Discovering the Rioja wines

We went to a ceremony organized by the Consejo Regulador de la Denominación de Origen Calificada Rioja (Regulation Council of Rioja Qualified Designation of Origin) which took place in the majestic Hotel Palace in Madrid. Around 100 wineries of DOC Rioja (Rioja Designation of Origin Qualification) were represented with its best wines. This was a wonderful occasion to taste and buy the Rioja wines. 

It was a pity that the wines were not at its right temperature, but they were hot. The temperature is very important when the wines are tasted since a low temperature hides its virtues and a high temperature only shows its defects. The glasses were not the appropriate either since the bowl was too wide instead of close in the top part in order to better concentrate the perfumes.

However, as it is said, the sons must not be responsible of their parents’ mistakes, and in this case, despite the two defects of the organization, it is impossible to deny the quality of the wines we tasted.

Here you have a list of the best Rioja wines: 

Contino Viña del Olivo 2007, elaborates with tempranillo and graciano grapes. Aged in oak barrels for16 months. 91pts. Parker. Around 65€

CVNE Imperial Gran Reserva 2000, elaborates with tempranillo, graciano and mazuelo grapes. Aged in French and American Oak barrels for 24 months. Around 28€.

Ángeles de Amaren 2007, tempranillo (85%) and Graciano (15%) grapes. Aged in new French and American barrels for 16 months. Around 16€

Altos R “Pigeage”,  tempranillo (90%) and graciano (10%) grapes from vines that are over 80 years old. Aged in new French barrels for 15 months. Around 30€










Finca Valpiedra 2007, Tempranillo, Mazuelo, Graciano and Cabernet Sauvignon. Aged in French Oak barrels for 22 months. Around 20€.

 




Roda I 2006, 100% tempranillo grape. Aged in French Oak Barrels ( 50% new, 50% one vintage) for 16 months. Standing in bottle for 20 months before be on sale. Around 35€.










Real de Asua 2002, tempranillo with a bite of graciano grapes. Aged in new French oak barrels for 18 months. Around 52€.










Aluen + 2008. 100% tempranillo grapes. Aged in new French and Eastern Europe barrels for 14 months. Around 32€.












Hacienda Pradolagar 2005, Tempranillo (40%), Garnacha (10%), Mazuelo (10%) and other (40%) grapes. Aged in French and Russian barrels by Seguin Moreau for 22 months. Just 3,000 bottles. Around 85€.










La Rioja Alta 904 Gran Reserva 1998, one of the classiest Rioja wines. Tempranillo and graciano grapes. Aged in American oak barrels for 48 months. Around 30€

Martínez Lacuesta Gran Reserva 2004, tempranillo (85%), graciano (10%) and mazuelo (5%). Aged in new and nearly new American oak barrels for 26 months. Standing in bottle for 36 months before be on sale. Around 21€

Tahón de Tobelos 2006, 100% tempranillo grapes from own vineyard located at the foot of Sierra de Cantabria, on the plots Hombón, La linde and La Tejera. Aged in French, American and Hungarian oak barrels. Around 22€.

Karrin Allyson, musical tribute to Brazil

Karrin Allyson was born in Great Bend (Kansas) and grew up in Omaha (Nebraska). Her mother was a pianist and that is why Karrin started to play the piano when she was 5. She played the hits of the 70’s (James Taylor, Carole King, etc) because that what his father liked, and those were the first she sang. It was when she started in the University of Nebraska that the Jazz captivated her. Since then she had been nominated for two Grammy as the Best Female Jazz Singer and three albums nominated for the Best Jazz Album of the Year. Since 2000 she left Kansas City to move to live in New York.

Between her first album in 1992, "I didn't Know About You", until the one she published this year, "Round Midnight", Karrin has recorded 13 wonderful albums full of sensitivity and sensuality. All them have been produced by the same company "Concord". We upload the album she published in 2007 "Imagina: Songs of Brazil", in which she sings in her mother tongue, English, and in a very correct Portuguese the songs of important Brazilian singers such as Jobim, Stan Getz, Joao Gilberto, Elis Regina, Edu Lobo (whom we could see in Barril 1800 in Ipanema), Rosa Pasos or Vinicius de Moraes.

There are 14 songs which were chosen from many other wonderful Brazilian songs. To create this album she was helped by her friend and Portuguese teacher, Lucia Guimaraes. None of the songs are more important than the rest, but when listening to the first two songs, “A Felicidade” and “Correnteza”, the listener is trapped as when reading a very interesting book.  

We finish echoing the desire she had when she finished this job: “No matter what your language is, I hope that these Brazilian songs talk directly to your heart as it happened to me”. And to us. 

Oven-roasted Crab

It is long time since we do not post in the section “Cooking with…”. We have always cooked with professionals, but this time we are cooking with a great cook which is housewife, María Luisa Fernández, alma mater of the blog “Marilu entre pucheros”.  

Since she is from A Coruña, in Galicia, we asked her for the recipe of a shellfish dish that we can cook at home. She gave us two and we will post here the one of the oven-roasted crab (with albariño).

INGREDIENTS

1 Fresh or Frozen Crab

1 Onion

1 Leek

1 Carrot

1 Tomato

1 Glass of Albariño Wine

Open the crab and remove the crabmeat from body and legs. In a saucepan, stir fry the chopped onion and leek. Add the grated onion (not much) and when everything is ready, add the chopped tomato without seeds and skin. Cook for 5 minutes and add the glasss of wine. When alcohol evaporates, add the crabmeat and stir.

Rinse the sell and fill it with the mixture. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs and put it the oven until gloden brown.

Easy, original and delicious recipe. Thanks to Marilú.

Old Pulteney 12, known as “La Manzanilla del Norte (of Scotland)”

Our friend Ramón has brought to us from Edinburgh this bottle of malt whisky. It is made in Pulteney Destillery, which is located in the Far North of Scotland. It was founded in 1826 by James Henderson and in 1995 it became Inver House Distillers’ property. 

It is located in the town of Wick (Caithness), a small town which was the main important fishing port in herring capture in Great Britain. It had 1000 boats moored when the herring capture ended. As curiosity, there was a time when the only way to arrive to the distillery was through the sea. Therefore, the barley could only arrive to the distillery by boat. Many of its workers had two jobs: fishers and when the season ended, they worked in the distillery.

During those good years the port of Wick was famous because the casks for the rest of Great Britain were loaded there: the silver casks had herrings and the golden had whisky from this distillery.

The cask park is made of American oak, where the bourbon has been previously aged one or two times. Of the three warehouses used to age, the number 3 is the most important since it has 10,000 casks of a total of 24,000.

This whisky from the Highlands is also called “La Manzanilla del norte”, because its salinity is similar to the one of Sanlúcar’s wine (the two drinks are made in front of the sea).

At the end of October the 21 year old whisky made in this distillery has won the price “2012 World Whisky of the Year”, awarded by the prestigious whisky guide “Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible”, with a score of 97.5 out of 100. This is one of the most important prizes that a whisky can receive in the world.

TASTE

This beautiful bottle makes reference to the still where the whisky has been distilled. It is originally dress with no label, but with an engraving. Alcoholic Volume 40%.

Color: Wonderful honey/amber color, bright.

Nose: At first it makes a powerful impression, iodate and saline. It made us feel like DiCaprio in the bow of the Titanic, with the arms open receiving the breeze. Afterwards it gives a fruity perfume (apple), white flower and spiced (vanilla and white pepper), white chocolate, noble wood and the sea perfume persist.  

Mouth: Soft attack, elegant, delicate, well balanced. Vanilla with sweet notes, noble wood, flowers, salinity and a sweet touch of spices. When it goes through the mouth it has a long route where the dried character and the final smoked notes can be noticed, slightly saline and toasted wood.

After 15 minutes with the glass empty we wanted to know the smells we received. The memory of the chamomile (with the flower and saline notes) was clear. It was quite astonishing. 

A malt whisky to taste with patience. We drank it with no ice, only with a very light touch of water to open and discover its soul. Around 30€, excellent PQT.

Bodega Alta Pavina, the sensitive Pinot Noir in the tough Castile

  

One of the wines that aroused the tasters’ curiosity is the Pinot Noir of Alta Pavina, an explosion of feelings. Its celebrity is such that our friends, who were on holidays in Spain, had the winery in its list of “places to visit”. Therefore, we contacted the winery and we arranged a visit with meal included. This is the story of the experience:

The winery is located very near to the small village of La Parrilla. The winery is very strange because it used to be a farm where there were pigs, cows and chickens. Therefore, when you arrive you can see two cereal silos, which confuses the visitor.  

In La Parrilla, the Patron Saint is San Francisco de San Miguel. He was born in 1543 and died martyr in Nagasaki (Japan) when he was crucified the 5^th February of 1597. He was beatified by the Pope Pius IX the 8^th June of 1862.

Around the winery are the vineyards with an extension of 24.8 acres, the 70% is Pinot Noir and the rest is Cabernet Savignon. The vineyard is surrounded by a lush pine forest. It is a small winery, almost a “garage” winery, where you can breathe peace and good work. Claude Bourguignon is French and he is the technical adviser who works for the winery of Burgundy, Romanée-Conti. This is probably the most prestigious winery of the world.  

We visit the vineyards, first the one of Pinot Noir, where the stock is in espalier and drip irrigation. When tasting the grapes “of the grandsons” we notice their light skin. The bunches are called “of the grandsons” because they do not ripen at the same time than the rest, they grow later. Therefore, during the harvest this kind of bunch is not collected. Its flavor is very special. The grapes are oval and bunches are closed. 

In the Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard we tasted its small grape and we noticed the great difference with the Pinot grape: the skin and the flavor. This grape’s skin is thick and it makes it hard to eat, and her flavor is strong and a little sharp. This grape is round and the bunches are not so compact.

We went to see the grape reception area, where we found the stainless steel tanks. The tanks are small, only 9000 liters, but they are enough due to the small production they have.  

The casks park is mainly of French oak, but they also have Spanish and American oak casks. The Pinot Noir requires old casks whereas the Cabernet requires new ones.

Finally they showed to us the bottling line which has no label because they do it manually, and the jails where the bottles sleep before they come onto market. 

And to end this experience we had a Spanish stew cooked over low heat by Chus, and the wine tasting.  As dessert we had flan (custard) with two different coffee textures which was worth asking for the recipe.

We left the heart of Valladolid delighted to have met the people of Alta Pavina and to have seen the passion and enthusiasm they have when preparing their wines and to have tasted in situ the fruit of their work.

Strathisla, the hidden treasure of Chivas Regal

We introduce in this small space a whisky made in, following the opinions, the oldest working distillery in Scotland. Alexander Milne and George Taylor founded it in 1786 in the heart of the region of Speyside, with the name of Milltown Distillery. In 1828 it was bought by William Lonmore and it suffered two horrible fires in 1976 and in 1879. At the end of the XIX century it started to be called non-officially Strathisla. It was from 1951 when Chivas Regal (property of Seagram’s at that time) bought it in a judicial sale.

After the II World War Chivas wanted to buy it to George Pomeroy, but the price was too high and that is why the negotiations were broken. The following year, in 1949, George Pomeroy was accused of capital flight and the distillery went bankrupt. In April 1950, Chivas won the property in the judicial sale that took place in Aberdeen. He paid £71,000. At the end of 2001 the distilleries of the group Chivas & Glenlivet were bought by the French group Pernord-Ricard.

For more information of the distillery, it is one of the most beautiful in Scotland. It has the famous pagoda roof and it is located in the shore of the River Island in Keith, with quality water and very close to the barley fertile regions as Moray or Banffshire’s. The name of Strathisla is Gaelic and it makes reference to a river island that is in front of the distillery. The word Strath means flat. 

The water used to make this whisky is taken from the well “Fons Bulliens”, a well that is famous because of the purity of its water. In fact, it was already known in the XII century when the Dominican monks used it to make the beer.

Casks used in Jerez are used for the 12 months of the maturity.

TASTING

Original bottle, well dress with an engraving instead of a label. Alcoholic volume 43%.

Sight: Wonderful old gold color. Bright and clean.

Nose: Difficult and attractive impression. Citrus notes (orange), flowers, sweet pastry, spices (vanilla, white pepper), wood and honey.

Mouth: Powerful and elegant attack, dry and well balanced. There are mainly sweet notes, fruity (mature orange and peach), raisins, Jerez wood and malt. The end is long route, soft with vanilla and sweet notes.

An excellent malt whisky, the problem is that a great part of its production is used to make Chivas, including the Royal Salute, that is why it is not easy to find it. Its price is 35€, very good PQR. 

The Christians King’s Fortress, mirror of the history of Cordoba (II)

Nowadays, the Fortress is a gothic square-shaped building of around 4,000 m². Its four towers are well preserved: the tower of the Homenaje in the Northeast end, the one of the León in the Northwest and the one of the Inquisition or the Gardens in the Southeast. All them are communicated through a narrow corridor (called Camino de Ronda). This corridor runs along the wall and is protected by the merlons. The fourth tower wall called Vela or Paloma.

Inside the complex there is a rectangular Moorish courtyard whose walls are covered by stucco baseboard with original Arabic drawings.

There are also Roman baths which became afterwards the Royal Baths used by the Caliph. They are under the Salón de los Mosaicos. This room was the Chapel of the Inquisition and it was built in the XVIII century. It is called Salón de los Mosaicos because its walls are decorated with Roman mosaics and other creations of the II and III century.    

These mosaics were found in the excavations of 1959 in Plaza de la Corredera, an area which was outside the fortified complex of Colonia Patricia Corduba.  This mosaic represents Polifemo and Galatea.

Another mosaic represents the head of Medusa, an important Roman mythological character. It is the symbol of the strength and the power.

Another of the treasures of the Fortress is the Roman sarcophagus of the III century. It was found in the excavations of the Huerta de San Rafael del Brillante in 1958. The main engraving is the half-opened Hades' door.

Outside the Fortress is what was originally the Fortress garden, where there are gardens with an approximate extension of 55,000m² where. The gardens has a great variety of autochton plants characteristics of an Arabic garden: orange trees, lemon trees, fountains, cypresses, ponds and palm trees.

This place captivates with its history and relaxes with its gardens allowing the visitor to remember that visit for a long time.  

The Christians King’s Fortress, mirror of the history of Cordoba (I)

Cordoba was known as the city of the 700 taverns. It was founded about the year 152 bC and it was the capital of Hispania Baetica, one of the two provinces of Hispania Ulterior (further Hispania). The other province of Hispania Ulterior was Lusitania.

The Romans made a commercial harbor in the Guadalquivir River and next to it they constructed a building where the Governor and the Quaestor lived. Customs (Forum Censorium) was also located in the building. The one and only Julius Caesar lived there when he was the Quaestor in the year 65 bC. The dimensions of this building were even larger than the current Fortress.

When the Arabs arrived they built over the ruins of the Omaya Palace. Next to the Fortress the Emir Al-Hakan I ordered the construction of two big stables to shelter his more than 2000 Arab pure blood horses. After the conquest those horses were used by the Christian Kings. 

When the Caliph Abd Al-Rahman III ascended to the throne, the Fortress lost importance in favor of the Medinat Al-Zahra. From this Arab epoch the only remains are the Baths of Caliphate, moldings and some geometric decoration in friezes and skirting boards. 

The Christian troops of the King Saint Ferdinand III reconquered the city in 1236 and then the Fortress was used as the royal residence. Alfonso X the Wise was the one who started to use the Fortress as a real fortress and it was Alfonso XI the Avenger in 1328 who fortified the fortress with walls and towers which are still well preserved. 

In 1482 the Fortress became the headquarters of the Catholic King’s troops and it was also their residence for eight years during the fight to conquer back the Reign of Granada, which was the last Spanish territory governed by the Muslims. This territory was recovered the 2nd January 1492, when the King Boabdil El Chico surrendered to the King Ferdinand and the Queen Isabel. The capitulations had been previously signed the 25th November 1491.

One of the daughters of the Catholic Kings, María, was born in the Fortress, and the first bullfight that took place in Cordoba was celebrated in the gardens of the Fortress. That bullfight was in the honor of one of the Catholic Kings’ son, Juan.

In the year 1486 the Kings received in the Fortress to Christopher Columbus.

In 1492, when Spain was reunified, the Kings left Cordoba and authorized the Inquisition to use the Fortress as their headquarters. Due to this new use some of the areas of the Fortress were modified, for example, they built dungeons as well as balconies in two of their four towers in order to hang the condemned.

The Inquisition used the Fortress until it was abolished by the Cadiz Cortes in 1812. After that it was used as a civil prison from 1822 to 1932 and then it became a military facility until 1955 when the building and the garden were given to Cordoba City Hall. 

The 4th of June of 1931 it was qualified as a Historical Monument and in 1994 it was considered together with an area of Cordoba as World Heritage Site by the UNESCO.

2004 Calvario, a great “terroir” wine

Our Colombians friends, who are on holidays in Spain, have come to visit us. Since they are great friends we take this opportunity to open this Rioja wine which is considered “high range” due to its price.

This wine comes from Finca Allende’s winery, in the village of Briones, in Rioja Alta, only 7 kilometers away from Haro. This winery is the dream of its owner, the oenologist Miguel Ángel de Gregorio. He wanted to make a Rioja wine of “terroir” and he founded his winery in 1995. The wine is named “Calvario” (Calvary) due to the station of the cross which ends in a small mountain considered as the Calvary. The winery is located in one of the hillsides, and that is why the wine was called “Calvario”.

The grapes used to make this wine come from a vineyard planted in 1945 that it is not bigger than 4.96 acres of clayey soil with gravel and stones. The winery has a total of 103.97 acres: 1 acre of white grape (60% of Viura and 40% of Malvasía) and the rest is black grape (95% is Tempranillo – older than 45 years-, 4% of Graciano and 1% of Garnacha –older than 50 years).

The winery has about 2300 casks: 100 American and the rest are French. The annual production is 350000 bottles.

This 2004 Calvario wine is made with Tempranillo, Garnacha and Graciano grapes and it ages in a new French cask for 14 months.

TASTING

Bordeaux type bottle, dressed with an elegant label. Excelent cork. 14% of alcoholic level.

Sight: Cherry red color, the rim of the wine is ruby. Bright and clean. Several drops are dense.

Nose: It delivers an alluring perfume of red fruits (raspberry), latte toffee, balsamics and toasty new oak, wineskin and cacao.

Mouth: Strong but sweet impression, with excellent structure and correct sharpness with good fruity expression, notes of fine wood and spices. The final taste is pretty long with toasted notes and mature berries.

A round wine, sweet and very elegant: every sip is asking you for more… a great wine, the only disadvantage is the price: 65€. RPQ could be better.

Melody Gardot (II), her story & music

We have received some videos of Melody Gardot, a woman with a voice that fascinates us, with few lines of her life that we want to share. Furthermore, while we talk about her in this little corner we didnt add any video so take advantage of this second post to do so.

Melody as a teenager was hit by a car while riding her bicycle. The consequences were severe: lost part of her memory, took extra sensitivity to light (so it is almost always seen wearing sunglasses even indoors) and had to walk for a long time with a cane by attacks of vertigo. All of this led to the near exclusion of their university studies towards disability.

As a therapy to combat brain damage began to study music and gradually got to get a unique rehabilitation. That search for Melody Gardot before the accident, who was and what it was was what motivated him in his musical career.

And things in life, thanks to a serious accident, we can now enjoy her art, her talent and sensitivity.










The great talents of music are not distinguished in the studies but in live. Melody further demonstrates their talent on the stage. In this video, acting at the famed The Troubador de Santa Monica Blvd in the West Hollywood.

Jurançon, the sweet side of the Pyrenees

The natives of the Jurançon area proudly proclaim that they have the oldest appellation of origin of the world. The French zone is west of the Pyrenees, at the height of the Spanish province of Navarra and claim that it was Navarra Parliament who created the name D.O. Jurançon in the fourteenth century.

Joined this sweet wine continued to history, when it was the christening of the future King Henry IV in 1553, he rubbed his lips with a clove of garlic and moistened with a drop of wine Jurançon. So it was considered "wine of kings, king of wines".

The extent of this designation is 550 hectares wine, divided into small plots at the foot of the Pyrenees. The vineyards have both high mountain climate and the pleasant breeze coming from the Bay of Biscay. Two of the most important features of the strains in this region are very high to avoid spring frosts and grape seeds are highly resistant to climate change.

In this region we raise the 2004 Gourmandise Cancaillaü the winery Clos. It is a small family winery with a vineyard area of ​​2 hectares in Barrere (Lahourcade). Its annual production does not exceed the 4,300 bottles are made from 100% Petit Manseng grapes.

WINE TASTING

Bottle label wearing classic, very classic.

Visual: Honey Yellow, bright and clean. Tears quite dense.

Nose: It has a surprising entry that we discover the aromas and the geographical area where it is made. Outstanding notes of tropical fruits (coconut, mango, pineapple), nuts (almonds), honey, quince and caramel latte.

Palate: The attack very pleasant and elegant, velvety, almost affectionate, with good structure and acidity correct. The main themes are honeyed and fruity. His final long haul leaves your palate pampered for nothing cloying sweetness between honeyed notes and nuts.

A curious surprise dessert wine for our guests. The only but… to find it. Price about  los 12-15€. Good value / quality / price.

ELIA 07, affection for a daughter through wine

We climbed a small wine Designation of Origin became official in 2002, Montsant. Is an extension of horseshoe-shaped area surrounding the designation of origin of the Priorato. Although his D.O. officer is new, is a long history of wine area for many years was made in the DO Tarragona subzone of Falset.

The broth is climb the vintage 2007 and is the fruit of the Bodega Ficaria Vins, a family winery that has made this wine the name of his youngest daughter, Elia. This winery is located in the town of La Figuera (Tarragona). Elia is a wine made ​​from Garnacha Tinta multivarietal (80%), Shiraz (10%) and Cabernet Sauvignon (10%), all produced in their own vineyards, thus favoring the control of the entire process.

Fermentation was performed separately for each variety in stainless steel tanks of 1,000 liters. The aged in French Allier oak barrels of 225 liters for a period of time between 10 and 12 months. The production does not exceed 5,000 bottles.

WINE TASTING


Bordeaux bottle, dressed in simple but artistic label, representing an eye we assume to be the daughter. Alcohol Volume 14.8%

Visual: Picota Cardinals robe with piping. Brilliant. His tear is elegant and goes with the cup parsimony, tinted windows.

Nose: Input full of nuances with many red and black fruits ripe (blackberries, strawberries, raspberries), cacao, spices (black pepper), roasted, mineral and balsamic (mentholated).

Palate: powerful, nerve but still be tasty and delightful. Good structure, correct acidity and a tad of astringency. Alcohol very well integrated. Outstanding balsamic and toasted notes. It's a long wine journey that melts in your mouth leaving a load of ripe fruit and spices on your end.

An excellent wine to accompany dishes, stews power. Between 8-10 euros price, excellent value / quality / price

Alma de Mar, a numbered jewel

We've done three of the 1,000 bottles of Albariño wine lees Albamar that establishes each year, Alma de Mar, and quickly have gathered some friends to open and share it with them so little.

The first bottle is a wine tasting companion Mencia Designation of Origin Ribeira Sacra, Fusco, in Galician means "evening". Both wines are the fruit of the work of Alba and winemaker Xurxo wine tasting will upload another day.

This wine is made from strains of a parcel which is at the mouth of the river Umía with the Ria de Arosa. It is a plot with low yield, about 6,000 kilos per hectare when the normal of this area is in excess of 10.000k/ha.

The main feature in the production of this wine is allowed to stand it on its lees for almost six months. The lees are dead yeast deposited after alcoholic fermentation. The intent with this process is to give the wine complexity, smoothness and stability to the wines thanks to the contributions made to break the yeast cell wall.

This is due to perform "batonnage" which means removing the wine on the lees for the latter are in suspension and thus obtain additional aeration. In this case, during the first three months is done "batonnage" daily and the rest every week or ten days.


WINE TASTING

Burgundy-style bottle of thick glass with greenish color and dressed in fine stripes cheerful label in white and blue.

Visual: Lemon yellow, crystalline, brilliant. With slow and thick tear

Nose: A very elegant wine with fresh input. They leave notes of citrus (lemon, lime), balsamic (laurel), pastries (brioche), white fruit (pear) and a sweet touch of vanilla. salinity

Palate: creamy, velvety, subtle, with perfect acidity and structure. Are the notes of citrus and fruit predominate. Its finish is medium-long journey leaving his mouth hung with the final smoothness and taste very fresh.

Of course, in blind tasting could never claim to be an Albariño from Rias Baixas.

A wine that blends with seafood, fish and fresh goat cheeses, Emmental, and so on.

The only but I found ... there are only 1,000, not 997 bottles.