Another wine tasting though this time not a wine from Granada.
Emilio Moro is a bogeda with a fine reputation in Ribero del Duero and it’s eponymous is one of their most affordable wines. 2017’s season was a difficult one with an unusual Spring frost, but they still produced a very good wine at the price point. It’s 100% Tinto Fino variety and although not marked as one it is a Crianza, having 12 months ageing in the barrel. This wine was bottled in 2019 and has a good 14.5% alcohol content. Vibrant dark red in the glass, the fresh nose jumps out immediately. Most reminiscent to me of raspberry vinegar there’s an acetone whiff coming through too. Giving a few more swirls brings out an interesting saffron note as well, which is unusual. It is really well-balanced out of the glass, those tannins light but still present and doing a great job. Well bodied with juicy fruit and a hint of bitter cocoa rather than chocolate. Extremely drinkable in fact with our without food. I found that the light oak and woodiness come out more when you have downed it, rather than in the mouth. But that could just be me. I has a fairly dry finish but that was pleasing rather than unpleasant! We drank it with a 'burger' of pressed confit duck and morcilla black pudding, a puree of Moorish spiced aubergine along with patatas a lo pobre. It turned out to be a great pairing, complimenting the sweet meat and warm spices really well. I would recommend any wine from the bodega, it’s a top-quality young wine at a great price from a fantastic winery. I look forward to tasting their other wines and especially El Zarzal, their new white wine aged on the lees. It is 100% Godello variety which is more commonly grown around Galicia and has fresh and mineral characteristics.
0 Comments
I am pretty sure that I fell in love with Spain properly about seven years ago - looking out over the spectacular landscape from the room balcony of a small rural hotel near Ronda. After a dinner in the restaurant, drinking a local tinto and watching the sun disappear.
Mind you, it could have been during an evening stroll along the cobbled streets of Seville, the heat of the day still rising from them. Between tapas of pig's cheeks, slowly cooked in sherry and super crispy, deep-fried baby squids - our palates cleansed by huge goblets of sub-zero gin tonics. It also could have been when we were dining in an over-priced and under-delivering tourist restaurant in the Albaicin of Granada. That disappointment being completely salved by the tableau of the Alhambra in front of me, something that could never fail to transfix any viewer. In reality, it must have been all of these experiences and more. I guess most people reading this will have similar personal memories and emotions of Spain, or perhaps want to have. It seduces you with its open heart, vibrant spirit, generous plates and even more generous measures. I am very excited to have been asked to occasionally share my foodie thoughts, recipes and inspirations with you on Spain In English. I am Alex and I think I have always had food in my veins. My French father came to the UK to further his career as a chef in 1969 and met my mother who was working on reception in the same hotel. Growing up I was fascinated by the noise and heat of the kitchen and - despite warnings about hours and pay – left school to work in a well-regarded local restaurant. Just to keep things in the family, my sister’s partner is also a chef! I worked in and around Manchester and Cheshire until my long-time partner Adrian and I decided to make a move to France 15 years ago. We moved to open our Yoga Holiday retreat centre called ‘Les Passeroses’, which we run during the summer months. We look after the guests and cook all the vegetarian & vegan food, which is perfect for a week of yoga. It is incredibly important to bring everyone together around the dinner to be nourished - not only by the food, but by the social interaction around it. We finally brought out a long-called for cookery ebook this year, featuring some of the most popular recipes which are take inspiration from all over the world, including - of course - Spain. Over the years, several visits to Madrid and Barcelona to stay with friends opened my eyes and belly to how Spain lives through its food and drink culture. Madrid at New Year was the probably coldest I have ever been, but the churros con chocolate was worth braving the icy rain for. The early – OK mid - afternoon recovery from a night’s clubbing in Chueca was helped immeasurably by Huevos Rotos. Chunks of potato baked in olive oil in a deep enamel pan are topped with eggs cracked messily over, liberally strewn with slices of jamón and finished with a bit more olive oil. Crispy, soft, eggy, stodgy, salty and full of Vitamin D - it’s a contender for the world’s most satisfying hangover cure. A rare chance for a holiday in early Summer seven years ago allowed us to discover Andalucia and authentic Spain for the first time. Seville was our starting point and a room in the stunning Hospes Las Casas del Rey de Baeza, a traditional 18th century Sevillian building certainly set the tone. It’s cool cobbled internal patio surrounded by wooden walkways unsurprisingly reminiscent of Moroccan riads. Ronda wowed us with the touristic hordes, dramatic setting and a couple of superb restaurants. The family owned and run ‘Casa Maria’ looks nothing special from the outside, but we have found that often the best things in Spain are the most unassuming or well-hidden. The produce on offer is the very best quality and cooked mainly on the plancha. Ask for ‘un poco de todo’ and just eat what comes. That reminds me - I must write a review. That first holiday finished in Old Town Malaga which was buzzy but the food was way too tourist-oriented for us, with the notable exception of an Argentinian small plates place. I came to realise two things during this trip – I wanted more of this region and Tempranillo is definitely ‘my’ grape! Unable to stay away, we returned in a matter of months, taking in Archidona, Granada and – unsurprisingly - the Alhambra before heading to the seaside towns of the Costa Tropical. Fortune led us to a lesser-known costal town called La Herradura, so named because of its horseshoe shaped bay. Staying at the top of town up a VERY steep slope we had a wonderful view of the town and surrounds. We both agreed something felt ‘right’. It’s a very Spanish town that remains busy throughout the winter, especially with Granadian families, who make the drive down on Sunday afternoons to share paella or wood-cooked fish at the chiringuitos. It’s a long and extremely convoluted story as to how we finally got to own a small house in the lower part of the old town after three years of renting it. Let’s just say deeds and family disputes all played a part, but we got there in the end. Being ensconced for the last three winters has given us a taste of Spanish life that we have become determined to full advantage of by relocating. I spend my time finding new places to visit for their amazing produce, be it the best jamón serrano in the South or a bodega producing starting new wines using old fashioned methods. We love cooking for and sharing with our new friends and neighbours, as well as looking for the best restaurants in the area. We are now married after 28 years together and sitting on the roof terrace, looking at the sea and mountains we feel so lucky to have found Spain and La Herradura. ‘La H’ is where I am already putting down roots, allowing the sun to infuse my body, thoughts and food. When normality returns this will become our home and the starting point of a new journey, travelling deeper into all that Spain can bring to a plate (and to a glass). THIS ARTICLE WAS WRITTEN FOR AND FIRST PUBLISHED ON SPAIN IN ENGLISH https://www.spainenglish.com/2020/06/23/spain-food-love-affair/ I was already a fan of big, bold red wines - you know, those ones with cojones - but really knew very little about Spanish wine outside of Rioja and Ribera del Duero. That changed when I started looking into the wines of the Granada region. For reasons known only unto myself I presumed that wine production was more limited to the more northerly regions, but I am glad to have proven myself very wrong about that! I will wax lyrical about the Vinos De La Tierra De Granada in further posts. So here is my first foray into wine tasting notes, hoping that I don't sound too up myself! As always, I manage to bring food into it so you get some idea of how well the wines paired. This post and the one following - about another two reds - don't describe a wine selected for the meal or the other way around. These are purely happy coincidences! Senorio de Nevada DOP – Plata 2014 One of the larger and more well-known producers in the region, they bottle just three wines, Bronze, Plata and Oro – bronze, silver and gold. This bodega also has a small hotel and restaurant outside of the city of Granada. Hoping to get there and review it soon! The Plata is a mix of Syrah, Cabernet and Merlot and is aged 10 months in French and American oak. Perhaps surprisingly I found no discernible evidence of woodyness in either nose or mouth. The high alcohol content of 15.5% makes itself known in a very pleasant way. In the glass it’s like Prince - deep purple but thin of leg! It needs plenty of airing and a decent temperature to get anything off the nose, but there is black cherry jam, with note of super-sweetness like candyfloss or a whiff of icing sugar. Fortunately, it is fuller of body in the mouth, where you get smacked with bilberries and blackcurrant, though nothing much more complex than that until you've swallowed. Hints - and I do mean hints - of chocolate just hold their own against a slightly sour liquorice, which is nice on the way down. Tanins are well balanced with no particular dryness in the mouth or finish, which is where you get a cheeky pepper surprise which lingers. We drank it with duck breast and a morel sauce. It was a fine accompaniment to the meal, as you would expect with that dark fruit in the foreground cutting through the richness of the meat. OVERALL - Consistently good, this is a wine - and a bodega - that should be sought out if you visit the region. Wines like this deserve to be at the forefront of a broader recognition and appreciation for Granadian wine. Bodegas Fontadei – Prado Negro VDT de Granada Another of the bigger wineries of the region, Fontadei got my attention initially because of the label – can't lie! Anything that has a lion from the Alhambra or geometrics on it turns me into a magpie - look at it. This Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot mix is aged 11 months in French oak and has 13.5%. Their vineyards sit 1200 meters above sea level, which allows a slower maturation of the grape due to the big change between day and night time temperatures than at lower altitudes. This results in a more complex higher quality wine. The oak drifts up well from the glass with a side order of fresh leather – overall kind of woody. There is a sweet/sour note that reminds me of raspberry vinegar. It’s well bodied and powerful to start. The structure is balance is great, tanins are there but they don’t stick your lips to your teeth! The acidity is fruity, which is just a well, as there is a good whack of (bear with me here) Dandelion and Burdock! Yes, that aniseed/liquorice flavour is robust here but not at all in a sweet way. An aftertaste of warm spices was perfect given that we supped it with lamb leg steaks marinaded in ras-al-hanout & orange zest. Accompanied by cous-cous style veg with chick peas & preserved lemon. It was a match made in heaven – couldn’t have planned it better. Sweetness of the lamb and the spices were complimented but the fattiness cut through by the fruity acidity. Robust enough to cope with that super sharp preserved lemon too. OVERALL - Again another bodega to watch out for. I could easily have polished off another bottle of the Prado Negro As I mentioned in my Bodegas Bentomiz post from April we found ourselves in Spain for Christmas for the first time in 2019. We like to push the boat out at Christmas as everyone does and have cooked many multi-course lunches for family and friends, at our place in France. One Christmas lunch – our first Spanish themed one – was 9 courses for 14 people. We are lucky enough not to be working in the winter, so have – and needed! - plenty of time, space and plates to cater for that. Our little Spanish house has *ahem* more limited equipment and space, in fact we didn’t even have enough wine glasses for six people. Our little fridge has a tiny freezer compartment which is normally home to massive Spanish ice cubes and little else. I dismissed these issues and ploughed on regardless, planning a seven-course lunch for ourselves and four closest friends in Spain. I wanted to as usual highlight Spanish produce and local specialities as much as possible and try some new techniques. Fast forward to the day itself. Sunny enough to have canapes of smoked salmon with goat’s curd and herbs with couple of bottles of Juve Camps Cava on the terrace. In fact, it was a bit too hot, but I was up and down to the kitchen in any case, so saved getting sunburned. Our lovely Norwegian neighbours had no idea what Christmas crackers were all about, but were happy to sport the obligatory paper crown and cringe at the terrible puns. I think they ‘won’ a compass keyring and a tiny tape measure as their prizes – lucky them! To start - A warm soup always seems a bit incongruous in Spain, but a squash and pecan soup seemed like a nod to wintery Christmases past. In any case, a soup is always a good start and Adrian’s was a smooth, velvety delight. Not too sweet either, accompanied as it was by more of that crisp, dry cava. The fish course - I had heard of Mojama and seen it in the shops but we had never bought any, not really having had an idea what to do with it. Also, I am a bit fussy with salty fish so probably pulled a face to be honest! But you have to try new things so I had determined to get it on the menu some way. Mojama - cured and air-dried tuna - is a speciality that has been around for hundreds of years. Originating from along the East coast of Spain near the border with Portugal the tuna is caught by funnelling them into nets, in a way that has changed little since it began. Researching recipes suggested using very thin shavings was the way to incorporate mojama into dishes, that it is very strong with an umami punch that I wanted to use to effectively ‘season’ a dish. We bought a smallish piece and I tried slicing it by hand but just couldn’t get it fine enough, so we invested in small electric slicer. No doubt it will come in handy for jamón and mojama in the near future. I wanted to keep it light, so settled on a salad. I mixed the freshness of shaved raw fennel with some soft fennel confit for contrast. The salty sourness of the fish was tamed by the sweetness of a black garlic vinaigrette and I added some texture and earthiness with Marcona almonds. It really worked as a dish and I would definitely make it again. The fish acted in the way a good sauce should – adding its own flavour, enhancing the other flavours but not overpowering them. I was impressed actually and I am very critical of my own food! You might remember that the Bentomiz post was about my search for a particular wine to go with this course. As I explained, I was unable to find it at Christmas, so I paired the salad with a Galician wine from Rias Baxas. Faustino Rivero Ulecia produce this 2018 from the Albarino grape. It had good sharp fruit, I got apples and white grapes, and the typically slightly briny note from wines of the area. Lacked a bit of punch and dryness for me, but was a good accompaniment to the salad. To be fair we had had quite a lot of sharp cava before this, so it was fine. Sorry I don’t have a photo of this. The meaty starter – Now, I had been ruminating on this one for a while, thinking about how to use Iberico pork in another way than just a lump of – admittedly delicious – meat on plate. Inspiration came in the form of iberico pork burgers from the local supermarket. No, I didn’t do burger and chips for a 2nd starter! You hardly ever see terrines on a menu these days and I think it is a real shame, but they seem out of fashion. I guess chefs don’t see a way to elevate a slab of terrine to new heights, but I think they are missing a trick. Firstly, if you use great ingredients you will likely get a great tasting terrine and what would be the argument against that? Second, they do look nice on a plate in my opinion. Thirdly, from a chef's perspective they are fairly easy to make and easy to portion control! So as it was Christmas dinner and I was doing ‘posh’, how was *I* going to elevate it? Well, there is that great main product, minced Iberico pork. Plenty of flavour from that deliciously fatty meat. I decided to add in pistachios to add some texture and colour, along with minced shallots, herbs, pimentón and a splash of Oloroso. To really go big on flavour I also added some chunky black truffle salsa. Combined with one egg my burgers were transformed into a juicy, umami rich and flavoursome terrine. And to take this up a notch further I tried something completely new. Salt cured egg yolks. What, you say? Why would you want to cure an egg yolk? Well I didn’t know I did, but now I want to find more things I can use them on! Curing them for just a few hours makes that umami yolkiness even more intense. I soft cured mine as I wanted to sauce the warm slice of terrine with it. I should have done them an hour or so less (they were in a 50/50 salt and sugar mix in the fridge for 9 hours) but most were just about right. As you can see from the photo, they looked like perfect, smooth round apricots, but the slightly chewy outside gave way to an unctuous centre. I served with some caper berries for some mad crunch and local white bread rolls that come slathered with olive oil and topped with sea salt. So good. This needed a red wine with some cojones but nothing too dry. We had a Faustino V, Rioja Reserva 2013. This did the job well, medium bodied Tempranillo (mostly) with plenty of red fruit, backed with tobacco and leather hints. This meant it was complex enough but did not distract from the pork or egg. A well-known brand but it fitted the bill for this course and was not expensive – though I can’t actually remember how much it was! We need a pause and something refreshing. What better than a granita? Previous parties have seen the rise and rise of my granitas.... I remember one NYE where a neighbour got more than a bit worse for wear and bad ice-cream head from having three glasses of my Bloody Mary granita. I should give a shout to my sister Lucie for the recipe for that, which has port and sherry in the mix and is hands down the best Bloody Mary going. When in Spain, what do you drink to perk yourself up? Gin Tonic of course! My ‘Larios con tonica’ granita took three days to freeze in our tiny ice box! I think I MAY have put a little too much gin in but, hey ho... Eventually it set enough to break up into delicious boozy crystals which we crunched and slurped through. The main event - As one of our guests is not good with hunks of meat, I went fish for the main course. A distinctly non-Spanish salmon, spinach and leeks ‘en croute’, mainly because I knew she would be able to eat and enjoy it. I sneaked a little Spanish influence in by the addition of saffron into my butter sauce. Accompanied by Pommes Anna, which are a favourite, their buttery crispiness is a winning combination and some roast asparagus. We asked our guests to bring some rosé to accompany the salmon. I only did a vague tasting note for one of the wines they brought, but it was miraculous that I did any at all by this stage to be honest! It was another Faustino V in actual fact from 2014, 100% Tempranillo and none the worse for that. A good weight for a rosé which I prefer with drinking with food. The only other things I noted were a light nose (not very descriptive!) and red fruits, the colour was really deep – again, hardly earth-shattering news for a rosé. Stomachs straining a little we agreed on a polite pause to swap Christmas gifts before attempting to squeeze dessert in. The kitchen wasn’t in too bad a state, considering – helped in part by us needing to wash plates between courses – so we could relax finally. Adrian had made the final course some days earlier – which was a good thing, as it took all that time to freeze. Turron is Spanish nougat that comes in many forms – chocolate, crunch, soft, with and without nuts. We used the soft creamy Jijona version, blended some and mixed small chunks into a semi-fredo. I pickled some blackberries to get some acidity to balance all that super-sweetness and a salted dark chocolate sauce also helped reign in the sugar. What could be more perfect to accompany this than a (small) glass of Pedro Ximenez Nectar from Gonzalez-Byass. The sweet sherry that is like liquid Christmas cake and a revelation for all of our guests. Pedro Ximenez or PX is a grape variety mostly grown on the Montilla-Moriles region and the grapes are left out to dry in the sun. This goes to producing a fortified sherry wine that is heady with raisins, slightly syrupy and downright delicious. We were very happy and so were our mates. We love entertaining and although both couples had been around on several occasions for a meal – we had never made so much effort for them before. Good food, super wine and great friends – it was like microcosm of the Spanish way of life itself! We yearn to make it our full-time home and really integrate into the local sunshine life. That way I can enjoy and share even more with our family, friends and you. The Menu
Smoked salmon toasts with goats curd and herbs Cava – Juve Camps Pumpkin & pecan soup Cava Mojama, shaved and confit fennel, Marcona almonds, black garlic vinaigrette Faustino Rivera Ulecia, Rias Baixas, Albarino 2018 Warm Iberico pork, truffle & pistachio terrine, soft salt cured egg yolk, caperberries Faustino V, Rioja Reserva 2013 Gin tonic granita Salmon, leek and spinach ‘en croute’, pommes Anna, roast asparagus, saffron butter sauce Faustino V, rosé Tempranillo 2014 Semifredo of Jijon turron with salted dark chocolate sauce and pickled blackberries Pedro Ximenez Nectar A trip into the mountains to view a possible yoga venue turned out to be kismet! This is really a circular yoga story, beginning at Finca Los Pinos near Competa three years ago. We were running one of our retreats there in October and the owners were kind enough to do the cooking for us on the last night and brought out an unusual white wine. Now white is not my usual tipple, but I will try anything. They explained that it was stocked by Gordon Ramsey's restaurants and that piqued my interest a bit more! I will give you my thoughts on that very singular wine a little later. After the retreat was over we got a call from the retreat owners to ask if we wanted to go to the Bodega for a meal with wine, well yes we did! It never came off unfortunately, as there were not enough people to make it worth opening for. We had ideas in our heads of a rustic bodega, traditional Spanish food and tasting more interesting wines, so were obviously disappointed. Life went on, however, and it slipped from our minds, not being white wine consumers. Skip forward to 2019 and we found ourselves in Spain for Christmas for the 1st time. We decided - OK I decided! - to do Christmas dinner for our 4 closest friends in Spain. I shall do a post about this and link it HERE, because as you would expect it was Spanish themed. Not doing thing by halves, I started planning food and thinking about wine pairing for our seven courses, which is obviously nearly as important! My mind flickered back to that wine we tried years before as this would fit perfectly with my mojama and fennel based fish course. After lot of mind straining and internet research I finally found out it was Ariyanas wine. Hurray. Now I know we had seen it at a wine store in the beautiful town of Frigiliana so with a festive gift to pick up there I scheduled a trip around my preparations nearer to the day itself. Bugger! The Frigiliana wine shop was closed and enquiries to other local shops came up with a big fat zero. I knew I didn't have time to visit the bodega, so bought a very dry Rias Baxas from Galicia instead. Despite these 1st world setbacks the meal went really well! Come February 2020 we had made plans to visit a lovely venue that we hoped would be suitable to run more yoga retreats from. The visit went very well apart from getting my car stuck on the corner of their car park! We found out we had loads in common with the owners and that one of them used to live on the next road to me in Manchester. Small world! On the way inland what sign should we pass but that of Bodegas Bentomiz - producer of the now near-mythical (to us at least) Ariyanas wine! We would seek it out on our way back down towards the coast. We were stunned when we got to the end of the lane after taking the turn. Instead of a quaint Spanish bodega with terracotta tiles and rustic touches, we were greeted by stone-clad minimalist oblongs stacked into the terraces. Once we figured out how to get in, we went upstairs, bypassing the lower floors wine making and bottling areas. The dining / events room was enormous with light flooding in from floor to ceiling sliding doors - giving the most spectacular views over the valley and down to the sea in the distance. A small part of the floor is glassed, which gives a view down to the mechanics of the operation - obviously not in use in February! We arrived just in time to be able to tag into lunch with the twelve or so other people who had booked. We opted to share a wine tasting before and have the three course menu - with paired wines of course! Rose led the wine tasting and was wonderful and of course extremely knowledgeable. It was really interesting to hear the tasting notes and read the info. There was no rushing either, but then it is Spain! Our meal was cooked and served by chef and co-owner André. We started with a delicious tartare of avocado and marinated local blue fish, topped with pearls made of seaweed, capers and sauced with ajo blanco (a cold white garlic soup). The dish was paired with the Ariyanas Seco sobre lias finas. Yes, finally we get to the mythical wine! Produced 100% from the Moscatel de Alejandría grape, this wine is unusual because it is left on the 'lees' (that the 'sobre las lias finas' bit) for 8 months when maturing, which imparts really complex background tastes. The most common wines noted for this are French, especially Muscadet-sur-lie. The lees are basically the any bits of the grape that settle to the bottom of the wine and the 'lias finas' specifically are the fine white sediment of the remaining yeast cells. To begin with, this wine has an amazing nose for a white, totally unexpected. Fruity yes, but really complex and fragrant, honey sweet even. In the mouth is a complex explosion of dry flowers, citrus, herbs and really flinty finish, which is typical of grapes grown in this part of the mountainous Malaga region. The taste really lingers too, which makes it perfect for having with complementary food. The fruitiness enhanced the avocado and the dry minerality sets off the cheeky capers burst of acidity. If you get to taste this wine - and I really hope you do - you will want to stick your nose in the glass just as much as drink it. Next were some melt-in-the-mouth 'carrilledas de cerdo', Iberico pigs cheeks, that had been slow cooked, accompanied by some silky sweet potato puree and sautéed mushrooms. The cheeks were cooked in - and paired with - Bentomiz's only dry red, the Petit Verdot. It's a smooth drinking yet spicy, peppery affair, that was just tannic enough to cut through the sweetness on the plate. The whole plate was full of umami too, especially when I ate the mushrooms with the pork, and the wines slightly flowery, fruity notes contrasted really well with it. The chats with Andre were necessarily short but charming and insightful. He presented us with a wonderful chocolate brownie to finish, which was paired with their amazing sweet red from a Merlot grape. Their sweet wines are not fortified - as most are - instead, they allow the grape's natural sugars to develop by sun-drying before pressing. Although the Tinto Dulce is obviously sweet, it is balanced out with a pleasant acidity and light tannins. Despite a short four month ageing in French oak, that flavour is very much in the background, peeking out only with subtle hints of leather. It could be paired with a strong cheese - and I will doubtless try that at some stage - but it certainly went very well with the dark chocolate and fruits.
The service, attention to detail, ambience and quality of everything was truly top class, but really personal too. We long to go back in the Autumn, where the doors are open and you can dine on the panoramic terrace. For the moment we wish André, Rose and the whole team the best in getting through a difficult period, along with everybody in the hospitality industry everywhere. For those lucky enough to live in the surrounding area they offer home-made bread and wine deliveries. For those elsewhere a minimum 6 cases can be ordered for delivery in Europe. When I find out about stockists in the UK I will post it here! As I mentioned, I will be writing more about the fascinating Bentomiz story and further wine tastings in the future. You can find more about them now if you want, by visiting their website BODEGAS BENTOMIZ here. If you liked this post please comment below, join our email newsletter, let your friends know and follow me on Twitter @SpainOnOPlate |
AuthorAlex Gonnord-Luty, chef, aspiring good blog writer, Hispanophile, lives currently in France & Spain. Archives
September 2020
Categories |