Here are some stats on the past year:

• In July last year 12,000 people (6,800 according to Google Analytics) looked at the site.  Last month, just over 28,000 dropped by. (13,000 according to Google Analytics)
• The top 3 search terms for the site are: Flor de Pingus, Pork Belly and Spanish Wine.
• The strangest link to the site this year is from Cosmopolitan magazine (good to see teenage girls are into Spanish wine).
• The number of Australian readers increased to 65%. From out side Australia, the USA is the largest with 10%, the UK is second with 9% and it seems that some of the producers are checking up me with Spain and Portugal both coming in at  6% each.
• There have been 1,281 real comments (528 last year), 29,178 spam commen ts (only 4000 last year!).

  

So all you have to do is guess the number of corks in the box, you can click on the image to get a bigger image if you think that will help. Put your guess in a comment on this post (Do not email it too me) and you’re in with a chance of winning a nice little six pack of wines. The wines are:

• • Cillar de Silos Crianza 2005 and Remuleri Reserva 2003 from The Spanish Acquisition
  • Two bottles of I’Corus Quinta from Broadway Liquor Distributors
  • Martin Codax Burgans Albarino 2006
  • Something else…
    

Entries are open to all, however I can only ship the wines to an Australian address. One entry per person/email address/IP address. I will anounce the winner on the 9th of July.

Good luck and thanks for reading.

A blend of Tempranillo (89%), Graciano (5%) and Mazuelo (6%), this Rerserva follows the usual pattern of aging in the bodega for at least 3 years. In this case, 18 months of that are in french and american oak, the other 18 months is in bottle.

The nose comes over smooth and confident with cherry and plum, with cinnamon, star anise and a bit of cigar box. Its full of beans in the mouth, with velvety and refined tannins. Cherry and blue fruits on the palate with subtle cinnamon and anise. A fairly robust wine that shows plenty of class. It went really well with my lamb racks, it even went well with a slab of fromage de meaux. 90 Pts.

This is another of the Vintage Cellars imports and personally, I’m very impressed. I get to taste a load of stuff with some of the importers, a lot of it is in search of a cheap white like this. Unfortunately not many reach this standard, and at this price. For sure, it’s not the best wine on earth, but it really over delivers and offers a real alternative to the cheaper NZ Sauv Blanc that seems to be the big seller in bottle shops.

Up front and fresh on the nose, pears and a little peach with some white flowers. A bit more air shows the classic fennel bulb. The palate show some guava, pear and passionfruit plus some musk stick. Its not that textured, which is something I look for in good verdejo, it’s lean with acid drive. Excellent for the price, I’ve tasted quite a few ‘inexpensive’ wines from Rueda and this has to be one of the best cheapies around. 87 Pts.

Source: Vintage Cellars Price: $12 Closure: Screwcap

So on to the wine. This is the entry level wine for Martin Codax and its probably the only Spanish Albariño available under $20. And its a good wine too.

Aromas of white peach, lime, white flowers and a subtle muskiness. Its got texture in the mouth, its a bit flabby and sweet in the middle, but the acid balances this out for a clean finish. Apple and white peach on the palate with a bit of flint and lemon oil. It’s a well priced drink, It’s not going to knock you off your feet, but you can now afford to drink Spanish albariño any night of the week. 87 Pts.

Is it just me or is Spanish wine starting to take off all over again? Or perhaps its a second wind. Whatever it is, there are plenty of new wines in the market this year from both Spain and Portugal. The good thing for buyers of Spanish wine is the broad range of wines that are now available and there is some competition at the lower end of the market.

When I first started Tinto y Blanco almost 2 years ago (more about that later), I could find about 200 Spanish wines and about 20 Ports from the big houses in Portugal. There were a couple of Spanish bars around town, but hardly anyone sold Spanish wine by the glass. These days, there are over 600 wines from Spain and Portugal available in Australia, covering just about every style and region of Spain. Portuguese wines have taken a bit longer to get moving and the main coverage is table wines and ports from the Douro Valley at the moment, with a few other regions showing up here and there.

There are two things that really shows me that Spanish wine has made it into the minds and down the necks of Australian wine drinkers. The first is the number of Spanish bars in Australia now and the number of bar/pubs/bottle shops selling Spanish wine. Its almost mandatory these days to have something on your list that’s Spanish. Just have a look at the photo above, thats a Tuesday night at Bar Lourinha in Melbourne. Not bad eh. The second is that Vintage Cellars now have a range of Spanish wines that they are directly importing and heavily promoting. Regardless of what anyone may think of the big end of the wine retail game, VC do put wine in the hands of many Australians due to their buying power and low cost prices. For example where else can you buy a perfectly good bottle of verdejo or albariño for under $20 (well under).

The established players are branching out too. Over the past couple of months many of the established importers have released a raft of new wines on to the Australian market as well. For example, Negotiants have recently released wines from cult producers such as Mauro as well as a bunch of new stuff from Priorat/Monsant. The Spanish Acquisition has a range of new stuff at all levels, including Artadi at the very top end. IFW have also branched out to the table wines of Quinta do Noval. On top of all that, there are new importers popping up all over the place, with a number of independent wine stores branching out and importing their own stuff.

The questions I have to ask are: is the market getting too big? How many brands and importers will the market bear? Now that Spanish wine is more mainstream will sales drop off if it’s no longer the ‘cool new thing’? Or is it still the cool new thing, with its buddy Portugal. Given the buzz on Spanish food and wine, I think Spanish wine has a long term future in Australia. In terms of cost Spanish and Portuguese wine is still a winner as far as imports go too, but I think we are now seeing importers looking at cost more than quality at the low end of the market. Portuguese wines are generating a lot of interest, and are starting to look like a new force on the import shelves.

So after two years of running the site it feels like there has never been a better time to be drinking Spanish and Portuguese wine in Australia. In order to celebrate the 2 year milestone, I’ll be running a very lame competition to give away some seriously good wine from next Wednesday. Stay tuned.

Source: Rathdowne Cellars Price: $34 Closure: Cork Stopper

Web: www.vinicola-hidalgo.es

Last week I dropped into the Spanish Acquisition HQ for a bit of Jamon and ended up tasting a whole heap of stuff including a selection of wines from Alvaro Castro from the Dão region in Portugal. This lot are not currently being imported, but I’m sure it won’t be long before we’ll be seeing a few of these around town. The wines were served up single blind (we knew they were Alvaro Castro’s wines, but not which ones). I don’t have a lot of info on these wines or the region, but Jamie Goodie has a good overview of the region, including a bit on Alvaro Castro and his vineyards. Overall, I’d summarise the wines as very elegant and balanced, at the same time there is plenty of fruit too.

Primus 2006 – The only white in the line up from Alvaro today. Apples and pears, saturated by banana. Pleasant enough with a long finish, but too much banana for me. 87 Pts.

Dão Reserva 2005 - An enticing nose with subtle spice with some dark fruits and violets. A brooding kind of wine, deep and intense with fine balance and plenty of quality fruit. 91 Pts.

Dão Reserva 2005 - Something odd with this bottle, no notes.

Quinta du Pelleda Vinha da Serra 2006 - Cherry and blackberry, Christmas cake spices, vanilla oak and a bit of game. Tight and structured in the mouth, but very enjoyable. A healthy dose of tannins too. 90 Pts.

Pelada 2003 - Here we go, showing a bit of age but its still quite intense. Blackberry, beetroot and blueberry with woody spice and some great acid that really livens up this wine. 92 Pts.

Carrocel 2006 - This seemed like a younger version of the Pelada with a bit of mint and more obvious oak. Juicy and mouth coating, but I’m sure it will all integrate in a couple of years. 92 Pts.

A cheery red colour in the glass, with a nose of earthy cherry pie, followed up by some wood and smoke in the background. Pretty much the same in the mouth, but add some blueberry, plum and liquorice. A good little unit, cheap but very enjoyable. 87 Pts.

Source: The Spanish Acquisition Price: $21 Closure: Conventional Cork

A bit of coco, cherry and sappy plums with a bit of pez and sawdust. A bit more air show raspberry, slight violets, white pepper and sooty earth. Yeah its complex and enjoyable on the nose. Unfortunately, its a bit flat and clinical on the palate. The tannins are a bit hard on the finish, but overall it has good balance. A bit medicinal tasting with some clove and pepper, plum and rosella, cola. There’s plenty there to like and its quite a good wine for the vintage, but it just doesn’t come together for the big points. 89 Pts.

Source: Broadway Liquor Distributors Price: $90 Closure: Conventional Cork

Web: www.masdengil.com

I also had a look at some of Alvaro Castro’s wines from the nearby Dao region last week, I should have some notes up by the end of the week.

A bit deeper in colour than the Pan. A gorgeous nose of raspberry, violets, a bit earthy undergrowth, cinnamon, nutmeg and smoked paprika. Luxury mouth feel, with a touch of grip and just the right amount of acid. The palate is a bit minty, and shows more raspberry with some mulberry, plum and cola. Intense and concentrated with a very long finish. An intriguing wine that will be a pleasure to drink over the next 20 years. 93+ Pts.

Source: The Spanish Acquisition Price: $100 Closure: Conventional Cork

Web: www.luispato.com

Other Vintages: 2003

I’ve been a big fan of Priorat in the past, but the price rises over the past couple of vintages have pushed these wines into a whole new price bracket. Plus they can be challenging, confronting wines that are more for the head than the heart. That doesn’t sound like fun, does it? Well, maybe in a fetish kind of way. Actually, the cheaper wines can be much more enjoyable than ultra expensive ones. At times I think you get much better value over the other side of the Iberian Peninsula in the Douro Valley.

Of course, as soon as I take such a bold position this wine turns up on the tasting bench. It’s $150 a bottle, which is by no means cheap, but it’s a spanking, complex wine that is worth the money if you like you’re into wine from Priorat. This is clearly up there with the top wines of the very good 2001 vintage and is drinking really well right now.

A classic Priorat nose of soot, hot rocks, raspberry, cherry pie, plum and bramble. Its a pleasure in the mouth, its well integrated and shows superior balance. Subtle tannins towards the finish and none of the heat that you can find in some Priorats, but it does weigh in at 15%. The palate shows plenty of minerals with some clove, raspberry and plum, cola, hot cinnamon and musk sticks. There’s enough here to restore my faith, its a little wild but that’s the point. 94 Pts.

Source: Broadway Liquor Distributors Price: $150 Closure: Conventional Cork

Web: www.masdengil.com

Every thing about this wine is medium: medium red in colour and medium bodied. All this mediumness is refreshing after a couple of block busters of late. The nose is a bit funky and earthy with some lovely cherry and raspberry with some bay leaf and pine resin/eucalyptus. Excellent balance and intensity with earthy and minerally raspberry flavours and driving acid. Textured thanks to some fine grained tannins and a very long finish. Drinking great now, but it will improve in the cellar over the long term, the 95 is drinking like a champ at the moment. 93+ Pts.

Source: The Spanish Acquisition Price: $100 Closure: Conventional Cork

Web: www.luispato.com

Other Vintages: 2003

Easy drinking, affordable wines are one of the main reasons exports of Spanish wine to places like the UK, Germany and US have been booming over the past 10 years. To be honest, we haven’t seen a lot of the sub $20, but good Spanish gear here in Australia but that is starting to change. Many importers are looking for quality, low cost wines and this is a good example of how to get it right.

Nose of cherry liqueur, coco, a little raisin and day leaf. Rich and textured, with enough acid to keep everything moving along nicely. In the mouth it’s fairly straight forward, musky dark cherry and plum fruit with good balance and a long, spicy finish. Plenty to like here, especially the price. 87 Pts.

Source: The Spanish Acquisition Price: $18 Closure: Conventional Cork

And yes the label does look like a pair of boobs….I’m assuming its supposed to be a pair of bull horns.

Earth, spice, herby undergrowth, lavender, cherry liqueur and Irish pipe tobacco. Juicy, gamy fruit in the mouth followed by a healthy finish. On the palate there is roast meat juice, savoury cherry, cola and sage. The end of the bottle comes all to fast, excellent with some stewed ox tail too. 88 Pts.

Source: The Spanish Acquisition Price: $20 Closure: Conventional Cork