Hi Cristine

Torres Vina Sol is lovely. We have had that quite a few times in Benidorm. You can get it here too but it is at least double the price here.
I'm going to benidorm in a couple of weeks so i'll be doing a fair bit of wine testing then. I'll try to remember what the relly nice ones are.

Liz

Liz O thanks for that

I`ve tried Torrres vina sol here and it`s very nice not seen it in Beni, I will have to look out for it. I go to Beni on the 17 th December so if your back before that could you let me know any more that are nice.

Thanks
Christine W

I must admit to being a lover of Spanish Wine too, (well all kinds of wine really)! As far as Cava goes it tends to be slightly sweeter than Champagne although produced in a similar way (French wont let them call it that because they are a bit snobbish about it)! The sweetest is Dulce, and the driest is Extra Brut, but Brut more freely available. Again with Sherry most spaniards prefer a drier Sherry than what we are used to, they often have it chilled as an apperatif or with tapas or ham. This pale sherry is called Fino and is very dry but delicious, if you prefer a medium sherry then ask for Amontillado, or Oloroso for a sweet one. One of the sweetest of all is called Pedro Ximenez, which is nice with fruit cake, some even pour it over Ice Cream!
I have tried more red wines than white, but I also like Torres Vina Sol, its between £3.99-£4.99 at Majestic at moment. If you like this one Torres also produce a Gran Vina Sol, which is lovely, but the one I prefer with Seafood is Torres Esmerelda. I've had this at Restaurant Aitena in Benidorm, with Rape con Mariscos (Monkfish with seafood sauce) and it was superb. Also Albarino is quite a nice white wine too, but cant recall any individual producers names. Some Red Wines i can fully reccomend are:- Faustino 1 (Pronounced Primero) and Faustino 5 (Quinto). Vina Ardanza, Campo Viejo, Marques de Grinon, Marques de Riscal,Marques de Murrieta,Marques de Caceras. I've also tried Vega Sicilia Unico and Torres Mas la Plana Black Label...But the last two are definately for special occasions and are very expensive. Hope thats a few to be going on with, and that you get to try some in December. I'm going for a few days in January and will sample a fews bottles myself then Hic!

Hi Christine W

I don't come back until the 19th December. We better leave some wine in Benidorm for Taggy. I love Faustino wine too.

Liz

Thanks for that Taggy

As Liz O say we promise to leave some left for you in January.

I`m getting quite excited at the prospect of all the wine tasting, if I can`t manage to try all the different ones it will be a good excuse to go back again to Beni.

Christine W

Taggy, you sound like a wine buff so you might like to take a drive up to Supermercardo Super La Nucia on the Benidorm/ La Nucia road. Downstairs is a Bodega with loads of really interesting old wines. Amongst others you can get classic, aged Faustino 1 and Vega Sicilias for about 30/40 euros. I know thats a lot of dosh for wine in Spain but these are really special.

Thanks for that Wynn, did'nt know about that place, only prob with me is I'm a driving abroad virgin!-never plucked up the courage...i know I should... maybe next time... Is it within Taxi distance if I wimp out? Do you know if they have the Vega Scilia Unico or is it Valbeuna (spelling)? I had a 23 year old Faustino Primero a few months ago and was sublime! Mind you its sounds like Christine and LizO will have drunk Beni dry by then so probably have to make do with bottles of Cruzcampo!! Only Joking Ladies I'm sure you only drink in Moderation (wherever that bar is)! For anyone liking Vina Sol an article in the Mail today by Oz Clarke mentions it at around £2.30 a bottle at Sainsburys & Tesco, not checked myself yet! (Have checked now and never seen it at that price!! Could Oz have been a little Tipsy perhaps? )For anyone wanting to try different Spanish Wines in Beni, The Restaurant El Meson on Calle Gerona which I've mentioned in the Favourite Spanish Restaurant/Meal Thread, has a very good selection. For wines from Spain,Italy & France the restaurant I Fratelli offers a large selection at both modest and Gulp! prices! This is mainly Italian Food though but very good!

Hi Taggy, I've been to Tesco today and they had Torres Vina Sol but it was £4.68. They had Marques de Leon for £2.06 but I didn't want to chance it, it seemed a bit cheap so I played safe and bought my usual South African Semillon Chardonnay.

Sue

Hi Taggy Super La Nucia is 10 euro taxi ride from Av. Europa. The bus also goes from Av. Europa, costs 1.50 euros, cant remember the number , but it is the La Nucia bus. Will check on the Vega Sicilias and get back to you.

Just shows you cant really on Oz Clarke for info then Sue! Everywhere I've seen it its round about £4.50-£4.99, but it is quite nice, not exceptional but very glugable!! Hic! I prefer the Gran Vina Sol and Vina Esmerelda both also by Torres. I know you like Hof van Holland Restaurant, but next time you go if you fancy a Spanish Meal out try La Aitena which is right opposite Hof van Holland in the same little square on the corner. They do really nice food, both Seafood, Paellas and Meat dishes, and they had the Vina Esmerelda last time I was there in August. Its Lovely!. Thanks Wynn for your further information, you're really helpfull. Hopefully I will try to get there in Jan when I'm next over, but only there for 4 nights so time a bit tight on that visit. I have had a couple of bottles of Unico in the past, I cant remember what vintage but was going back into the 80's, and I certainly paid around £45-£50 each for them (over here), but saw them later in a wine merchants list well into Three figures!. Another good Spanish wine I had was the Torres Mas la Plana Black Label, I cant recall prices or again vintage (drink does this to you does'nt it ) but it was very very good, and indeed in a blind wine tasting by "experts" was voted better than most French Bordeaux of that year.

I`ve wrote my wine list out ready to take with me, I`ve even had a look in Asda today to see if I reconize any of the names, I saw some Faustino ones but didn`t note the exact one. I`ll go back before I go and note prices and names then I can compare which to drink there and which to bring back.

I`m going to try to buy some in the spirit shop on the opposite side of the road to the indoor market, they do spirits 2 bottles for 8 euros ( that was the price last Xmas), if you go futher into the shop they have a excellent wine selection, hopefully they will have the ones I`m after.I have found that the shop I`ve mentioned is one of the best for prices also Di Di supermarket next to the indoor market have a good selection again with good prices.

I`ll disclose my finding upon my return.

Christine W

Hi, bit off track this but I won a few bottles at my daughters school fair last night. One bottle of Champagne, Mumm Cordon Rouge, retails for about £20+ so saving that for a special occasion, also some Spanish sparkling wine called Delafinca Carta Blanca (Vino Espumoso Gasificado) If anyone has heard of this could you let me know if it's likely to give me a hangover I also won a bottle of croft original (will come in for christmas) oh and a few bottles of cheap pop too. Not a bad night all in all.

Sue

Never heard of that one Sue, but even if it does give you a hangover at least its not a costly one! If its not to your liking just add orange juice and it'll make a nice bucks fizz!. The Faustino's that they have at my local Asda Christine are the two i've mentioned which will be labelled Faustino I (Primero), and Faustino V (Quinto), they also have Faustino VII (not sure what Seventh is in Spanish), which is a younger Rioja which i'm not that keen on, but is a bit cheaper than other two. They also produce a Vino Blanco too but i prefer the varios Torres whites to that one. I may be going to Asda in Morning before the Footy, if so i'll price them up, and post on here, but i might not get back online till Monday.

Myself and the wife got the taste a few years ago.Started off with Torres San Valantin (a Penedes).Couldnt get it back home so e-mailed Torres who put me in touch with their importer,who told me who stocked it,which was only Morrisons at the time.Now its widly available.Moved on to Torres Vina Sol and Vina Esmeralda,(also Penedes)All three now cost almost as much in Spanish supermarkets as English ones.
Got a liking for Campo Viejo (a Viura)Muga white and red.Faustino V (Rioja).Marques de Casares.
But you can get some nice wines in Spanish bars that you wont normally find in the supermarkets.
Im still looking out for a 98 Rioja which is Im told an exceptional year.

Taggy, at Super la Nucia we got Vega Scilia Velbeuna 1964 for 40 euros. they also have Unico at vaying prices depending on the year. We got Faustino 1 1964 (wonderful), Pomal 1966 and Bodega Palacio 1935 all in the 30 to 40 euro range.

They are actually very good prices really Wynn arn't they when you consider the age. (about 1 euro per year in case of the 60's vintages!) You've really got my thirst buds going now, I'm definately going to visit this place as soon as I can!. Incidentely if you are interested i've checked the vintage classifications and the 35 classed very good, the 64's Excellent, and the 66 good. No ratings for my birth year 57!...guess only some good things came out of that year!! Although I have got a 57 Chateau Latour waiting for another two years! I did cheat and buy 2 and drank one 3 years ago!..mmm! For anyone interested how recent vintages have rated 1994, 95, 2001(Excellent), 96 & 98 (Very Good) 97,99,2000,02,03, (Good). These are only for Rioja & Ribera del Duero wines, other regions can vary a little from this. For anyone not sure of Spanish wine classification, a brief summary would be JOVEN - Harvested one year and sold the next. CRIANZA are 2 years old, with at least 12 months spent in cask prior to bottling. RESERVAS are 3 years old with at least one year in cask and GRAN RESERVAS 5 years old two in cask three in bottle. These are all minimum requirements but there are slight variations depending on which region the wine is produced in.
I did pop into my local Asda today and some of the wines they have which were mentioned in previous posts are priced as follows Faustion VII £5.99 - £3 half bot, Faustino V (2000) £9.99, Faustino I (95) £13.66. Camp Viejo Crianza (2002) £5.98, Campo Viejo Reserva(99) £7.98. Torres Vina Sol £4.89. In Tesco I found Torres Vina Esmeralda(2004) @ £5.49 and bought 4 of them...thats all they had left!. ....and I'm going to open one now!! Salud!

The thing about the really ancient wines in the Bodega at La Nucia is that there is a notice saying they dont guarantee them, so you take a chance, but we havent had a bad one yet, I guess that is why the prices are so good. Thanks for the vintage year info. We have bought a selection of 1966 bottles for a family occasion next year, well not too hard to work out its a 40th birthday, not mine!

Yeah its the same with all old vintages really you pays your money...! I think you are pretty safe with the 60's ones, not to sure about the 35 now though! You could be lucky and have a beauty or all the fruit content could have dried up by now, but its always interesting and exciting to try some old bottles, and i would be interested in hearing what that ones like if you consume it in the not to distant...Incidentely I drank a 1962 bottle of Pol Roger cuvee Winston Churchill Champagne not to long ago, and it was awfull, lost most of its fizz i'm afraid, and had gone rather sweet, bit like drinking a slightly carbonated sweet sherry...think i would have rather eaten one of his cigars!!

Yea, I dont think Champagne keeps so good. We had a couple of bottles of Champagne laid down for 21 years for a 21st birthday and they were undrinkable. Should have drunk them when the baby was born! What a waste!