Non-stop heavy rain in Logroño in mid February did nothing to dampen the spirits of 150 keen tasters from all sectors of the wine trade, 70 from outside Spain. The promise of some seriously old wines and mould-breaking younger ones was enough to draw us to the Rioja Centre of Culture for two major tastings and then to a gala dinner at the splendid Vivanco estate (below) in the evening.
In the introduction to his deeply engaging series on Rioja, celebrating the region’s centenary, Ferran picked out the high points and...
