Telmo Rodríguez, you sense, doesn’t like to be labelled or pigeonholed. In London to present his latest range of wines – a fascinating set of single-origin Riojas – he immediately takes issue with being introduced to a group of sommeliers as a ‘driving winemaker’.
‘No, no, no, please, I hate that,’ he protests. ‘I’m not a “driving winemaker”, and I don’t make wine “all over Spain”. I haven’t even been all around Spain because it’s just way too big… Or they call me “enfant terrible”, and I’m 60 years old! It doesn’t make sense to me at all.’
Why do people say such things about one of Spain’s most dynamic contemporary winemakers? As with most clichés, a germ of truth lies within. Rodríguez has made wine in a lot of different Spanish locations – more than 12, at a conservative estimate – and that has inevitably involved quite a bit of time on the autopista.
As for enfant terrible… well, Rodríguez has a habit of speaking his mind: ‘The Rioja business is to produce as much as you can, as cheaply as you can… We want to create a red line between industrial Rioja and human-scale Rioja.
‘The Rioja model of producing 400 million bottles in three categories [age-based crianza, reserva and gran reserva] is dead. No one in fine wine can understand an appellation like that. Imagine Bordeaux with three age classifications…’
Pepe Raventós
A single-minded commitment to sustainability and terroir, combined with business acumen and first-class communication skills, have made his one the most interesting (and divisive) names in Spanish wine. In the end, though, all he wants is for the land to speak through his wines
DO TORO - Tasting a land and its history
In Spain's Castilla y León, DO Toro still offers the serious, powerful Tinta de Toro that established its reputation - as well as elegant, refined expressions and even organic white wines
SPANISH ICONS
For decades, there were just a few wines regarded as Spain's most revered. Recently, these have been joined by a growing cast of modern-day powerhouses that have risen rapidly to win the hearts of critics and collectors alike. Read on to discover the 10 Spanish wines you should try before you die
Wine myths debunked
Accepted wisdom isn't always especially wise. Here are four examples from the world of wine
HUGH JOHNSON - 'I've often tried offering a little First Steps in Tasting'
There are a few bottles in my gradually dwindling cellar here that have question marks over them.
THE CAMINO - A food & wine guide
Quite possibly the world's most popular Christian pilgrimage route, the Camino de Santiago conveniently passes through some of northern Spain's best wine- and food-producing regions
Pink gins for Valentine's Day
Turn on the romance with a pre-dinner cocktail concocted from one of these rosy spirits
PUTTING DOWN ROOTS
Why a range of Italian grape varieties are flourishing in Australia's soils, and what the future holds for them
Rhône 2023
In a year that was respectively 'challenging' and 'troublesome' in south and north, it will be vital to follow expert advice when it comes to finding the wines that you'll enjoy. The effects of some extreme swings in the weather were quite localised, however, so there are plenty of good wines to be found. Our Rhône expert Contributing Editor tasted 1,250 wines in all - here's a selection of 45 of his top picks
Plaimont
Preserving the wisdom of the past - to shape the wines of the future
