Grape Expectations - Carignan & Albariño

Join us in Manchester City Centre for this wine tasting which forms part of our "Grape Expectations II" course. Each month we will look at some of the world's most famous and loved Red and White grape varieties and taste the diverse selection of varied flavours and styles of wines these grapes produce. In April we will be tasting Carignan and Albariño. Carignan is planted widely in southern Europe, and while it is often thought of as something of a workhorse variety, it can with old vines and a little TLC produce some excellent wines. It’s often blended with Grenache, as in the wines of Priorat in Spain and Corbières in France, but it also brings some spice and freshness to many wines from Rioja. As a solo performer, some of the best wines can be found in places as far apart as Sardinia and Chile. Truly a rough diamond in the right hands. There are few better summer wines than the Albariños of north west Spain, and their seafood-friendliness has encouraged producers in Argentina, California, New Zealand and several other countries to plant this Galician star. But what many wine lovers don’t realise is how well Albariño takes to a little oak and some bottle age. We’ll sample both young and more mature styles to show just how versatile the grape can be.