La Copa is a mellow, easy drinking red wine that I really enjoy with a sticky and meaty slow cooked lamb dish. This meal is full of flavour and loves the grenacha, a grape that really complements the heady smell of cooked lamb,or rich pasta dishes. I love the flavours that come off the bone on a long cooked meat …

Out on the western edge of the Celtic fringe of Europe is this small isolated country, a land of fjord like inlets called Rias, rolling hills and farms, empty beaches and rocky headlands along what is known as the coast of death. The land is beset by mild temperatures and wet rain, there is a pervasive mist that settles over …

On a long hot summer evening I love to see a group of friends waiting on a huge pan of Paella, drinking rose and watching the sun go down. Especially if you have gathered some of your own shellfish and others have bought fish or meats to add to the pot. All over Spain the hardware stores sell huge paella …

I bought a bottle of Sensia 2009 Tempranillo recently. The wine merchant said I’d be impressed with the strength and balance of this robust red made from old growth tempranillo from Ribera del Duero. By blending 85% old growth tempranillo with 15% of a 2007 Crianza the bodega have created a voluptuous red with a nose of deep blackberry, exotic …

I have often dreamed of visiting Patagonia after reading Bruce Chatwin’s excellent travelogue ‘In Patagonia’ So if I see a Patagonian wine for sale I  buy it and let the taste flavour my imagination for that faraway distant land where Welsh families still live in splendid isolation. Patagonia is fast becoming a leading region in quality wines and this Sauvignon …

Chateau Musar and a slow baked pork belly for Salamungundi Today is the Welcombe Salamungundi, when the good people of Welcombe share a winter feast, everyone is invited to just turn up and bring some food and wine to share. Usually the table is laden with home made produce ranging from breads to desserts. The table is decorated with winter …