The family founded the property as far back as 1637, and have now been making wine for over 40 years. Unusually these days, they make their fizz by the same method as Champagne, with the second fermentation in bottle, and turn each bottle by hand. The wine is then aged for nearly two years on lees (the spent yeasts that created the fizz during the fermentation in bottle) to ensure rich complexity and full body. It’s organic, too! With ripe apple and peach notes and complex toasty length, it makes a very fine apéritif with toasted salted almonds, jamón iberico, olives and other tapas.

El Bombero red regularly sits in our customer’s Top 10, so we are excited to present its new sibling - a vibrant, fruity rosado. It comes from Cariñena, a hot, arid region of Spain where sun-loving grapes like Garnacha thrive. Along with big reds, the region produces bright, bold pinks. With just a few hours of contact between the grape juice and skins, the rosés catch the bright berry notes and a light hue.

El Bombero rosado is a wonderful example of a new wave of Garnacha rosés. It lies between Spain’s traditional fruity, medium-bodied rosés and the pale, light-bodied Provençal style. Showing great fruit finesse, it’s ideal to sip on its own, while its roundness makes it a great food wine as well – especially with a tasty paella.

Casa Primicia is one of the oldest buildings in Rioja Alavesa – in the 15th century it was where the Church collected tithes. In 1985 the Madrid brothers bought it and converted it into a winery. A host of prestigious awards soon followed, including the ‘Grand Prix d’Honneur’ at Vinexpo in Bordeaux. Grapes for this wine come from a beautiful 40-year-old vineyard and a good vintage.

Winemaker was Fernando Domingo (he trained under great oenologist Don Manuel Ruiz Hernández), who aged the wine in American and French oak barrels for 18 months, the rest in bottle, to obtain the perfect balance of subtle spice and deep fruit. A superb Rioja Reserva with red berry notes, cocoa, vanilla and toasty oak. Excellent with tapas, lamb or rice dishes.

You may not be familiar with Verdejo, but the name Lime Leaf conjures up a flavour impression that exactly matches the wine. Verdejo is one of Spain’s most successful white varieties, with the fashionable Rueda region setting the benchmark.

However, every vintage, our friend the virtuoso winemaker Javier Murúa uses his impressive contacts to locate small parcels of Verdejo in the cooler parts of central Spain to create this exclusive cuvée. In 2021 the high plains of La Mancha and areas close by provided just what he was looking for. We love Lime Leaf’s pure, limy flavours at a quality that belies its humble ‘table wine’ classification and always at an enticingly low price. Enjoy as a refreshing apéritif, or with seafood, paella or salads.