Galicia is of course, more famous for its white wines, but that does not mean to say that there are not a couple of reds too.

For example, within the denomination of Ribera Sacra (on the beautiful River Sil) they make a half decent red from the Mencia grape variety. It is usually a vibrant, youthful red wine, slightly reminiscent of a Beaujolais, but with just a hint of peppery spice.

Quite often the red grapes of  Galicia struggle to reach full maturity in our cool maritime climate and can sometimes be a little ‘green’. However, in good vintages, and with careful wine making, you can still find one or two excellent examples.

Very locally to us there is the famous (or should that be infamous) Tinto de Barrantes, which I have written about on a few previous occasions. A bright purple, tooth-staining ‘wine’, rarely reaching more than 10° of alcohol and brimming with lovely volatile acidity! You can see what these tinto grapes have done to the road surface outside our bodega, so just imagine what they might do to your insides!

Galicia is of course, more famous for its white wines, but that does not mean to say that there are not a couple of reds too.

For example, within the denomination of Ribera Sacra (on the beautiful River Sil) they make a half decent red from the Mencia grape variety. It is usually a vibrant, youthful red wine, slightly reminiscent of a Beaujolais, but with just a hint of peppery spice.

Quite often the red grapes of  Galicia struggle to reach full maturity in our cool maritime climate and can sometimes be a little ‘green’. However, in good vintages, and with careful wine making, you can still find one or two excellent examples.

Very locally to us there is the famous (or should that be infamous) Tinto de Barrantes, which I have written about on a few previous occasions. A bright purple, tooth-staining ‘wine’, rarely reaching more than 10° of alcohol and brimming with lovely volatile acidity! You can see what these tinto grapes have done to the road surface outside our bodega, so just imagine what they might do to your insides!

The scenes from London that have greeted us on our TV screens over the last day or two have been utterly repugnant, and there can be no excuse or mitigation for the young people  that have brought anarchy to the streets of this great City.

To witness homes and businesses burning, for no apparent reason, is just devastating, especially at a time when so many are already struggling to make an honest living.

Forget human rights for a moment, simply round up the perpetrators, lock them up, and throw away the key!

OK, so now I will try to calm down and explain the real reason for my post…..

As I left home this morning having witnessed the fires in London on my TV, you can imagine my surprise in arriving at the Bodega only to find firefighters battling brush fires a few hundred metres from our very own front door. In previous posts I have already mentioned that we have not had much rainfall since winter, and so it was only a matter of time I guess, before we should expect the brush and forest fires to start popping up around our region.

Fortunately this morning’s outbreak did not rage out of control, despite a fresh breeze, and our local Bomberos soon had the flames extinguished.

The scenes from London that have greeted us on our TV screens over the last day or two have been utterly repugnant, and there can be no excuse or mitigation for the young people  that have brought anarchy to the streets of this great City.

To witness homes and businesses burning, for no apparent reason, is just devastating, especially at a time when so many are already struggling to make an honest living.

Forget human rights for a moment, simply round up the perpetrators, lock them up, and throw away the key!

OK, so now I will try to calm down and explain the real reason for my post…..

As I left home this morning having witnessed the fires in London on my TV, you can imagine my surprise in arriving at the Bodega only to find firefighters battling brush fires a few hundred metres from our very own front door. In previous posts I have already mentioned that we have not had much rainfall since winter, and so it was only a matter of time I guess, before we should expect the brush and forest fires to start popping up around our region.

Fortunately this morning’s outbreak did not rage out of control, despite a fresh breeze, and our local Bomberos soon had the flames extinguished.