Great day. God Spain rocks. If you had asked someone to line up 25 exciting Spanish white wines ten years ago, surely they wouldn’t have been able to manage it? Not like now, anyway. My close mate Norrell Robertson showed me a Garnacha Blanca at the Alliance stand that simply blew me away. A worked, rich, sinewy white grenache in the old skool Châteauneuf du Pape mould. It would behead a wild boar like a saracen’s scimitar at 20 paces. Serious power. Actually Giles Cook MW showed me some lovely stuff, a simply sublime 2004 Gran Reserva Rioja from Luis Cañas for one. I didn’t know that that estate could reach such heights. Rather nice to see a Gran Reserva of the right shape too. Not emaciated, and not juicy, but in that exact twilight zone in between, where fruit and classy oak fade effortlessly into one another. Good to see that mighty mouse, Telmo Rodriguez, is back at the helm of Remelluri, which has been a little wayward of late. Finally, they had a cheeky little Manzanilla, blended from parcels belonging to the Gutierrez Colosia, called Los Pecadillos ‘Furio’, which I couldn’t get enough of. Noticed Noël Young Wines sells it, as I imagine many astute independents will.

Went to see Steve Daniels at Hallgarten Druitt next. Well, it’s never ever boring with him, but this is a bit of a spanker (Pic below).

Alessandro Marchesan, a rather talented sommelier I know from Zuma and Roka Group, showed me this wine a couple of years ago (he’s involved), saying that it was a work in progress but he had high hopes. Well bugger me. I mean Trepat?!? This is a grape variety that is supposed to be paint to make white Cava pink. Who’d have expected such a bergamot, and rose hip-scented joy? It certainly has more elegance than you’d expect. Balance and follow-through is all there, and it’s insanely moreish, by way of a lip-smacking cherry sherbet palate. (Trepat Negra 2010, Cellar Molí dels Capellans). Retail’s about 18 quid, or drink it at Zuma for barely double that. Apparently.

I would refer you to Steve’s Navarran wines which are Bee OO TEE ful. Don’t be put off by the fact that the winery is called Ars. (The e is silent). 

A blinder from Les Caves de Pyrene. Creamy, alive, floral, and ridiculously drinkable. It is on by the glass at Quo Vadis (my local) too. Had this with my foster parents, Paola Tich and Mike Taylor when cooking my famous Asian Coleslaw, Sweet Chilli Chicken and Crispy Won Tons at their lovely home last week. Yummy yummy yummy, I’ve got love in my tummy. It has the seltzer quality of Godello, with all the heady meadow joy of the Treixadura, Loureiro and Albariño etc.

And finally, Daniel Lambert (a.k.a. The Westlander) has some truly exasperating new listings. New to me anyway.

Firstly, do not miss an opportunity to try his Priorats. My favourite, and, I believe his, is the mid-priced Galena 2007 from Domini de la Cartoixa. At 22 quid it sounds a wee bit on the steep side, bit it is so well-defined, so velvety, so herby and dripping with character, that I almost always recognise it. That sense of joyful familiarity is worth the ticket price alone. Like heroin I imagine.  

The chap below is quite something. It’s not often that I come across something brand new that’s so show-stoppingly, traffic-swervingly good from a region that I thought I knew quite well. (Reserva 2007 Bodega de la Emperatriz 14 earth pounds.)

I will leave it there as a natural segue onto the next mini blog, but I would urge you to look up his list on the web, if you want to try some peerless wines. Especially, don’t think of missing out on his Burgundy and Beaujolais line-up. Daniel’s one of those guys that if you tell him that his wines are amazing, he’ll counter with “I know.” Or if you say that’s shit, he’ll counter with “Fuck off.” In these areas, he’s usually right.