Wine Region: Utiel-Requena

(2024) From Utiel-Requena in the southeast of Spain, this is a cheap as chips party glugger offering considerable bangs per buck. Don't come looking for complexity in this £4.99 blend of 60% Tempranillo with Bobal, but it delivers a fragrant nose of black cherry with floral aspects and a smooth as silk, moreish palate of black fruit. Most importantly, it finishes dry without being tricked-up with residual sugar as so many cheap brands. Definitely a crowd-pleaser. Watch my video review for more information.

(2024) Let's make one thing clear from the start: this wine earns its place for a very specific reason, and very specific purpose. Reviewed mid-summer 2024 when it's the height of barbecue season, many people are looking for a fruity, inexpensive red to drink in the sunshine. A priority is lower alcohol and carefree quaffability. Step up this £4 blend of Bobal and Tempranillo from the high altitude vineyards of Utiel-Requena, near Valencia in Spain. With 10% alcohol it fits the bill: chill it if you like, plop a few ice cubes into the glass if you fancy, and enjoy its tutti-frutti red berries, almost non existent tannins, and modest acidity. Not for the cognoscenti. Watch the video for more information.

(2024) 100% Bobal, this comes from Utiel-Requena, just inland from Valencia. It's lightweight stuff, harvested at night from higher altitude vineyards and made in stainless steel. It's a vivid, cotton candy pink with cherry lips and Bazooka Joe bubblegum character, marked as dry on the label but with a bit of residual sugar sweetness. It's far from sophisticated, perhaps akin to a Mateus Rosé without the spritz, but if that appeals it's cheap as chips at Aldi.

(2016) Bobal is a very widely planted grape variety here in Spain, but often confined to fairly rustic local wines. This is a bit different, the nose vinous (black fruits, a touch of spice) but the palate surprisingly smooth and fresh, a hugely juicy character, the tart skins of plums and cherries, then the sweet flesh too, a grip of tannin is there just to give a bit of definition and the dry, savoury but fruity finish makes it widely mid-week food friendly. Only £7.20 to Daily Drinker members.

(2015) Alc 11.5%. 100% Bobal, the grapes sourced from vineyards 600-900m above sea level. Deep cranberry juice colour, a touch of earthiness and glossy red fruits, flavoursome though a touch of boiled sweet character and touch of flattering sugar slightly detracts.