The Story The Matsu El Picaro 2019 is a Tempranillo wine sourced from 90-year-old vineyards in the Toro D.O. of Spain. Toro is located near the Northeast corner of Portugal, the northwest of Spain wraps around the Portugal border. Matsu is a Japanese word that means to wait and El Picaro translates to the Rouge….
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The Story The Aria Pinot Noir Brut Cava is a non-vintage Bubbly from the Penedes region of Catalunya, near Barcelona in Eastern Spain. Aria is part of the Segura Viudas family of Sparkling wines. Segura Viudas is in turn part of the Freixenet group that includes Mionetto Prosecco and Gloria Ferrer wines. Cava is produced…
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The Story The Proyecto la Garnacha Salvaje del Moncayo translates to the Wild Garnacha Project of Moncayo. The concept behind this wine is simple. Find old, neglected Garnacha vineyards and bring them back to life. The Moncayo is one the largest mountain peaks (Pyrenees) along the Elbro Valley in the district of Aragon in northeast…
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The Story The Anna de Codorníu Brut Rosé Cava is a blend of 70% Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay sourced from estate vineyards near the town of Lleida in the Cava D.O. of northeast Spain (near Barcelona). A typical Cava uses the three indigenous grapes, Macabeo, Xarello, and Parelada, but since this is a Rose’ and Red…
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The Story The Time Waits For No One Monastrell 2017 is 100% Monastrell (Mourvedre in France) produced by Finca Bacara (Finca translates to farm or vineyard) in the Jumilla DO of southeastern Spain. This wine is designated a DOP wine which is Spain’s highest wine category and Monastrell is the #1 Red grape in Jumilla accounting…
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The Story The Garnacha de Fuego 2018 is an old vine (between 39 and 79 years old) Garnacha sourced from mountainside vineyards in the Calatayud district of the Aragon DO in northeast Spain. This is one of Jorge Ordóñez Selections line of imported wines, he is a major importer of Spanish wines and his wines…
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The Story The Plus and Plus Brut (or +&+ on the label) is a non-vintage blend of 3 indigenous Catalonian grapes, 30% Xarello, 50% Macabeo, and 20% Parellada has grown on the Penedes region of eastern Spain, near Barcelona. The +&+ is produced by Bodegas Pinord a family-run winery that was founded over 150 years ago….
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The Story The Sierra de Viento Garnacha 2016 is sourced from vineyards in the Cariñena region of the Aragon DO in Northeast Spain. Cariñena is an old wine producing region, it was founded by the Romans. Its funny that virtually every wine producing area in Europe has a heritage that is connected to Rome and some along the…
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The Story The M.Chevallier Brut Cava is a Trader Joe’s $5.99 exclusive sourced from vineyards near Barcelona in northeast Spain. The trademark for this Cava is owned by the oldest and 2nd largest Cava producer in Spain. It is also imported by their own wine importation company, so they are not hiding anything. Trader Joe’s does…
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The Oxte The Silence Red Blend 2017- Trader Joe’s is a Trader Joe’s $5.99 import exclusive, a blend of 40% Tempranillo, 25% Syrah, 25% Garnacha (same as Grenache) and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from vineyards in the Cariñena region of Northeast Spain. Oxte is the Spanish word for “shoo” as in shoo fly, to swat something away….
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The Dama D Roca Garnacha 2016 is a $5.99 Trader Joe’s import exclusive produced by Bodegas Paniza, a co-op of 300 vineyards located near the town of Paniza in the Cariñena DO of the Aragon region of Northeast Spain. Bodegas Paniza makes several other Trader Joe’s Spanish wines. This Garnacha was aged in oak barrels, which is extremely…
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The Satis Dei Syrah-Garnacha 2016 is an $8.99 Trader Joe’s import wine, though I think it is available in other parts of the world from different retailers. The Satis Dei is 55% Syrah and 45% Garnacha and is a Tierra de Castilla designated wine (the same as a IGP or Vin de Pays wine) in the Castilla/La…
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The Dellara Cava Brut is a $6.99 ALDI Sparkling wine from somewhere in Spain. I say somewhere in Spain, since you would normally see (about 90% of the time) the Penedes DO or Catalonia (near Barcelona) on the label, but the Dellara simply says “Product of Spain“. It had the Cava stamp on the top of…
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The Casteller Cava Brut is 40% Macabeo, 40% Xarel-lo, and 20% Parellada (the 3 traditional indigenous Catalonian grapes used in producing Cava) sourced from the Celler Vilafranca vineyards and winery, the largest vineyard owner in the Penedes area of the Catalunya region of Spain (near Barcelona). Brut indicates that this is a dry or not sweet Sparkling…
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The Happy : Hour Red Blend 2016 was a pleasant surprise! Ah remember the summer of 2016 when all the kids (and way too many adults) were out everywhere, running into walls because they were staring at their phones playing Pokémon Go? That record-setting app, credited for popularizing AR (augmented reality) technology, made it look…
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The Luzada Albarino 2017 is a $7.99 Trader Joe’s import exclusive (though it seems to available in other countries), it is estate grown and bottled in the Val do Saines DO (a DO in Spain is the same as an AVA in California, a specific boundary) located in Rias Baixas in the northwest corner of Spain,…
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The El Terrano Rosado 2017 is a Garnacha Rose’ sold exclusively by Whole Foods ($9.99) sourced from 4 vineyards located near the town of Longares in the Carinena DO in the Aragon province of northeast Spain. This area has been producing wine since Roman times and Aragon is thought to be where the Garnacha grape originated….
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The Evodia Garnacha 2016 is 100% Garnacha sourced from 40 to 100 year old vines located in the Calatayud DO inside the Aragon district of northeast Spain. Evodia is one of big-time importer Eric Solomon of European Cellars wines and this one of CWF’s personal favorites, we have write-ups on the 2008, 2010, and the 2013 vintage…
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The Castano Monastrell Rose’ 2017 is sourced from vineyards in the higher elevations of the Yecla D.O., Yecla is a town located in the Murcia district of southeastern Spain, they have produced wine here since Roman times. Monastrell is a grape that is native to the region, but is best known as Mourvedre (the M in…
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The Death Metal Red Vol.1 2016 is a private label wine blend found at Whole Foods for $8.99 and sourced from vineyards in the Castilla-LaMancha growing area of central Spain. This wine does not exist on the internet, that’s not uncommon for private label wines since part of the reason for their existence is to remove…
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The Espelt Old Vines Garnacha 2015 is sourced from Estate, family owned, 95 year old, certified organic Garnacha vineyards (Grenache and Garnacha are the same grape, one is the French word the other is the Spanish term) located in the steep hillsides of the Emporda DO in the far Northeast corner of Spain, next to the French…
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The Caves Naveran Brut Cava 2015 is an estate grown, vintage dated Bubbly, farmed organic, but not certified organic in vineyards around the town of Torrelavit in the Alt Penedes DO of Catalonia (near Barcelona) In northeast Spain. Cava is produced in the same way as Champagne, the Traditional Method, where the wine is fermented 2x, the…
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The LaGranja 360 Garnacha Rosado 2016 is a $4.99 Trader Joe’s imported wine sourced from grapes grown in the Cariñena DO inside the Zaragoza Province in north-east Spain. The LaGranja 360 (translates to the Farm 360) line of wines, which for the most part sell for under 5 bucks (I think their Cava Sparkling wine is a…
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The Terras Gauda O Rosal 2015 is a blend of 70% Albariño, 20% Caiño, and 10% Loureiro grown in Bodegas Terras Gauda vineyards located in the O Rosal sub-district of Rias Baixas in northwest Spain.Virtually all the wine produced in Rias Baixas is White wine with Albariño comprising 96% of the vines planted.grapes. Loureiro and Caiño are…
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The Jellybean Cabernet Sauvignon is a non-vintage 100% Cabernet Sauvignon wine sourced from vineyards in Spain. You may not think of Spain when you think Cabernet Sauvignon, but the planting of Cab Sauv vines is trending upwards as Spain expands in the global wine market. Also, as a result, some of the indigenous, traditional, local grape varietals…
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