Grape varieties you should know

Mencía is the red grape of the Northwest. It smells of violets and sour cherry and stays quieter than you would expect from a Spanish red. Above the Sil it grows on slate, in Bierzo on more clay.

The three whites are easy to mix up. Albariño is the slim one from the coast, with citrus and salt. Godello has more body and finishes with a gentle bitterness. Treixadura is the softest, with quince and pear, and often shares a blend with the other two.

If you already know Albariño, try a Treixadura next. Ronsel do Sil’s Ourive is pure Treixadura from vines over 85 years old above the Sil, fermented in oak, and only 640 bottles were made.

Wineries

Sousón, Caiño, Merenzao and Brancellao are old red grapes from Galicia. Mostly they sit in a blend next to Mencía and give it colour, acidity or perfume. Only a handful of growers bottle them on their own.

Two of them are stern. Sousón is almost black and smells of blackberry and ink, Caiño brings smoke, liquorice and plenty of acidity. The other two are finer: Merenzao, known in the Jura as Trousseau, and Brancellao are paler in the glass, with red berries and violets.

A good way in is Guímaro’s A Ponte: 70 percent Mencía, 20 percent Brancellao, plus a little Sousón and Garnacha Tintorera. The four bottles below are each made from a single grape.

Wineries

Bobal is the grape of Utiel-Requena, the high plateau inland from Valencia. It gives dark fruit and firm acidity, often from old, unirrigated bush vines. Several of our wineries make it, each in their own way.

You may know Garnacha as Grenache. In Bandol it sits in the rosés next to Mourvèdre, in the Luberon next to Syrah, and in Requena it becomes Cava. As a pure red we carry Pico d'Agila from Carres.

Noria from Viña de Eufemia, 80 percent Bobal from old vines and 20 percent Merlot, goes with anything off the grill. On warm days, reach for a rosé from Bandol instead, where Garnacha is blended with Mourvèdre and Cinsault.

Wineries

Tempranillo, Merlot, Macabeo and Chardonnay are on every wine shelf. We carry them anyway, just rarely from where you would expect. Our Tempranillo is Tinto Fino from Ribera del Duero, our Merlot comes from the Garraf, from Requena, from Bordeaux and from Valais.

Macabeo and Chardonnay mostly come with bubbles here. In Rioja, Macabeo is called Viura, and in Requena it is the base of Cava. We only carry Chardonnay as sparkling wine, which puts Cava from Requena right next to Champagne.

For sparkling wine, we would start with Viña de Eufemia’s Reserva Brut: Macabeo and Chardonnay from Requena, part of the base wine aged in barrel, then 36 months on the lees.

Wineries