Category: Spain

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Wine of the Month: February 2026

It’s February, yeah! March will almost be here, its a time to celebrate, Spring is around the corner.

The wine of the Month for February is some delicious Garnacha from Christophe Chaplillon in Aragon. I have been working with Christophe for over 10 years now and I love his wines. I visited Zaragoza and the surrounding areas in 2025 and its a fascinating wine region with so much to offer in terms of terroir, different terrains, food styles and of course wines and grapes of distinction and quality! I love the grapes from this region, hoepfully in May I can introduce you to some lovely Rosé from the high hills of the Pyrenee’s near to Somontano made from its local grape, Moristel, which is a joy to behold!

But let’s not deviate from this lovely wine Mr whirly, Chapillon’s flag ship red, ” Cuvée Paul” 2022, 100% Garnacha, they hang their hat on this grape in Aragon. The red grape of choice is Garnacha in Aragon and this wine sings through this robust varietal. It’s deliciously soft and elegant with enough fruits to keep you wanting more. delicious with a lovely stew this winter February it really cheers you up!

Please click on the link below to order!

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11th November 2025, Remembrance Day: Aragon wines rock…..

It’s taken Mr Whirly a while but we are beginning to get the verve and energy levels elevated for a concerted effort to bring in, once again, some really exciting new wines over the next few months leading into the summer of 2026.

In October 2025 Mr whirly launched back into the world of importing wines from quality small producers, something that I had been forced to abandon due to economic and market pressures over the last 4 years. But we are back and I have plans to import some really individual wines soon, using present and past connections. The wines from Christophe Chapillon are really exciting and have sold really well. The Vivius blanco, 100% Macabeo and the Limited edition Rosé made from the rare Moristel grape and Garnacha are now virtually sold out. However we still have small quantities of the reds: the 100% Garnacha red, ” Cuvée Paul”, the Tempranillo, ” Harmonie'” a lovely soft blend of Tannat and Petit Verdot and the ” Green” red which is a stunning red made from 4 grapes: Garnacha, Merlot, Cabernet and Syrah.

Plans for future wines are in the pipeline too. Some Godello from Galicia, a very up and coming and fashionable grape at the moment, will be sourced in early 2026 together with some other whites and reds from the high hills in this north west part of Spain. I shall be working with José once again from Val de Souto and I am very exciting about this prospect. Other ideas for exciting wines to import include a focus on my favourite red grape, Carignan and focusing on the home of this grape in Catalanes and Roussillon where I have some amazing contact built up from 10-15 years ago. I will look to focus on different styles and price point for this amazing grape that can be absolutely banging in terms of quality drinking compared to price point.

I am about to send out my offers of Christmas wines for you. A lovely offer of a few half dozen wines, specially chosen for you, that will be live in the shop here the first week in December. Remember Mr Whirly delivers free to your door to most SW London postcodes, wines that are organic and sustainably made. Wines that offer fabulous quality and drink oh so easily and wines that are made with integrity and passion . I have added the link to the mixed case of Christmas delights below for ease of ordering

: https://whirlywine.co.uk/product/mixed-case-of-wh…r-christmas-2025/

Mr whirly

Mr Whirly

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New wine’s just arrived from Christophe Chapillon, Wonderful winemaker near Zaragoza and the high hills of Somantano, Aragon, Spain

After a delightful trip to the ancient province of Aragon in the middle of Spain recently, Mr Whirly is really excited to bring you some really exciting new wines from Christophe Chapillon, a winemaker I have been working with for 10 years.

The wines are made with passion and integrity and offer quality drinking at a very sensible price point, something that Whirly wines has been ” hanging his trilby” on for over 24 years now. The wines of Aragon are famous in terms of their heritage and quality. The main red grape here is Garnacha and Mr Whirly has imported their 100% Garnacha red ( see picture below) Cuvée Paul, which is a wonderful example of this robust and full red wine. All the reds are soft and elegant to drink with no harsh tannins. My main philosophy has always been to give you wines that are easy to drink. You don’t have to think too much about the wines when you taste them since they are simply very good. My Favourite wine is probably the Organic ” Green” label wine, ” Paul and Remy”, which sounds like its complicated since its a blend of Syrah, Garnacha, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon but its expertly put together at only 12.5 % alc vol.

Wines imported are

“Vivius” Bianco 2024: 100 % Macabre

“Limited Edition” Rosé, 2024,Paul Remy, ( 75% Moristel and 25% Garnacha)

Harmonie, 2022: Petit Verdot and Tannât

Cuvée Paul, 2022, 100% Garnacha ( see picture below)

“Paul and Remy”, ” Green” 2022 ( Organic): blend of Garnacha, Syrah, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon

“Paul and Remy”, 2023: 100% Tempranillo

More details to follow on the online shop for each wine, so do have a peep now! Whirly wine offers free delivery to local postcodes, delivering organic wines and wines made sustainably to your door free of charge, even if it’s just a single bottle. However if you would like have some personal advice about these wines please email Mr Whirly at simon@whirlywine.co.uk or call me on 07821968111

Thank you!

Mr Whirly

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Garnacha Country! Aragon!

Earlier this month, October 2024, Mr Whirly visited Garnacha country in the middle of Spain. The ancient 13th Century kingdom of Aragon is at the heart of this region and indeed the the first possible historic name of this grape is Aragonese.

I would like to briefly share the highlights with you here and then focus on the new wine ideas Mr Whirly is looking to import very soon. Its been a while since we wrote here, so its great to be back. Whirly wines is still very much in business though, delivering wines made sustainably to the off trade ( farm shops and small retailers, delis etc) and private clients as well as looking for new markets with private chefs and events. But Mr Whirly still delivers ” free to your door” Organic and Vegan wines to most SW postcodes in London from SW2 to 21.

So if you require a few bottles over the coming months up until Christmas do remember to support your small, specialised wine importer rather than your local Tesco or Sainsbury’s to Aldi, since I need your support and I can guarantee wines of good quality too! Here is a link to some great Spanish wines, Organic and Vegan for only £10.50 a bottle.

https://whirlywine.co.uk/product/mixed-sustainabl…rly-wine-website/ ‎

On the wine trip we visited three wineries of different sizes over 3 days. Most of the wineries here in the various regions of Aragon are Cooperatives. The most interesting vineyard was was a small to medium size cooperative ( most of the vineyards in this part of Spain are Cooperatives) with about 70 members of small family vineyards. Being in Tierra Alta, a wine region of Aragon but also very close to Priorat they had a varied array of wines and I have always been fascinated with Priorat since it contains a percentage of my favourite red grape, Carignan, called Cariñena were in Spain. Indeed on the last day we visited the town of Cariñena and a very large commercial vineyard which is not really my passion, but we did taste an amazing 100% Cariñena wine which was incredible but it was seriously overpriced at around 140 Euros! Sadly a lot of these vines are no longer allowed to grow in the home of the grape due to commercial practices which I find really sad. It’s such an expressive grape so it makes no sense to me but comes down to money and ease of winemaking, apparently the Cariñena grape is more tricky to grow.The land out here is dry and barren, it was actually quite interesting to see. At this vineyard we tasted some great Garnacha More to follow on the wines tasted and potential wine imports very soon!

Discover the Richness of Garnacha from Aragon

Introduction to Garnacha

Garnacha, known as Grenache in France, is a grape variety that thrives in the warm, sun-soaked regions of Spain. Among its most celebrated origins is Aragon, where the unique terroir and climate contribute to the grape’s exceptional quality. If you’re passionate about wine, understanding Garnacha from Aragon is a journey worth taking.

The Terroir of Aragon

Aragon’s diverse landscapes, from the high-altitude vineyards of Campo de Borja to the rolling hills of Calatayud, provide the ideal conditions for Garnacha. The region’s warm days and cool nights allow for a perfect balance of sugar and acidity, resulting in wines that are both rich and refreshing.

Flavour Profile

Garnacha wines from Aragon are known for their vibrant fruit flavors. Expect notes of ripe red berries, cherries, and plums, often accompanied by subtle spice and herbal undertones. The wines can range from light and fruity to bold and full-bodied, making them versatile for food pairings.

Why Choose Garnacha from Aragon?

1. Unique Characteristics: Aragon Garnacha stands out for its depth of flavor and complexity, influenced by the region’s distinct growing conditions.

2. Food Pairing Versatility: These wines pair wonderfully with a variety of dishes, from grilled meats and spicy foods to rich stews and hearty pasta.

3. Value for Money: Often, Garnacha from Aragon offers excellent quality at a reasonable price, making it an attractive choice for both everyday enjoyment and special occasions.

How to Enjoy Garnacha

• Serving Temperature: Serve Aragon Garnacha slightly below room temperature (about 16-18°C) to enhance its flavors.

• Decanting: Consider decanting young wines for an hour to allow their aromas to develop fully.

• Food Pairings: Try it with tapas, grilled lamb, or a rich chocolate dessert for a delightful experience.

Conclusion

Garnacha from Aragon is a treasure waiting to be explored. With its rich flavors and versatility, it’s a fantastic addition to any wine lover’s collection. Whether you’re hosting a dinner party or enjoying a quiet evening at home, Garnacha is sure to impress.

Explore our selection of premium Garnacha wines from Aragon and elevate your wine experience today! I will soon have some Garnacha wines imported from this trip so will advise you very soon when the wines are available.

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New wine arrival soon! ” Organic” and “Vegan” Rosé for the late Summer!

” Gea” Organic and Vegan Rosé, 2021, ” Garnacha”, Alcardet, Toledo, Spain

A late Rosé arrival for the summer completes the set of 6 wines already here in the UK from Spain. 100% Garnacha, 100% cool, 100% dry, 100% fresh, 100% zingy, 100% very drinkable!

Limited availability and stock since imported at the end of the summer and almost sold out in Spain!

£10.75 per bottle. Free delivery to local SW postcodes otherwise £10.00 delivery charge. Minimum order 6 bottles

Please contact Simon on 07821 968111 to order or email simon@whirlywine.co.uk

Let’s whirl it!

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New wines for 2018: some ” Organic” Bordeaux from Chateau Grand Francais as well as” Organic” Tempranillo from Dionisos

 

January 2018: New imports from Whirly wines

There have been a flood of new wines imported for 2018, so its a pretty exciting time at Whirly wines, 22 Ritherdon road, London, SW17 8QD, whether you are coming to the wine shop or buying wholesale for your restaurant. All the prices below are Ex Vat.

Bordeaux

My first “Organic and Bio-Dynamic” wines from this prestigious wine region. Unheard of, to be honest since they are pretty traditional here.  40 year old vines, Organic certified since 2002.

Chateau Grand Francais, 2015, “Cuvee Prestige”( un-oaked), AOC “ Organic” Bordeaux Superieur: 45% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Cabernet Franc: clean, soft tannins, ripe berries plus a little cinnamon; modern Bordeaux: £14.95

Chateau Grand Francais 2015, Grande Cuvee ( Oaked )  AOC “ Organic” Bordeaux Superieur; 50% Merlot. 30% Cabernet sauvignon, 20% Cabernet Franc. Red cherry and black, fleshy and spicy. Modern day Bordeaux, juicy strawberry, blueberry on the nose, full of shine and brightness, sort tannins, with a creamy middle palate: £16.95

Cote de Duras

Chateau Molhiere: Terroirs de Duc 2015: new vintage of this Cabernet Franc and Merlot Stalwart imported, for many years now from close to childhood family cottage ; earthy, country red wine. £8.10

Languedoc

Domaine Ricardelle de Lautrec, Pay D’OC, “Organic and Bio”

Pinot Noir 2015: a new find that has been ringing well with many private and restaurant clients already. Its unusual to find Pinot Noir in Languedoc, hence this wine is bottled under AOC “ Vin de France”. Don’t let that put you off. Spicy and full Pinot, juniper and hedgerow berries. Exciting wine that represents great quality for the price: £11.50

Chardonnay 2015 ( un-oaked): Light fresh Chardonnay, not in anyway big and bold, in fact light and fresh. £11.00

Spain

La Tierra de Castilla, Valdepenas, PGI “ Vinos de la Tierra de Castilla”

Dionisos, “ Organic and Bio” Tempranillo 2015 ( aged in large amphorae clay pots, Roman style, please see the picture below). 100% Tempranillo, 13.5% alc vol, hand picked grapes, fermented with own wild yeasts in big amphorae pots, with thick walls in order to slow down the fermentation process.  Young appealing, deep and lively purple colour. On the nose great intensity and ripeness, fleshy and sweet red cherries. Milky enveloping notes on the palate with overwhelming energy. £13.00

Ribera del Duero

Meloso“ Joyen” 2016, 100% Tempranillo

An old favourite is back, beautifully rich yet sublime Tempranillo. This wine speaks volumes for this premium red wine region of Spain, surely take over from Rioja in that department, making wines fresher and easier to drink with no oak, which to me is a blessing. 30 year old vines, 14 days maceration with temperature controlled by water. 10,000 Bottles made, grapes picked 4th week in September; very light process of filtering and clarifying; £11.75

Ribeiro

Val de Souto

Wines made with oh so much passion by Jose Manuel Blanco Perez. His wines speak volumes for the small winemaker making wines oh so exquisite.

Val de Souto 2016: another old favourite. Godello, Triexadura and Lourieira. Jose Manuel Blanco Perez makes wines of passion; he puts his soul into the wines. He works his land 365 days of the year, he rarely takes a holiday, this is his life. This wine has lovely aromatic qualities yet is dry on the finish. Honeysuckle and clover honey on the middle palate. A pure delight. £11.90

Benedictus Fructus 2015

Albarino and Godello. Left on the Lee’s for 5 months so pretty big and rich yet still oh so easy and beautiful to drink. This wine exudes class. High aromatic intensity, due to being left on the lee’s with great harmony and balance. Citrus, mandarin and grapefruit on the palate with some floral notes too. Only 4,000 bottles made. £16.75

Italy

Verona, IGT Veneto

“Villa Aganoor”

From north west Italy and the home of Pinot Grigio some simple yet very well made wines for you for the front page of your list. With these wines i can offer you quality wines at a good price, around the £6.00 mark

Pinot Grigio 2016: weighty and complex PG, with apples and pears on the palate. A really pleasurable glass of wine. £6.25

Sauvignon Blanc 2016: clean, fresh zingy and lemony SB. Another simple yet very good wine for the money. £6.25

Merlot 2016: young, fresh perfumed Merlot, full of fresh young berry fruit. £6.25

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Wine tastings start this Friday for Australia day! Details on the ” Events page”; New wines imported in December 2017, plan your own wine tasting event or party at whirly wines in 2018…

A very happy and prosperous  New year to all my lovely customers! Its 2018 and its January and everyone has stopped drinking wine! Why oh why!  Drink less and drink better. Mr whirly can help you there, 95% of the wines I have here are from the smaller producer, its all about quality not quantity in your local wine shop in SW17. This at least gives me a little time, amongst my office full of end of year accounts, to write to you about some new wines that we imported just before Christmas and plan some fabulous wine tasting events commencing with  Australia day this Friday 26th January (details on the events page) then kicking off February, on the 1st,  with some really delightful new imports from Ribeiro, Ribera del Duero and Castilla de Manche, followed two weeks later when we will look at some other new wines from Bordeaux, some revolutionary ” Organic” and Bio wines from Bordeaux, which is a rare thing to find since the Bordelais don’t like change and are pretty set in their ways.

So if you are looking to plan your own private wine tasting this year then get in touch with Mr Whirly and we can arrange it for you. Prices start from £25 per person and we need 8 people minimum to make it work, but we try to give you as much as possible for that, 5 X 75ml measures and snacks too! Try to avoid Thursdays since this is when we have our regular ” Open” wine tasting.

In December we imported some really exciting new wines from Spain and France. Some old favourites like Val de Souto and Meloso from Ribeiro and Ribera del Duero and some new delights from Bordeaux, yes ” Organic and Bio” Merlot based wines from ” Chateau Grand Francais”.  All in all we imported twelve new wines with a range of pricing here in the shop from £8.75 up to £22.50. Let me, if I may, give you a brief synopsis of these new wines:

From Verona,  some simple yet delightfully made wines that drink very well from Villa Aganoor. Their Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc and Merlot are all well made and have their own character and individuality and show that at this price point wines can be enjoyed. ( £8.95). From  Chateau Molhiere in Cote de Duras, their lovely soft Cabernet Franc/Merlot 2015.  Top wine, no oak, earthy and an old favourite and well priced at £10.50. A little north west of here, near St Emilion, some ground breaking ” Organic” Bordeaux from “Chateau Grand Francais“. I say this since its rare to find this new style of wine here in Bordeaux, since of all appellations in France, this is the most traditional.  Further South in Languedoc, and bottled under ” Vin  de France” the very exciting Pinot Noir 2015 from “Domaine de Ricardelle” as well as their Un-oaked Chardonnay. ( £15.50 & £14.50) The Pinot Noir in particular has been a great hit so far sellimng very well in the shop. Further south still, from Ribera del Duero, another old favourite, the juicy and delicious  Meloso Joyen 2016 Tempranillo, ( £14.50). Further south, below Madrid in the wide ranging ‘Castilla la Mancha` wine area, Dionisos are making some Amphorae aged ” Organic and Bio” Tempranillo, silky smooth and made in the ancient Roman way. Then finally north- west to Ribeiro, “Val de Souto”and the oh so passionate wine maker, Jose Manuel Blanco Perez, who makes wines of such feeling and intensity, being one of the smallest vineyards I work with. His Val de souto 2016 is Godello based with some Loureira and Trixudeira and his “Benedictus Fructus” is quality and beauty all rolled into one, 5 months on the lee’s Godello and Albarino.

For tasting notes on all these wines please look at the ” New wines” page, which will updated in the coming day (written 20.01.18).

I look forward to welcoming you to the Whirly wine shop soon. Remember, drink less and better and come into Whirly wines for your wines, since i can vouch for every single bottle of wine in the shop, its not a pick and mix here!

Mr Whirly

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Wine of the month for September 2016: Meloso Joven, 2015, Tempranillo, Ribera del Duero

Its now September and the wines are beginning to flow, in more ways than one. All over the Northern Hemisphere the grapes are beginning to be picked and the year of hard toil in the vineyard culminates into the anxiety and relief of the next few weeks, one hopes. Its an exciting time for the winemaker but also a worrying one. Last minute storms and rain are not in anyway a desire.

For me as the importer its also a really exciting time since there are so many new wines to look at with the change in season from summer to Autumn. Its the major change on wine lists throughout the country and whereas the focus for the last five months has been on rose and white suddenly the focus now changes to reds with the already the wonders of Grouse on the menus of top restaurants around the UK and soon in October with the shooting season the added joys of duck, pigeon, partridge and pheasant. With such delights I long to match the succulence with a juicy, honest red and this wine performs this job admirably. Its a young Tempranillo, no oak and its full of energy and delight, with plums and Autumn blackberry prevalent yet velvety soft tannins. Ribera de Duero is fast becoming one of the most exciting red wine regions of Spain and with this wine you can see exactly why. It oozes class and value at £12.45 per bottle, available here in the Whirly shop on Ritherdon road, SW17 8QD so do pop in soon and give it a whirl!

October: new wines! So many to choose from but has to be the Post referendum wines out of the barrel from Corbiere! So two wines but heh they are both a real joy!

 

Mr Whirly

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