It's not just the modern techniques which make the wines expensive. The steep slopes which force 100% manual viticultural methods, pruning and harvesting certainly add to the cost.  And of course, limited supply and press hype add to the cost.

Mostly Grenache (Garnacha in Spanish), a Rhône stalwart, there is also Carignan (Carineña in Spanish) planted, along with small proportions of international varieties such as Syrah, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon.   The wines are deep, full bodied and full of old vine awesomeness with intense minerality, yes smooth, elegant, and suddenly very, very fashionable.  
I'm a sucker for old vines. The mere mention of this on on a label means I'm at least  37.8% more likely to order a wine. The age means the vines produce much less fruit, but with an amazing concentration in what is grown.  I've heard that in some parts of Priorat, it can take more or less the fruit of a whole bush to provide just one bottle of wine.  No wonder it's so good (and so expensive).  For those looking for a cheaper option, lower priced Priorats do exist, but you'll probably get better value at the "£10 and under" price point by seeking out wines from Montsant, a region which borders 3 sides of Priorat and has some licorella of it's own.

We started our Sunday shenanigans early, but this meant the Priorat was finished before the evening was... So, unable to justify a second "top shelf" bottle, I reached for what was our closest likely match: Southern Spanish Red from the Wine Society - a fifth of the price, a lot less complex, but still a full bodied spicy, fruity bomb. The addition of some vintage Cheddar really helped, but a wine around the £6 mark has it's work cut out competing with the memory of a wine that cost more than £20.  Needless to say there was some left over.  

I reviewed this wine back in November so I won't say more about it here.  You'll also find in the November archives, other Spanish wines including supermarket Ribera del Duero.  It may be winter outside, but the wines of Spain are keeping me warm.

I'd love hear about your favourite Spanish wines, either by blog comments, or on my Facebook or twitter pages.  Discover, drink, discuss!  Next travel stop for me is Russia.  I don't hold out much hope for a blog post on Russian wine, but we live in hope.
Cheers!

When was the last time you tried something new?

I'm passionate about exploring wine from unusual grape varieties and breaking out from the constructions of our minds "New Zealand = Sauvignon Blanc", "Spain = Rioja" etc.

So I'm interested in creating a new kind of "delivered to your door" wine experience for UK readers.

Are you willing to step out of your Cabernet comfort zone? Try new flavours and learn more about the classics and the upstarts of the wine world? Share experiences with other drinkers?

If so, I'd love to hear from you! This is a hatching concept and your input could help shape the final product.

Yes, it's me! I am officially the winner of the Rhône Prize as part of the 2013 WSET awards for top performing Advanced level students. I was unable to tell you until 20th January when the prize giving took place, but I decided to drink some Rhône wine on the 19th as part of an early celebration and that's what I'm reviewing here.  First though, a big thank you to Hallgarten Druitt (a trade wine supplier) for sponsoring the prize. It was a great pleasure to meet Jim Wilson, and I really look forward to receiving, sampling and reviewing their selection of wines.  It was a great occasion to be part of, and I felt honoured to be present while the diploma students graduated, and the other scholarship awards were presented by Jancis Robinson, OBE, MW.  It's nice to see that I'm not alone in my wine geekery.

I have not talked much about Rhône wines here on Purple Teeth, so far. It's a massive topic with several famous individual appellations (or named areas) which encompass a fairly large number of whites and red varieties as well as sweet and rosé wine.  You really could make a lifetime study just of the wines from this region. 
The most prestigious whites are probably the Viogniers from Condrieu and Château Grillet. Though you'll also find Roussane and Marsanne. In the Northern Rhône, the Cru appellations produce premium wines with prices to match.  It's here you'll find the Syrah-Viognier blend at eye-watering prices in Côte-Rotie, and other elegant Syrahs in Cornas and Saint-Joseph.  Moving down the valley into the Southern Rhône, you'll find basic Côtes-du-Rhône at affordable prices, with 18 named villages presenting their Grenache based blends in either Côtes-du-Rhône Villages wines, or, in named village appellations (and at somewhat higher prices) you'll find most of the "Cru" (or premium named sites which have been given AOC status) such as Gigondas, and the renowned Châteauneuf-du-Pape.  Variety also comes from sweet wines made in Rasteau, and the world famous Muscat de Beaume-de-Venise, while Tavel is the only appellation in the Rhône Valley which produces nothing but rosé wine.  
There really is something for everyone.  To find out more, or to see a map of the appellations and how they fit into the area between Lyon and the Mediterranean, visit http://www.rhone-wines.com/ for resources on tourism in the area. There's also  lots of information on the key wines of this diverse region.

You'll certainly hear more about Rhône wines as I drink my prize, but onto the wine of the moment.

Vacqueyras is one of the Cru or premium appellations upgraded from Côtes-du-Rhône Villages status in 1990.  This  example is a blend of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre - all 3 of which are often known by other names when grown elsewhere. For example, Grenache becomes Garnacha and Mourvèdre becomes Monastrell in Spain, or Mataro in Australia, while robuster, forms of Syrah with more black pepper than violet are known as Shiraz across the wine producing world. Together, you'll find GSM blends from Australia, South Africa and other new world wine producers, but it's here on the Rhône valley that this blend first came to prominence, and, some would argue, where it finds it's best expressions.

So what to expect from this wine..

It's surprisingly smooth. There's quite a lot if tannin but that's well integrated and with the acidity, the wines keep reasonably well. Still, it's clearly a "Big Red" with a high Purple Teeth (alert your dentist) rating as it's dark colours really will stain. There is a core of blackcurrant cassis and some dark red fruit, but the key delivery is the layers of spice, from pepper to liquorice. And though it packs an alcoholic punch at 14,5% it's well balanced and doesn't burn. It's a pleasing wine that would pair well with anything from spaghetti meatballs to Sunday roast.  Cheaper than a Châteauneuf-du-Pape but a serious cut above a basic Côtes-du-Rhône, it's worth a try if you like hearty, spicy reds. It's riches complement a winter evening with mulled wine scented candles, fireside movies and warm blankets. My feeling is that this example would improve with further aging.   At £17.99, I think Naked have over-priced this wine, though the Angel price of £12.49 is a bit more realistic. You'll struggle to find much at that price in specialist wine retailers.  According to the labeling, the winemaker is in transition to sustainable practices if that's the sort of thing that grabs you.

Vacqueyras isn't really a supermarket wine, so if you would like to treat yourself to some, Morrisons are the only grocers where I found one for sale  at the rather hefty price of £28.99 for the Domaine la Garrigue Vacqueyras 2009.  Perhaps a better starting point may be the Majestic offering at £17.49 of the Vacqueyras Pavane 2011 La Bastide Saint Vincent. I can't vouch for either as I've not yet tasted them.

The Sampler on Upper Street in Islington has just become my new favourite wine store.  It's not exactly local to me, and it doesn't necessarily stock all my favourite wines.  So, how did it get to be my favourite?  Quite simply, it's got an unbeatable selection of wines open for tasting every day.

I'd arranged to meet a buddy from my time at the WSET school for a tasting trip. We couldn't have chosen a better way to spend the afternoon.  The staff just let us get on with it, and yet were there for  conversation or information if needed.  We never felt under any obligation to buy anything and spent 3 hours working our way through the 80 wines on offer.  

Of course, this doesn't come free.  The open wines are perfectly preserved in Enomatic machines.  You buy a card (which is valid for a year), with as much or as little credit on it as you'd like (minimum £10).  Simply take a glass to the machine of your choice, debit the card, and receive 25ml, 50ml or 75ml of the wine of your choice.  
We opted for the 25ml pours so that we could sample the maximum possible range of wines.  I believe I tasted around 15 that afternoon, and probably sampled a few sips from around 10 of my friend's selection.  It was just like being back at wine school again.
I won't bore you with tasting notes on each of the wines, because the Sampler kind provide those on a label beside each wine and 25 tasting notes could get rather tedious.  Suffice to say the range was astonishing.  My wine school chum and I both got to taste several things we'd never experienced before, we learned a lot and both went away with a bottle or two.  

The only downside to the day was that the bottle of Nostros Chilean Chardonnay (£9.99) that I bought because the tasting was so beautiful, was affected by cork taint.  This can happen to any wine with a cork closure, but it was a massive disappointment.  I'm sure the people at Sampler would have dealt nicely with my problem if I lived any closer, but I was not in a convenient location for it to be worthwhile taking the wine back.

I've included a selection of photos of the wines we tasted.  It was fascinating to try so many Decanter award winners, and also such a huge variety.  Purple Teeth will be organising a field trip to The Sampler soon, so if you'd like to come along, taste some wines, and learn a bit more about it, just get in touch and we'll try to coordinate some dates in mid-February.  Cheers!