Colin – Page 94 – Colin Harkness on Wine

Classical Music/Wine/Dinner Event

WINE/MUSIC/DINNER PAIRING – AGAIN!

BODEGAS HACEINDA DEL CARCHE & CASA DE LA ERMITA

Regular readers may remember my account of the very well received Wine, Music and Dinner event that took place at the Swiss Hotel Moraira, before the heat of the summer addled all of our brains! Well, it seems the word has ‘got out’ – Dolce Divas, who coined the idea in the first place, are in demand.

Recently another such event was held, again at the Swiss Hotel, where the wines were supplied, this time, by two sister bodegas from D.O. Jumilla, Bodegas Hacienda del Carche and Bodegas Casa de la Ermita. And, judging by comments during and after the evening it would seem that everybody had a good time!

In fact, I’m not surprised! I say this of course, without any reference to my input. I talk of the obvious attraction of the beautiful Dolce Divas (www.dolcedivas.net) and their equally stunning renditions of classical and contemporary music; plus a range of the top wines from two of D.O. Jumilla’s finest bodegas; served with a super gourmet dinner. Not forgetting the concept itself.

As Dolce Divas’ Claire Harkness-Post (so, no bias here then!) said before the last such event:

“Some of the characteristics that can be found in wines can also be found in music. A young vibrant, purple tinged wine can be matched for charm and dynamics by a piece of vivacious music. Similarly, a full-bodied and rich aria would pair perfectly with a deeply flavoured, opulent red. And, of course, it doesn’t just apply to red wines.”

To be able to discern attributes in wine and compare them with similar characteristics within classical and contemporary music is a skill in itself, and then to combine them with a dinner designed in conjunction with the Head Chef – well surely a sensational night was in prospect!

Bodegas Casa de la Ermita (www.casadelaermita.com) is a well established bodega just outside of the inland town of Jumilla, in the Murcia Province. Over the last few years a merger has taken place with the new Bodegas Hacienda del Carche (www.haciendadelcarche.com), whose triumvirate of owners are now running both wineries. First and foremost, of course, these sister bodegas are concerned with producing top wines – a series of prestigious medals and high points in the various guides are evidence enough that this side of the business is being taken care of quite nicely!

However, in such a competitive field, there are other sides, these days, to a bodega’s success and profit making ability. There is a range of wine related products for sale – for example some wonderful wine-based confitures that go so well with cheese (more on these in my annual Christmas Presents for Wine Lovers article). Plus, wine tourism is also a major focus at these two bodegas.

There is a range of wine related activities for the wine tourist: bodega visits and tastings, of course, as well as many other activities using their really beautiful Casa Rural, where small groups of up to eight people can stay self-catering style in the wonderfully appointed and equipped ancient converted barn, which conveniently is equidistant between the two wineries! I’ve visited – believe me, it’s lovely!

Now, regarding this event, the problem, if such a wealth of possibilities can be termed a ‘problem’, was choosing the wines! We had access to both portfolios, well into double figures of wines from which we had to choose just five! Well, we couldn’t do it – so we made it six wines, plus two more as raffle prizes at the end of the event!

We were served firstly a very unusual, brick-red coloured, off-dry to slightly sweet Monastrell wine, designed to be a sweet aperitif wine so loved by the Spanish. It’s this bodega group’s version of Ice-Wine. The bottle design is as attractive as the wine – a very good start!

Taus Blanco, Hacienda del Carche, is made with Sauvignon Blanc and Macabeo. Fresh, sprightly and bright with a pleasing acidic lift, Dolce Divas compared this wine with young French maidens and paired it with ‘Jeunes Fillettes’, a traditional 18^th Century French Folk Song.

Casa de la Ermita Blanco is made with the excellent variety Viognier. Whilst retaining its freshness this wine is fuller, richer and more rounded. The song made famous by Charles Aznavour, ‘Etre’, was paired with this golden tinged white wine – the emphasis in the words of the song is on the joy of being alive with the wine aiding such a reflective mood.

Sting’s ‘Fields of Gold’ was paired with Hacienda del Carche’s Crianza red. The song charts a life-long love affair. An affair shared by those whose passion is Monastrell, the darling variety of DO Jumilla, which in this case is blended with some 30% Cabernet Sauvignon to to give the grip that such an enduring love affair needs. Fruit wise there’s a combination here of typical dark plums from the Monastrell and slightly understated blackcurrant from the nicely ripened Cabernet. All this aided and abetted by a slight liquorice and stony minerality.

Idílico, as the name suggests, an ideal wine, comes from Casa de la Ermita and is their flagship wine (though their new kid on the block Lunatico is now starting to garner awards which put it on perhaps an equal quality level). Handel’s Verdi Prati was chosen to accompany this fruit delivering wine which has an earthy, forest floor quality, giving more depth to each mouthful. There’s complexity here – a wine to enjoy simply for its rich fruit, but also one to savour. It has a medium to long length and will ensure that once tasted, you’ll want some more!

Finally a dessert wine, made with Monastrell and yet wholly different from our opening wine. Ermita’s Monastrell Dulce is a corpulent, rich, silky and rounded deeply coloured red wine. It’s a classic dessert wine made with this variety – we are so lucky to be able to taste red dessert wines of this quality from South East Spain!

Sweet yes, but cloying – definitely no! Tiger in the Night was the chosen song to pair with this wine because of the crucial acidity that dessert wines must carry along with their endearing sweetness. It’s a combination that’s perhaps a little hard to understand – we are looking for sweetness in a dessert wine, yes, but not sickly sweetness. Think of a honey (or sugar) and lemon pancake – the lemon is an integral part of the overall taste sensation, take it away, and the pancake is flabby, just too sweet.

However, it wasn’t pancakes with which this Monastrell Dulce was served, but an ideal chocolate symphony! Try it also with summer pudding, blackberry pavlovas as well as blue cheese and mature Manchego and Cheddar!

NB Next Wine TastingTapas Event – The Telitec Tasting Tour comes to Moraira’s Swiss Hotel on Thursday 12^nd November. Five wines from the restaurant’s wine list, matched with 5 gourmet international tapas, just 25€! Some places left, please call me on 629 388 159 or e-mail colin@colinharknessonwine.com

Telitec Tasting Tour with Blu Too!

Hi Col,

Very many thanks for last night’s wine tasting at Timon. Lovely location, excellent tapas and super wines. Brilliant cava, gorgeous albariño whitened two fabulous reds. All good stuff. Can’t wait for the next one.

By the way, you might tip off the owner of Timon that he didn’t need to dress so formally for your wine tasting!

Cheers, Mick

La Cata Chez Nous The Reds!

LA GRAN CATA CHEZ NOUS

PART TWO – THE REDS!

If you were able to read last week’s article you’ll already know about La Gran Cata Chez Nous (yes, I know, a sort of language fusion thing, but it works, I think?!). The article is still available at www.costa-news.com click Cork Talk, so I won’t spend too many words describing it here.

Put simply, it’s a rather exclusive wine tasting with some of the best wines in Spain paired with gourmet tapas, held at our home. It’s a lot of hard work, but worth it we hope – and judging by the comments that continue to come in (www.colinharknessonwine.com click Client Comments) it seems that our thoughts are borne out! Thank you, to those who have kindly commented!

This week it’s the turn of the reds. It is still true to say that Spain is considered, first and foremost, a red wine country. More Spanish red wine is sold than any other style (with the possible exception of Cava, whose stocks will even now be increasing dramatically in time for the phenomenal sales before and during the Christmas period).

The red wine contingent included wines from: DO Montsant; DO Ribera del Duero; and Vino de la Tierra de Castille y Leon. I think we all agreed that it was practically impossible to choose one that was above all others – it truly was a formidable group of Spanish reds offering a multitude of aromas and flavours, considerable complexity and depth, as well as unabridged hedonistic pleasure!

A formidable line-up of outstanding Spanish Red Wines!

Auditori 2013 from Acústic Celler, DO Montsant is one of the flagship wines of this young D.O. Perhaps readers will remember that, some years ago, if buying wines from DO Tarragonna, one always looked first for those from the sub-zone Falset.

Bordering the hallowed lands of DOCa Priorat (home to Spain’s equal most expensive wine) the soils of Falset have similar characteristics, in which the indigenous grape variety Garnacha thrives. So much so, that the burghers of Falset sub-zone decided to apply for full D.O. status, which was granted not long ago. They left D.O. Tarragonna and haven’t looked back!

Auditori 2013 has been given 94 points out of 100 by one of the wine world’s most influential critics, Robert Parker – and this on the back of the highly praised 2011 vintage which was similarly lauded. Made with Granacha coming from old vineyards some of which were first planted four years before the 2^nd World War when Spain was beginning to suffer its dreadful Civil War, the wine has a depth of flavour that only comes from venerable old vines.

The grapes are gently pressed in traditional old wooden presses before fermentation. Once the rich juice has morphed into wine it is placed in barricas which are stored in the old cement tanks underground, where it stays for 12 months. The dominant flavours and aromas are those t hat come from the grapes, as they should be, of course, but the judicial use of oak has paid dividends, adding integrated taste and fragrance, depth and complexity.

The overall sensation is of luxurious dark brambly fruit with some earthy notes and a super length. It’s a wine that will also age gracefully, providing real pleasure for years to come. Lovely wine!

The next wine we tasted was the VdlT wine, Mauro VS 2011 – a quite remarkable wine! The moment the cork was pulled (in fact it was me alone who had this initial pleasure as I’d opened all reds well before the tasting, though the same was noted by tasters later, when the wine was finally poured) the most alluring aromas assailed the nose, in the nicest possible way. There’s a deeply scented dark fruits confitura fragrance to this, a Guía Proensa 92 pointer, with a rrp of 53€!

Mauro VS is made with Tinto Fino, or Tinto del Pais, or the more famous name, Temporanillo. It’s made in the same sort of area, same sort of soils and climate as Ribera del Duero and it has that unmistakeable depth of rich fruit flavour, so typical of wines from this part of Spain.

The wine has also enjoyed (and I use the word advisedly) over 30 months in oak, but it’s the fruit that bis to the fore. Here we must credit the winemaker, of course, who has added depth of flavour, complexity and a wonderful, rich unctuousness by the use of oak which he has not allowed to overtake the quintessential fruit delivery. A masterpiece!

You may find richly flavour dark red fruits, loganberry for example, with some picota cherries as well as an earthy character with more than a hint of bay leaf, which in fact complemented perfectly the beef in wine tapa with which it was served. A superb wine!

Our final wine of this year’s event was from D.O. Ribera del Duero, Aalto PS 2011, crafted by Bodegas y Viñedos Aalto. I can assure that it’s not only the double ‘A’ at the start of the name of this bodega that ensures it’s at the top of the D.O. Ribera del Duero listing. It’s clearly the quality of the wine as well!

Proensa give this wine 98 points, as does Robert Parker, and I certainly wouldn’t take issue with this! Aalto PS is a glorious, quite exceptional wine whose rich, voluptuous ripe fruits flavour is also steeped in elegance. There was an almost tangible gasp when the wine was poured as its aromas rose like a genie from the lamp enveloping us all in its spell.

Yes, I know, I may seem to be a little too theatrical here – but try it and you’ll see what I mean!

In July, when I contacted the company asking for this wine to present at this annual event I was most impressed with the reply I received. They would be happy to support the event, but for the time being were unwilling to release the wine for transport at a time when we were all suffering from the wild temperatures of that, the hottest July I can remember. I would receive the wines, but not until things had cooled down sufficiently – they wanted to ensure that their wine was served in its absolute Sunday Best!

It worked – September had cooled and the wine was a real hit! Priced at about 70€ a bottle, it’s clearly, to most of us anyway, a ‘special occasion’ wine. But what an occasion!

2011was a year that was extremely favourable to the vines – the right amount of pre-growing season rain, extensive sunshine hours but without the acidity-sapping, oven like heat during the day, and almost the perfect, far cooler night temperatures that help vines so much.

It’s full of concentrated black fruit on the nose and the palate with a forest undergrowth foundation, helped, but certainly not overwhelmed, by its 22 months in barrel, which adds complexity and depth to the mix. A superb wine to drink with a splendid dinner as well as on its own when you have time to ponder the question – just how good is life?!

(www.acusticceller.com ; www.bodegasmauro.com ; www.aalto.es)

Contact Colin – colin@colinharknessonwine.com ; Twitter @colinonwine ; Facebook Colin Harkness

Swiss Hotel & Cava!

Hi Colin,

We would like to make reservations for 4 persons on this Cava Dinner on the 28th of November. Please confirm.

We certainly enjoyed the gourmet dinner at the Swiss hotel last Friday and are looking forward to a new gourmet dinner and to learn more about comparing Cava to the meal.

Best regards,

Anne Lise Engan