Viura Coop S Antonio Abad	Spain
Viura is the most widely planted white variety in Spain's Rioja region and it is now the grape of white Rioja. Here it is sold as a named varietal, oaked like Rioja. Made by an Australian winemaker, Peter Bright, the number 640 refers to the height above sea level of the vineyards. This was a super zingy white wine, floral on the nose with bags of flavour and good acidity.

Monastrell	Jumilla Spain
	Monastrell is widely planted in Spain, although I don't recall seeing it before as a varietal. We found this pleasantly characterful, with tobacco tones and a firm dry backbone.

Dornfelder Lergenmuller

Pfalz Germany

One of the problems in cold northern countries is getting enough sun to make red wines. Germany has been developing new crosses specifically to get a good red coloured early ripening grape and Dornfelder is perhaps the most successful. Its parents are crossing themselves, and so Dornfelder seems to have a bit of every red German red wine in it. Dornfelder is popular also in England and I remember most clearly the spectacular red leaves and huge bunches of large black grapes on Dornfelder vines lining the driveway to Denbies winery last autumn. This wine had a good deep red colour with a blackcurrant perfume. On tasting it was pleasant without being anything special. Very soft and inoffensive, almost a red wine for those that don't like red wines.

Mavrud	Assenovgrad Bulgaria
	A smoky flavour to this typically Bulgarian variety. There was a bitter aftertaste that I could have done without. It is probably a characteristic of this particular wine as I don't recall it previously when I have drunk Mavrud. This variety is indigenous to Bulgaria and grown nowhere else, and I suspect this will remain the position in the future.

Aglianico del Vulture D'Angelo	Vulture Italy
A cracking good serious red wine from a variety that I had never heard of. According to Jancis the name Aglianico is a corruption of Vitis Hellenica, or Greek vine. But it has been grown in Italy for centuries, being the source of one of Rome's favourite wines, Falernum- frequently quaffed by detective Marcus Corvinus in David Wisharts Roman tales.

Cagnina	Italy
	Cagnina is a white wine grape with several synonyms and grown exclusively in north east Italy. Thanks to Rony Mahieu in Belgium for this label

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