Category: Articles

First Published Costa News Group April 2012

RAIMAT/CODORNIU

WE’RE TALKING FIZZ!

You’re never far away from Cava in Barcelona. It is, of course, the capital of Cataluña where some 95% of all cava is made (remember that Cava is the only Spanish Denominación de Origen that has more than one geographical area of production – cava, for example, is also made in part of Valencia).

So it’s not surprising that the aperitif drink of the city is cava, it’s an integral part of the undercurrent ‘fizz’ of such a happening city. Indeed many of the hotels lay on splendid buffet breakfasts headed always by an open, nicely chilled bottle of cava – often next to the fresh orange, perhaps in a gesture of appeasement to those of a more temperate nature? Probably not, Barcelona is anything but politically correct!

No surprise then that at this magnificent metropolis’ biennial Wine and Food fair, Alimentaria, there is always a plethora of cava houses happy to show off their wares. And, as part of my mission there this year was to research just how good is Spain’s answer to the perhaps more distinguished sparkling wine of France, I was in the right place!

The names Codorniu and Raimat are interchangeable, though the controlling company is the former of the two. Their stand was alluring (like their cavas, I was soon to discover) even though I was one of the first visitors to the huge Intervin Pavillion as the clock touched 10:00 am. Although the fair officially opens at 10, those on the stands don’t expect any visitors so they use the time for meetings, staff training etc. Sure enough, when I spoke to the charming young ladies I was told that the man I needed to speak to was in fact in a breakfast (with cava, claro) meeting on the other side of the large stand.

However the observant gentleman in question (I’ve lost his card unfortunately) saw me hovering and asked if he could help. I explained for whom I was writing, and the meeting was adjourned!

There is a fear in the wine world that the bigger the company the less quality is produced – I’m sure it’s true in some, maybe many cases – but certainly not at Codorniu. I’ve been to the bodega, tasted wines in their custom-designed tasting room an impressive 100 metres above the cellers where millions of bottles of cava peacefully repose waiting for their fifteen minutes of fame, and it’s clear that here, big is beautiful!

Raimat operates under the auspices of DO Costers del Segre as well as DO Cava, I’ll explainwhy in a moment! Their 100% Chardonnay Vino Espumo (what’s in a name? …) Brut was our starting reference point, and a fine cava, oops, it is – straw coloured with some lime hints, full on the nose, medium weighted with a touch of buttery toffee.

Raimat Gran Brut Chardonnay Pinot Noir blend, may not in fact say the magic word ‘cava’ – another of the ridiculous red-tape rules at which the New World wine-makers scoff. Up until fairly recently Cava did not allow the use of Pinot Noir as one of its approved varieties for blanco cavas. But don’t worry, it’s the same thing (he’s said it again!). By any other name this is a super glass of fizz, fine mousse with a distinct and endearing slight sparkling cider nose to it.

Now officially a cava, because it obey all the rules, their Brut Nature is made with local darling Xarel.lo and French Champagne variety Chardonnay. Aperitif dry with a touch of butter on the palate, this is a wine for amuse gueule. Lovely.

Interestingly I was then given a taste of their still white wine, made with the same varieties as the above sparkler but without the second fermentation in bottle. It is a very approachable and aromatic white wine, dry and fresh yes, but quite full flavoured with measured acidity. I’m starting to have renewed respect for Xarel.lo, this wasn’t the first nor the last white wine I tasted in Barcelona made with this indigenous grape which when allowed to fully ripen, yet picked early to maintain acidity, can be a super drink.

Anna de Codorniu Blanc de Noir (white cava made with Pinot Noir, a black grape, by keeping the skins away from the must to avoid any colour transfer) is a product of our age, Cava’s slightly more enlightened age as they now allow this wonderful Champagne variety to make white cava. There’s a tiny amount of colouring from the skins, an extremely pale onion skin colour, but there’s nothing sour about this wine, and of course it’s widely available and well priced.

One of their top, flagship cavas is Reina Mª Cristina Reserva 2008. It’s a Blanc de Noir (watch out for this wine and this style as it seems to be becoming more prevalent, which is all to the good) and is elegance and finesse combined with full flavours and aromas plus a long finish. Excellent!

PS You are still in time to reserve for our final Ethnic Cuisine Meets Spanish Wine – A Marriage Made In Moraira evenings, if there are places remaining! We are at Restaurtante Bajul the wonderful Indonesian Restaurant, Weds. 16th May; and at Restaurante Himalaya, superb Nepalese/Indian cuisine Tues. 29th May. My job is to match good Spanish wines with the restaurants’ individual specialities! Please call 629 388 159 for more details and to reserve!

Contact Colin: colin@colinharknessonwine.com and through his unique wine services website, www.colinharknessonwine.com

First Published Costa News Group April 2012

BODEGAS PARÉS BALTÁ

DO PENEDÉS

Although the original vineyards were first planted in 1790 it wasn’t really until the Cusiné family bought the site, now known as Bodegas Parés Baltá, that the winery moved up a gear heading, ultimately, for the fast lane of quality Penedés wine producion.

Indeed each incoming generation of this still family owned bodega changed gear, including the current incumbents, founder Joan Cusiné Hill’s grandchildren, Joan and Josep Cusiné Carol, who have bought new and fresh ideas to the business, whilst simultaneously respecting family tradition.

Actually Joan and Josep have brought more than just business acumen and innovation to the winery – they’ve each brought along their wives, who are probably the only sister-in-law wine making team in Spain and maybe beyond! So the future looks good – but what of the wines?

Well I was given a no-holds-barred tasting by their representative, Nottingham born and Liverpool Uni educated, UK Export Manager, Anna Booth, whose infinite charm, I hoped, would be matched by the cavas and white wines that I was about to sample. I only had time for the whites, but I’m relishing the reds which should soon arrive!

Selectio S brut Cava has had 30 months in bottle before its release onto the market. This makes it, by my reckoning a Reserva + style – i.e. its ageing is longer than for a regular Reserva but not quite as long as a Gran Reserva. However such distinctions don’t really matter to the the winemakers whose priority is simply to release when the time is right and not according to a calendar.

Made with 100% organic grapes (the family have always farmed organically, gaining the official certificate in 2004), the blend is of all three traditonal varieties Macabeo, Parellada and Xarel.lo plus some Chardonnay. At about 12€ only, this wine, from the company’s Classical Range, wines that are made to enjoy and drink now, was an excellent start! It has understated creamy patisserie notes on the nose but on the palate there is good depth of flavour with a fine mousse.

Perhaps the flagship of the bodega is the Micro-cuvée range, wines and cavas made from low yielding old vines grown in vineyards that boast beneficial micro-climates and terroirs. Their Micro-cuvée wines and cavas simultaneously convey full flavours and elegance, perhaps in no small way due to the feminine influence of the winemakers!

From this range comes Blanca Cusiné 2008 Cava whose Champagne-esque blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir (the Pinot having been fermented in 400 litre French Oak barrels) is expressive on the nose, a touch toasty, and deeply flavoured on the palate with a long finish. It’s had 35 months in bottle following it’s second fermentation and as such is a similar style to a cava Gran Reserva.

The Rosa Cusiné 2008, named after the Great-grandmother, is a new release. A peach-melba coloured rosado cava made from 100% Garnacha whose taste and perfume is as good as it looks, sitting so elegantly in a flute tempting the onlooker!

Blanc de Pacs (named after Pacs, the village where the winery is situated) is a dry white still wine with a cool label! Cava’s Parellada, Xarel.lo and Macabeo are used for this super, quite aromatic aperitif wine which is fresh with an attractive medium length. At only about 5€ per bottle it’s a wine to always have in the fridge, just for when you need a refreshing drink!

On the highest slopes of their property, in fact the highest in Penedés, stands the Gewurztraminer vineyard, from whence their elegant, perhaps a touch understated 100% Gewurz comes. A food wine this, one for Indonesian and Chinese cusine (see PS below)! For me the Indigena which is made from 60 year old Garnacha Blanca vines, without any oak, but having had time on its lees with regular stirring, is still developing its creaminess and will be best kept a few months before trying again.

Finally (for now) I tried Electio the Xarel.lo wine fermented in steel but with about five months of French Oak (400 litre barrels) which was a super wine with baked green apples and cream on the nose and an elegant mid-length finish.

PS After a successful first in our series of Ethnic Cuisine and Spanish Wine pairings this week, now is your cahnce to be involved with the next! We are at Restaurante Bajul, Indonesian Cuisine, on Wednesday 16th May, where Chef/Patron Frans is preparing an excellent selection from his menu and I’ll be matching them with some super wines, a different wine for each dish! The cost is only 18€! Please call me to reserve – 629 388 159

Contact Colin: colin@colinharknessonwine.com and through his unique wine service website, www.colinharknessonwine.com

First Published Costa News Group, April 2012

FINCA LAS CARABALLAS

SUPER WINE FROM ENVIRONMENTALLY AWARE PHILOSOPHY

The scale of Alimentaria’s Wine Fair, even in these days of economic decline, is so vast it pays to have a plan, backed up by a relaxed reconnoitre before starting one’s research. Whilst pacing latitudinally and longitudinally throughout the first half of the huge Intervin Pavillion I couldn’t help but notice, each time I passed, the impressive fresh-looking, smile-filled stand with it’s stunning photos of eagles, owls and beautiful countryside, belonging to Finca la Caraballas, DO Rueda.

The two wines only, that they produce also seduced the passer-by with their innovative bottle shapes and delightful lime green colours The representatives of this fledgling bodega were very busy dealing with potential buyers and media types all keen to taste and learn more. Your columnist was unavoidably drawn to join the queue.

It was probably the Costa News Press Card dangling from my neck that brought about the quick attention I received amidst the throng and it was no doubt my English-accented, passable Spanish that brought forth their English speaking Sales Director, Estela Domínguez.

The bodega has been growing Verdejo and some Sauvignon Blanc grapes for several years under organic conditions and with total, very impressive, respect for the environment – from the soil in which the vines grow to the sky through which the magnificent array of bird-life fly. Two years ago they decided that it may be time to sell fewer grapes, keeping some to make their own wine.

Their first was so well received that they decided to increase capacity and make wine commercially. And they’ve doubled their portfolio of one style of wine: one, young and fresh, to now two wines; the second, a dessert wine crafted from Sauvignon Blanc and Verdejo, in also attractive 50cl bottles

In Spain, and increasingly in the world export market, Rueda is a buzz-word for fresh, highly-scented, clean and flavoursome white wines. Wines which have some of the aroma and taste profiles of Sauvignon, which also grows very well in Rueda soils, but with an extra dimension too. Indeed, one of the quite large stands that I unfortunately didn’t have the time to visit was called “Verdejos of the World” – an indication that this indigenous Spanish variety is being appreciated in other countries as well.

It’s a variety that has had its problems in the past, chiefly the fact that it oxidises so quickly and that it suffers if it is not transported rapidly from the point of harvest to the bodega and is kept too long in hot temperatures. Technology and a change of harvesting technique and timing have saved the day. Often these grapes, on reaching maturity on the vine, are harvested at night time when there’s no sun and temperatures are as low as they can be at this time of the year. Then they are hastily transported to the temperature controlled atmosphere of the bodega in refridgerated trucks.

When in the bodega the fermentation is carried out quickly in stainless steel tanks whose oxygen has been ejected by pumping in an inert gas, under which normal fermentation occurs. Bingo – a wine that was likely to start turning to a unpleasant poor cousin of sherry, on the fast track to becoming vinegar, was transformed into a super dry white.

Also wine-makers discovered that by using a variety of cultured yeasts the wine’s inherent aromas and flavours could be changed to include a whole spectrum of fruit characteristics from the citric (limelo – archived articles!) to the exotic. But, hold on – commentators like myself were wondering if in doing this the original flavour and aroma were sometimes being lost.

Finca Caraballas’ organic methods include the use of only natural yeasts indigenous to the vineyards. There’s no spraying either, no artificial fertilisation, no chemicals – nothing just nature. Tall poles are placed strategically on which eagle nesting boxes are secured. Areas are set aside for owl nesting and there’s a sense of working with nature for the benefit of all!

The young 100% Verdejo has a certain singularity, that marks it out from others made from the same grape. The wine’s perfume is wonderful, inviting. It’s a bit of a surprise on the palate at first (a wholly pleasant one I might add) as one is perhaps expecting the same sort of cocktail of flavours that we have become used to, and which I also enjoy. This is different. It has an abundance of deep, fresh, fruit with similarities to subtle gooseberry but with herbs, even basil too. It has vegetal notes, green pepper perhaps and the whole assembly is full and rich with clean acidity and a super-long finish.

PS The Wine/Food pairing evenings, ETHNIC CUISINE COURTS SPANISH WINES – A MARRIAGE MADE IN MORAIRA, are attracting a lot of attention – the specially selected restaurants are: Marhaba, Moroccan 3rd May; Bajul, Indonesian, 16th May; Himalaya, Nepalese/Indian, 29th May. Wines and Cuisine are great – please call me for more information and to reserve, 629 388 159; or e-mail.

First Published Costa Nwes Group April 2012

MORAIRA/TEULADA U3A WINE PRESENTATION

FOUR DIFFERENT STYLES OF SPANISH WINE FROM

BODEGAS VICENTE GANDÍA

It’s not surprising that an organisation that boasts over 1,500 members can fill a venue within a week of advertising an event! So it was, with the Moraira/Teulada U3A for a recent Wine Presentation held at Cafe Del Mar, on the coast road to Calpe.

The idea was the brainchild of Groups Co-ordinator, Shirley Baehr, whose project of a series of work-shops for members is clearly proving rather popular, if this, the first of several, is anything to go by! The aim was to entertain and inform members about some of the different styles of wine that are to be found in Spain.

Sometimes it can be confusing when confronted with a bottle of wine in a shop or restaurant – what does it all mean? Our objective was to give members some extra information, enabling them to make more informed choices when next buying their wines, with some tasty fun along the way!

What better way to do this than by tasting examples of four different styles of wine, with choices made from the huge portfolio of wines offered by wines from Bodegas Vicente Gandía, along with some tapas? For added value, considering the fact that this pro-active bodega now has outposts in several different wine producing areas of Spain, we also had the opportunity to introduce members to some Denominaciónes de Origen, whose wines  they perhaps hadn’t sampled before.

Members were fascinated to learn of the Nocturnal Harvesting now undertaken in DO Rueda, from whence comes some of the best white wine of Spain. In an effort to obtain the best out of the indigenous grape variety, Verdejo, which has a tendency to oxidise too easily, grape bunches are harvested by pickers using miner’s lamps on their heads at night time, to avoid the high temperatures brought by sunshine.

Nebla is such a wine – resulting from Bodegas Vicente Gandía’s first foray into this wine producing area hundreds of kilometres North East of their home in the hills of DOs Valencia and Utiel-Requena. Super Sauvignon-esque aromas of gooseberry, kiwi and herbs with a touch of fennel are joined by further vegetal notes on the nose and palate. This wine was the chosen representative of the Joven, or Young, style of wine – the first of the four styles discussed during the evening.

Next, in the red corner, members learned of a relatively new style of wine, a type perhaps most easily understood by the term ‘Semi-Crianza’, though often called ‘Roble’ instead, and even sometimes not called anything particular at all. Sound a bit confusing? Well yes, but listen up!

I think probably most wine lovers will know that the term Crianza (in fact the third style of wine described on the night) means that the wine has to have a had a prescribed minimum amount of time in Oak and then in Bottle, before it can be released onto the market. This minimum of 6 months in oak and 12 months in bottle is in fact laid down by law.

However I’m delighted to say that many winemakers like to include the influence of oak, but not as much as 6 months’ worth. Hence the term Semi-Crianza which tells the buyer that the wine has had some oak ageing but not as much as a Crianza, wine. Sometimes such a wine is called a ‘Roble’, wine, which is of course the Spanish word for Oak. Often Roble wines will also say on the label just how many months the wine has had resting in oak before bottling.

And sometimes neither Roble nor Semi-Crianza will be written on the label but reference will be made to oak ageing, like Dolmo, Bodegas Vicente Gandía’s Ribera del Duero Wine, which has had 4 months in oak. I love this wine – made with Tempranillo, it’s darkly coloured, rich and quite deep, ideal to drink with or without food.

The third wine style, a Crianza wine, comes from La Rioja and is named Raiza taken from the Spanish word for roots, letting consumers know that here is a wine rooted in the traditional wine-making techniques of the hallowed lands of Spain’s most famous wine crafting area. A Rioja Crianza in fact exceeds the minimum number of months in oak, doubling it to a whole year. Raiza has the aromas and flavours that speak of place – classic Rioja red wine whose dark red fruits integrate with the vanilla of the oak in which they’ve been aged.

The final style, is the same as the above, but more so – Reserva, and Vicente Gandía’s Hoya De Cadenas Reserva, which has had 14 months in American oak, is from their home vineyards in DO Utiel-Requena. Tempranillo is aided and abetted by Cabernet Sauvignon, and marginally proved to be the favourite of the evening.

PS Please note reservations are now being taken for the wine/ethnic food pairings evenings in Moraira: Ethnic Cuisine Courts Spanish Wines – A Marriage Made In Moraira. Thursday 3rd May we are at Moroccan Restaurant, Marhaba, just 18€; 16th May Restaurante Bajul, Indonesian Cuisine, 17·50€; and Nepalese/Indian Restaurant Himalaya, 29th May,18€. Each of the 4 or 5 dishes will be paired with a different wine to complement the Ethnic specialities – I can’t wait! Please e-mail or call me on 629 388 159 to reserve your places and for more information.