Posts Tagged "tempranillo"


ribera del duero wine

Alejandro Fernandez

Alejandro Fernandez is known as “El Rey de Tempranillo”, Spanish for the King of Tempranillo. His winery, Pesquera, put the Spanish region of Ribera del Duero on the world wine map. Alejandro was a tireless champion of the Tempranillo grape and understood as well as anyone how to grow it and how to vinify it. He passed on May 22, 2021 at the age of 88. He was a true icon in the wine world, a man of tireless energy and a great lover of people. To say he was charismatic would be a gross understatement. If he was in the room, you knew it, and you would very likely try to make your way over to where he was.

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Tempranillo: A Primer

Tempranillo: A Primer


Posted on May 12, 2021

navarides spain wine old vines

Vineyards in Spain’s Rioja region.

No grape is more closely associated with Northern Spain than Tempranillo, and no viticultural region is more closely associated with Tempranillo than Northern Spain. Their pasts and their futures are inextricably linked.

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Bodegas Muga: True to Tradition

Bodegas Muga: True to Tradition


Posted on Jan 9, 2019

Rioja spain wine haro

Lunch at Muga.

Bodegas Muga is one of the leading wineries in Spain’s elite wine region of Rioja. We not only got to tour and taste at Muga, but the winery hosted us at a very special private lunch at their winery.  Ten of us were a part of the very exclusive Bordeaux to Rioja wine tour put on by Iberian Wines Tours and it was Iberian’s connection with the winery that got us this special invitation. One of the great things about going on these tours is that you get into places that you simply cannot on your own.

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Bodegas Amaren: Para la Madre

Bodegas Amaren: Para la Madre


Posted on Dec 19, 2018

Rioja spain wine

The barrel room at Amaren.

Bodegas Amaren, the sister winery to Luis Cañas, is a tribute to winemaker Juan Luis Cañas’ mother Maria Ángeles. Located in Samaniego, a town in the Province of Álava in Basque country, it lies within the Rioja Alavesa wine region, the smallest sub region of Rioja in Spain. Ángeles was a woman known for her dedication to the family vineyards as well as a passionate appreciation for the earth. It is that same commitment to quality and respect for the environment that the winery aims to bring to every bottle.

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Navaridas spain la rioja alavesa

The stunning region of La Rioja Alavesa.

We’ve said it before and we stand by the statement that the best travel experiences are never the ones that are planned. There’s no question iconic sites are important for a reason, but usually the most memorable moments are the ones that are unexpected. Case in point, we recently travelled from Bordeaux to Rioja with Iberian Wine Tours, and despite incredible visits that included Chateau Mouton RothschildChateau Pichon Baron, San Sebastian, and Roda, we still reminisce about our most unique wine tasting to date: our visit with Javier Guzmán Aldazabal.

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