Leo Drinks Natty
How you keeping ?
On my side, life is so busy right now …
In saying that, when the odd day off comes about I’m awake early and planning for or picking a wine off the shelf to drink that afternoon/evening - no matter how busy life gets you should always allow time for a bottle.
It must be the same for yourself but I feel like the last the months have absolutely flown by. Amongst other minor details, over the last few weeks I’ve worked and celebrated my birthday at a cosy, canal-side cottage in Hebden bridge alongside my girlfriend, a fireplace lit pub and three lovely bottles of wine.
(r) Frederic Cossard, ‘Bedeau’, 2021 Bourgogne Rouge (9/10 - silky, soft, slightly sharp strawberries, long mouthfeel)
(spk) La Salada, ‘Par Mac’, 2022 Catalonian Pet Nat (8/10 - zingy, energetic textured bubbles, spot on for birthday-breakfast-sippin)
(or) Christophe Lindenlaub, ‘Je Suis Au Jardin’ 2023 Alsace Aromatic Muscat (8/10 - exactly what to expect from a muscat of this region , floral, attractive on the nose, dry and crisp on the taste)
Shout out to Wayward Wines based in Leeds for the wine haul too!
It had been quite a while since I last browsed Wayward’s shelves, and when I checked again in November I was delighted to see the burgundy, Jura and Alace sections bursting with proper high-grade, zero zero winemaker’s - bravo Wayward.
*minor rant incoming*
At this post hype, anticlimactic stage the natural wine movement has moved into, the lines are getting quite blurred when it comes to what’s a legit, actual quality made wine.
You must have noticed yourself by now the amount of ‘natty wine’ shops and ‘delis’ popping up across England and Ireland all following the new hype of less focus on artisan, quality wines and more attention on price point.
So when you see spots like Wayward holding it down when it comes to legit, authentic wine lists - I’m backing it all day, and you should too!
Wayward Wines Bottle Shop https://waywardwines.co.uk
Hebden Bridge Air BnB https://www.airbnb.com/l/sC3YicOH
In the less interesting part of my life that for some reason you’re also here for and subscribed to, I also went to the cinema - and it wasn’t just any ol cinema visit …
One of five days off I’ve had since the 7th of October, so we went to watch Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest film - One Battle After Another, a pretty good, action-love flick starring Leonardo Di Caprio and Teyana Taylor.
I won’t lie to you, what caught my eye the most throughout the entire film was one of the end scenes where the man himself - Leo, is sat table side , happy with the end to his classic hero-arc storyline, pleasantly sipping a glass of red wine next to his daughter… or is it his daughter?? Anyway.
A pretty standard ending. But what it was that caught my eye like a fucking hawk, the least average thing about this whole film … the label on that red wine Leo was drinking.
*hint hint*
Not just any red wine label you’d see in a film, this one, albeit not in-focus seemed to have a load of rabbits dotted around, alongside a title for the wine in what can only be described as an erratic-style font.
I actually can’t believe it!?
I murmured to myself, not so quietly considering we were sat facing a cinema screen.
The bottle of red wine Leonardo Di Caprio was drinking from, was a natural wine !!
‘Los Conejos Malditos Tinto’ is what it said on the label, a Spanish translation for ‘The Red Crazy Rabbits’. A natural red wine produced by Mas Que Vinos, a small scale , old Spanish natural winery based in Cabañas de Yepes, in the province of Toledo whose old vines are savaged every year by local, wild rabbits without fail - hence the name.
See below the winery’s confirmation ;
A kind of inoffensive, dry, green-tasting red wine made from Tempranillo - not quite my style wine if I’m honest, but that is so beyond the point.
The fact that a natural red wine of any level or taste has made it to the Hollywood big screen is a HUGE win for the narrative of normalising natural wine - the next step is for it to be a zero zero wine 😉
Spanish major news outlet - La Marca, weighing in on Mas Que Vino’s Hollywood feature ;
https://amp.marca.com/tiramillas/cine/2025/10/27/vino-espanol-leonardo-dicaprio-consume-ultimas-peliculas.html
To finish with let’s have a quick chat about Christmas and the oh so popular trend of wine writers and publications producing listicles on the top five, seven, twelve, three wines YOU need to buy to have the BEST EVER Christmas.
I’m going to do one too.
Just less pushy with the sales pitching, and more focused on wines I’ve been fucking with the most since I last done a write up of those sorts.
So stay tuned, I guess?
Might come before Christmas, might be after, we’ll see.