Spanish expert for Purple Pages

Luis Gutiérrez has joined Purple Pages as the website’s new Spanish specialist. His first article for the site laments what he sees as the over-use of oak in Spanish winemaking – particularly Ribera del Duero – and praises the quality of both reds and whites in northern Spain.

As Jancis Robinson MW pointed out in her introduction to Gutiérrez, Walter Speller, Michael Schmidt and Linda Murphy all contribute for Italy, Germany and the US respectively but Gutiérrez is the first Spanish expert for the site.

Gutiérrez works in business management for Tetra Pak in Madrid but writes and tastes regularly for elmundovino.com and other publications belonging to the newspaper El Mundo.

He frequently travels throughout Spain and Portugal and has a fondness for Swiss wines, according to fellow Purple Pager and winemaker Victor de la Serna.

Gutiérrez has also recently collaborated on a book with de la Serna and Jesús Barquín, The Finest Wines of Rioja and Northwest Spain, published later this year.

In Spain he writes regularly on the state of Iberian winemaking, Champagne, German Riesling, the Rhône and his other great love, Burgundy.

Rupert Millar, 26.05.2011