Sarah Jane Evans MW: My top 10 Spanish fine wines of 2021

In a year when travel was almost impossible, wine has been a fine companion. In terms of varieties I have been drinking a vinous A to Z: everything from Albillo (Cebreros) to Zibibbo (Pantelleria, Italy). Specifically I have been enjoying Cariñena from Priorat and Rioja, plus Garnachas – white, red and hairy – from Terra Alta, Rioja and Gredos, as well as Greek Xinomavro from Naoussa and Xarel.lo from Catalunya.

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Not forgetting Mencía (Bierzo) and Merenzao (Galicia), both of them elegant and fresh, plus Palomino (Sherry and unfortified versions from the Jerez area, as well as Rueda, Tenerife…) Of course, I also tasted plenty of Tempranillos.

Finally I cannot forget a really memorable Riesling, and a famous Cabernet Sauvignon. More of them below.

My top 10 here are some of the very many wines I’ve enjoyed this year tasting Spain for Decanter.

The problem is, Spain is not a country to capture in 10 wines.

There are so many wines I have had to omit from this list. Valencia in its entirety, for instance, where so many good things are happening. In 2021 I failed to travel to the wineries in the Alforins area including – Celler del Roure, Fil.loxera, Javier Revert, Los Frailes.

I would have called in on Pepe Mendoza at Casa Agrícola in Lliber, and taken a detour to Baldovar 923. Next year!

All of these should be on your shopping list, for ‘travel’ at home.

My last trip before lockdown in 2020 was to Alicante, a visit that included MG Wines’ historic Fondillón cellar. I’m excited to be able to include a Fondillón here, a unique wine from Alicante. Then 18 months later my first trip was to Rioja, to host the blind tastings for Decanter’s Rioja guide (published with the January 2021 issue). There we tasted some outstanding wines, including some exciting discoveries in the much-debated vinedo singular category.

Now to that Riesling. My life is not all Spain. In London, hosting the Daily Pour magazine programme on Pall Mall TV, I have the chance to spend time talking and tasting some exceptional wines. The Egon Müller Scharzhofberger Kabinett 2020 was one of them. A miraculous wine, of ringing intensity; a bottle that stops you in your tracks. It was a privilege to taste it. As the best wines do, it also brought memories flooding back: of Egon Müller himself, visiting and tasting at his home, with Scharzberg looming behind.

Another memorable moment was meeting Tor Kenward, who brought with him glorious memories of his life as a Napa Valley vintner plus a bottle of Black Magic, the wine golfer Phil Mickelson made a sell-out when he drank it out of his prizewinning Wanamaker Trophy. The third was a glinting sample of inky 2021 Carignan brought by Justin Howard-Sneyd MW from his property Domaine of the Bee in Roussillon.

The Carignans of Priorat (especially Mas Doix 1902) figure in my all-time top 10, but I have to say, this French upstart was very promising!

Sarah Jane Evans MW: My top 10 of 2021

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