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.

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.

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.

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.

The end of pink

T-Mobile are the latest corporate sponsor to pull out of professional cycling citing . We'll miss them. T-Mobile's bright pink shirts have been a cheery splash of colour in the peloton for years.

To bid them farewell here's the last pink wine of the year, a Cune Rioja Rosado 2006. It's not quite T-mobile, but it is a bright and cheerful candy pink. It smells of strawberries and a little of raspberries and a lot of summer. Just off dry it has a refreshing acidity, as a good balance to the sweet fruit, like lemon curd and strawberries. It has a satisfyingly full body for a rose, boosted by a hefty 13.5% alcohol.

I'll miss the T-Mobile pink next summer, but look forward to enjoying rosado's again next season.

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.

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.

Back in the pink?

Vive Le Tour! The Tour is not covering itself in glory at the moment and last night's prediction that Rasmussen wouldn't make it to Paris came true rather quicker than I thought. My satellite box blew up in protest so I can't watch any cycling until the weekend. Maybe it's just as well.

Daniele Bennati won today in the delightfully camp blue and pink Lampre kit, so I decided to celebrate with delightfully pink wine, a Spanish one to celebrate the new yellow jersey.

It's cheerfully pink, and smells of strawberries, raspberries, cherry blossom and vanilla, which would be perfect if it was summer here. It's dry with a crisp acidity and just a touch of soft tannin. It's light and fruity and 12% alcohol ,eans it's perfect for a sunny lunchtime. At around ��4 it's a good value pink wine, with far more chacter than your average 'blush'.

Spanish Hills

So Vino put in another absurdly heroic performance today. He's clearly bonkers, which is a useful cycling characteristic. I cycled across the Pyrenees but had the advantage of not knowing what I was letting myself in for. I didn't have 60 stitches in my knees either. I can't imagine how much that hurts.

Fortunately for me, Alberto Contador, the young Spanish rider won yesterday's stage and is in the running to win some more. What more excuse to I need to open a bottle of Muga Rioja Reserva 2003. I cycled through Rioja vineyards in 2003 so I feel a real affection for the vintage.

This one is a rich ruby colour and smells of rich warm vanilla with some blackberry and raspberry. It's dry with ripe, soft tannins, a medium body and a well balanced 13.5% alcohol. As well as the vanilla and berries there's cinnamon and nutmeg and black cherries. The flavour lasts well and it's deliciously moreish.

At around £12 it's definitely a weekend wine, but it's well worth it. Look out for multi-buy deals at Majestic, but bear in mind that it is the wine of choice of Tim How, Majestic's Chief Exec, causing a minor shortage following his fiftieth birthday party!

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.

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.

Ay Paella

I love pink wine with paella. This week I had a Marques de Caceres 2005 Rioja Rosada, made from Tempranillo and Garnacha.

It’s exuberantly pink, bringing cheer on even the glummest days. It smells clean and with quite a hit of redcurrants and raspberries along with a lightly floral aroma.

It’s dry with a medium acidity, making it far more suited to food than California’s pinkies. There’s a touch of tannin which gives it a bit of body, and 13.5% alcohol boosts that. The fruitiness carries through with more fresh berry flavours.

At around £7 it makes for a great wine with food, and the screwcap just begs to be taken out on picnics in the summertime.

Wine Hug

It’s been a cold and miserable day so I chose a Marques de Caceres Rioja Reserva 2000 to warm and cheer me up.

It’s a rich, velvety garnet colour, with excellent legs. It smells of warm, rich vanilla oak with spices and rich black fruits. It’s like a warm and comforting oaky blanket.

It’s dry with good acidity and still a reasonable hit of soft ripe tannins. It feels full in the mouth and at 13.5% alcohol it has an alcohol heat that balances well with the cooked blackberry and raspberry flavours.

This is a lovely bottle of wine for a wet and windy winters evening, and worth the £10 average pricetag.

Making the best of things

I went to see Coventry play last night. It wasn’t a highlight of my week. Having had a plastic bottle of super gassy beer at half time, I decided against adding to my digestive woe with another after the game. We went to the pub and I had a glass of Rioja.

Wine in pubs has improved dramatically over the last ten years. Wetherspoons has helped, despite Constellation’s meddling, and quite a few other chains offer reasonable wine by the glass and the bottle.

I had a Siglo 1881 Rioja. Siglo do a lot of on-trade wines, and at their naff-est, a red and a white rioja with hessian wrapped bottles. Bless. Siglo 1881 Rioja doesn’t need the hessian to sell it. It’s a light, cherry red, with some spice and light red fruits as well as a touch of vanilla on the nose.
It’s dry with a soft acidity and less tannin than I’d expected. It feels smooth and light and tastes of vanilla and redcurrants and raspberries, with a little pepper, but without a long finish.

For a pub wine this wasn’t bad. It’s certainly not a great introduction to the wonders of Rioja, but at £9 a bottle in the pub, and around £5.50 from an off licence, it’s better than burping your way through the evening on Carling.

Spanish Smiles

We had a bottle of Berberana Carta de Oro Rioja Reserva 2001 this weekend. The weather’s perfect for drinking Rioja right now, if not for making it. The wine is a deep velvety purple with thick legs. It smells of rich oak, lots of vanilla with spicy fruit and some leatheriness.

It’s dry with a well integrated acidity and soft, ripe tannins. It feels full in the mouth with a warming 13% alcohol. It tastes of cooked black fruits, black cherries, leather and spicy vanilla. It’s fabulous on its own, with a DVD, with a friend, and with food.

It won a Decanter under £10 International award for being scrummy, and I awarded myself a second glass. It reminds me of warmer times cycling through Rioja vineyards, and makes me happy, what more could a person ask for from a £7-8 bottle of wine?

Campo Viejo Reserva Especial

Another bottle of Rioja, this time a Campo Viejo 2000 Reserva Especial. Especial I tell you. It’s a deep ruby with just a hint of age on the rim. It smells rich and oaky with plenty of vanilla covering some black and red fruits.

It’s dry with a balanced acidity and quite soft tannins, but it’s thinner than I’d expect with a lighter mouth feel and less intensity of fruit flavour than I tend to go for in a Rioja. It’s smooth with some sweet spiciness on the finish.

At around £8 a bottle this is reasonable value, but it’s not a landmark Rioja. I’ve had better wines from this producer, so I suspect I wouldn’t choose this 2000 offering again, but I would try another Campo Viejo.

Winning the Tour

You could be thinking that it’s been a bad week for British sport. The footballers are out, the cricketers are appalling, and even the tennis players are history, but there is something to celebrate.

You may not have noticed but Nicole Cooke won the women’s Tour de France this weekend. Unfortunately, despite my best efforts, I haven’t been able to track down a Welsh wine locally. I opted instead for making a meal with Pasta Zara, Nicole’s old sponsor, and matching it with a Spanish Rioja Rosada. I cycled through Rioja in 2003, somewhat slower than Nicole might, although she doesn't have to carry all her own kit.

Muga’s Rosada 2005 is made from a blend on red and white grapes - 60% Garnacha 30% Viura and 10% Tempranillo.

It’s clear and bright with a pale and interesting salmon colour. It smells fresh and clean with plenty of fruit, balanced with some warm vanilla.

It’s off dry with wonderfully crisp acidity. There’s a touch of tannin, which adds a bit of beef which is often lacking in roses. It has quite a bit of body with warm spicy fruit and vanilla. There’s apples and lemons and, well, a bit of Del Monte fruit salad pots, which is a surprisingly good thing.

At 13.5% it’s perhaps a bit stronger than you’d expect for such perfect summer picnic wine, but Nicole Cooke is clearly a lot stronger than you’d expect too.

Go Nicole!

If Bradley or David win the men’s race I’m willing to take suggestions for what I should drink.

Spanish elegance

Spain take on Tunisia tonight so it’s time for a nice Rioja! CUNE is a widely available brand, and one of the premier Rioja producers. It’s actually CVNE - Compañía Vinicola del Norte de España, but if you ask for ‘Coo – Nay’ at a wine shop people will know what you mean.

They’ve been making Rioja for over 125 years, but they’re not complacent about it, constantly updating their bodegas to ensure maximum consumer pleasure! Cune take the grapes seriously too with hand picking to ensure top quality fruit. You can pay a lot for a great CUNE Gran Reserva, but the 2003 Crianza is a mere £7 at Majestic. I’ll work my way up the range if Spain get beyond the group stages.

I cycled through Rioja in 2003 and it was hot, hot, hot. However, the previous winter had been seriously wet so there was plenty of ground water to carry the vines through. The heat seems to mean faster aging so it seemed worth a try.

It’s rich and ruby, bright and positively brimming with colour. The American oak comes through on the nose, with light vanilla. It’s inviting rather than overpowering. There’s plums and damsons, with just a smidge of ground coffee.

The smooth vanillin carries through onto the palate with more rich plums and fresh cherries, with fresh roasted coffee. It’s dry with balanced acidity, and a full mouth feel.

The flavour hangs around a while and grows on you further. It’s made from 80% Tempranillo,20% Garnacha Tinta and Mazuelo. At 13.5% alcohol it does sneak up on you a little. I enjoyed this wine on its own but it would benefit from food and could easily handle steak or lamb, as well as patatas bravas.

Get stuck into this Crianza now, but if you’re feeling flush, the older CUNE’s have never disappointed me.

CUNE Vina Real Blanco