Awhile back, Catavino ran a feature we called the 2 + 1 Iberian Wine Survey. The idea behind the survey was not only to get wine bloggers feedback on Spanish and Portuguese wine, but also an opportunity for readers to gain a better perspective as to what’s available outside the big peninsula.

To be honest, we had originally intended to run these surveys while we were on vacation in France, but as it currently stands, it may be a little while before Catavino can actually unplug itself from all the action flowing through our headquarters. That said, we’re going to run some of these anyway and invite all of you who still want to participate to please send us your responses. We’re interested in your feedback!

First up is Joe “1WineDude” Roberts. The way our game works is that Joe answered two of our questions about Iberian wine, and in return, he asked one of us. Hopefully we did a decent job answering him

1) What were your preconceived ideas of Spanish wine when you first started blogging, and what do you think of Spanish wine now? If you haven’t had an opportunity to try many Spanish wines, are you interested in diving in and doing some more exploring?

I had a very high opinion of Spanish wines before I started blogging (which wasn’t all that long ago, after all). Nothing has changed! Basically, once I tasted Cava and Priorat, there was no going back. I have had some absolutely killer, smokin’, lights-out wines from Spain. IMO, Spain continues to be the rising star of the wine world, with even formerly bulk-wine-type areas like Jumilla offering some kickin’ wines now.

2) Very similar to the first question, but …