Spain: North & North-East, including Navarra & Priorat
2014: Gold: 2 Silver: 4 Bronze: 4 Commended: 7
2013: Gold: 6 Silver: 7 Bronze: 5 Commended: N/A
Must-list status: 35%
Overall SWA performance 2014: D
Last year, Spain’s North/North-East put in an astonishing performance, with a record number of medals and six Gold-Listed wines. This year was, if not a disaster, then certainly a return to normality. Ten medals and a couple of Golds is pretty much par for the course.
That said, the whites were a disappointment. There was everything from Basque whites to Chardonnay blends, but it didn’t seem to matter – the tasters were somewhat underwhelmed by most of it.
‘I didn’t find them faulty, but between £6 and £13 the profile was the same,’ sighed Trangallán’s Xabier Alvarez. ‘And some people are trying to be cheeky with the prices.’
The reds didn’t fare much better, with the words ‘flat’ and ‘disappointing’ coming up a lot. Some tasters found grubby winemaking, others too much oak; some found searing tannins, others a lack of fruit. It was all… well, flat and disappointing.
On the plus side, Campo de Borja (and especially repeat Gold-Lister Bodegas Borsao) proved that this appellation, at least, is a good place to get well-priced Spanish red, and it was heartening to see a rare top-end Gold for Priorat, too.
FOOTNOTE: Includes wines from Navarra, Somontano, Campo de Borja, Costers del Segre, Catalonia & Penedes.
From the Tasting Teams
‘There was definitely a jump in quality towards the end of the flight.’ Sandro Lyhs, Oxo Tower Bar
‘Too many of these were everywhere wines.’ Jan Konetzki, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay