A quick jaunt around the Iberian Peninsula was the theme of the most recent Total Wine class. On the tasting bar were eight iconic Spanish and Portuguese wine styles.
If Dry January is still in effect, you wouldn’t guess it from this sold-out event. The small classroom was maxed out with 40 attendees (average age 60+). Like usual, the Plano, Texas Total Wine crowd consisted mostly of well-heeled but frugal-minded suburban couples…and like usual, we all arrived thirsty.
After the cheese tray was decimated, the Dasani bottles allocated, and the slide show activated, we moved on to the part everybody came for: The wine! The class started with Cava and ended with Port, with a vast selection of dry whites and reds in between.
Spanish and Portuguese wines present incredible value and variety, as this class did a fine job of demonstrating. I really liked that the selections were of nearly 100% indigenous grapes. It’s not surprising that Spain is making some Chardonnay and some Sauvignon Blanc, for instance–but it’s not that interesting, either. Instead, we got to taste intriguing regional wine styles like Rías Baixas Albariño and a Vinho Tinto blend from native Portuguese varieties.
Here’s how Total Wine’s classes work: You pre-register online and show up at the store, where there’s a classroom in the back. You help yourself to some cheese and crackers. One or two teachers walk you through the basics of a world region, style, or grape variety, presenting facts about the wine on a projector screen. There’s some mild promotion of the Total Wine mobile app and rewards program, along with their current in-store sales.
The instructors are usually floor staff from the wine department–but sometimes Total Wine brings in producers from different parts of the world to present their wines. These occasions are the coolest of the bunch. In the past few months, I’ve been delighted by a Hungarian wine class (with Günzer Estate Winery) and a Rhône class featuring Gabriel Meffre.
While you learn, you taste. There’s usually seven to eight Winery Direct products being offered, and the pours are generous. (Although they’re not as crazy as they used to be. Total Wine must have gotten the memo that people were getting dangerously sloppy at these classes and asked their teachers to be more careful about over-serving.) “There’s a spit cup on your left in case there’s something you don’t want to finish. But usually we find those empty at the end of the class,” instructor Marty said with a smile.
Now for the bad news: Sip, Savor, Salud was the last Total Wine class on my schedule for a while. In fact, I think I may be breaking up with them in 2026.
Why? Eh, I’ll dish the dirt some other time. For today, here’s tasting notes from Sip, Savor, and Salud: Intro to the Wines of Spain and Portugal. Prices are regular retail–discounts are often available:
Borrasca Brut Cava (NV) – Penedès, Spain – $13.99
Total Wine’s in-house value bubbly is party-ready with its glittery label. (I’ve previously reviewed it for the blog.) Aromas of baked apple, Meyer lemon rind, and pastry dough. Quite dry with energetic bubbles, fresh acidity, and a clean, ginger-inflected finish. Blend of Spain’s traditional Cava grapes: Xarel·lo, Macabeo, and Parellada. Not the most interesting Cava you can find, but a good buy at less than $12 on sale. It’s sometimes available in magnum (1.5 L) format, too.
⭐⭐⭐ (out of 5)
Orballo Albariño Rías Baixas (2024) – Galicia, Spain – $19.99
A beautifully aromatic white from the northwest coast of Spain. Bright lemon colored with aromas of blossoms, white peaches, faint yeast, citrus zest (grapefruit and lime), and some green melon. Medium-bodied with high acid and admirable intensity, a mouthful of fleshy stone fruit and melon accented with grapefruit pith and light salinity.
Orballo is produced for Total Wine by CVNE, one of Spain’s largest and most renowned historic bodegas. By a show of hands, not everyone in the room was a fan of its perfume-y aromas or bracing, lightly bitter grapefruit finish. But it’s a well-made, young Albariño that’s begging for a seafood dinner.
⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2 (out of 5)
Flausina Vinho Verde (NV) – Vinho Verde, Portugal – $8.99
A classic lower-alcohol guzzler from northern Portugal, Vinho Verde is for when your liver says “soda and lime” but your heart says “wine.” Pale lemon-green with lime, minerals, apple blossom, and a very slight fizz in the mouth.
Total Wine’s version is 11% ABV and feather-light. It’s true-to-style but nothing special. Blend of Loureiro, Arinto, and Trajadura. Like most Vinho Verde, it comes packaged in clear glass and isn’t meant to spend time in a cellar or even a wine rack. (Drink it today, or yesterday.)
⭐⭐⭐ (out of 5)
Latitud 42 Rioja Reserva (2019) – Rioja, Spain – $22.99
Total Wine’s international whites are often fine, or even better than fine. A trusted wine advisor (Reddit) once told me that the best buys in the whole store are in the “Other Whites” aisle, and that tip has proven true over time. When you get to the Winery Direct reds, though, you can run into trouble–and that’s what started to happen on this Spain/Portugal tasting.
This Rioja Reserva is medium ruby with a slight bricky haze at the rim. Cooked and dried plums, hella vanilla, chocolate, and dried black cherries with medium acidity and gritty tannins. Intrusive high alcohol and a short, bitter finish make it seem immature despite its two years of barrel age and two years aging in bottle.
Total Wine just tells us that this bottling is “primarily Tempranillo,” but it tastes like there’s a decent helping of Garnacha in here, too. Unfortunately, that dash of freshness from sour red cherry, mint, and herbs don’t do much to elevate its plodding fruit profile.
⭐⭐ (out of 5)
Pico Cuadro Original Ribera del Duero (2020) – Ribera del Duero, Spain – $19.99
Deep ruby with a shy nose of black plum, blackberry, vanilla, and some meat. A pronounced black pepper note develops after a while, with some other dusty barrel spices. On the palate, I find black plum, black cherry, some tobacco, earth/clay, twigs, and a little violet.
This was the favorite of the (mainly California Cab-drinking) Texans in the room. I couldn’t get into it–it’s light on flavor and aroma and thrown way out of balance by heavy alcohol and tannins. It comes up short on the intense fruit and full body that you want to find in Ribera del Duero. I liked it a smidge less than the Rioja blend that preceded it. 100% Tempranillo.
⭐⭐ (out of 5)
San Gregorio Single Vineyard “Las Martas” Garnacha (2022) – Calatayud, Spain – $11.99
We were supposed to get another Winery Direct Tempranillo, but the class instructors had mercy at the last minute and subbed in this San Gregorio Garnacha. Good–because the big Garnachas of central Spain are some of my favorite everyday wines, and usually a great value.
Medium ruby, leaning pale with aromas of dried cherry, cranberry sauce, leather, cured beef and iron. The palate is cherry-flavored and slightly herbal/medicinal with medium tannins, medium-plus body, and a hint of vanilla oak on the finish. It’s high alcohol with (oddly) some noticeable residual sugar. Totally drinkable table wine, this one–but simple in style and lacking concentration. Blend of Garnacha and Cariñena.
⭐⭐1/2 (out of 5)
AdegaMãe Terras de Lisboa Vinho Tinto (2024) – Lisboa, Portugal – $13.99
The wildcard of the night–a youthful, un-oaked red blend prominently featuring the variety Castelão. Aromas of sour red plum, earth and smoke, dried sweet basil, and dried oregano. It’s mostly dry, medium-bodied, and herbaceous with flavors of cherry-menthol and spiced raspberry compote. Divisive, but fun! Serve lightly chilled. The 2024 vintage is a blend of 58% Aragonez (Tempranillo) and 42% Castelão.
⭐⭐⭐ (out of 5)
Quinta das Carvalhas 10-Year-Old Tawny Port – Douro, Portugal – $32.99
This is a nice Tawny Port for the money, bringing bushels of fruit, sweet Christmas spices, and a nutty, toasty smoothness. Foxy amber-brown in color with a tantalizing nose of chocolate, golden raisins, walnut, plum sauce, dried cherry, and dried fig. The fruit-forward (for a Tawny) palate is enlivened with orange zest, wildflower honey, and underpinned with bready fruitcake flavors. Persistent and lush in texture, but not cloying. The 20-, 30-, and 40-Year Tawnies are even yummier, and Total Wine sells them in a tasting gift set of 50 ml bottles.
⭐⭐⭐1/2 (out of 5)
Review disclosure: I was not compensated or provided any free products for this review. (I received two complimentary tickets to this class as a Total Wine Grand Reserve Rewards member.) Opinions expressed on The Wine Fairy blog are entirely my own.
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