Filled our last new barrels today. This represents 12% #newoak in a wine destined for #Reserva. #Taransaud are classy French oak and never fail and the other two are from local cooperage #Quercus, the result of a big taste-off down there in the spring. #Rioja #barrels #oak #BodegasObalo

Another visit to Afghan restaurant in Slough. Hummus, lamb skewer and mango lassi.

Some action shots from today's #wine #tasting. Having a good look at the 2025s, seeing what worked well and what we need to focus on going forwards. #BodegasObalo #Rioja

Got a fun #winetasting lined up today with an external consultant. Want to look at possible blends for 2023 and 2024 and assess the 2025 vintage in general. #BodegasObalo #Rioja

Still processing yesterday's unreal visit to Bodegas Lanzaga, the HQ of Compañía de Vinos #TelmoRodríguez's pan- #Spain empire. You have to admire the scale of their ambition and the winemaking. To me each #wine seemed to be a very loyal representation of the region, with lots of flavour and nuance.

Out on the town in #Logroño. The city has its lights up and office parties and Christmas lunches have spilled out onto the streets, with seemingly everyone in a good mood.

Fantastic visit today to #BodegasLanzaga today, the home of Compañía de Vinos #TelmRodríguez.

Enjoyed a few nice wine last night in #Logroño: 2024 #LaPiconada - Ripeish Chardonnay / Tempranillo Blanco giving peaches, cream + mango rind. 2022 #Idoia - Nice fruit, but also fairly taut, minerally, bordeline rubbery. Perfect balance and very moreish. #LaCanillaGourmet #Roots

Great visit today to #CasaPrimicia in the heart of #Laguardia. Beautiful renovated old building with caves and a fabulous tasting room. Well worth a visit. #Rioja

Another intimidating-looking #winetasting lined up at the #DOCaRioja. The idea is training tastings, to try and form part of their tasting panel. Black glasses are a game-changer. Not sure I'm going to make the grade to be honest, but it's an interesting exercise.

Just when you think #harvest is over, it's not! #Olives #BodegasObalo #Rioja

Unsurprisingly the #wines of #XoseLoisSebio from #Ribeiro were outstanding across the board. Amazing intensities, combined with freshness and real personality. Definitely some of the best I tried at the recent Peñín wine fair in Madrid.

Showing our wines to clients. There are worse jobs.

I'm not been really very convinced with #zeroalcohol #wine, but I could see it working with #vermouth. Even though the #alchol is a bit higher it's such a weird flavour and bitter and sweet, that maybe it could work?

This was an interesting number: #BodegasLucendo #ElLinze 2023 - a blend of #TintoVelasco and #Syrah from Castilla-La Mancha. Lovely lifted red fruit and wild strawberry notes.

#Rioja - Misty morning up at the winery

In good company - showing #BodegasObalo #wines and others from our group companies at the #Peñín #winefair in #Madrid.

Buenos días. Cerler también es un paraíso para el esquí de travesía. Pico Pasolobino hace unos años!! #montañismo #landscape #photography #huesca #nature #paisaje #naturaleza #fotografia #hiking #mountaineering #pirineo #ski #esquí

Wow, definitely worth having a good relationship with your local #winebar - #Roots #Logroño in this case. Had a glass of #PlazaCuesta (70+ € / btl) for 3.50€, as that's the price of what I'd ordered but they gave me this instead, as the producer had left it there on free trial. Lovely to try it.

Out on the town last night in #Logroño. Something for everyone, as long as you like wine. #LaCanillaGourmet #RootsRioja

Quick action shot from #Logroño. Everybody loves the relocated #BuenoBueno.

Great night out in #Logroño First stop #MaridaGastrobar, good wines btg. Then quick pitstop at #ElTirador, rustic chorizo sarnies straight off the grill and #RamónBilbao. Then off to the #BarrioBar - home made tacos, delicious wine from #SierraDeToloño and cool tunes.

First light in the mountains. Bit of a chilly start, but should be nice when the sun gets going a bit. #Rioja

Firey #sunrise this morning, looking south east from #BodegasObalo #Rioja. If you look carefully you can see new snow on Serradero / Moncalvillo to the right.

Uuuuf - quite an intimidating-looking #winetasting lined up at the #DOCaRioja headquarters! It's training to estimate the level of faults and aromas in wine, so that we can form part of the tasting panel - an essential part of quality control in #Rioja.

Different #newoak options at #BodegasObalo #Rioja. The #Martín is a local cooper with American staves and French heads, whereas the #Etna is American oak, toasted with (I think) volcanic stones instead of over a fire. Both quite economic options, let's see how they work out.

Local #SierradeCodés #mountains with #snow on them today, as seen from #Logroño, northern #Spain.

Had a great night out on Thursday, with some new things to try including this #23Reales from #Reditus. Delicious, balanced, juicy #Garnacha. A style of #Rioja that deserves more recognition.

One of the best things about living in La #Rioja is that we enjoy all four seasons to the max. Hot enough to swim all summer, beautiful golden autumns and now the first #snow of the winter has arrived.

So far so good. At #Roots nice and early, glass of #Beaujolais in hand. Waiting for the party to start. The barman had a 2023 #CôteDeBrouilly waiting for me. Nice touch. Nouveau later. #Logroño nights

Very happy with our #rosado this year. Ultra early-picked #Tempranillo, 12.9% alcohol, starting to show red apples and other crunchy red fruits. Going to rack it now with a brl component and light lees to its final tank and let it over-winter and settle out. #BodegasObalo #Rioja.

Looking at some early #Rosado blending. I've got 10,200L in stainless, 450L (2 barrels) in 2 year old oak, 450L in 1 year old American and 450L in new American. Looking at the best way of blending a more complex #rosé which can also age a little. #BodegasObalo #Rioja

The good thing about #Logroño - you can go out pretty much any night of the year and there's always something going on. This, a Sunday in the middle of November. #wine #Rioja

I thought this was extremely good. Slight reduction / mineral / terpeney with lovely mouthfeel. Flavourful but gentle at the same time, at just 12.5% it could easily have bee mistaken for a white from much further north. Genius winemaking. #WhiteGrenache #GarnachaBlanca #BFrontonio

Hard at work, putting some of our #BodegasObalo #wines in front of a diverse range of global wine professionals at the #DOCaRioja #WineCamp event.

Possibly slightly the worse for wear, but in good company at least, at the #NueveCuatroUno awards last night in #Logroño

More #barrel work today at #BodegasObalo #Rioja.

What do you think of #BodegasLan's recent re-branding? As seen at the recent #Verema winefair in Bilbao. #LAN #Rioja

Just blended up our 2024 #Blanco at #BodegasObalo #Rioja. A blend of Viura and Chardonnay, I'm pretty happy with it. Has been a year in a range of barrels, including Acacia and also concrete. 12.7% alcohol, fruity and complex.

Another #autumn snap from La #Rioja.

I think this banning of #solarpanels in the #vineyards of the #CôtesDuRhône region is a bit of a shame and backwards-looking. I can understand the point about visual impact in scenic areas, but surely it'd be worth a try in more humdrum spots. It's only a trial. magazine.wein.plus/news/cotes-d...

Some more pics from the excellent #winetasting at #Roots the other day from #BodegaLanzaga. Lots of new style, slightly edgy #Rioja in evidence.

Excellent #winetasting last night at #Roots in #Logroño, with #wines from #BodegaLanzaga. Kind of a return to the past, regionally focussed, field blends and no oak influence. #TelmoRodríguez #Rioja

Seems these white #wines from #Jerez are going more mainstream. The DO is also changing the rules. vinetur.com/2025110492921/gonzalez-byass-lanza-elisa-su-nuevo-vino-blanco-ecologico-en-el-190-aniversario-de-la-bodega.html

More #autumn colours in La #Rioja. Strong winds coming today, will probably blow a lot of the leaves away to the east. Watch out @steve-race.bsky.social

Excellent trip around southern #LaRioja today, having a look at some #monasteries.

(Yet) more #autumn leaves in La #Rioja

Went out for a little bike ride this afternoon, to catch some more of the #autumn #leaves before it's all over. This just to the west of #Logroño, La #Rioja.

Out on the town last night in #Logroño.

Something unusual for me tonight: Pineau des Charentes. It's kind-of a fortified wine where Cognac is blended with grape juice: the inverse of most fortified wines where the spirit should be flavourless & the wine dominant. This is an aged one & is gorgeous with the grapes sweetening the spirit.