Codorníu Cava Pinot Noir Brut - Pink Bubbly

We had happy girly celebrations this week, what better way to toast them than to drink pink and sparkly wine? That's what we thought when we bought a variety of Cava Rosadas. It would have made for a far better celebration if we'd remembered to take them along to the party. We had to chill them for mid-week drinking instead - life is hard.

The Codorníu Cava Pinot Noir Brut was an attractive salmon pink with firm and assertive bubbles. It smelled fruity and a littly earthy, with a gentle strawberry flavour, not overwhelming, well balanced with lemon acidity.

It was good value sparkles, and the pink fruitiness was a pleasant change for the summertime.

Palacio de Valdeinfante 1997 - Spanish Classic!

Hurrah for Carlos Sastre who won the Tour today after a heroic team effort got him there. It was pretty much sewn up last night at the time trial when Cadel Evans failed to pull off the outstanding time he'd relied on so we had a Spanish classic to celebrate.

It was a Palacio de Valdeinfante 1997 Tempranillo from Laithwaites. It's wrapped in a faux wire cage which is kinda silly, but the wine is good. It's thick, rich and oaky without tasting of fresh shavings. There's plenty of black fruit too, along with a touch of spice. It's worth the ��8 it's on sale for.

Enough typing for now, I have a cold glass of pink Cava waiting to celebrate properly. Maybe it will help me over the guilt I'm feeling at being secretely smug that there's lots of new world wine in the kitchen I haven't had a need to drink for the last three weeks.

Sainsbury's Lustau Fino Sherry

Le Tour est arriv��! Let the fun begin. The Tour de France kicked off (pedalled off?) yesterday with a new format encouraging a tighter, more assertive race.

Spain's Alejandro Valverde took the first stage, and my 'guest photographer' and chief Sherry pourer is a bit of a fan having seen him years ago cycling around Spain in the Vuelta years ago. I'm a big Sherry fan having gained a taste for it cycling across Spain.

Lustau is a big hitter in the Sherry world, and they've struck a deal with Sainsbury's to provide their 'Taste The Difference' range of Sherries. Not only does that mean great Sherry is available in the supermarket, but they also use 50cl bottles which are so much better for Sherry as the smaller bottle size means greater turnover in the fridge so fresher sherry. Hurrah.

This Fino is big and beefy, almost literally, it have that kind of Marmite style meatiness as well as a 'salt' level of Manzanilla proportions. There's bottle olive juice too, all in all a strong contender.

Look out for Valverde's bike today, he's brought along one to go with his new yellow jersey (that's confidence!), even the brake calipers are yellow.

CVNE Rioja Rosado 2007 - Spanish Winner

Spain finally threw off their 'perennial underachiever' tag and won Euro 2008. We settled down to the final with a bottle of rose - the Germans play in white, the Spanish in red, it seemed like a reasonable compromise, or at least it might have been if it wasn't from Rioja. Like most of Europe I wanted Spain to win. They play nicer football and frankly, it was their turn!

A truth I hold to be self evident is that all Rioja is good, particularly CUNE, regardless of colour. Their 2007 Rosado doesn't disappoint. It's a beautiful shade of pink and it tastes of raspberries and strawberries with a zip of lemon and just a hint of grassiness. It's a whole summer picnic in a glass!

Majestic currently offer ��2 off if you buy two bottles making it a ��5.50 bargain. Stock up now and enjoy your summer.

Freixenet Excelencia Brut Cava

So 'perennial underachievers' Spain have made it through to te semi-finals of the European Championships. It does seem like they've trademarked the phrase.

What better way to celebrate than with a bottle of Cava, a Freixenet Excelencia Brut Cava. It's made from the classic Cava grape blend in what I'm not going to call the Champagne method, it's the traditional method. It opened with a reassuring pop, and the bubbles were lively leaving a persistent mousse, which looks inviting.

It smells almost floral, alongside the more expected lemony-ness. The bubbles burst quite assertively, but no unpleasantly in the mouth, with plenty more lemon flavour and apple. The flavour is fresh and invigorating, and whilst it doesn't have the biscuity richness of some of its older relatives, it doesn't miss it.

Served cold on a summer evening it's good value for under a tenner, offering something a little different in the sparkling space.

Vina Sol - Sunny days for Valverde

This weekend Alejandro Valverde won the Dauphine Libere, in what could be a warm up for the Tour de France. What better way to celbrate than with a Torres Vina Sol 2007, Torres most successful wine in the UK.

It smelled fresh and fruity with green apple and a little spiciness. It was dry with a high yet balanced acidity. The alcohol level of 11.5% is afternoon-friendly. It tastes fruity with crisp green apple softened a little by ripe pears, melons and something just a little like cooked spicy pineapple.

It's a remarkably refreshing yet quaffable wine, reliably delivering year after year. It's generally priced between ��5.50 and ��7, and you can usually pick up a bottle (or more) at Thresher's, Tesco, Sainsbury, Majestic or any chain retailer.

Castell de Veza 2006 - Spanish Winner

Alberto Contador secured his win of the Giro this weekend, becoming the first non-Italian to do so for over ten years, and joining Miguel Indurain as the only other Spanish winner. Time for a Spanish wine.

We had Castell de Veza 2006, a Malvasia Moscatel blend from Valencia. It was lurking in the fridge as a random Spanish ��5 wine for when a cold white wine was needed. It wasn't what I expected.

It had a fresh yet almost floral aroma. Whilst it was dry the full on wallop of fruit made it taste almost sweet. It had spice too. Had I been given it in a blind tasting I'd have guessed (for that's what really happens at blind tastings) that it might have been from Alsace.

This wine was a bargain at ��5, I'd happily have paid ��8. I'm sure Astana feel the same way about Contador, although I'd be happier if he was in the old ONCE shirt.

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Marqués de Toledo Gran Reserva

I'd really enjoyed a Marqu��s de Toledo Crianza a while a go, so when I saw the Gran Reserva I thought it would be good to give it a go.

The Marqu��s de Toledo Gran Reserva 1999 was a medium pale garnet colour, and smelled a little of boxed strawberries with blackberry jam. Medium bodied it had a medium level of alcohol at 13%, unfortunately, it had a a high level of acidity which wasn't well balanced into the wine.

The fruit was faded, there was a feeling that it had once been fruity but overly tannic, and now those tannins had softened, but they'd taken the fruit with them. I'd missed the magical tipping point when everything was together in balance. At ��7 it was a worthwhile punt, but I won't be seeking it out in future.

Sainsbury's Fino Sherry

Making dinner at the weekend requires a glass of sherry, otherwise it's just another chore. There's usually a Manzanilla in the fridge, or a trusty Tio Pepe, but last weekend, the fridge was bare. OK, so there was food in there, but no sherry, not a drop.

I took a stroll around to the shops, and it's suprising how few sherrys are available in the average corner shop. I could find a section that looked like sherry - stuffed with large bottles saying things like Cream and Medium Sweet in big letters witha tiny little line admitting 'British fortified wine'. The best I could do was Sainsbury's own brand Fino.

It was OK, for an emergency, and allowed me to chop veggies and stir things in a reasonably relaxed state whilst listening to the commentary on the late afternoon match, but it lacked the zippy cheeriness I'd hoped for. It was cheap, it was available, and hyper-chilled it worked.

Marques de Toledo - Fruity Feast

We had a bottle of Marqu��s de Toledo 2001 Crianza at the weekend. It was a purple-red with a light vanilla aroma followed by lots of fruit, mostly raspberries. It had a medium level of tannin, soft and ripe, with a balanced acidity. It tasted decidedly fruity and younger that 7 years old. There was raspberry with a little strawberry and redcurrant.

It tasted like a lighter, fresher Rioja. It's made from Tempranillo, but in the hot La Mancha area of central Spain. There's 10% Cabernet Sauvignon which doesn't really shine through in taste, but probably adds some colour and weight.

At ��5-6 a bottle this is a good value wine that goes surprisingly well with chocolate. I'd buy it again.

Pilgrimage Bierzo Mencia

I'm a sucker for wines from places I've visited, doubly so if I've cycled through them, tripley (is that a word?) so if they have a cute name, so when I spotted The Pilgrimage Bierzo Mencia 2006 in Tesco I had to buy it. It had a little map of the pilgrimage routes to Santiago on the label, a desperate ploy to make me buy it.

I'd never heard of Mencia grapes, but I didn't feel bad about it, there's lots of grapes in the world I haven't tried. It does seem that I'm just in time though, it's gaining a reputation and plenty of plantings to go with it.

This one was a bright, medium depth purple-garnet. It smelled fruity with black cherries and ripe plums, with something curiously, but not unpleasantly fennel like. It served up a whack of acidity and tannin, it felt a little young, and I suspect the tannins would soften a little in a year or two without losing the plumminess, but allowing some of the spice lurking about to come forward.

It's drinkable now, but to make the most of my ��7 (less 25% if I'd opted for a half case) I think I'll pop a bottle under the stairs and drink it next Christmas.

I used the last of the bottle to poach some cherries, adding a little vanilla-sugar and cinnamon, topped off with a little grated 85% cocoa chocolate they were divine.

Comfort Blanket

Coventry have just lost 4-0 to West Brom. It's a depressing evening and could so easily have been different if former Sky Blue hero Mifsud hadn't got himself sent off for idiocy.

At times like this a person needs a hug. Some wines have hug-ability. Rioja is usually a good choice. I had a Castillo San Lorenzo Rioja Reserva 1999 left over from a bin end case from Tesco. Retailing at around the ��8-10 mark usually, this lot came in at about a fiver. I bought a lot a couple of years ago and this was the last bottle.

Despite being deemed 'past it's sell by date' when I bought it, it had got better. Forests of warm American oak made it feel toasty warm, and the rest of the forest had done it's bit with blackberries, blackcurrants, black cherries and plummy goodness adding fruit, topped off with cinnamon spice.

I wish I had more, I suspect it may be a long season.

Beautiful Bierzo

I was delighted to find a Martin Sarmiento 2003 Bierzo in Majestic. I'd cycled through Bierzo in 2003on my way to Santiago, stopping in Villa Franca del Bierzo because I felt horribly ill. Having stuffed myself silly on seafood the previous evening I was dealing with the unattractive consequences of an upset stomach full of squid ink.

The surrounding countryside was fabulous, and the vineyards inviting. This wine was bright and a lively red. Attractively fruity it had plenty of cherries and redcurrants and raspberries, soften by just enough smooth vanilla oak.

At ��9-10 it was an interesting change, as a well balanced, food friendly wine. Again, I suspect my sentiment may have an influence on my perception of the wine, but that is really the point of wine for me.

Digging around

It's getting cold, the nights are getting dark and so it's time for sitting home with a bottle of wine and a board game.

I've recently received Archaeology, a new card game all the way from sunny Australia, so we tried it out with a Rioja. We opted for a Baron de Ley Club Privado 2001 Reserva. The bodega is only about 20 years old, but the grounds include an abandoned Benedictine Monastery from the 16th Century, which I'm sure would have some finds. I've happily cycled to all sorts of churches and monasteries in the Rioja area, but not this one.

The wine was a dark, velvety purple. It had plenty of rich American oak adding sweet vanilla and smokiness, dominating the black fruits. Dry with soft, ripe tannins and a medium-full body it was pleasantly rich with warming alcohol and the flavour held well.

That was a good thing as we played three rounds of Archaeology, each one playing out differently as we tried different strategies and the chaos elements of the game changed. I'll play Archaeology again this weekend, but I may match it with another Rioja. Baron de Ley was good, and I'd happily drink it again, but not exceptional and there's plenty more to try.

Rainy days

Autumn is upon us, nights are drawing in and it's raining again. Rain isn't always the vine's best friend but in Galicia it rains almost as much as it does in Wales, yet they still manage to turn out wine.

Albariño is a Spanish gem. Made from the same grapes as vinho verde, and just a few miles up the coast in the wine region of Rias Baixas, it's a very different wine. I tried a Val do Sosego Albariño 2006 from Oddbins.

It's pale with strong legs. It smells of peaches and apricots with a touch of citrus. Bone dry with a lemon crisp acidity. The stone fruit carries onto the palate with a lttle almond bitterness. It's medium bodied with medium alcohol at 12.5%. The flavour lasts well and acts as a great balance to rich seafood.

Expect to pay about £7-8 a bottle.

Vanilla Slice

I found a Vina Mara 2001 Rioja Reserva lurking under the stairs, I guess it had been there around 18 months, pretty much ideal really.

It's a rich velvety dark garnet colour. It smells of vanilla, like melted ice cream, maybe with some plum pie. That's a good thing.

It's dry with plenty of soft ripe tannins that add to the overall velvety-ness. It feels full in body with plenty going on. The vanilla dominates, perhaps to a degree that may be too much if you're not in a plum pie with vanilla ice cream mood, particularly as the flavour goes on for ages.

This is a good value, "let's have a bottle of wine and watch a film", midweek kinda wine. Expect to pay around £6-8 for the 2002 vintage which is now available.

For The Love Of Wine

I was delighted to spot a bottle of wine from Puente La Reina, a wonderful little mediaeval town on the Camino de Santiago in Navarra. I had a slight translation error there where I found myself cycling into a running of the bulls rather than a supermarket, which was unexpected.

Senorio de Sarria���s wines are fantastic examples of just how good Navarra can be. Their Cabernet Sauvignon and Tempranillo vines are at least 25 years old, and blended beautifully.

I had a basic 1999 Crianza, a wine that had had a lot of bottle age. It was a rich garnet colour with just a touch of brick on the edge. It smelled of warm vanilla and chocolate with rich red fruits. It had a touch of balsamic, which wasn���t unpleasant.

It was dry with fine, smooth, velvety tannins. It felt rich and full in the mouth, and the red fruits held on well, but were starting to tire a little, replaced by balsamic and coffee and leather and cedar. A fair trade.

This 1999 was probably a little past its best, but only just. If you see one from this millennium, snap it up, and enjoy drinking a wine that pilgrims through the centuries have enjoyed before you.

Yeast will eat itself

I was searching for a lost file this week. It was important and it wasn���t in my e-mail. I was having to search for ��� gasp ��� a paper copy. In doing so I looked in filing cabinets, normally things I simply use to keep plants on. In one I found an old bottle of Mas Tauler Cava. It had a note attached ��� it had been a gift from a supplier to an employee who left four years ago.

We cracked it open this afternoon, with every intent of pouring it down the sink. It opened with a reassuring fizz after a couple of days in the fridge. It was a rich lemon gold colour and the bubbles kept coming.

It smelled of yeast. All sorts of yeast. Think hot buttered toast with Marmite and crumbled biscuits on top. The bubbles kept going in the mouth, with a reasonable amount of acid and little sugar. The yeastiness continued, without a hint of fruit. The toast was burned, the marmite was thick, and oddly, a hint of peanut butter entered the equation.

This was odd. It was clearly too old, but if we���d caught it a year ago, it may have been far too good for the c ��5 it cost. Maybe if we had stored it somewhere more sensible than a filing cabinet it may have done better, but it certainly hadn���t been disturbed and maybe filing cabinets do help to maintain a steady temperature.

I still don���t know what I did with that file, but now I don���t really care.

Happy Birthday!

Some friends had a happy, healthy baby this week. Hurrah! She arrived a month earlier than planned, so we were delighted she was fine, but I was woefully short of Champagne to celebrate. A quick scoot around the kitchen revealed a few sparklers, but nothing from the required neighbourhoods in northeast France.

I cracked open a Cava from the fridge, intended for a somewhat lesser (as yet undetermined) pleasant surprise.

It was certainly bubbly, with persistent small bubbles giving a creamy mousse. It smells yeasty, more bread than marmite. There���s fresh green apples and limes. It���s just off dry with a balanced acidity. Medium body and alcohol add to that balance. The bubbles create a lovely creamy fizz in the mouth. The yeast and fruit carry through, with the addition of some ripe melon adding more rich fruitiness.

At ��7 retail this is a fabulous value wine. It���s excellent fizz easily of the quality of Champagnes twice the rice (or even three times without discounts). This bottle was left over from the Christmas Thresher offer, it cost me about a fiver. I really don���t know why I don���t have a glass with lunch every day!

Nothing goes better with a board game than Rioja, and a personal favourite combination is Cune Rioja Reserva 2001 and The World Cup Game.

CUNE is a reliable producer, making wines with traditional care and modern equipment. This one was clear with a garnet colour with a mahogany rim and strong legs. It smelled clean with quite a pronounced aroma. There was vanilla, cassis, leather, black cherries and just a hint of chocolate.

It was dry, with a medium high acidity. The tannins were ripe and soft, carefully managed into the wine. Medium alcohol at 13% added to an above average body. It tasted of pepper, black cherries, oak and tobacco with a gentle hint of blueberries and strawberries. There was quite a lot going on, but it blended wonderfully into a long, velvety finish.

This was a lovely wine, lending a balanced stability to an evening in which Turkey won the World Cup. Expect to pay around £8-10 a bottle.