US wine guru Robert Parker liked a certain style of wine, most wines were made to this standard (Parker wielded great power on behalf of […] Continue Reading →

Spain is Not a Wine Loving Country, It’s a Wine Consuming Country

When I first came to Spain, I was excited to be living in a country where wine flowed like blood through a vast cultural landscape. I also assumed that Spaniards, with wine embedded in their DNA, would be vinous explorers seeking out their next prized bottle. Boy, was I wrong. Wine producing countries like “Spain” […] Continue Reading →

The Vibrant and Dynamic Wines of Spain’s Radical Center

I well remember my first experiences of Spanish wine, I was only a child, but mixed with enough Gaseosa I seem to recall finding it palatable. Every summer we would spend our holidays in Javea, midway between Valencia and Alicante. We usually drove down through France, but occasionally used the car ferry direct from England […] Continue Reading →

A Gastronomic Tour of Spain: Summary of La Vuelta a España

This is the very last, and very delayed, installment of La Vuelta a España. We apologize for the rather large gap between the end of the La Vuelta and our final post, but life has taken the upper hand, as it is prone to do. But before we dive into the exciting details of who […] Continue Reading →

Vuelta España Stages 17-18: Castilla y León, The Land of Perpetual Extremes

In our next installment of La Vuelta a España (check out the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4rth and 5th installments), we enter Castilla y León, the largest region in Spain, occupying 18.6% of its land mass, and consisting of 94,222 km2 (36,379.3 sq mi). Nestled against Aragon, the Basque Country and La Rioja to the east; […] Continue Reading →

Virginia: A Corner of a Foreign Field that is Forever Spain

Last week I enjoyed a spectacular trip around the wineries and wine regions of Virginia. The state, or more correctly Commonwealth, is a beautiful place and the wine areas are largely dominated by the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Appalachians. Indeed Virginia is hot and humid – in the summer anyway, so quality grapes can […] Continue Reading →