Wine with Leslie: Spanish wines worth trying, including one from an Irishman's vineyard

Small vineyards but big impressions

Of course there is also an Irishman in the area — Tom Gallagher who moved there aged eight.

If asked to name Spain’s best wine region most people would say Rioja or Ribera del Duero, but don’t forget Priorat, southwest of Barcelona.

Only Priorat and Rioja hold the top DOC classification and much of the reason for this is due to tireless work of Alvaro Palacios whose top wine L’Ermita sells for above €1,200. The 2022 has intense fleshy strawberry flavours and beautiful purity and tautness with darker fruits lingering on the palate, in case you are wondering. Palacios’s Camins del Priorat (€25-26) is widely available (Whelehan’s, Corkscrew etc), packed with spice-tinged crushed berry fruits.