Andrew Halliwell

Finally manage to get our #wine into one of my favourite #winebars - #LaCanillaGourmet in #Logroño.

In good company too, sandwiched between Izadi and Artuke. #Rioja

The great thing about working for a multi-regional #wine producer is that we get to taste some fun wines for dinner and I could get a 2nd opinion on our own #BodegasObalo #singlevineyard #Mondiate 2025 red from a diverse range of wine professionals.

#Terraselecta #Spanishwine

#AdrianaOchoa in action at the excellent #MujeresDelVino event in #Barcelona.

Back in #Logroño after a long trip away, met at the station and straight out for lunch! Can't complain.

Another excellent "tasting tunnel".
This time #DORueda - Very well set-up, with all the #wines at the right temperature and all the information you need at your fingertips. Must have tried 40-50 wines. Was a great way to form opinions and draw conclusions about #Rueda in all its versions.

Really enjoyed these from @canestruc in #Catalunya.
An interesting side-project of more boutique wines, away from the main programme. The winemaker was at #VinosOffTheRecord too, and I unwisely atttempted to ask her some questions in my best Catalan. A brilliant event.

#VinosOffTheRecord was such an excellent #winetasting. Located in a really cool part of #Barcelona, well-organized, loads of great producers and lots of interest.

Love these self-pour "Tasting Tunnels" like this one at #BarcelonaWineWeek #BWW
#RibeiraSacra is one of my fave #Spanish #wine regions, so this stand was just perfect for me.

#RibeiraSacra is actually a pretty small area, I'd be surprised if much made it to the UK

I'm away from my notes right now, so can't remember if I've had that one or not, but your description sounds accurate. Usually aromatic midweights with good complexity and rarely any oak Tried a lot yesterday in Barcelona. Whites also lovely.

Miles of #wine at #BarcelonaWineWeek #BWW
Unsurprisingy these from #Guímaro in #RibeiraSacra were excellent.

#Wine nerd heaven.
#VinosOffTheRecord #Barcelona

Not long now.. #BarcelonaWineWeek starts tomorrow.

#BWW #Barcelona #wine #vi #vino

Right, now I see what you're saying, thanks. In my post I just translated what the barrel producer claims, I take it with a pinch of salt myself. Agree, the flavour of the wine is really just one of the factors for why a wine sells or not. I see these as a marketing tool for impressionable visitors.

Tom, could you expand on this a bit? I don't know the acronyms and I'm not sure I understand, but would like to.

Not heard of these before - #wine #barrels made of oak and #stone. Apparently they combine toasted flavours and micro-oxidation with reductive notes, resulting in fresher wines with more fruit which they hope will appeal to younger consumers. 1200€ each and 1/3 heavier.

Notes from the frontline. A bit of real #winemaking. #NewOak tasting notes on our 2023s, after 2 years, before pulling them out into a blend.
#Berthomieu and #MartínezVelilla won this round.
#Rioja

Pretty happy with how this #Ábalos #VillageWine is turning out. I thought perhaps I'd picked it a bit too soon (looking for lower alcohols and harvesting logistics), but it seems to be coming round, in concrete and old oak at least. The jury's still out on the new oak.
#BodegasObalo #Rioja

hahaha, yes!

Out on the town in #Logroño last night. Pretty busy on the #CalleLaurel, as per usual, less so in the rest of the city.

I'd absolutely be going to this #naturalwine fair, if I lived anywhere near #Barcelona. Handily too, it doesn't clash with BWW...

I've been a couple of times a few years back and it's about as cool as you can get. Natural wines in an edgy urban setting.

www.entrapolis.com/entradas/sal...

Wow! Amazing job by one of my predecessors, Raquel. 2010 was officially an "Excellent" year in #Rioja and this #wine shows it. A fairly warm, ripe style, very complex but still full of life. At this rate I'm going to finish the bottle.

Glorious #sunrise this morning from #BodegasObalo #Rioja

#Spain's experiencing a pretty serious #winter this year, with a lot of big storms in the Med, dropping loads of precipitation from Cadíz all the way round to Girona and waves of up to 10m! Now looks like the Atlantic is firing up again. Makes a change from the drought we had a few years back.

Interesting to try this #Albariño last night
At least, I was told it was Albariño. No mention of the grape, nor region, nor year on the label. Instead the name is "Eat octopus and drink wine". Just 11% alcohol. A very commercial offering, that I imagine does quite well.

A good one! How was that drinking?

What is this? the 4th #winefair on the same day in #Barcelona? Who's going to go to this one? I get it, organise things for when people are in town, but not all on the same day.

www.vinetur.com/202601149484...

Pleasant winter's day in the #Rioja #wine region.

Lots of great comments here, I agree with just about all of these and very interesting to see it from a consumer-facing point of view.

As an aside, as a smallish Rioja producer, looks like we're safe for now!

Dramatic #sunrise this morning in #Rioja