Educational evolution; Fabulous fines; Pilfering priest; Booming Brixton; and Spanish Xmas wines.

I can't say I have a good handle on education in Spain, apart from the international rankings. But I do know that every 3 or 4 years someone comes along with a different idea of how things should be done and proposes a new law which enshrines this. The individual is usually - if not always - the Minister for Education and the latest of these is one Señor Wert. And his new law goes by the acronym of LOMCE, which is a replacement for the LOE, which was itself a replacement for some other acronym(LSOE?), and so on and so forth. In fact, there've been 7 such laws since the advent of democracy in 1978. Generally, people are even less happy with Sr Wert's LOMCE than they were with the LOE, possibly because of its underlying right-wing philosophy - specifically the raise in status of religion (i. e. Catholicism). Personally, given Spain's ranking in said international tables, I'd have thought Sr Wert had more important things to worry about but what do I know?

Talking of fascists . . . The government has said it will lower the proposed huge fines for some of the 'public order' offences. For example, from 600,000 to 30,000. Or even 3,000. As if anyone is going to say "Well, I couldn't risk 30,000 to insult this copper but I certainly can for 3,000." I don't believe for a second the government expected to get the 600,000 fines through and were perfectly happy to have them 'negotiated down' to 30,000 or less. The parliamentary 'debate was' merely a PR exercise.

You couldn't make it up: Remember the woman who tarted up the picture of Jesus in her local church and managed to make him look like an orang-utang? Well, this led to an influx of money into the village and, once the priest had installed a pay desk, into the church too. Well, said priest - who's 70 - has just been nabbed as he was trying to make off with the church funds. Rumour has it he's also being questioned about sex offences, which would make him altogether a bad egg.

When I was at university, London's Brixton was a tough district where our sports ground happened to be situated. El País tells me it's now a thoroughly fashionable quarter, full of exotic shops and restaurants and throbbing with fantastic live music. Or Jamaicana, as the paper calls it. How the wheel turns.

Finally . . . Another list. The Spanish entries in the 50 best Xmas wines from The Times.

I've underlined the adjectives/phrases which make the least sense to me:-

Reds

2012 The Society’s Southern Spanish Red, Monastrell, Jumilla
The Wine Society. £5.25 
I adored this earthy, concentrated Jumilla red, made from the powerful monastrell grape, better known as mourvèdre in France and mataro in Australia. Here it is topped up with a wallop of shiraz, and what lifts this red from the pack is its brooding, intense, yet surprisingly elegant, savoury, spiced black fruits-charged palate and lingering damson plum finish. Savour this cockle-warming winter red with big food.

Star buy


2006 Winemakers’ Selection Cariñena Gran Reserva, Spain
Sainsbury’s, £5.99 
Made predominantly from cabernet sauvignon, topped up with a third of Spain’s very own tempranillo and a dash of garnacha, this punches well above its weight. After two years’ ageing in a mix of French and American oak barrels, this richly fruited red is scented with all manner of sweet, heady, Christmas spice, including nutmeg, sandalwood and cinnamon.

2012 GSM Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Bodegas Murviedro, Valencia, Spain
Marks & Spencer, £6.99 
This popular, originally rhône-inspired blend of one third of each grape, is a smart move for Bodegas Murviedro. They combine the best of ancient and modern techniques and this unoaked, yet bold, smoky, velvety, dried cranberry-stashed red is a real crowd-pleasing winter warmer. Will slip down effortlessly with hearty stews and casseroles.

Great Rioja


2009 The Adnams Selection, Monte Acuro Crianza Rioja, Bodegas Medievo, Spain
Adnams, £8.99 
Red rioja just keeps on winning wood-head wine friends . This toasty crianza, mostly tempranillo but with a splash each of garnacha, mazuelo and graciano, is lean and leafy with spicy, sweet vanilla and sandalwood oak.

2009 Finest Ribera del Duero, Tempranillo Reserva, Spain
Tesco, £9.99 
This seductive, Christmassy, nutmeg and cinnamon-spiced Ribera del Duero red, aged for two years in French and American oak barrels, is one of the tastiest bottles from Tesco’s revamped Finest range. Boosted by 14 per cent alcohol, this is no shrinking Spanish violet. Brimming with beguiling, baked plum and mulberry fruit underneath the spices, this ’09 is the perfect yuletide red.

Fortified

Amazing value


Manzanilla Dry Sherry, Wm Morrison, Spain
Morrisons, £5.99 (half-bottle) 
Seek out Morrisons’ new, often brilliant-value Signature range, denoted by “Wm Morrison Specially Selected” in teeny-tiny writing at the bottom of labels. I was bowled over by the dazzling quality of this gorgeous, tangy, briny, sea-breeze-scented manzanilla , with its lingering floral iodine scent. With bone-dry sherries as mouthwateringly crisp as this one, serve well-chilled with smoked fish or toasted almonds.

Pedro Ximenez Sherry, Wm Morrison, Spain
Morrisons, £5.99 (half-bottle) 
Sherry continues to be sold at silly prices, so scoop this up — it is gorgeous, and crammed with rich, figgy, caramel, toffee and moscatel-raisin-spiced fruit. Pedro Ximenez, made from sun-dried, raisined grapes, is the sweetest sherry style of all, but served cool it is the perfect partner to mince pies and Christmas cake . Sweet tooths will also pour this over vanilla or rum and raisin ice cream for a luscious, frozen treat.

Best with plum pudding 


Very Rare Pedro Ximenez, Premium Sherry, Jerez, Spain
Marks & Spencer, £7.49 (half-bottle) Christmas pudding in a glass. Marks & Spencer’s Pedro Ximenez, or PX, is the best of the sub-£8 bunch from producer Lustau, with a brilliant greeny-yellow rim, denoting age, and crammed full of luscious, figgy, burnt toffee and spicy moscatel raisin fruit. With a fortified wine as intensely sweet as this, plum pudding, mince pies and Christmas cake will make a happy marriage.