Oh No - and empty glass! We'll top it up on Sunday 5th June, 12:00 hrs - 13:00 hrs !
Bay Radio’s Sunday Brunch programme hosts a unique Live Wine Tasting each month, where presenters Noell and Bob are joined by me to recommend wines to go with Noelle’s super recipes.
If you’re stuck for wine/food combinations this is the programme for you (as well as the weekly recipe/wine recommendations that are posted on the Bay radio website)!
The next On-Air tasting will be on Sunday 5th June, 12:00 hrs – 13:00 hrs and you are of course cordially invited to join us!
Don’t forget Spain’s Bay Radio, including this programme of course, is also available all over the world by internet – www.bayradio.fm Click ‘Listen Live’.
A superb rich tapa that calls for a red wine with some oak ageing to lend sturdiness to match the food but also with some elegance. Chicken livers go well with Tempranillo based wines. As many will know this variety is also known as Tinta Fina in DO Ribera del Duero and here Bodegas Federico makes a range of wines called Avenencia using this noble variety.
The Avenencia Roble 2006 comes in a 50 cl bottle – and there’s a story behind this that will encourage those of us who drive to a restaurant and yet want to have some quality wine with a meal, rather than the oft served dross house wine, and still be ok to drive home.
Allegedly this 50 cl bottle of wine at 13% abv, if drunk between two people over a two hour dinner will not take the diners over the limit! Well maybe that’s the case but that aside it’s a lovely wine with 6 months ageing in French oak. Bright fruit, red and dark, underpined with subtle oak to add depth and complexity – perfect with the chicken livers!
The two Avenencia wines from Bodegas Federico - perfect for this week's recipes!
Magret of Pork
Pork can be happy with both white and red wine, though red would be most people’s choice, I think. However we have to consider here the subtle influence of the tomato in the overall taste of the dish.
This leaves us with red as a possibility still, but I’ve gone for a white wine which will be helped by the tomato. Sauvignon Blanc would be a good match – if we weren’t lucky enough to be in Spain, where DO Rueda’s indigenous Verdejo has its home.
Verdejo adds an extra dimension to the slightly Sauvignon characteristics that this top variety also has. Verdego has that grassy, gooseberry fruit common in Sauvignon but also some asparagus and green pepper notes, an altogether vegetal influence, which will enhance the overall taste of the dish.
From the same Bodegas Federico, but this time in DO Rueda, I’ve gone for the 2009 Verdjo. It has all of the above plus a good, quite rich finish. I can’t wait to taste their 2010 which I guess will be available soon!
Presenter Noelle and I enjoying a recommended wine!
Green Asparagus with Ham
Unless it’s smoked, which lends a far stronger flavour, ham can be happy with white wine and with red, though red would be the best pairing. However, with this dish I think the more dominant flavour will be the delicious green asparagus which for me is so much better than white asparagus.
This means we’ll have to think white rather than red. Sauvignon Blanc is sometimes described as having some asparagus flavours and aromas so it’s an obvious partner. There are some super Sauvignon wines in Spain now. DO Rueda would be a first port of call and here you could also choose Verdejo, or perhaps the best match would be a Sauvignon/Verdejo blend.
A judiciously oaked Chardonnay would also do the trick and may be particularly good with the cheese sauce, try one from Somontano or Penedés.
The tiny rural village of Parcent, inland from the bustle of the Costa Blanca,
Reception at the charming Bodegas Guttierez de la Vega
is home to the bucolic Bodegas Casta Diva, founded in the ‘70s by ex-naval officer Don Señor Felipe Guttierez de la Vega.
Señor Guttierez de la Vega is renowned throughout Spain for being the first person to make dry wine from Spain’s aromatic Moscatel grape variety. Moscatel is of course responsible for some luscious dessert wines but he recognised that the characteristics of the clone, Moscatel de Alejandria, were such that, with care, a whole new style of wine could be invented.
As discussed in Part One last week Señor Guttierez de la Vega is now part of a winemaking team having been joined by his oldest daughter, the charming Violeta who, having completed her extensive studies in Bordeaux, is now recognised as a talented oenologist in her own right. Violeta is hoping to add an extra elegance to the wines crafted in this innovative bodega.
Carta Diva Recondita Harmonia de Barrica 2010 has been in barrel since September. The deliciously sweet red Monastrell and Syrah grape varieties are maturing in the cool natural cellar. The barrel sample we tasted has quite strong notes of rhubarb, a delight occasionally found in darker styles of rosado wines made from the same varieties.
I was also able to try a style of wine that has been made in the Alicante province for centuries and once prompted a past King of Spain to comment that it should only be drunk ‘on bended knee with head bowed and uncovered’ – Fondillón!
Made from Monastrell this red dessert wine is aged for years in oak barrels (10 minimum, but can exceed 40!) which changes its colour to a brown/red and develops a gradual change in aroma and flavour. Kings of Spain drank it with sweet biscuits but it can match cheese and certain desserts, but in truth it is a wine that can stand on its own as an ideal way to finish a super dinner. Bodegas Casta Diva is currently selling the 1978 vintage!
The Fondillón Joven 2010 that I tasted first will not be ready for at least 10 years of course, but the super figgy nose and active tanning will ensure that this wine will develop into something quite special, made as it was from super ripe grapes borne of the 2010 vintage, one of the best ever in most parts of Spain.
Fondillón 2005 is still nowhere near finished but even so its development can be seen and savoured. It has a super mouthfeel, sweet but with freshness too. Figs and now dates are on the nose and the palate and these flavours last forever after swallowing!
Berta's Fondillón
Finally an honour for me: tragically, Berta, youngest daughter and sister of this close-knit family, whom I had the pleasure of teaching for a short while, passed away a couple of years ago after a life-long battle against ill-health. As with his other children Señor Guttierez de la Vega started a barrel of Fondillon in the year of Berta’s birth, 1987, and I was given a taste of this excellent and quite memorable nectar! Thank you!
