We asked Ferran Centelles , our new Spanish specialist, to begin by surveying the state of wine in Spain today. Twenty years ago Spanish people used to drink an average of 32 litres...

If the word for 2011 in Spain was 'dry', for 2012 it's 'short'. Or maybe 'dry' too. Or could it be 'weird'? I even heard some stronger words that I should not reproduce here, so I can tell you...

Unfortunately the six-letter word we hear most frequently about Spain lately is 'crisis'. The news is certainly not good, and many are suffering, businesses as well as individuals. Unemployment...

See Luis' tour of offbeat Spain - a guide I've tried to take you off the beaten path of Spanish wines, and have introduced you to Xarello from Penedès, Atlantic reds from the...

See our Guide to Luis' tour of offbeat Spain . Gredos is not an appellation. It is a mountain range, spread across three appellations (two DOs, Vinos de Madrid and Méntrida, and the regional...

For the past few weeks we've been publishing revealing articles about the lesser known treasures of Spain that are much loved and recommended by our Spanish specialist Luis Gutiérrez . Here is a...

See our Guide to Luis' tour of offbeat Spain . Monastrell is a native red Spanish variety, found mainly around the Mediterranean coast, as it originates in Alicante. From there it travelled to...

See our Guide to Luis' tour of offbeat Spain . Spain is predominantly a red wine country, at least in the minds of most. Albariño from Rías Baixas and Rueda are the two whites that...

See our Guide to Luis' tour of offbeat Spain . In Spain it used to be simple: the cool, damp north produced white wines, while the warmer and drier south produced reds. But times are a-changin'...

See our Guide to Luis' tour of offbeat Spain . Although I'm proud of my articles about CVNE in Rioja and Vega Sicilia in Ribera del Duero , I now intend to spend a bit of time off the...

The word most often used by the people I talked to when discussing the 2011 vintage in Spain was dry. It was a dry year indeed, and in many cases early, breaking some records for earliest harvest...

See the introduction to this five-part series here . Last, but not least, is Atrio . Atrio is in Cáceres, which is not in 'the heart of La Rioja' as we have read somewhere, but in...

See the introduction to this five-part series here . I wish Monvinic were in my city rather than 600 kilometres away from me. I would make it my local wine bar in no time at all....

See the introduction to this five-part series here . Villa Mas is quite a different animal. Certainly an unusual one. It is a beach restaurant in touristy S'Agaró-Sant Feliu de...

See yesterday's introduction and first favourite restaurant here . Celler de Can Roca is probably my overall favourite restaurant in Spain. That is hard to say, because, as in wine,...