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#tasting-bench
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Sangarida, Bierzo, Spain
While in Galicia recently to attend the 25th anniversary of Bodegas Attis, I had the chance to taste the wines from their DO Bierzo project, Sangarida. Attis was the original winery founded by the family of Robustiano Fariña but his wife, Laura Vázquez, is originally from the Bierzo region on the other side of Galicia and thus they set about creating a project on her home turf back in 2019. Despite several reports on Bierzo, this is the first time I’ve tasted the wines as they don’t actually have a […] For full access, please log in or purchase a subscription .
by Miquel Hudin2 viewsspanish-winestasting-benchdo-bierzogodellomencia - news
Torelló, Corpinnat, Catalunya
As one of the originals to break off from DO Cava in the Corpinnat split, Torelló has been a winery that I’ve been following for some time. They have a relatively broad range of wines, but all are from estate-grown grapes and quality runs from very good to absolutely excellent. Thus it was a nice surprise to receive this sample of their ‘Tradicional’ wine. If I’m not mistaken, this is their second-largest production wine of the 600,000 or so bottles they produce each year and it’s always a solid option, […] For full access, please log in or purchase a subscription .
by Miquel Hudin12 viewscatalan-winestasting-benchcorpinnattorello - news
Marqués de Riscal, Rueda, Spain
These came up as something of a suprise when tasting at Marqués de Riscal for the most-recent Rioja Report. Admittedly it wasn’t a surprise that a Rioja winery produced wines in DO Rueda as seemingly everyone with the least bit of presence in Rioja or Ribera del Duero has a project or outright winery in Rueda. It was more the fact that they were exceedingly engaging. While the younger of the two met all points in terms of what a Verdejo wine from the region should taste like, the “Gran […] For full access, please log in or purchase a subscription .
by Miquel Hudin14 viewsspanish-winestasting-benchdo-ruedaverdejo - news
Finca Río Negro, Guadalajara, Spain
For those unfamiliar with the Vino de Pago system in Spain, it won’t have too much impact to mention that Río Negro was the latest Pago to be approved, which was back in 2025. The Pagos are basically a monopole in that they’re a Protected Denomination of Origin (PDO) under EU law, but they’re not a Denomination of Origin as they’re owned by a single owner and don’t have a governing council like the Denominations of Origin or DOs. This gets confusing as the owners of these Pagos will usually […] For full access, please log in or purchase a subscription .
by Miquel Hudin19 viewsspanish-winestasting-bench - news
Bodegas Buezo, Arlanza, Spain
The winery of Buezo is in the rather overlooked DO arlanza region which sits just to the north of Ribera del Duero, yet yields quite different wines and only holds about two dozen wineries. Here we have the ‘current’ release which is from 2009 as the project looks to build upon a long heritage of aging. That said, this release is still quite fresh and elevated despite such long aging and is a fine wine. Admittedly, it’s a bit confusing as to how the wines are named and the winery […] For full access, please log in or purchase a subscription .
by Miquel Hudin18 viewsspanish-winestasting-bencharlanza-docastilla-y-leon - news
Viña Vilano, Ribera del Duero, Spain
This serves as an update to the previous tasting of Viña Vilano, except this time it’s all from Ribera del Duero with the exception of the Godello wine from Bierzo–this same vintage was tasted last year, and, thankfully, was scored the same. What’s interesting to see overall in their wines it that, despite being founded in 1957, there are constant changes to the wines. The biggest to note in all in these latest wines is the strength of the 2022 vintage which is, excellent across the board. Both of their […] For full access, please log in or purchase a subscription .
by Miquel Hudin19 viewsspanish-winestasting-benchbodegas-vilanodo-ribera-del-duerotempranillo - news
Famille Quiot, Southern France
Accompanying this article is a small portfolio tasting of the wines from Famille Quiot, a family that lays claim to a winemaking history since the mid-18th century. I say ‘small’ as the parent company seems to have more than a dozen individual wineries and brands residing under it. The key item uniting all of them however is that they’re firmly Southern Rhône in origin. For example, there are at least six different Provençal-style rosés, of which I tasted half of them and yes, there is indeed a difference between them […] For full access, please log in or purchase a subscription .
by Miquel Hudin22 viewsfrench-winestasting-benchfamille-quiotrhone - news
Hispano Suizas, València, Spain
Here’s a refreshed look at Hispano Suizas that picks up on the new vintages since the previous tasting. Overall the wines are showing quite well, even varieties such as Pinot Noir and Sauvingon Blanc which generally suffer in Spain. But, at the altitudes they have for their vineyards, these are hanging in there and producing reliable wines. The wines of true note this time around were the sparklings produced under DO Cava and the ‘Vintage’ was a truly excellent wine. Although at 50€ plus retail, one would indeed expect quite […] For full access, please log in or purchase a subscription .
by Miquel Hudin21 viewsspanish-winestasting-benchhispano-suizasvalencia - news
Viña Salceda Entresierras, Rioja
While I’ve previously reviewed the wines of Viña Salceda here, when it comes to their white offer, to date it’s only been the more general ‘Blanco’. This bottle of Entresierras shifts things up a great deal. For starters, the blend is quite wild as while there’s the typical base of Viura/Macabeu and the now, more-typical Tempranillo Blanco, it also tosses in the rarer Calagraño, Malvasia Rioja/Alarije and then the red, Graciano of all things. I can solidly state that I’ve never encountered a blend anywhere near similar to this for […] For full access, please log in or purchase a subscription .
by Miquel Hudin32 viewsspanish-winestasting-benchdoc-riojamacabeutempranillo-blanco - news
Alba en Ribera, Ribera del Duero
These are part of a new project called, Alba en Ribera in DO Ribera del Duero. Both of the wines present a lighter take on the more typical heavier-bodied wines found in the region which makes them drift a touch more towards Rioja stylistically, although with plenty of dark fruit notes to state firmly that they are indeed Ribera wines. From the village of Olmedillo, the vineyards are all higher-altitude plantings starting at 825m and going up from there. From the start everything has been farmed organically, but don’t be […] For full access, please log in or purchase a subscription .
by Miquel Hudin19 viewsspanish-winestasting-benchdo-ribera-del-duerotempranillo - news
Familia Torres Pirene, Costers del Segre
This is an interesting wine of note from Torres as it’s from the larger Costers del Segre Tasting Report but was tasted after the fact. It’s noteworthy as, unless one is very deep into the wine trade, you’ll probably never have heard of the grape variety, Pirene. It’s part of the variety recuperation program that the family started over 40 years ago to find seemingly ‘lost’ varieties across Catalunya. The reason behind this was and continues to be in order to find different varieties for use in a changing climate. […] For full access, please log in or purchase a subscription .
by Miquel Hudin17 viewscatalan-winestasting-benchdo-costers-del-segrepirenetorres - news
Les Freses, Alicante, Spain
Let’s have a new look at this project in Alicante called, Les Freses that’s in a small area call, Jesús Pobre. I reviewed a selection of these wines last year, which were dominated by the wines from 2023 and 2024. This time around al of the white wines are from 2025 with the two reds from 2024. This, has made a great deal of difference as I feel the overall quality fo the wines is up a great deal over the previous tasting. I’m not sure if this is just […] For full access, please log in or purchase a subscription .
by Miquel Hudin17 viewsspanish-winestasting-benchdo-alicante - news
Bodega Severino Sanz, Ribera del Duero
While I’ve previously tasted the wines of Severino Sanz, it was ages ago and this new tasting formed a rediscovery of their wines for me and a greater appreciation for their work. For those who know this other side to Tempranillo in Spain, you’ll be very aware that it’s a very different take on the variety with wines that are much more dark fruited and denser in concentration. Additionally, they can often be very pricey in my opinion. This isn’t the case here with this selection of wines which I […] For full access, please log in or purchase a subscription .
by Miquel Hudin22 viewsspanish-winestasting-benchdo-ribera-del-duerotempranillo