Those looking to learn amore bout Spanish wine, and who are cool with receiving a freebie (I really hope that covers most of you out there) might want to check out Far from Ordinary, a free guide to Spanish wine available through Wines From Spain.
Wines From Spain is another government-funded promotional program with the objective of promoting a country’s wines and its wine regions (in this case, Spain – duh) to wine consumers worldwide. We’ve been seeing a lot of those organizations hitting the promotional trails lately, especially since the world economy took a sharp turn towards toiletville.
Far from Ordinary was written with the help of uber-wine guy Doug Frost, who is one of a (very) small handful of people to achieve both the Master Sommelier and Master of Wine credentials. Frost also supplies the tasting notes for the 130+ Spanish wines featured in the guide.
Personally, I’ve little experience with Spanish wines and it ranks right up there with Burgundy on the list of world wine areas that I need to learn (and taste!) more about. Apparently it has me in such a tizzy that just thinking about it causes me to end sentences with prepositions. Having said that, Spanish wine – when you can find it in the States, that is – is a hell of a lot easier to navigate than Burgundy in terms of not breaking both your heart and wallet when you find a dud. So, I’ve only got experience with a small amount of the wines featured in Far from Ordinary but I found the selections with which I’m familiar to be good buys and consistent with Doug Frost’s tasting notes (there – that sentence was better… whew…).
A primer on the major winemaking regions of Spain is also provided in the guide, and it’s bursting out with photographs so stunning that they might better be placed in a Spanish tourism guide – some of the shots will make you want to immediately open a bottle of Cava or Priorat and book travel to the Spanish countryside.
The guide is certainly worth a look (the price, after all, is right).
Cheers!
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Well… it is pretty shameless… but if you're offering autographed copies… Does it at least have Spanish recipes? C'mon, throw me a bone here…
Nice find, Joe. Only thing is the 'where you heard' pull-down doesn't have '1WineDude' on it… What's with that? :)
Spain? GOod Wine? Who would have thunk! :)
It's there, under "Raving Madman" I think… :)
This magical land of Spain of which you speak, is it accessible by rail from the storied country of Andorra??
After almost a lifetime of thinking that the word was 'cavit', you now teach me that it is really 'cavil'. Thank you 1grammardude'.
Technically that makes me 1VocabDude, actually…
This magical land of Spain of which you speak, is it accessible by rail from the storied country of Andorra??
WineDude. We import Spanish wines and sell them to the PLCB. I think you should be able to find some of the following in an local specialty store:
Conde de Subirats Cava – 29663 $11.99
1+1=3 Cava NV- 29894 $14.99
Nessa Albarino 2008- 22525 $12.99
Fuente Milano Viura/Verdejo 2008 – 22524 $8.99
El Molinet Tempranillo/Cabernet Sauvignon Valencia 2007 – 22719 $11.49
Coming soon, as we've already shipped them: Prima Toro 2007 (100% Tempranillo) and Finca la Cuesta Bierzo 2007 (100% Mencia)
I hope you get to try some more Spanish wines soon as they blend the best of the old world (sense of place [terroir]) and the new world (ripe fruit).
Cheers!
I'm sorry to hear that you have to deal with the PLCB :-).
Thanks!!
Have they run out of the "Wines From Spain Far From Ordinary Wine Guide"? I ordered one back in October or November and still have not received one. Will they be coming out with a 2010 version?
I don't know about any revisions, but I do recall that it took some time (several weeks) for the book to arrive. I'd try contacting them, seems quite a long time and I'd have thought you'd have received it by now.