We returned to the popular, Sheldon Hotel in Eastbourne, exploring one of the world’s most exciting wine regions. Spain has more vineyard land than almost any country on Earth, and somewhere between 280 and 600 native grape varieties, depending on who is counting. That’s a lot to take in, so let’s do it the fun way: one glass at a time. Tonight we travel from the cellars of Catalonia to the high plains of Castilla y León, through Rioja and into Aragon, meeting some surprising characters along the way. Steve and the team at the hotel also put on the most amazing spread for us all.
Furthermore, our charity raffle raised £150 for St Wilfrids Hospice! Thank you so much everyone!
Here’s what we poured.
The Wines
Glass One: Codorníu Vintage Brut Cava
The history of cava
The story of cava is one of bugs, battles and bubbles.
The name comes from the Catalan word for “cave” or “cellar,” which is where the wine sits quietly becoming bubbly. For decades the Spanish simply called it champaña (or xampany in Catalan). The French were not amused, and when Spain joined the European Economic Community in 1986, the name Cava became official.
It all began in 1872. Josep Raventós of the Codorníu family travelled around Europe, saw what the French were doing in Champagne, and decided Spain could do it too. In Sant Sadurní d’Anoia, just outside Barcelona, he made the first Spanish sparkling wine using the traditional method, where the second fermentation happens inside the bottle. He was hardly a beginner either: the Codorníu family had been making wine since 1551.
Then came the villain. In the late 1880s a microscopic aphid called phylloxera swept through Catalonia and destroyed the vineyards by eating the vines’ roots. The silver lining was that growers replanted with white grapes, especially the three that became the holy trinity of cava: Macabeo, Xarel·lo and Parellada. A tiny bug accidentally helped launch an industry. Catalan producers popularised the gyropalette, a machine that turns hundreds of bottles at once to coax the sediment into the neck. Before that, every bottle was turned by hand, a little each day. Champagne houses later adopted the machine as well.
Today cava must be made by the traditional method and aged at least nine months on its lees. Around 95% of it comes from Catalonia. In recent years some quality focused producers have pushed hard to shake off cava’s “cheap and cheerful” image, and new top tiers, including single vineyard cavas, show it’s not just for brunch.
In the glass
Codorníu Vintage Brut is a tribute to that very first cava of 1872, made with the same three native grapes and the same traditional method. Macabeo brings freshness and fruit, Xarel·lo adds body and structure, and Parellada gives delicate floral notes.
It pours pale gold with fine, persistent bubbles. Tilt your glass and watch those small, steady streams, which are a sign of the traditional method. On the nose you’ll find fresh apple and pretty floral notes, with hints of peach, lemon and melon. Some bottles lean towards baked apple, honey and praline. On the palate it’s crisp and dry with a creamy mousse and a touch of brioche from its time on the lees.
A quick translation of the label: Brut means dry, Vintage means the grapes all come from a single harvest year, and at 11% alcohol it’s lighter than most still wines. Serve it well chilled, around 6 to 8°C, with shellfish, cured meats, canapés or, frankly, a bowl of crisps. Bubbles and salt are a wonderful match.
Glass Two: Cuatro Rayas “Four Lines” Verdejo, Rueda
Next we head northwest to Rueda, in Castilla y León, home of Spain’s zesty Verdejo grape.
Cuatro Rayas means “four stripes” or “four lines,” and in the UK the wine is sold under the English name Four Lines. The name refers to the point where four municipalities meet, an area of gravelly soils that Verdejo loves.
The winery was founded in 1935 in the small town of La Seca, when a group of small growers teamed up during the uneasy years before the Spanish Civil War. Today it’s a cooperative of around 300 grower families with roughly 2,400 hectares of vines, producing almost a fifth of all the white wine in Rueda. Some of their vines are more than 120 years old and survived the same phylloxera plague that devastated Catalonia. They’re also serious about sustainability, running entirely on renewable energy, and they’ve even worked with the University of León to prove that Verdejo can age beautifully.
In the glass
That striking blue bottle is more than a pretty face, because it helps protect the wine from oxidation. The grapes are picked at night to keep them cool and preserve their fresh aromas and acidity.
The wine is pale straw with a green tinge. On the nose expect lemon, lime, green apple and white peach, followed by Verdejo’s signature herbal note of fennel or aniseed. Ask your guests who can pick it up! On the palate it’s crisp, dry and refreshing, with a slightly creamy texture and a faint bitter almond note on the finish, which is Verdejo’s party trick.
If you like Sauvignon Blanc, you’ll probably love this, although Verdejo is a little rounder and gentler. The 2023 vintage won Silver at the Drinks Business Spring Tasting. Serve it well chilled, around 7 to 9°C, with seafood, grilled fish, goat cheese salad, olives or anchovies.
Glass Three: Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Rioja Blanco
Everyone knows Rioja is red, right? Wrong! About 90% of Rioja is red, which makes a white Rioja a lovely surprise.
Rioja holds Spain’s top quality classification, DOCa, and was the first region to receive it, in 1991. This bottle is made for Sainsbury’s by Bodegas Muriel, a family business founded in 1926 and now one of the largest family owned wineries in Rioja. It’s sold under the name Viñedos Barrihuelo.
A mutant grape
This wine blends two grapes. The first is Viura, the classic white Rioja grape. Here’s a fun twist: Viura is the very same grape as the Macabeo in our cava, just under a different name.
The second is Tempranillo Blanco, and it has a brilliant story. Tempranillo is Rioja’s famous red grape, but in 1988 a grower spotted a single vine producing white grapes. It was a natural mutation, and from that one freak vine a whole new variety was propagated. It was approved for Rioja wine in the late 2000s, making it one of the youngest grapes in the region. So next time someone tells you Tempranillo is a red grape, you can tell them about its white twin.
In the glass
Traditional white Rioja was aged for years in oak until it turned golden and nutty. This one takes the modern route: crisp, refreshing and fruit forward. On the nose you’ll find fresh white flowers and citrus, and on the palate tropical fruit with a clean, long finish. Viura keeps it crisp while Tempranillo Blanco adds body and those tropical notes.
