A guide to wines from Spain
By Wine Atlas, Wednesday 30 November 2005 :: Wine - Spain :: #86 :: rss
You've heard of chick lit? Of course. But do you know junk lit? I do. I encounter it all the time. It's verbiage from people pretending to be experts, when all they're really doing is selling their spiel.
"Wines From Spain: Far From Ordinary Wine Guide 2005-2006" is decidedly not junk lit. It's a thoughtful, insightful, informative guide to the finest wines America imports from Spain, which is the world's third largest wine-producing country. The guide, published by Wines of Spain, spotlights history and winemaking laws and offers a comprehensive glossary of Spain's wine grapes as well as a thorough list of the country's disparate and intriguing wine regions. Best of all, it's got clearly written, user-friendly tasting notes written by one of the great wine minds in the world, Doug Frost, one of three wine pros in the world to attain both master of wine and master sommelier honors.
And "Wines From Spain" is free.
The 120-page book is available to those who order it online at www.winesfromspainusa.com. Particularly helpful to those unfamiliar with Spain's wide-ranging offerings are Frost's tasting notes. For example, about old favorite Borsao, a red wine from the Erbo River Valley, Frost says, "This is as round and friendly a glass of wine as you can buy." True — and that's why Borsao is a best-seller in the under-$10 price range here at the Shore.
You'll also learn about Wrongo Dongo, a red made from the monastrell grape in Jumilla, which I've seen at numerous local wine shops for about $7. "It is very stylish, pretty and juicy/jammy throughout," Frost writes. Indeed it is. For an appealing, value-priced white wine, Frost touts the Monjardin Chardonnay, and he doesn't short-change Spain's famed sherries, pointing to the economical La Ina Dry Fino Sherry from Andalucia.
There are labels familiar and new. All are dissected carefully to provide wine-drinkers with all they need to know to buy wisely. But what I truly admire about "Wines From Spain" is the care taken to make it easy for consumers to attain each bottle of wine: Importers' names and phone numbers are provided, as well as Web sites when available — critical connections that are typically omitted from most vino lit distributed these days.
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