Justin Keay: Tremendous Toro

For most British wine drinkers Spanish wine broadly equates to Rioja - maybe also Navarra and Cava - despite this large country having regions that produce much better wines. For my palate, though there are honorable exceptions, Rioja has become one of the more boring wine regions; production is dominated by large producers making bland "modern" Riojas without those special characteristics that once made Rioja different. Given that Spanish wine - and Rioja - is dominated by one grape, tempranillo, the result not surprisingly is that wines can taste remarkably consistent - and not necessarily in a good way.