James the Wine Guy – Ward Kadel

D.O. Montsant: Decade 2 of a Spanish #wine region & #DrinkMontsant!

March 9, 2018May 15, 2018Vinopanion: Ward Kadel - @drXeNo2 Comments

First off, welcome to the new Vinopanion. A massive thank you to HoustonWino (Another Wine Blog) for the clean facelift and major troubleshooting. The second bit of big news is that I am headed back to Spain, woot! The good folks at D.O. Montsant, a somewhat younger wine appellation centered around the town of Falset, southwest...

#OleWinos Final Day: Tilenus/Estefanía & the little #wine valley that could

June 8, 2015June 8, 2015Vinopanion: Ward Kadel - @drXeNoLeave a comment

The final day of our brilliant #OleWinos trip was spent in a little appellation in the northern part of Spain, tucked in between still snowy mountains (if only we had that snow and rain in California!): DO Bierzo (WL, FB, Tw). Our group was finishing up our stay across Spain, hosted by high end #wine group MGWines Group (WL, FB, Tw), in the small, but lovely & ancient, Roman-era town of Ponferrada. It was here that we would visit the previously known property of Bodegas Estafanía (WL, FB), now known better by its main label, Tilenus. Named for the Celtic god, later appropriated by the Romans for their own Mars god of war, their label features a Roman coin that was once found in their very old vine vineyards. It is those very vineyards that sparked an image of ancientness themselves in my mind, with their Dantesque hand-vines reaching towards the sky, during our soggy visit to their longtime home. More details after the leap!

#OleWinos: MGWines Group's Lavia rocks the A+ #wine

May 23, 2015May 23, 2015Vinopanion: Ward Kadel - @drXeNoLeave a comment

We continued our #OleWinos adventure with host MGWines Group (WL, FB, Tw), at their stellar Bodegas Lavia (WL, FB, Tw) #wine estate in the Bullas DO (WL, FB). You might remember that I visited DO Bullas a couple years back during our #Murcia8 journey. It was wonderful to be back and to visit a new part of this small Spanish appellation, the smallest in the Murcia region of Spain. It is here that MGWines found the latest jewel in their basket of unique, fine wineries across the multitude of Spanish wine regions. Our host for this trip was again, winemaker Sebastien Boudon. He splits his time between Sierra Salinas and Lavia, which are about 100 km apart from each other. The rain and clouds followed us to Lavia as well, but that didn't stop us from taking in the striking mountainous surroundings of the Lavia estate. More details after the leap!