Online Fine Wine Encounter Spectacular Spanish Reds

Online tastings are still here, and we have an absolute corker for you this time! Rioja vs Ribera del Duero vs Priorat. The absolute finest Northern Spanish Red line-up we could muster, delivered direct to your door in our cute tasting packs. 

Northern Spain has always been a YWS favourite, fuelled by wines which Laura has brought back from her adventures teaching in Rioja and Ribera, Wine Schoolers have been spoilt rotten by some truly delicious Tempranillo tastings down the years. Although 2020's Spanish trip is still somewhat in limbo we are finding ways to bring the best of wines to the tasting table nonetheless...

Our long awaited Spanish Wine Scholar course has recently launched and we have been busy immersing ourselves in wines to represent this great country in all it's varied glory. Whilst poking around some of our supplier lists we've unearthed some gems which we just can't leave alone. So here it is, a ludicrous 3-way tasting featuring the finest of Rioja, Ribera del Duero and Priorat; some of our favourite producers are here and we've picked their BEST wines! Take a gander...

Franck Massard Heullas Priorat 2015 (RRP £30)- beautiful Priorat in the classic Massard style, all about freshness and elegance. Silky and smooth with floral touches from the Garnacha, the Carinena keeps everything lifted with a backbone of acid and tannin.

Scala Dei Sant Antoni Priorat 2016 (RRP £75)- in the words of the Scala Dei themselves, this is "Spain's answer to Musigny; a wine of almost indescribable beauty; super-silky and super-pure with delicate aromas of raspberry, rosewater and aniseed joined to a liquorice-like concentration on the hauntingly long finish. Like the best of Burgundy this is immediately irresistable yet graced with the power, balance and finesse to last for a decade or longer". We CAN"T WAIT!

Ramon Bilbao Rioja Gran Reserva 2011 (RRP £30)- Classic Gran Reserva from a classic Rioja vintage. Beautiful Tempranillo from RB's best vineyards, aged for 3 years in American oak and then for 7 further years in bottle. Abundant flavours of coconut, vanilla, ripe strawberry, tobacco, mushroom and soft supple tannins. Deceptively drinkable for a wine so complex...

Sierra Cantabria Amancio Rioja 2015 (RRP £125)- Wow! We've only gone and got one of the finest Single Vineyard Rioja around! A warm year which yielded wines of immese concentration, this is only just starting to creep into its drinking window, but boy oh boy does it taste good! Matured in French oak for 24 months, the fruit from one of Rioja Alta's finest sites is really singing here...

Pago de los Capellanes Ribera del Duero Reserva 2017 (RRP £45)- A fave of YWS since we visited all the way back in 2015. A modern, clean, crisp winery which spares no expense on picking the very best fruit and working in a modern fashion. Pimped up with 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, the Tempranillo here displays more black fruit with mulberry, blackberry, blackcurrant and even balsam/eucalyptus notes. Big, but very harmonious, this wine is full of charm and elegance. 

Abadia Retuerta Pago Valdebellon Cabernet Sauvignon, 2015 (RRP £90)- Sat just outside the boundaries of Ribera del Duero, Abadia Retuerta have been making waves for a decade or more now. The first winery in Castilla y Leon to be granted the ultimate 'Pago' status, they make wines which defy all norms and conventions. Their single vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon is a wonder, produced high (900m+) up on a limestone ridge, you will experience all of the power and aromatics of a new world Cab Sauv, married to the acidity and tannic structure of Europe. Now granted Pago status, the price of this wine has already close to doubled in the last 3 years, grab a taster quick before Abadia Retuerta go the way of their neighbours, Vega Sicila. 

The price of your ticket gives you access to Laura's presentation (up to two people) and one tasting pack (6x 50ml sample bottles) delivered to you. If you would like a second tasting pack delivered to your address, please add a second place to your basket and then use discount code SPAINSPECTACULAR15 to minus £15 from your total cost to pay. 

We'll be sending packs out in the week leading up to the tasting, please ensure you book nice and early to ensure the pack arrives on time! We will record all online tastings so you can watch at another time if it is more convenient.