The first instalment of what looks to be a promising series exploring the basics of Spanish and Portuguese wines as explained by Catavino.net's very own Ryan and Gabriella.
Here's an excerpt:
Deep earthy? browns, oranges and reds. Strong bold letters celebrating both history and culture. Elegance? and beauty displayed in the gold detailing. Tradition. Pride. After 30 years of being a closed? culture under Franco, it is of no surprise that their labels express both their deep roots to their past, as well as their desire to reach out towards the future.
Spanish wines have a mysticism and a beauty that both elicits curiosity and intimidation in one fell swoop. But more practically, most of the bottles are in Spanish. And if you are anything like me, and chose to skip out on 7th period Spanish class in hopes of making a quick run to the 7-11 for a slurpy, you may be a bit in the dark when trying to decipher a Spanish label. Hopefully, you can keep your 20 year old dictionary in its dusty battered box and still feel slightly more confident, after reading this article, when choosing which wine would pair well with a sharp Manchego or Chorizo.
Apart from the personally-written content, I also like the Flash™ pronunciation inserts - complete with authentic Spanish accent.