Articles – Page 96 – Colin Harkness on Wine

First Published in Costa News Group, August 2010

BODEGAS FINCA CASA ALARCÓN

AS SEEN AFTER TV!

Regular Cork Talk readers will perhaps remember last August and September when the column was full of the filming I was doing for Viva TV’s production, ‘Viva Vino’ (incidentally still being shown, with DVDs still available from me). Well I’m now also writing for ‘Living Spain’ a UK based magazine, which I’m sure several of you will have read when first thinking of re-locating to Spain.

The magazine is designed to assist with property buying of course, but it also has many interesting articles about Spain, Spanish Culture, Travel etc, which in fact will be of interest to those of us who have already made the move as well as those thinking of doing the same. My remit is to write Travel/Wine articles. Hence a further visit to the stunningly beautiful Finca Casa Alarcón whose 900 hectare plot of land includes the small mountain range, Sierra del Cuchillo, and is home to their: stud farm; olive groves and olive press; sheep farm; and of course their vineyards and bodega with its first class restaurant above. It really is quite amazing!

My contact Julia, star of the TV programme, has moved on but Javier now runs the Wine Tourism section of the business as well as being heavily involved in sales. He, along with Lucia the young Agricultural Engineer who oversees all things outdoors, met me at the stud farm where I became re-acquainted with some of the strikingly handsome and aristocratic Pure Bred Spanish stallions that are, of course, an integral part of the Stud Farm!

My journey around the estate is documented in ‘Living Spain’, Spring 2011 edition but Cork Talk readers can now have an update about the super wines, including some new editions, that continue to be made under the guidance of Pascual, head winemaker. An already impressive portfolio of wines, just got better!

Several years ago I tasted my first Spanish 100% Petit Verdot. Considered a French variety, it was used frequently in Bordeaux wines adding body, colour and a certain vegetal character along with dark forest fruits. However it was an inconvenient variety as its tendency to ripen late meant that growers were having to pick too early or risk ‘le deluge’ of late September and therefore diluted wines. It was grubbed up and largely ignored.

I’m surprised that it didn’t find the perfect home in Spain earlier than happened, as late ripening is not a problem here because the sunshine hours are so much better than in France. I predicted therefore that it would become more and more prevalent on the Iberian peninsular. The intervening years have borne this out (I wish I’d asked for a betting quote at the time – it was, for me, an odds-on certainty!).

Well I’m sticking my neck out again here by suggesting that Finca Casa Alarcón’s Nea 2008, is perhaps the best mono-varietal Petit-Verdot currently in Spain! It is an elegant and yet full-bodied, deeply flavoured wine which has clearly benefited from the unique location of the vineyards – the searing heat, dry winds and limited rainfall of the plains of La Mancha combine so well with the more humid Mediterranean climate and sea breezes that blow even this far inland.

Eight months in French oak adds complexity, body and flavour to this black gold and the overall impression is one of pure pleasure. The wine will live on for five years, but it is drinking superbly now!

Clearly Pascual is a devotee of Petit Verdot as he has now added it to the Casa Alarcón 2009 Rosado. I have to admit that I regret the passing of the charming 50cl bottle that contained their previous rosado and indeed its rose petal colour in favour of, respectively, a pleasingly same shaped, but now 75cl bottle, and a much darker rosado colour – more akin to previous wines in Spain termed Clarete, lighter than red but much darker than pink!

The reason for the change in bottle is, I guess commercial, the reason for the change in colour is I’m sure because their previous 100% Syrah has now been joined by Petit Verdot. So, in truth, I wasn’t expecting to be over impressed with the new rosado. I was wrong.

It has a wonderful full-frontal, rich and fruity nose which implores you to taste – and you won’t be let down by false promises. This is a rosado for your paella and for meat dishes too – girly, it’s not!

I’m a big fan of Viognier, that French white wine variety whose striking apricot nose, when made in the northern reaches of the Rhone valley, really delights the palate. There are Australian Viognier wines that also manage this super flavour and aroma – indeed so fragrant is it that our Aussie friends often add it to their red Syrah wines for a further aroma dimension.

Finca Casa Alarcón’s Viognier 2009 is a new wine to their portfolio – it has, as yet, as the vines are still young, a less pronounced fruit nose, but the magnolia flower and slight citrus notes can make up for this. It is a young wine to be enjoyed now.

Finally the 2009 Chardonnay follows their 2008 vintage, which made quite a splash, in this column and elsewhere. Whilst the 2008 was Burgundy in style the new wine is a little more restrained. Hand harvesting and fermentation in new French oak with regular stirring of the lees (tiny yeast and fruit particles) have added a subtle creaminess to the finished product. A refreshing wine for aperitifs I think.

P.S. Further articles by Colin Harkness can be read in Spain’s prestigious wine magazine, Vinos De España. Available in newsagents, it is now also sold in wine shops – ask your local bodega if they stock it! Plus don’t forget ‘Living Spain’ it’s a good read!

A good read, even if you've already moved to Spain!

First Seen in Costa News Group, August 2010

BODEGAS DESCALZOS VIEJOS

DO SIERRAS DE MÁLAGA!

I’m so pleased to be able to write this week about a bodega that is located in the area where the Costa del Sol News is so readily available. Wines from Bodegas Descalzos Viejos will be found in all good wine shops on the Costa del Sol, although they are of a limited production. My tip is shop early and if you find that they are sold out, be patient as there will soon be the next vintage available. The wines are good so I’m hoping that they are available in other areas covered by the Costa News Group!

It’s an interesting story too! If you read last week’s article you may recall that I am now also writing for the UK based ‘Living Spain’ magazine which is primarily designed for people in the UK who are considering re-locating or buying a second home in Spain. However it also has considerable interest for those of us who’ve already done that. For example, at the time of writing, I’m just about to go on holiday to Portugal and have decided, on the strength of a Summer Edition ‘Living Spain’ article, to stop en route near Jabugo, home to the famous, top quality hams.

Also today’s article is about a bodega of whom I’d previously heard nothing, that is until I read the Spring 2010 edition of ‘Living Spain’! A quick e-mail to said bodega, referring to the article I’d read, led to three sample wines arriving at my door recently, along with details of the fascinating story of how the bodega came about and indeed of the beautiful building in which is makes it’s wines.

Good Spanish speakers will have worked out that the name, Descalzos Viejos essentially means the ‘old shoeless ones’! Historians amongst us will perhaps guess that this is a reference to Monks – and they’d be exactly right!

It was in the early 16^th Century, just after the Christian Re-Conquest that the Catholic Kings allowed the Trinitarian Order of Monks to establish a Monastery in the mountains around the famous Ronda, above the City of Málaga, now known to millions as the gateway (runway!) to the Costa Del Sol. The monks were shoeless and not so sprightly it seems! However, fit enough to plan and make beautiful gardens and build a Monastery.

In some ways the stainless steel fermentation vats and oak casks sitting in the nave of the monastery with the two stunning, original saintly frescoes (re-claimed under many coats of paints) looking down upon them, may seem a little incongruous. But, when you consider that winemaking was one of the functions of most monasteries since time immemorial, it is, I believe, entirely appropriate!

Flavio and Francisco and their wives took over the building following hundreds of years of neglect. Their goal was to restore not only the monastery and turn it into a winery but also the gardens to plant the necessary vines. In 2000 they made their first wines and haven’t looked back since.

Two of their wines register 87 and 89 Peñin points with their top two wines at 92 and 91 – now that’s a good start!

Their Descalzos Viejos (DV) Chardonnay 2008 is looking seductively at me as I write and I’m sure I’ll soon succumb and pour another glass! It’s bright straw/gold in colour and on opening there is a lovely aroma of banana at first, but this changes in the glass to bring forward some citrus, apple and herby notes.

Half of the must (juice) was fermented in stainless steel with the other half enjoying barrel fermentation. The two parts were then blended in barricas to rest there for a period of three months. It is this short time in oak that has made a perfectly fresh simple wine into a more complex and deeply flavoured Chardonnay that will be fine for aperitifs as well as to accompany fish and light meats.

NV 2007 tinto is made with Merlot, Syrah and Garnacha. As you would imagine with this blend it is a highly coloured, fruity wine, good to enjoy with friends, but there is also a depth to the wine provided again by its resting for three months in oak.

As with the Chardonnay the grapes are handpicked and placed in small 15kg baskets which are then stacked carefully on each other therefore avoiding crushing and the resultant uncontrolled fermentation. Most of the vineyards surround the property, with others still only a short distance away. Therefore the grapes arrive at the working end of the business quickly and in great shape.

DV 2005 Tinto is one of the two flagships (Conarte is the other but the limited production of this wine meant that there was no sample for me – I’ll be working on that though!). Made with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot with 12 months in French and American oak it’s a grown-up wine.

The juice is left to macerate at a cool temperature with twice daily stirring of the skins and must together to extract colour, flavour and tannin and then fermented. Each variety is fermented separately and then blended together according to the winemaker’s preferences.

The wine has a deep, seemingly brooding colour. The nose is one of dark jammy fruits, earthy, mineral notes, liquorice and some mountain herbs too. There’s a long, slightly bitter finish to accompany a hearty meaty dinner and the drinker is left to contemplate happily on the wine, the pleasant company, the dinner and how good it is to be alive!

Colin Harkness also writes for Spain’s best wine magazine, ‘Vinos De España’. His remit is to expand and develop their English language section. His first article is in the current edition which is available in newsagents but also in wine shops – ask if your local bodega stocks it yet!

First Published August 2010 Costa News

DOUBLE PLEASURE AS LA VINOTECA HOSTS BODEGAS VICENTE GANDÍA TASTING

La Vinoteca owner Cecilia appreciates Herman's presentation of Bodega Vicente Gandía Plá wines.

It’s always a pleasure to attend the regular wine tastings at Calpe’s leading wine shop, La Vinoteca, aside the dry river a hundred meters or so from the Mediterranean. The all-embracing charming smile on owner Cecilia’s face is a wholly genuine, warm welcome liberally and naturally used as if you are a treasured member of the family. And of course, to complete this family affair, Cecilia’s Mum is always on hand producing with a flourish a tray of her wonderful, secret recipe, Argentinean empanadillas at the optimum moment when the wines are making you peckish!

If you haven’t yet been (and they are usually worth even travelling from all points served by the Costa News Group’s four titles) – then you really should!

However there was a double pleasure in store for me when I attended the first of two tastings recently. The wines were from Bodegas Vicente Gandía Plá whose empire (and I use the word deliberately as it is one of the largest business enterprises in the whole of Spain!) makes wines from easily accessible entry level up to top award winning fine wines. So that was a good start, but I was also delighted to find that the presentation was to be given by my young friend Herman Potgeiter, South Afrikan, multi-lingual commercial winemaker.

The first wine was in fact Hoya De Cadenas Brut Nature Cava – a wine that needs no introduction for me as it is the aperitif that we use exclusively at all of our wine tastings with dinner and classical music. The cava has a fine mousse resulting in the continual, pleasing sound of light bubble bursting (cava is the only wine which requires the use of the sense of hearing for its assessment!). It has a good mouth-feel, some body and a bready/brioche nose, typical in fact of Champagne.

The next wine is one that I’ve mentioned before in this column – and is one of the original Chardonnay/Sauvignon Blanc blends in Spain, a wine style that seems to be gaining in popularity. It’s not surprising as this blend is all fruit – perfect for consumers with a fruit-lust regarding their wine preferences.

Actually though, compared with previous apricot and peach laden aromas and flavours, this 2009 vintage has a more subtle citrus fruit presence coupled with a faint aniseed nose, with a greater freshness and increased acidity, making it a super aperitif wine and one to drink pleasurably with salads. Visually, Herman’s comment that whilst many white wines’ brilliance in the glass is akin to a 40 or 50 watt bulb, this is in the 100 watt category is true when you hold the glass against a white background!

The next wine was Miracle Art – a red wine in a distinctive bottle with some

quite amazing labels! I remember being invited to an art exhibition that featured wine barrels that had been painted by some of Valencia’s acclaimed artists in various different styles – it really was quite a show. And it is these barrels that feature on the labels of this wine.

Made from Monastrell, Pinot Noir, Shiraz, Tempranillo and Merlot this 2007 vintage wine has had ten months in oak and whilst drinking well now can do some with more time in bottle to evolve further.

Hoya De Cadenas Reserva Privada is a wine I first tasted in the subterranean cellars of the bodega in the glorious eponymous valley where their ultra-modern winery is set. Made from grapes grown at a higher altitude in a vineyard that consistently produces fruit of top quality this wine is a cuvee of Tempranillos with 15% cabernet Sauvignon for greater depth and darker colour as well as blackcurrant flavour tones.

The 2005 has enjoyed 14 months in American oak and plenty of extra time in bottle where it has become rounded and softer making it a super wine for enjoying with dinner, but then for continuing with during post-prandial conversation.

However you need to somehow make space for Bodegas Vicente Gandía Plá’s lovely dessert wine. For a start it looks so charming on the table – the instantly recognizable label was the winner of a Valencia Art Student Award competition and when condensation drips down the bottle following its extraction from the chiller it really makes you want have a taste. Once tasted, this delightful, medal winning, orange-blossom scented Moscatel, which has also benefited from three months in new French oak finishing school, has the perfect equilibrium between sweetness and acidity.

P.S. Information about these and other wine tastings can be found at: www.colinharknessonwine.com click Events; and by joining my e-mail list – please e-mail me at: colin@colinharknessonwine.com .

First Publiched in Costa News Group July 2010

WINES TO COMPLEMENT INDONESIAN CUISINE

JAVEA’S NEW ‘RESTAURANTE TAPINDO’

HOSTS DELICIOUS WINE/FOOD TASTING

Having owned and run two restaurants in the UK I have perhaps a natural interest in wine and food combinations. I don’t, in fact, subscribe to the widely held view that wine was invented to be drunk with food. I’m sure it was the buzz he got from drinking the alcohol that appealed to Stone Age man when he first discovered how to make wine, rather than thinking it would go perfectly with his mammoth steak that evening!

However I certainly believe that wine can complement food and vice versa and it has always been fascinating for me to experiment with various wine/food matches. Some matches are of course easier than others but I also like a challenge. So when Su, joint owner of Javea’s La Casa Del Vino wine merchants, invited me to present a tasting of the wines they supply to the new Indonesian Restaurant, Tapindo, and to match them with the exciting Indonesian tapas with which they would be served – I accepted with alacrity.

A warm June evening on a relatively quiet World Cup night saw forty of us filling the terrace of the restaurant arm of the established Tapindo Take-Away a kilometre or so nearer the Arenal than this new location, not far from Javea Port. Su and I had colluded several times regarding the choice of wines to be used and although we were fairly confident that we had it right we were both nevertheless nervous. You see there are so many flavours and aromas happening in Indonesian cuisine that wine matching is a precarious business.

Indonesian cuisine uses aromatic and sweet spices, sweet and hot chilli, perfumed herbs etc and to find wines that can take on this very sensual cuisine and at the same time complement it can be difficult. Judging by the appreciative comments restaurant owners Glen and Martin and Su and I received it seems we mostly got it right!

Udang Goreng is prawns wrapped in filo pastry and chives served with a chilli dip. My wine selection for this really attractive starter was Bodegas Viñas del Vero’s Gewurztraminer. This is such a super, aromatic wine and it really does go so well with lots of Indonesian dishes, this one included. You must try this gorgeous, perfumed white wine

It’s a while since I’ve mentioned the wines of Bodegas Urbezo from DO Cariñena but that doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten them. So it was good to re-acquaint myself with, this time, their medal winning Rosado 2009. A lovely pink colour in the glass and super aromas of raspberry and a faint touch of stewed light red plums. There is a slight residual sugar content to this wine giving it an off-dry style which will appeal to those with a slightly sweeter tooth. We used this mild sweetness to balance the hot chilli of Rempan – spiced Indonesian meatballs.

Pangsit Goreng is a super dim-sum style parcel filled with beef and served with a sweet chilli dipping sauce. Normally I’d hesitate to recommend a Cabernet Sauvignon with anything that contained chilli, sweet or otherwise. Often Cabernet’s tannin in younger wines can be too harsh anyway, but include some fiery heat and this is accentuated giving an after-burn of which Houston Mission Control would be proud!

However Muñana Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 from vineyards over 1,000 meters above sea level in the Granada area, is a really super example of how good this variety can be when fully ripened and treated with care. Not a trace of harshness, just lovely blackcurrant and blackberry character with a really good finish too. I’m going to have to taste more from this VdlT bodega (Vino de la Tierra) as I’m very impressed.

The excellent Ribas from the Island of Mallorca is made with local variety Mantonegro, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Merlot – a super mix of extra fruity varieties but sturdy sweet tannins too. Ten months in oak also give it a depth of flavour that adds to the sensation as you taste.

It was Su who introduced me to Mantonegro and I’ve become quite a fan. Daging Rendang is spicy beef served with fresh chilli – any tannin in Mantonegro and Cabernet would be highlighted with such a dish spoiling both the wine and the food, but there is also a crucial further ingredient. The beef is stewed in coconut milk and it is this that softens the tannins and make the match a really good one.

Finally we had an Indonesian dessert. Lapiz Ligit is a layered cake with sweet spices and cardamom. The wine choice for this dish was a Brut Cava from Bodega Bohigas whose rich grapes are picked at their optimum ripeness giving a fruity-sweet first hit on the palate, blending with the dessert but finishing dry and refreshingly clean.

There are other wine/food tasting evenings planned by La Casa del Vino – you can find out about them by being included in my client e-mail list, just send me an e-mail at colin@colinharknessonwine.com; or by calling in at the shop.

PS My first English language articles for the top Spanish wine magazine, Vinos de España, will be available in the August/September edition – you can buy your copy at wine shops: La Casa del Vino; Moraira’s A Catarlo Todo; and Calpe’s La Vinoteca as well as all good newsagents.