Category: Events

Bodega Visit, Tasting and Lunch!

We have just a few places left for our dual bodega visit this coming Tuesday 13th March. It’s going to be another geat day out: we visit Bodegas Sierra Salinas where a tour in English explaining in a fun and user-friendly manner the wine-making process and the bodegas philosophy is followed by a tasting of two of their wines. Then we go to their sister winery Bodegas Castaño in Yecla, 15 minutes away. Here we see a much larger facility including the large crianza area where all their fine wines are maturing in oak.

Then in their restaurant we have a super 3 course lunch with four different wines, generously poured! A raffle and quiz on the day’s events ends this excellent trip on our way home. All this for an incredible 30€ only!

Please call me now on 629 388 159 if you’d like to join us!

Ethnic Cuisine and Spanish Wine – A Marriage Made In Moraira!

Check out this hot news:

I’ve just added the final piece in the jigsaw of a brand new and original project I’ve been thinking about for a while now, and I wanted you to be the first to know!

Some of you may remember that I used to have two restaurants in the UK where I had a particular interest in matching our cuisine with our wines. I’ve been able to carry on with that interest here in Spain as one of the things I have done since I’ve been here is designing wine lists for restaurants – I’m currently working on two in fact.
Plus for the last two years I’ve been consultant wine expert to Bay Radio where my brief is to recommend wines to accompany the recipe of the week, and once a month I present a live on-air tasting doing the same with Sunday Brunch Presenters, Noelle and Bob.
I’ve been asked to present a wine tasting in the Torrevieja area at an Indian restaurant where I’ll be recommending wines to match their cuisine. This made me think about Moraira, where I live and where there are a large number of excellent ethnic restaurants. Wouldn’t a wine tasting to accompany the different ethnic specialities be a superb evening?
Well it’s on – a series of 3 for sure, maybe 4, fortnightly evenings in the following selected restaurants, starting in May: Happy Garden Chinese Restaurant; Bajul Indonesian Restaurant; and Himalaya Nepalese/Indian Restaurant! I’m really excited about it as it will be a fine opportunity for the restaurants to showcase some of their top dishes and for me to match them with some of their best wines from their wine lists! Plus of course it will be a chance for you to return to your favourite restaurants and try some of their different dishes and wines, or a chance for those of you who haven’t been to the restaurants involved to sample what they have to offer. I’m certain many of you will return!
There will be 4 or 5 different dishes, each served with a different wine as recommended by myself having consulted the chefs re ingredients etc. It’s going to be excellent! The cost of each evening will be between 15€ – 18€ (individual restaurants to confirm their price soon).
The first of these rather special nights will be on Thursday 3rd May at Restaurante Happy Garden (Chinese). The next is likely to be at Restaurante Bajul (Indonesian) two weeks later – date to be confirmed. The third will be at Restaurante Himalaya (Nepalese/Indian) – again two weeks later, but the exact date is to be confirmed. Prices, definitely within the band above, will also be confirmed soon. It is possible that a further ethnic restaurant will be added to the series probably for the second week of June, but this has to be confirmed.
Please note, although I’d highly recommend going to all three/four (that’s why they are spaced out so it’s not too heavy on the pocket in one go!) as these will be really tasty nights, it is not obligatory to reserve for all, of course!
The restaurants and myself are sure that these will be very popular nights so I’d highly recommend that you keep track of details by listening to Bay Radio on the Sundays when I’m on air, by reading Cork Talk in the Costa Blanca News and/or by visiting my website www.colinharknessonwine.com click Events.
Alternatively you could reserve with me right now, subject of course to dates and price! Either call me on 629 388 159 or e-mail me at colin@colinharknessonwine.com
I can’t wait – see you there?

INTERNATIONAL WINE & SPIRITS COMPETITION 2012

I’m really looking forward to my first panel sitting as a new International Wine Judge for the International Wine and Spirits Competition (IWSC). I’ll be in Guildford in early April for four days judging Portuguese and Spanish wines and am now therefore able to use the above logo and indeed to correctly call myself an approved International Wine Judge.

I see this elevation to the position of International Wine Judge as recognition of all the wine work I have undertaken during the last 21+ years, particularly that done here in Spain for the last 15 years! During this time I’ve played several roles in the wine world, including wine: educator; consultant; exporter; importer; broker; tasting presenter; broadcaster; TV presenter; tour guide; critic; and writer. Indeed I’ve written over a million words about, mostly Spanish wines during my time here.

I’m looking forward to the challenge – wish me luck!

Bay Radio On-Air Wine Tasting – Sunday 11th March

Yes it’s that time again – the Live On-Air Wine Tasting held at 12:00 hrs (Spanish time) on Bay Radio’s Sunday Brunch Programme! This can be accessed via the Internet at www.bayradio.fm click Listen Live as well as by tuning in on the radio.

I’ll be recommending wines to accompany Co-Presenter (with hubby, Bob James) Noelle’s recipe of the week and as usual we are looking forward to an entertaining, fun and hopefully informative hour!

Why not join us and even take part by calling the studio whilst we are there to make your comments/ask any wine related questions?