Tag Archives: Spain

1948 Birthday Wine: 70 Year Old Blandy’s Madeira Bual Review

Posted on July 23, 2018 by waywardwine

70 years ago:

(Photo by W. Eugene Smith//Time Life Pictures/Getty Images)
Dewey did not defeat Truman. Babe Ruth died. Gandhi fasted one last time. A young Laurence Olivier premiered Hamlet. Mary Leaky found the missing link in Kenya.

Also, in 1948, my mother in law was born.

Now choosing any birthday gift presents challenges. What do they like, want, or really need? How much is too much or too little? But a 70th birthday…for my mother in law. We had to impress her. She did not need more stuff. I knew she likes wine. But then again, she lives in wine country, has access to tons of it. What could my wife and I possibly get her that she could not?

Luckily, I work for a wine distributor. Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 1948, Africa, Babe Ruth, Birthday, Blandy's, France, Ghandi, Laurence Olivier, Madeira, malmsy, Port, Spain, travel, Truman, wine | 1 Comment

Thirsty Thursday Wine Review Marco Abella, Mas Mallola, Priorat, Spain 2008

Posted on October 27, 2016 by waywardwine

For tonight’s Halloween entertainment, we chose 1965’s The Creeping Terror:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aR0sf8PfAMQ&w=560&h=315%5D

Just imagine, some gaffer forgot to turn on the mic for 80% of the film. Thus, dull narration lays over scenes like a wet blanket, telling us “and then Martin said he was worried and asked to open the door, which he did”, followed by a jump cut shag carpet crawling for hours across a field. Terror.

Drinking is the only answer. Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Cabernet Sauvignon, drink, Grenache, Marco Abella, merlot, Priorat, Red wine, Spain, travel, wine | Leave a comment

Wine Review: Rezabal, Getariako Txakolina rose, Txakoli Spain 2015

Posted on August 7, 2016 by waywardwine

In Basque Country in Northern Spain, before Spain makes a right turn and becomes Southern France, sits a DO called Getariako Txakolina. Let us pretend we can pronounce that. The Gulf Stream chills this coastal corner of the Atlantic (much like Bordeaux or Rias Baixas). … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged drinks, fizzy, Spain, Sparkling wine, wine | 1 Comment

Thirsty Thursday: Pre Labor Day White Garnacha Blanco Vina del Vero

Posted on August 28, 2014 by waywardwine

This Thirsty Thursday we need something interesting. Labor Day will come and we will drink cheap beer. The last thing I need on Labor Day is a conversion about grape clonal types. It is a day to eat, drink, and not think.

But until the brainwashing, let’s test that gray matter with something familiar but not: Grenache. Now Grenache has starred in award winning red roles such as: Châteauneuf du Pape, Rhône, Rioja, Priorat, anything big red and Languedoc, and rosé from Provence. Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Grenache Blanc, Grenache noir, La Miranda, Labor Day, Somontano, Spain, Vinas del Vero, White wine, wine | 1 Comment

Horchata, Paella, Wine, and Architecture in Valencia, Spain

Posted on June 9, 2014 by waywardwine

After a hiatus, this Monday visits Day 115 of our EU Austerity Drinking Tour. A dull bus ride from Madrid deposits us near the coast in Valencia.

Our first hostel in weeks sits in Valencia’s ancient heart. Better still, it has a kitchen, which sends us shopping for groceries.

Along a narrow medieval street we find a garage door. Inside is Bodegas Baviera: a sliver of a wine shop wall-papered in bottles.

The thinning but hardly thin, grumpy Vicente, speaks no English but understands we want something native and cheap.

We grab a bottle of Valencia DO red, head back, and make our typical pasta. The bottle disappears immediately. It is such a grippy yet ripe, black-fruited, peppery blend that I run out again. Continue reading →