It’s unlikely to be a final for the ages. Indeed, the majority of the post-match discussion (even several days later) has been on the antics of the losers, both during and after the game.
La albiceleste, unfortunately, did not cover themselves in much glory, playing an unprepossessing, undignified and cynical game – before lashing out at the opposition after the final whistle.
And while it took Spain 106 minutes to finally find the back of the net, find it they did (twice, some would say) and held their form to be crowned worthy champions.
Congratulations to Spain and also to our regional editor Ines Salpico, who gets office bragging rights for the next four years.
As a reminder, all the way back in early June, we picked 16 teams representing major wine-producing countries and eight of us on the editorial team took two teams each to cover.
Over the course of the tournament, we recommended 77 wines, making wild pairings and links with (at times) the unlikeliest of match-ups.
How do you pair Swiss Syrah with Qatar? Or Uruguayan Dolcetto with Cape Verde? Through a mix of ingenuity, out-of-the-box thinking and good old-fashioned brute force, everyone found a way.
Spain’s wine route to the World Cup final
For eight games, Ines drew upon, not only her own intimate knowledge of the country’s wines, but the sheer wealth and breadth of tremendous winemaking in Spain today.
This included classics such as CVNE’s Imperial Gran Reserva and the new face of Rioja in wines such as Artuke’s La Condenada.
Or there was Navarra’s under-appreciated rosés, the almost unknown rosés from Txakoli and white wine from Jumilla.
The result is a small snapshot of contemporary Spain in eight wines.
With these wines as your base, throw in some wines from Catalonia, perhaps something from Andalusia and just one more from Galicia and you’d have a rather compelling mixed case to enjoy.
Game 1 (vs Cape Verde): Viña Zorzal, Garnacha Rosado, Navarra
Game 2 (vs Saudi Arabia): CVNE, Imperial Gran Reserva, Rioja
Game 3 (vs Uruguay): Telmo Rodriguez, Gaba Mencía, Valdeorras
Round of 32 (vs Austria): Stratum Wines, El Cerrico, Jumilla
Round of 16 (vs Portugal): Soca-Rel, Escursac, Mallorca
Quarter-final (vs Belgium): Rezabal, Txakoli Rosé, Basque Country
Semi-final (vs France): Francisco Barona, Finca las Dueñas Reserva, Ribera del Duero
Final (vs Argentina): Artuke, La Condenada, Rioja
Spain’s World Cup wines
Wines here are listed by colour and by score
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