Those looking to learn amore bout Spanish wine, and who are cool with receiving a freebie (I really hope that covers most of you out there) might want to check out Far from Ordinary, a free guide to Spanish wine available through Wines From Spain.

Wines From Spain is another government-funded promotional program with the objective of promoting a country’s wines and its wine regions (in this case, Spain – duh) to wine consumers worldwide.  We’ve been seeing a lot of those organizations hitting the promotional trails lately, especially since the world economy took a sharp turn towards toiletville.

Far from Ordinary was written with the help of uber-wine guy Doug Frost, who is one of a (very) small handful of people to achieve both the Master Sommelier and Master of Wine credentials.  Frost also supplies the tasting notes for the 130+ Spanish wines featured in the guide.

Personally, I’ve little experience with Spanish wines and it ranks right up there with Burgundy on the list of world wine areas that I need to learn (and taste!) more about.  Apparently it has me in such a tizzy that just thinking about it causes me to end sentences with prepositions.  Having said that, Spanish wine – when you can find it in the States, that is – is a hell of a lot easier to navigate than Burgundy in terms of not breaking both your heart and wallet when you find a dud.  So, I’ve only got experience with a small amount of the wines featured in Far from Ordinary but I found the selections with which I’m familiar to be good buys and consistent with Doug Frost’s tasting notes (there – that sentence was better… whew…).

A primer on the major winemaking regions of Spain is also provided in the guide, and it’s bursting out with photographs so stunning that they might better be placed in a Spanish tourism guide – some of the shots will make you want to immediately open a bottle of Cava or Priorat and book travel to the Spanish countryside.

The guide is certainly worth a look (the price, after all, is right).

Cheers!

The Second Glass is kicking some ass.

The Boston-area stalwarts just released their Annual Wine Guide for 2010, and it’s an impressive ‘cheat sheet’ view of high QPR wine selections.

I’m not sure how they selected the wines that made the final cut to be highlighted in the buying guide, and not all of the selections are blow-your-mind good, but I’m impressed with some of the wines that were included (S.A. Prum Essence Riesling, anyone?).  The guide is organized by country / region, and you will learn a bit about the wine production and culture for each of the included countries, so it’s not just a list of budget-oriented wine picks.

I especially liked how they highlighted some of the value-producing and fast-improving regions of Spain (Jumilla, Yecla), didn’t shun Austria, and were bold enough to offer up Chenin Blanc recommendations from Clarksburg in California.  The guide finishes with the selections indexed by potential purpose (“Turkey Wine,” “Winter Warmer,” and my personal favorite, “Panty Remover.”)

All in all, it’s 40+ pages of wine goodness.

A printed copy will run you all of $2.00 – if you’re too cheap for that, you can browse the entire contents on-line.

Hats-off to the Second Glass team for this handy guide – they’ve outdone similar offerings that run for a hell of a lot more money.

Got a favorite wine guide?  Let’s hear about ‘em in the comments!

Cheers!

(images: thesecondglass.com)