Not far from the picturesque towns of Nice and Saint-Tropez, the owners of Château Les Valentines, Gilles and Pascale Pons, produce wines that reflect the summery lightness and intense sensuality of the beautiful Provence countryside.
Ever since the two owners turned their backs on the IT industry in Paris in 1997, they have dedicated their hearts and souls to the wines of Château Les Valentines. The estate is more than a century old and was recently extended by a …
The red Carignan is a heat-loving Mediterranean grape. It has a bit of everything over other varieties: more colour, more tannins, more acid. It is not easy to press a harmonious wine from it alone. Hence it is most often encountered as a b…
Spaniards and Sardinians make the Grenache contentious: both claim it originated from their country. In fact, it had already appeared in both places by the 16th century. But a large number of mutations in Spain indicates that it has deeper …
Noch anfangs der 80er Jahre war das Priorat eine durch die Abwanderung geschwächte Problemregion. Dann entdeckten vier junge Winzer den verlassenen Talkessel, der nur eine Autostunde von der katalonischen Mittelmeerküste entfernt liegt, und…
Spain’s second largest wine region has an impressive variety to offer. As a result, there are eleven different designations of origin in Catalonia. As the home of cava, Catalonia is one of the leading producers of sparkling wines prod…
Álvaro Palacios was only 25 years old when he moved to the lonely Priorat in 1989. He left his parents’ vineyard in Rioja (Palacios Remondo) behind, which had grown too small for him. He joined forces with a group of friends to reawaken the sleeping beauty of the Priorat, which the prior inhabitants had mostly abandoned in search of a better and easier life in the cities.
Coming from the vibrant cosmopolitan city of Barcelona, it’s a good hour and a half’s drive to the Priorat. First, you head southwards down the coast until you turn inland after Tarragona and enter this wild, mountainous region. In summer, …
The wines of Rocche-Costamagna are a result of the perfect interplay of geographical location, meticulous care both in the vineyard and in the cellar, and decades of experience.
The term "Rocche" usually refers to a natural hilly landscape. In this case, it refers to a privileged wine-growing area, the family's historic cru, called "Rocche dell'Annunziata" (covering 6 of the 14 hectares …
The landscape of Meseta Central stretches out endlessly to include La Mancha, the land of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, and also Spain's largest wine region.
The heart of the Iberian peninsula is characterised by an extremely continental climate with scorching summers and freezing winters. Luckily, the scarce downpours are aptly retained by the calciferous loamy soil in order to enable the vines…
