Spain: Online Wine Tasting Club
The Online Wine Tasting Club is just that. You receive an environmentally friendly package, including 5 dinky boxes filled with what looks like a bag of peanuts but is thankfully wine!
The box also includes details of how to join a live taste-along; hosted on the website, so you can taste at your leisure too.
After a couple of issues with samples getting squashed and bursting on route, which were replaced - Cherri at OWTC dealt with this brilliantly (thank you!) - I wasn’t able to join live but I could get pretty much the full experience by watching the recording.
I really enjoyed the format of this tasting, it was like a magazine-style wine TV show. The amount of detail and production value in the footage put together to introduce Spain’s diversity and history of winemaking was impressive. There were also a couple of brief pre-recorded interviews with winemakers, whose wine featured, and a news section where hosts Jamie & Alex talked through what was happening in the world of wine.
Although you could ask questions through the chat, there was quiz and a poll where the presenters went head to head with their chosen wines, if you want to be ‘in a room’ and see/interact with other gatherers then this probably isn’t the one for you. However, if you want a whistle-stop tour of a region, with lots of interesting content and wines then The Online Wine Tasting Club ticks all the right boxes!
Their next live tastings are featured in our gatherings and follow @onlinewinetastingclub for updates.
What we learnt
Albariño is rumoured to be a descendant of the Riesling grape, brought to Spain by German missionaries in the Middle Ages
Joven means ‘young’ and is a wine produced to be enjoyed so
Flor is a cap of yeast that forms over Sherry as it ages in barrel
Solera system is a stack of connected barrels to create fractional blending across different vintages of sherry.
The wines
Bodegas Gutiérrez, Colosía Fino Sherry
Region: Jerez
Grape: Palomino Fino
I’m not a regular sherry drinker but this may have changed my mind! Very fresh, citrusy, easy to drink but with a lovely yeastiness from the flor. Gather with some olives & almonds
£15.95 - The Online Wine Tasting Club
Javier Sanz, Rey Santo 2019
Region: Reuda
Grape: Verdejo, Viura
The most enjoyable of the 5 wines for me. Super-refreshing, aromatic with citrus, pears balanced by a lovely salty savouriness. I could happily enjoy this on its own but would go well with white fish too.
£10.95 - The Online Wine Tasting Club
Pazo do Mar, Coral do Mar, Albariño 2019
Region: Rias Baixas
Grape: Albariño
A typical Albariño but with elegantly balanced stone fruit & saltiness with a crisp acidity. Perfect with seafood!
£12.95 - The Online Wine Tasting Club
Bodegas Resalte de Peñafiel, Peña Roble Joven 2019
Region: Ribera del Duero
Grape: Tempranillo
Vanilla & toffee apple aromas with red fruit and cloves on the palate. Best enjoyed with food, lamb would work well.
£13.95 - The Online Wine Tasting Club
Vinicola del Priorat, Mas Dels Frares 2019
Region: Priorat
Grape: Grenache, Carignan
Ripe blueberries & plums balanced with oak. Decent levels of tannins and acidity means it would pair well with fatty meat!
£15.95 - The Online Wine Tasting Club
