Red wines from Spain

The typical blackcurrant character of a true Cabernet Sauvignon, but with grace, fruity freshness and a little extra softness from the Spanish sun. Brief oak aging enhances a well-structured red wine that is a good choice for all sorts of occasions and a natural match for barbecues and picnics.

Robust, full-bodied Catalonian red, bursting with cassis, coffee, cedar and liquorice notes. There's the richness of fruitcake too—this is a relatively extravagant style. Silky-smooth tannins and a long, complex finish.

Oak aged for one year in a combination of French and American wood, with five further months aging in stainless steel and then a year's cellaring in bottle before release.

This would make a great choice if you're planning to cook fillet steak, rack of lamb or even good homemade burgers.

Mas Codina sits in the Alt Penedès, Catalonia, and is protected by two benevolent mountain ranges. All the fruit it uses is estate-grown.

The Penedès region spans a long strip of land between the sea and the mountains, half-way between Barcelona and Tarragona.

The DO is made up of three distinct zones: The Penedès Superior (near the inland mountain range), The Penedès Marítim (between the sea and the coastal hills) and Penedès Central (the plain between these areas). The climate is typically Mediterranean, mild and warm.

Penedès has long been associated with innovative winemaking practices. In the 1970s, it became the first area in Spain to use stainless steel equipment and cold-fermentation. Since then the Penedès producers have been making excellent modern wines, blending native with French varieties.

Deep cherry red in colour with purple hints, this is a typical Toro, a bit more intense than a comparable Rioja thanks in part to the slight clonal difference between 'normal' Tempranillo and the local strain, known as Tinta de Toro.

Aromas of red fruit, mulberry and blackberry blend harmoniously with hints of coffee and toast from aging in new wood, leading to a balanced and fresh red wine with good tannic structure and attractive persistence in the mouth.

You could match this with lighter foods such as tapas or simple pasta dishes, and it really comes to the fore with roasts, stews and game.

Ruby red with crimson hues and purplish glints. Aromas of red and black fruits mix with liquorice, meaty notes, light vanilla aromas and a delicate, yet persistent spicing.

“Balsamic, pepper and juicy vanilla flavours make this profound and complex,”

GOLD MEDAL Sommelier Wine Awards 2013 Spain: North & North East, including Navarra & Priorat

Massive, brooding Priorat, with complex, savoury black fruit, violets and olive tapenade flavours. Stony, minerally finish.

Drink, after decanting, with Beef Wellington, roast duck, or rib-eye steak.

Ritme is lovingly crafted from ancient, hand-harvested Carignan and Grenache vines bedded into the famous licorella soil (quartz, slate) of Priorat. Aged for ten months in French oak prior to bottling.

‘Priorat is one of the world's few first-class wines to be made from garnacha, together with some of the unfashionable cariñena ... The age of the vines and concomitantly extremely low yields (0.3 ton/acre) contribute to the intensity and strength of Priorat.’
The Oxford Companion to Wine

Concentrated and seductive Ribera exuding alluring notes of grilled meats, leather, raisins and figs, overlaid with spicy mocha, hazelnut and cedar. A huge amount going on in the glass! Potent, masculine and ageworthy.

Drink this very full-flavoured and powerful Spanish red either on its own as a vino da meditazione or else alongside special roast dinners or winter suppers featuring wild fowl or game.

Inky-hued, perfumed red with hedonistic, opulent aromas and flavours of ripe blackberry, liquorice, prune and spiced raspberry. Earth, leather and cigar-box notes add complexity to a categorically full-bodied wine with rounded tannins and a sumptuous, neverending finish.

This is a real must-try wine from a star winemaker, and a powerful partner for full-blooded dishes such as fillet steak, hearty casseroles, or spiced sausages.

The photo below shows Acústic Celler winemaker Albert Jané getting his teeth into the distinctive llicorella soil of the Priorat and Montsant area. A mix of ancient slate and quartz, it contributes largely to the unique terroir expressed in Albert's organically produced and singingly ‘acoustic’ wines.

‘Full-bodied but deliciously smooth and opulent, with rich dark fruits, plenty of spice, and well-integrated tannins on the finish. The Acústic red is also well worth trying. With barbecued beef.’
John Wilson, Irish Times January 2019 (link)

“Acústic (makers of Braó) produces wines from 40- to 65-year-old vines ... The wines offer the aromas and flavours of Priorat at a far more friendly price.”
Robert Parker

A perfect gift for red wine lovers, this selection brings together six medal-winning Riojas from Bodegas Altanza.

The 2016 Crianza offers a harmonious balance of red fruit flavours and toasty oak, while the 2011 Gran Reserva is a masterpiece of mellow subtlety from an outstanding vintage.

If you choose to click and collect from us, we'll put the bottles into the attractive Lealtanza presentation box—if you'd prefer delivery, the bottles will travel safe and sound in one of our Pulpsafe transit packs.

This is the potent and intense Reserva-level Rioja from Bodegas Baigorri, a landmark tiered winery that commands a panoramic view over the vines of the estate.

The dark livery of the bottle anticipates the contents' rich, enticing aromas of dark fruits and raspberry and strawberry jam, with suggestions of the layers of flavour to come. It's a full-bodied wine that reveals a harmony of flavours on the palate from juicy red fruits through smooth, plummy depths to much darker, deeper hints of cocoa and leather from its eighteen months in new oak.

This balance of freshness and intensity makes Baigorri Reserva an obvious choice for red meat dishes, but its finesse means that it wouldn't overpower lighter meals, and it might do very well with a ratatouille or rich vegetable recipes too.

This is a terrific example of a very sociable Spanish 'young wine': not too full-bodied but with a hint of oak (roble), brisk tannins and concentrated flavours of mulberry, raspberry and clove from a blend of Tempranillo and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Drink with a plate of ham or tapas as though you were in Spain, or let its gentle oak flavours partner meat or vegetable dishes as a crowd-pleasing quaffer.

The Ribera del Duero region, which was awarded DO status in 1982, spans the upper valley of the river Duero. At some 800m above sea level, the growing season is relatively short, and frost is an ever-present threat in spring, though temperatures can soar in summer to a scorching 40 degrees Celsius.

The region's principal grape variety is Tinta del País (also known as Tinto Fino and, of course, Tempranillo) aided and abetted by Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec and, occasionally, the white grape Albillo. Garnacha here is used for rosé.

Here's an advert from the Ribera del Duero promotion board encouraging us to visit the Peñafiel area and enjoy its wines. Even if that's not an option, a flavour of those sunny good times is just a sip away with every bottle of Carramimbre.

A Gran Reserva Rioja is a special treat, and this one comes from one of the outstanding Rioja vintages of the century.

The long ageing that qualifies this wine for the Gran Reserva label gives rise to complex and deep aromas from fruit to spice to smoke and leather. The oak influence carries through onto the palate, with rich, toasty breadth that takes in hints of coffee and dark chocolate around a core of fine, ripe Tempranillo fruit.

The Rioja style of red wine seems never to go out of fashion, and this attractive crianza combines lashings of ripe fruit with toasty tobacco and leather flavours from twelve months' ageing in third-generation French and American oak barrels.

It's fresh and aromatic, and although the crianza effect is apparent and authentic, it's by no means too big or oaky a wine for everyday enjoyment with savoury meals.

This wine is a blend of Tempranillo and Garnacha grapes from the Don Sancho de Londoño family winery, which was established in 2004 as the realization of a dream and named after a local military hero of the sixteenth century.

The name of this wine, Plaer, means ‘pleasure’.

You may not need more persuading than that, but this old vine Priorat is a powerful, complex wine with enticing jammy aromas and an uplifting mineral energy. Red fruit juiciness and darker, velvety depths sustain its dense flavours for simply ages.

The Priorat vines that Albert Jané uses for this wine are all between forty and sixty years old, and grow on a number of the choicest plots in the Priorat DOQ. All the vineyards are based on llicorella soil, and minimal interference in the vines and cellar gives a robust expression of this slate terroir.

The grapes are harvested by hand, with selection carried out in the vineyards and again in the cellar. The resulting wine is aged for twelve months in one year old French oak barrels.

‘Bright violet color. A zesty mineral quality gives loft and focus to sexy aromas of candied flowers and red and dark berry preserves. The juicy, incisive and gently sweet palate offers black raspberry, floral pastille and a late touch of candied licorice. Fine-grained tannins rein in the exuberant fruit on the long and energetic finish. A powerful but finessed wine.’
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous

There has been the by now nearly customary heap of awards for the 2016 vintage of Plaer:

• 93/100, Guía Peñín 2019
• 94/100, Guia Intervinos 2019
• 94.62/100, Guía Wine Up! 2019
• 9.33/10 La Guia de Vins de Catalunya 2019
• 95/100, Guía de Vinos Gourmets 2019
• 90/100, Guía Vivir el Vino 2019