New Rioja / Old Rioja

Bodegas Franco-Españolas was founded in 1890  as an indirect result of one of the biggest catastrophes in the history of European wine making.
In the second half of the 19th century, French vineyards were almost completely decimated by phylloxera (a plague of root devouring mites). This led vineyard owners from Bordeaux, a [...]

Vinho Branco

It was not so long ago (10 years, more or less) that the white wines of Spain started becoming well known in the USA. The Galician white wines made from the Albariño grape opened the door for numerous other Spanish white wines that have grown ever more prevalent in the ensuing years.
The [...]

Bold Reds From Spain And Beyond

We have been featuring plenty of bright, refreshing white and rosado wines lately, so this week we will catch you up on some of the dark, expressive red wines that have arrived here recently.
Flor de Pingus 2006 Dominio de Pingus produces some of Spain’s most sought after wines. The newly released [...]

New Discoveries

At The Spanish Table we are always on the hunt for new wines to bring in and share with you. Sometimes we try something in a restaurant or bar that makes us start writing tasting notes on the back of napkins. Other times an eager salesperson will arrive at our door with something exciting and [...]

Portugal On The Menu

Are you ready to drink more Portuguese wine?
Márcio Ferreira of Viniportugal certainly hopes so.  Viniportugal, a Portuguese wine export trade organization, was in the Bay Area last week meeting with local wine merchants and sommeliers. Márcio Ferreira hosted a lunch (at the impeccable NOPA) organized by Evan Goldstein of Full Circle Wine Solutions to taste [...]

Reboot

For many of the less technically inclined among us the on/off button is our solution to all electronic device issues. Everything has them these days (computers, phones, televisions, even cars). When in doubt, start over from scratch by turning everything off and back on again. The circle with a vertical line sticking out from the [...]

American Holiday

Thanksgiving Day kicks off what we Americans call ‘The Holiday Season’. Unlike European countries where the calendar is studded with holidays both secular and religious, in the USA we can go months without any official time off. Between the 4th of July and Halloween just one day, Labor Day, is [...]

Fall Flavors

The autumn harvest season is currently at its peak. The summer crops (tomatoes, eggplant, peppers and such) are slowly dwindling away while fall fruits and vegetables (winter squash, shell beans, persimmons and so forth) are starting to crowd the shelves at local stores.
My favorite harbinger of autumn is the [...]

A Blogging We Shall Go

If you were wondering who the last person in the Bay Area to get a blog is, you just found him.
Yes, I have finally joined the crowd (‘come on, all the kids are doing it’) and re-purposed this newsletter in an on-line version. The same newsletter that you now [...]

Drink In The Season

 
So, I’m walking to work this morning and I’m thinking about the priorities of the business day. I have wines to buy, people to call, events to plan (typical daily minutiae) and as I plod along I look up and, in a moment of sudden realization, say to myself “Holy smokes, [...]