PARTNERS IN WINE
I’m delighted to have welcomed a number of prestigious new sponsors to my website during the last few months. Each has an obvious link to the vinous events, presentations, visits etc in which I’m always involved. Therefore, it’s very apt to say that we are ‘Partners in Wine’!
Bodegas Castaño, one of the leading lights of DO Yecla, is a dynamic, pro-active, multi-medal winning winery. There are many occasions, and indeed wines, that I could tell you about, with this particular ‘partner in wine’: the private tasting of wines made from their experimental vineyards; a tank sample of fermenting Chardonnay with Head winemaker, Mariano; filming in the vineyards for my TV series and having a break for an amazing ‘almuerzo’; and lots more. But space, restricts me.
Suffice to say that it is from Bodegas Castaño that I highly recommend a wine for Christmas (not long to go, you know!). Casa Cisca is the Castaño flagship wine. Made from 100% Old Vine Monastrell, this wine is stunning!
Restaurante Nox in Javea can be considered a Gourmet Paradise for Gastronomes like myself! Luxury is combined with elegance; professionalism with charm, and fun; the finest of cuisine with an enviable wine list. Readers will know that I’ve presented a number of wine pairing evenings at Nox. Of these there have been several outstanding wine pairings. For example the Finca del Fondo Rosado with Head Chef, Mark’s, amazing Cream of Seta with Chestnuts and Trufle Oil; and, simply for the sheer excellence of the wine, Bodegas Hispano Suizas’ Sauvignon Blanc!
I’m not sure there could be a better ‘fit’ than a wine website with a wine accessories company, so I was delighted to partner Avina Wine Tools! Elegance, beauty and efficiency all combine perfectly in the design and artisan manufacture of the wine bottle openers and stoppers supplied by this socially aware and forward thinking company, whose further development ideas readers will be able to see by clicking the logo (as with all sponsors) on my website.
The perfect present for those who have an interest in wine, and how wonderful that each purchase of one of their pink coloured, easy to use, Swan corkscrews ensures a donation to Breast Cancer Research!
My next new sponsor, Lazenne, specialises in Wine Travel Accessories, which are really quite amazing! Those who attended a tasting of mine in Javea will remember my walking across the restaurant, as if in an airport or train station, easily pulling behind me, the perfect answer to transporting wine bottles!
This wine luggage has been specially designed with airport authorities, including security, being in on the concept from the start. The result is that easily transportable luggage, even when full of heavy sparkling wine bottles, has been officially approved by all the world’s main airlines.
There’s a, mostly incorrect, perception that wines from specialist wine shops, like Vinalia, Bodegas Leopoldo, will be more expensive than supermarket wines. Sometimes yes, but the difference is that such shops are passionate about their well chosen wines, across the price spectrum – and they look after them! Furthermore, they are aware of the supermarket price point and very often compete with it in order not to lose sales to the larger enterprises.
The huge array of wines (and spirits) at Vinalia, Bodegas Leopoldo, Ondara is certain to include wines of your choice – that’s if you are a wine consumer like myself as well as if you are a restaurant looking for distinctive, and different wines! I remember, for example, my first sight and taste of the brilliantly labeled Dehesa del Ñañdu, made with Garnacha, and having had 4 months in oak. On the nose there is an initial strawberry aroma. It’s rich and full with a marked intensity and well priced – plus it’s available only from Vinalia!
Finally, and rather nicely linked with Vinalia, Botas del Barro! Regular readers will be aware of the Nicola Thornton story. A degree toting, Spanish fluent Sheffield lass makes a major contribution to Export sales of a DO Toro winery; she’s headhunted by a larger, more quality conscious concern, travels the globe, several times, adding over 60 new markets to the Export portfolio; then decides to open her own wine business.
Working with boutique wineries in several different areas of Spain, Nicola and her winemaker partner, Alvaro Martin, now have a very impressive portfolio of wines under the heading, Botas del Baro. On the 18th November, Nicola, Jose Antonio of Vinalia and I will be present a Botas del Barro tasting to launch their arrival in Ondara. Details soon!
Contact Colin: www.colinharknessonwine.com (where you’ll see details of the above) colin@colinharknessonwine.com Twitter @colinonwine Facebook Colin Harkness www.totalfm.es Youtube Colin Harkness On Wine
NB The next Fine Wine & Gourmet Dine Programme on Total FM 91.8 and www.totalfm.es is scheduled for Sunday October 30th, with an extra thirty minutes – by popular demand. 18:00 – 20:00 hrs Spanish Time