REMEMBER how Colin Sheil, the manager of Super Valu's Raheny Wine Cellar interviewed in last week's column, mentioned that Irish wine drinkers seem increasingly drawn towards the distinctive flavours of Italy and Spain? Serendipitous, his comment was, given that Spain was already maturing in the mind as this week's topic. Italy will have to wait.
Recently the Spanish Embassy arranged for a small group of Irish journalists to visit three of Spain's most dynamic wine regions - less well known than Rioja but catching up so fast that there are signs they may outstrip it in terms of the investment and energy needed to deliver consistent quality in relation to price. Valdepenas, Navarra and Ribera del Duero were our focus - regions positioned, like the flanks of an army, south, north and west of kingly Rioja. All are on the march.
First Valdepenas, the small region tucked into the underskirts of Castile-La Mancha, south of Madrid. Until relatively recently this enormous, parched plain - by far the biggest wine-producing area in Spain - churned out the sort of red wines you would have wanted to edit rapidly out of your Spanish holiday memories. In the last few years, however, the reputation of Valdepenas for soft, fruity reds has begun to overshadow that of vast, neighbouring La Mancha. These wines made primarily from Cencibel, as the ubiquitous Tempranillo grape is known in central and southern Spain - can be young and very fresh or aged in American oak to produce the strawberry and vanilla flavours of Rioja at much keener prices. That's why our main supermarket chains have been out here prospecting, snapping up bargains from efficient, export-orientated producers.
For once, the prices remain so low, even by the time the wines reach Irish shelves, that I think it's worth trading up a level or two in quality. You'll find reservas for not much more than £4, and gran reservas for under £6.
North, then, to the wheatfields and vineyards of Navarra, a region whose wine-soaked past closely parallels that of adjoining Rioja. Both prospered in the Middle Ages when their wines were discovered by pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostela. Navarra is once again on an up-swing, proving its skill at quality winemaking.
You can't inspect Navarra's wine industry without being struck by the scale of new investment. The spicy smell of expensive, new oak-barrels hangs in the cellar air, and the pristine oenological research centre EVENA boasts no end of experimentation, including vineyard plantings of 40 grape varieties.
Our last port of call couldn't quite be described as an up-and-coming region - more as one that struck out boldly to seize the crown, then faltered slightly. Ribera del Duero, on the banks of the river which, further west, becomes the great artery of Portugal's port trade, has been madly fashionable (and often insanely expensive) for some time. The reputation established long ago by Vega Sicilia was polished up in the 1980s with the development of Pesquera, a massively concentrated wine in the big, muscular style that typifies the region. In (its wake have come others - some overpriced disappointments, trading on the trendy Ribera name; others genuinely impressive. Overall, the trend seems to be upwards.
You can be sure that more and more worthwhile wines from all three regions will soon arrive in Irish shops. The sooner the better, I say.