Tag Archives: Spanish wine

Abadia Retuerta – The Abbey of the Twisted River

Written by Allison Levine on
Travel Lifestyle Wine

Want to dream about a place to visit? Perhaps dream about ABADIA RETUERTA LeDOMAINE located just outside the Ribera del Duero region in Spain. During a recent visit of General Manager Enrique Valero Quintana to Los Angeles, I met with him and tasted the wines of Abadia Retuerta. The wines were fantastic and the images of the winery, and hotel, had me fantasizing about my next trip. You can read about it in my recent column in the Napa Valley Register, shared here.

The Duero River starts in the north of Spain and travels 460 miles through Portugal to the Atlantic Ocean. Along the river, there are several recognized wine-producing regions, including Ribera del Duero in Spain. Just outside the Ribera del Duero wine region sits a unique destination, Abadia Retuerta, the Abbey of the Twisted River.

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Codorniu – The Creators of Cava Express the Terroirs of Spain

Written by Allison Levine on
Wine

There is never an excuse needed to drink bubbles. And, while you might think of Champagne or Prosecco when it comes to bubbles, do not forget about Cava. I am not talking about the cheap brands in the supermarket. I am talking about beautifully made, classic-method Cava from Codorniu, the brand credited with creating Cava, as I wrote about in a recent column in the Napa Valley Register and am sharing here.

Champagne has been thought to be invented by Benedictine monk Dom Perignon in 1693, but sparkling wine was invented in 1531 by the Benedictine monks of the Abbey of Saint-Hilaire in Languedoc, France. Sparkling wine was made in Italy for the first time in 1865 by Carlo Gancia. And in 1872, the Codorníu family created cava in Spain. Cava may not be the sparkling wine that comes to mind if you are thinking of opening a bottle of bubbles. But, after tasting the Codorníu cavas, perhaps it should be.

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Talking About Terroir with Capçanes

Written by Allison Levine on
Wine

This story originally appeared in the Napa Valley Register.

Wine grapes are grown in a variety of soils. The influence of the soil is one of the many factors that contribute to a resulting wine. But can you taste this difference?

There are general descriptors that say that sandy soils produce highly aromatic wines with low tannins and clay soils produce muscular wines with high extract. And there are examples of wines from around the world that demonstrate the influence on wines from sandy, volcanic, clay, limestone, slate and other soils.

But to really understand the influence of soil on wine, what if you could narrow down all of the other elements — same grape, same vintage, same region, same viticulture practices, same vinification but four different soils? You can with Capçanes’ La nit de les garnatxes series.

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Please the Palate is a boutique firm specializing in marketing, event planning and writing for the wine and spirits industry.