June: Another vital month in the annual cycle of the vine and a beautiful month to be in Barcelona! The vines will still be growing green material at a rapid pace and more importantly, the plants will start to flower. This is the process where the embryonic grape clusters pollinate and are fertilised; without this process, there can be no grapes and therefore no wine. The plants are very vulnerable at this time of the year, in particular to short and violent changes of weather, which seems to continue year after year. Without appropriate flowering, yields will be drastically low and prices could rise as a result. June is the ideal month to visit a winery; there is plenty of activity in the vineyards, the plants are looking stunning with their shoots reaching for the sky and the small clusters flowering across the vineyards. A wonderful day out and a great opportunity to meet some local wine-makers!

Hello Wine Lovers! Welcome to the 30th Edition of the Wine Cuentista newsletter. As those of you who attended tastings last year will know, we typically take a 2 month break over the warmer summer months of July and August, so the June tastings are the last of the summer! Fear not, the tastings will be back in September so it’s only a short break, and there are two to look forward to this month and I will still be offering private tastings for anyone who can’t wait that long. As always, we’ll be signing off with a ‘Fintan’s Fridge’ event and before that, we’ll be hosting a light lunch complete with some refreshing, summer-time wines including some grower Champagne, Riesling, Mencia and… well… you’ll have to check the wine list for full details. 😉 I look forward to seeing you there for what looks to be a lovely month ahead!

Maestrazgo Wine Club:

9th June – Summer Time Lunch – 10 places available – 30 euros p/p
28th June – Fintan’s Fridge – 10 places available – 40 euros p/p

Articles: I probably spend too much of my time reading online articles about wine. However, as a result I can find and select a choice few to share – here are my three favourites from last month!

1. ‘When terroir trumps quality’ by Jancis Robinson MW. The constant debate about terroir continues, although this month Jancis takes a practical rather than scientific approach, wondering aloud whether wine-makers are more curious to express terroir or to make the best wine possible. An interesting thought and I can think of several projects where this is certainly true, as wine-makers aim to showcase a specific place rather than using wine-making techniques to round off any rough edges. A thought provoking read. https://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles/when-terroir-trumps-quality

2. ‘Rioja embraces geography’ by Jancis Robinson MW. I typically try to avoid showcasing multiple articles from the same authors within the same month, but Jancis has had a sterling month behind the keyboard! Particularly for those of living in Spain, this is a very useful article explaining some of the new changes to DOC Rioja, their labelling laws and the reasoning behind them. I’m not as positive as Jancis and I feel the changes don’t go far enough to addressing concerns within the region, particularly from the most exciting producers, but time will tell. https://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles/rioja-embraces-geography

3. ‘What have wine critics ever done for us?’ by Peter Pharos. A highly entertaining and skilled writer I’ve only been reading recently and who has rightly been snapped up by Tim Atkin, this is perhaps the most enjoyable article of his I’ve read so far. A tongue-in-cheek look at the role of a wine critic and why they’re often lampooned for every reason, usually by people who gain the most from having them around. That and anyone who compares ‘influencers’ to ‘cats playing the piano’ is someone I’m likely to agree with! Welcome aboard, Peter. http://www.timatkin.com/articles?1904

Wine of the month: I’m constantly on the look-out for wines of real quality and value; here is my favourite wine of the month:

Castagna Genesis Syrah 2006: I’m sorry to choose another expensive, difficult to find wine for our ‘Wine of the month’ twice in a row, but I’ve been fortunate enough to try a couple more absolutely sublime wines, and it’d be wrong to leave them out. In fact, this beautiful bottle of Syrah and Viognier from Beechworth is the best wine I’ve tried so far in 2018; quite an effort but well deserved. Running the entire evolutionary scale, this combines incredible purity of fruit, subtle oak and gorgeous aromatic complexity with subtlety, intensity and a finish that never seems to end. Sometimes it really is worth splashing out for the good stuff – what a wine! Full a full review, check out our write-up here.

Social Media
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That’s it for this months newsletter. I hope you enjoyed it and please, if you have any suggestions or things you would like to see get in touch! Either respond to me here or email to fintankerr@winecuentista.com I can’t wait to see you all soon for more wine, food and good company.
Fintan Kerr