Tag: BAY RADIO

BAY RADIO’S CHRISTMAS WINE RECOMMENDATIONS!

Presenters Noelle and Bob check out the Christmas Day wines!
Smoked Salmon Moose:
 
I’ve chosen two wines here – the first a Cava for the amuse gueueles before sitting down to eat and the second, a white wine to accompany the starter.
 
Bodegas Domini de la Vega’s ArteMayor Brut Nature Reserva 2004/2005 is a stunning Cava – in fact Spain’s highest ranked (with 93 points out of 100) in American Wine Guru Robert Parker’s list! This Valencia bodega surprised the cava-making fraternity when two of their reserva wines were voted the best in Spain at the turn of this century and they go from strength to strength.
 
ArteMayor is made from reserva Chardonnay and Macabeo, there are bready notes as you’d expect but a much greater depth of flavour with some herbs on the nose. Top cava which will delight all!
 
From DO Valdeorras, in Galicia, Pezas da Portela 2007 is an excellent wine from the Val de Sil Bodega. It’s made from 100% Godello, darling grape variety of the DO but these grapes are selected from different parcelas, fermented separately in oak with stirring of the lees and left for a longer period in tank to blend perfectly together. The harmony between the ripe fruit (look for white stoned fruit) and oak couldn’t be better and the whole will make a super foil for the smoked salmon.
 
Roast Turkey:
 
Like Pinot Noir of Burgundy and, for some, fine Bordeaux made from Cabernet and Merlot, Spain’s Tempranillo has a certain affinity with turkey. Many commentators look to La Rioja or nearby Ribera del Duero for perfect matches – I have in the past myself, and been delighted with the results. However this time I’m going with the same grape variety, though known by one of Tempranillo’s aliases, Tinta de Toro, but coming, as you might expect from DO Toro.
 
Bodegas Fariña has been making top class wine near Toro for generations and their flagship wine, Gran Colegiata 2004, is a perfect wine for the turkey and all it’s trimmings. Dark and light red fruits (strawberry, loganberry and blackberry) and earthy minerality (think Autumn leaves) with integrated oak and a touch of mountain herbs (thyme and a whiff of bay) combine on the palate to complement the light and dark meat of the Christmas Turkey!
 
Christmas Pudding:
 
Finally, as Noelle so succinctly put it, the liquid-Christmas pudding as experienced when you open a bottle of Bodegas Peréz-Barquero’s, Gran Barquero PX (Pedro Ximenez) Sherry from DO Montilla-Moriles – will go absolutely perfectly with Christmas Pudding! The dried figs and ripe dates on the nose will blend so well with the pudding that this really is a marriage made in heaven!
 
** Please note that Noelle’s alternative Christmas dessert made with succulent Oranges, so appropriate for South East Spain will be very happy to be accompanied with Bodegas Vicente Gandía’s Fusta Nova dessert wine made from Moscatel which always has a lick of orange peel on the nose and the palate; or look again to Bodegas Fariña for their white dessert wine too – another perfect match with similar orange notes.
 
Happy Christmas – Salud! 

BAY RADIO SUNDAY BRUNCH WINE RECOMMENDATION

Ham and Leek Cannelloni:
 
Leeks like a touch of sweetness when bedding down (don’t we all?!) with a wine. Red wines will seem too tannic, so it should be a white wine – provided that we can find one that likes (and vice versa) the thinly sliced ham.
 
Well hey, I’ve not just got one, but two super white wines that will match this dish rather well! First, but only alphabetically as I wouldn’t like to place one above the other, you could go for Bodegas Parcent’s ‘Auro’. It’s a 50/50 blend of Chardonnay and Moscatel and has some residual sweetness in amongst the tropical fruit aromas.
 
Or you could pair this dish with Bodegas Vicente Gandía’s ‘Miracle’ which also has 50% Chardonnay in the blend but this time co-habiting with Sauvignon Blanc. Again there is a touch of sweetness, perhaps a little less so that the above, but I’m sure this, too, will be a winner!
 
Salud!

Bay Radio On-Air Wine Tasting

Sunday Brunch Presenters, Noelle and Bob, enjoy the recommended wine!

Gazpacho: that lovely Andalucian chilled soup, such a refreshing and tasty starter – I love it! We could have a choice of different white wines to match this dish, ones with an acidy to make a mark on the various vegetables used as well as the garlic. Whites from DO Penedés or DO Alella would go well. But I often find that a wine/food colour match works well too.

 
The tomatoes will give the dish its main colour so I’m going to go with a Rosado, which in colour should be quite a nice match but also because Bodegas Sierra Salinas’ Mo Rosado 2009 has the necessary acidity as well as a complementary fruit flavour too.
 
Aunty Noelle’s Weird Salad: wow, this is a hard task! Smoked Bacon and Chicken are very different flavours in the first place but add fruit to the brew as well as Balsamic vinegar and a touch of bitterness from the rocket and you have a challenge for wine.
 
However I think I have the answer – a completely new style wine and indeed a new wine from La Rioja. Bodegas Luis Alegre has made an exceptionally fruity wine from very young vines whose grapes have been treated rather specially. Koden 2008 is a new release from this modern, forward thinking bodega and I’m sure it will be really good with this ‘wierd salad’!
 
Salud!

Bay Radio’s Sunday Brunch Wine Recommendation!

Chilli Sausage and Sweet Potato

Bay Radio Presenters, Noelle and Bob, enjoy a glass of wine with Noelle's recipe!

There are a number of wines, grape varieties and wine styles that could match this dish I think. Navarra reds might be an answer but I sometimes find them a touch tannic – this would clash with the chilli making the dish doubly hot.

 
So I’ll consider the match by grape variety rather than area. I think a Syrah based wine or one made with Garnacha will do the trick. Perhaps at crianza level, but preferably a semi-crianza or even a joven (young wine) provided it is rich enough.
 
There are many areas in Spain where Garnacha is the preferred variety, DO Priorat would be super, though expensive. Syrah is becoming increasingly prevalent too, so there should be plenty of choice.
 
Salud!