Exclusive: Justerini & Brooks joins forces with Raúl Pérez

Wine Merchant Justerini & Brooks has unveiled its first-ever collaborative wine – a partnership between buyer Mark Dearing and icon of Spanish winemaking, producer Raúl Pérez.

Bancroft pushes into the Spanish Levante with new addition

Bodegas Mustiguillo, part of the Grandes Pagos de Espana, is joining the Bancroft Wines portfolio as the distributor bolsters UK representation of wine from Spain’s Mediterranean coast.

Hallgarten Wines named UK on-trade distributor for Grupo La Rioja Alta

Specialist wine importer, Hallgarten & Novum Wines, has been appointed as the new UK on-trade distributor for iconic Spanish producer Grupo La Rioja Alta.

Spain's vintage 2022: Challenges across the board

Wines from Spain has released its annual harvest report for the 2022 vintage in Spain.

Rueda sales buoyant as 2022 figure breaks records

Sales of Rueda broke records last year, with almost 110 million labels distributed in 2022.

Rioja Wine Month fuels 232% sales uplift

October saw Rioja wine sales soar as over 120 independent retailers, wine bars and restaurants across the UK took part in the second edition of Rioja Wine Month. 

10th Tío Pepe challenge now open for entries

In 2023, the international Tío Pepe Challenge, the world’s largest Sherry cocktail competition, celebrates its 10th Anniversary and is now open for entries from UK bartenders on the theme, ‘Twist Your Classic’.

Armit strengthens Spanish portfolio in exclusive partnership with Familia Fernandez Rivera

Leading fine wine merchant Armit Wines has expanded its coverage of Spain with a new range from the Familia Fernández Rivera wineries, including the flagship Tinto Pesquera wines.

Ribera del Duero completes milestone vintage

Ribera del Duero celebrated its fortieth harvest this year, picking the last grape on 12 November. 

Wines of Spain announces dates for 2023 Annual Tastings

Wines from Spain has revealed dates and locations for its Annual Tastings next year. The first will be held in London on 28 February, with a northern event also taking place in Leeds, Yorkshire, on 13 March.

Friday read: Not a match – why is sherry failing to find its groove?

November and December is the time when fortifieds come out to play. At least, they do in the press. Probably 90% of port and sherry’s column inches occur in the month before Christmas.

Rioja's white exports grow, but overall market dips

The growth of Rioja’s white wines is paying dividends for the region in the export market, finally making good on a promise that the DO is able to diversify its portfolio abroad. However, things are looking a little less rosy globally in 2022, with uncertainty in various key markets leading exports to take a tumble.

Tim Atkin MW returns to Ribera del Duero for second 'Special' report

Five minutes with Hamilton Lowe, Carmosina Holdings & Vitoria Regia gin

Andrew Catchpole catches up with Hamilton Lowe, co-founder of Carmosina Holdings, which launched the globe’s number one cachaça, to discover more about his new Brazilian range of gins.

Ramón Bilbao: Reviving old favourites

In 2024, Ramón Bilbao will celebrate its centenary, 100 years of fine winemaking that has firmly established it as one of the leading producers in Spain and one of the world’s most admired wine brands. However, since the start of the current millennium Ramón Bilbao has become famous for more than just great winemaking. Under head winemaker Rodolfo Bastida, who assumed the reins in 1999, and the ownership of the Zamora Group, the Haro-based producer has been at the forefront of innovation in Rioja Alta and beyond. While pursuing excellence, it has cast aside many of the conventions that led many people to brand Rioja as boring and predictable.

How Rueda is coming of age

In many ways, Rueda has been a counterpoint to Galicia’s roll call of increasingly sought-after (but often niche) whites. As Spain’s premier white wine-producing region, Rueda has long provided crisp, easy-going styles, with the ‘green’ notes of its flagship Verdejo grape dubbed the ‘terrace tiger’ for its popularity as a summer refresher. Not that Rueda is without quality credentials; sitting at 700-800m above sea level on pebble-infused sandy soils, with big diurnal shifts in temperature and many old vines, these green (‘verde’ – Verdejo) wines have thrived here for up to 10 centuries. But as a category, it has more often played the everyday crowd-pleaser to Galicia’s more exalted status among independents and sommeliers.

Galicia: Spain's Atlantic challenger

Spain’s north-west corner challenges the cliché of full-bodied, fully ripe wines associated with the country. Galicia is the gateway to Atlantic storms and Rías Baixas, its largest DO, a succession of estuaries that allow the ocean to penetrate inland and one of the world’s wettest wine regions with an average rainfall of 1,400–1,600mm. Its lush vines trained mainly in pergolas yield small, thick-skinned Albariño berries that are behind some of Spain’s best whites.

D.O. Navarra announce collaboration with Sarah Jane Evans MW and Susy Atkins

D.O. Navarra has announced a collaboration with Susy Atkins and Sarah Jane Evans MW, to help promote the region's wines in the UK. 

Q&A: Fernando Muñoz Naranjo, Wines From Spain

With Spain’s colours still flying high, Andrew Catchpole invited its UK director to outline his vision for its future

Tim Atkin MW: Singling out Rioja's merits

Modern and traditional are surprisingly slippery terms in Rioja and should be handled with caution. Techniques, ideas and debates that are considered contemporary turn out to have strong historical precedents. Reading Ludger Mees’ new book The History of Rioja Wine (Routledge), I was struck by how often the present echoes the past. As early as 1771 – long before Rioja became a famous wine region – people were grumbling about excessive yields and low prices, the very subjects that still exercise commentators, growers and producers today.