Always a difficult article, this, the more so as time goes on and the quality of Spanish wine continues to increase. I’m not sure how many Spanish wines I taste each year as research for ‘Cork Talk’, but it’s a large number for sure. So, choosing just 10 out of hundreds is difficult, to say the least.
I’m always ambivalent about this article. On the one hand it’s really enjoyable to relive some of those aromas and flavours, as well as occasions – because the why, when and where is also a part of wine appreciation – when I pore though my archived articles. However, I also agonise about those wines that I’ve had to discard, although they too were excellent, as I’m only allowed to choose ten!
It’s tough, but here goes. As with all the beauty pageants, tradition states that I do this in reverse order – so in 10th position in the Costa News Top Ten Spanish Wines of the Year is:
10. Bodegas Atalan and Artisan 8 Vents is made on the island of Mallorca and it really does speak of the eight salt-laden winds that this Balearic island stoically faces through the year. On the nose there are notes of harbour ropes freshly drenched by invigorating cool waves blending so well with the dark blackberry and blackcurrant fruit that soars to the surface of the wine in the glass, as well as a whiff of deck-sealing tar.
