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 →

A Gluttons Guide to Spanish Culture

I love Spain, but I love the view of the country that I have in my head from childhood and – democracy and human rights apart – that is how I still want it to be. Whenever I am there I seek out the traditional and the old fashioned, because I like it. Not for […] Continue Reading →

Judging the Quality of a Wine by How Much of It you Drink

Several years ago top wine writer Ch’ng Poh Tiong wrote a piece in his Decanter magazine column that basically said that you could (perhaps ‘should’) judge the quality of a wine by how much of it you drank. If your glass was emptied relatively quickly (the abuse of alcohol is dangerous for your health, enjoy wine […] Continue Reading →

International Varieties: Are They Intended to Reflect their Origin or are They Made to Please?

In my last post, I highlighted an ‘international’ grape variety, grown in Spain, made in Spain, but not allowed to say which region it’s from because the local Denominacion de Origen (DO) doesn’t recognize Viognier as part of its ‘terroir’. Whether this is fair or not is a difficult question – just what does a grape have to […] Continue Reading →

Redefining Spanish Tapas: The Fine Line between Quality and Price

Part of the advantage of living in Barcelona is that I have an inordinate amount of tapas bars to choose from; we’re talking in the ballpark of 10,000, which includes restaurants that serve tapas. And of these restaurants, a vast majority will get you a few tapas at a very reasonable price. Therefore, you can […] 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 →

Connecting with Curious Palates in Brooklyn: Spanish Wine and Cheese Tasting

Editor’s Note: Today’s article comes from Diane Letulle, an passionate wine writer who we’ve known for quite some time. Today is her submission after attending a Spanish wine and cheese tasting in NYC by another good friend of ours, Adrian Murcia. We hope you enjoy her adventure. On a mild Friday night in April, a […] Continue Reading →

It’s Not Unnatural to be Wine – A Skeptic’s View

Television viewers in the UK will have recently been treated to an advertisement for Dolmio Ragu sauce in which a family of towel-textured, round-faced puppets make lasagne while a voice-over tells us Dolmio tomato sauce is made from ‘100% natural. Which is nice if you want to be reassured that what gets mashed into your […] Continue Reading →

Vibrant Rioja Tempranillo LIVE TASTING in New York on May 5, 2011

Are you a Rioja wine fanatic? Do you stay up late at night itching for that next bottle of vinous pleasure? If so, we have the event for you no matter where you are in the world! This Thursday, May 5th Tempranillo will be featured at the Vibrant Rioja 3rd Annual Grand Tasting in New […] Continue Reading →

The Assemblage: The Art and Science Behind Blending a Cava Wine

Before we dive into this article, I’d like to invite you to play with me for a moment. Imagine that I’ve placed three buckets of red paint infront of you named: Burnt Orange, Fire Engine Red and Sunburst Yellow. Each of these vary slightly in vivacity, purity and tone, and your job is to mix […] Continue Reading →