Annual Harvest Bodega Visit!

Bodegas Castaño Directors toasting the wines and the visitors!

After last year’s three extremely successful group visits to Bodegas Castaño, Yecla we are going again! 

I’ll be taking the Dutch Club of Calpe on September 27th and then on October 15th the Costa Blanca Yacht Association.

These are superb days out where we see the grapes being harvested in the vineyard, follow them to the bodega reception centre and then watch the whole wine making process, ending up in the dining room where we taste the finished products and enjoy a wonderful lunch of traditional local specialities.

Next year we’ll be doing the same so if your group would like to join us please contact me and we can discuss your requirements!

You won’t regret it for sure!

BAY RADIO’S SUNDAY BRUNCH – WINES TO MATCH!

Perks of the job? Presenters Noelle and Bob enjoy the recommended wines!

MOUSSAKA

Originally a Greek dish of course, using lambs that graze on the mountain, herbs that grow there too and tomatoes and aubergine from the vegetable patch at the back of the house – super! We have to find a wine that can complement all the elements: cinnamon isn’t so easy to match with wine, sweetish whites are best, but we have red meat. Tomato has acidity but sweetness too, so a white Rueda might do the trick – but hey, the meat is red!
 
Lamb and Rioja is often a match made in heaven, but Aubergine needs a white, perhaps Sauvignon Blanc! This recipe is a potential minefield – but  think I have the answer. The meat needs red wine, Tempranillo will do the trick, but not from Rioja. Try Cencibel (aka Tempranillo) from DO Valdepeñas – it’s lighter in the mouth and in flavour than Rioja wine so it should be a good foil for all the elements in this dish.
 
You can try a Valdepeñas Reserva, though I think a Crianza would be better.
 
However if you want to walk on the wild side and add chilli and chocolate, I’d go for a joven (young) Valdepeñas with no oak ageing. This would mean that you would have the benefits of Cencibel as above but with a greater fruit feel for the chocolate and a lighter, less tannic mouthfeel thus reducing the burning effect of the chilli.
 
Salud!

Free Wine Tastings at La Vinoteca, Calpe!

That's Cecilia, in the middle, on Radio OCI!

Two super wine tastings are planned at Calpe’s excellent wine shop, La Vinoteca. Owner Cecilia is hosting a wine tasting of Bodegas Vicente Gandía Plá (DO Utiel-Requena and DO Valencia) on Tuesday 20th July; and then another on Friday 23rd July presenting the wines of Bodegas Vivanza (DO Alicante).

Places are limited and therefore have to be by reservation – it’s simple though, just call Cecilia on 96 587 5490. Please also tell her that you received the information via this website!

Both start at 20:30 hrs. See you there!

Superb Wine Tasting with Indonesian Cuisine!

La Casa del Vino, Javea provides the wines for the new Indonesian Restaurant, Tapindo, between Javea Port and the Old Town and it was my job in June to present a selection of the wines to match a tantalising array of Indonesian Tapas. It was quite a challenge – but I think we all agreed it was one of the bests tastings ever!

Partners Glen and Martin have had the successful take-away Tapindo on Javea’s Cabo la Nao road for some time now but there has been an increasing demand for a restaurant with the same cuisine where people can enjoy the authentic feel of such an eatery. Restaurante Tapindo opens on 1st July – and judging by the response from the tasting they’ll be busy!

The wines were something special too, as you would expect coming from La Casa Del Vino whose owners have a bloodhoud detective’s nose for sniffing out top wines at good prices – two were new to me and I’ll be having some more, for sure!

The first, a wonderfully aromatic white wine made from Gewurztraminer from Somontano. It should be law that this wine is on all Indonesian restaurant’s wine list – it’s super and goes so well with the cuisine.

A rosado made from Merlot from Bodega Urbezo, DO Cariñena, has a touch of residual sugar making it an off dry rosado – super with the bold spices in the next tapa.

Reds have to be fruity and low in tannin to accompany this cuisine and both the Muñana 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon and the Ribes Negre 2008 were just the job, the latter, the slightely more tannic of the two, being served with a wonderful beef dish cooked in coconut milk. The Cabernet is drinking perfectly with not a trace of harshness – a testimony to the climate in the mountains above Granada from whence it came!

Finally – and who thinks of Indonesian desserts, normally(?) – a lovely Brut Bohigas Cava with a layered sweetly spiced cake!

Watch this space for more such tastings!