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Gerry,

Stepping back a bit -- for the first-timer in Spain, how would you recommend spending a week to ten days?

All best,

Simon

Dear Simon,

Since, you are a first timer, I recommend that you concentrated your ten days in just a few areas. That way you way have a good chance of catching the Spain bug and you will return to see other regions.

Base your trip in Madrid and spend the first two or three nights there, perhaps more. Now with Spain's fast trains, you can literally go to places like Toledo and Segovia and back easily. For over nighters, you go to Cordoba, Granada and Sevilla to get the flavor of Andalucia, the back to Madrid and the AVE train to Barcelona to spend the last three nights. If you plan to rent a car, I can sent you on a great swing from Madrid or Barcelona through several wine and gastronomy regions of note, plus some cultural and historical sites, then back to whichever of the two cities from which you choose to fly back to the U.S.

Buen viaje! :)

Gerry Dawes,

Gerry Dawes's Spain: An Insider's Guide to Spanish Food, Wine, Culture and Travel

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With all these wines, give your guests a little primer about drinking them with Thanksgiving Day fare. Tell them not to take a sip of wine after 1) sweet potatoes with marshmallows; 2) cranberry sauce; or 3) asparagus. If they take sips of wine after bites of turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes with gravy and gible

The problem with this, Gerry, is that it makes too much sense.

(Keep a little bottle of gin under the table for the sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, asparagus, and relatives.)

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The problem with this, Gerry, is that it makes too much sense.

(Keep a little bottle of gin under the table for the sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, asparagus, and relatives.)

Ah, Hell, Don, if you start drinking gin, everybody is going to want to drink gin, then you are going to have to make martinis and gin-tonics and everybody is going to get drunk and the Republican family members are going to start fist fights with the Democrats, except for a brother-in-law and a sister-in-law who are going to take advantage of the mayhem and sneak off and due the boogie. Then all Hell will break loose, so just stick to the Godello, Rosado and Ribeira Sacra and learn not to take a sip after the sweet stuff and after the veggie that makes your urine smell like asparagus. Much simpler, when you compare it to your recommendation! :o

Gerry Dawes,

Gerry Dawes's Spain: An Insider's Guide to Spanish Food, Wine, Culture and Travel

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Dear Simon,

Since, you are a first timer, I recommend that you concentrated your ten days in just a few areas. That way you way have a good chance of catching the Spain bug and you will return to see other regions.

Base your trip in Madrid and spend the first two or three nights there, perhaps more. Now with Spain's fast trains, you can literally go to places like Toledo and Segovia and back easily. For over nighters, you go to Cordoba, Granada and Sevilla to get the flavor of Andalucia, the back to Madrid and the AVE train to Barcelona to spend the last three nights. If you plan to rent a car, I can sent you on a great swing from Madrid or Barcelona through several wine and gastronomy regions of note, plus some cultural and historical sites, then back to whichever of the two cities from which you choose to fly back to the U.S.

Buen viaje! :)

Gerry Dawes,

Gerry Dawes's Spain: An Insider's Guide to Spanish Food, Wine, Culture and Travel

Again qualifying that I know virtually nothing about Spain relative to the wisdom being dispensed in this thread...

That said, and just because I had the incredibly good fortune to spend the 8 or so months in Barcelona that I did years ago, I have to ask.

Base the trip in Madrid. Sure, that makes sense purely due to the centrality and transport convenience of the capital but, in considering choosing allegiance between the two great cities, do you not think it kind of like the Yankees and Red Sox? In other words, it's one thing for a first timer to see all the great spots to be hooked but, at some point (the 3rd or 4th visit, after spending at least a couple of months there, etc), do you, Gerry, not believe that all must pick a major and stick with it for life?

Can't be a fan of Real and Barca. Can't like Catalunya and hate Jordi Pujol. Can't be indifferent toward Catalonian independence. Can't not have a strong view on whether Catalunya truly is the economic and cultural engine of the nation. And, castillian. Either it really is a distinct, historic and cherished tongue OR it's basically a mix of Spanish and French. Finally, either you say "z" like the z in "zebra" or like the "th" in "thimble" a la 'Saragoza'

Have to take sides.* Right Gerry? Right? I'm way out on a limb here ready to either be vindicated or swatted to the ground.

With trepidation and appreciation...just one..depending

* perhaps I've exposed myself by now but despite having much love for Madrid, all my answers are in the Barcelona corner. In the same way that, of course, the Red Sox are the team to follow and the Yankees the team to be hated. Just the way it should be.

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Again qualifying that I know virtually nothing about Spain relative to the wisdom being dispensed in this thread...

That said, and just because I had the incredibly good fortune to spend the 8 or so months in Barcelona that I did years ago, I have to ask.

Base the trip in Madrid. Sure, that makes sense purely due to the centrality and transport convenience of the capital but, in considering choosing allegiance between the two great cities, do you not think it kind of like the Yankees and Red Sox? In other words, it's one thing for a first timer to see all the great spots to be hooked but, at some point (the 3rd or 4th visit, after spending at least a couple of months there, etc), do you, Gerry, not believe that all must pick a major and stick with it for life?

Can't be a fan of Real and Barca. Can't like Catalunya and hate Jordi Pujol. Can't be indifferent toward Catalonian independence. Can't not have a strong view on whether Catalunya truly is the economic and cultural engine of the nation. And, castillian. Either it really is a distinct, historic and cherished tongue OR it's basically a mix of Spanish and French. Finally, either you say "z" like the z in "zebra" or like the "th" in "thimble" a la 'Saragoza'

Have to take sides.* Right Gerry? Right? I'm way out on a limb here ready to either be vindicated or swatted to the ground.

With trepidation and appreciation...just one..depending

* perhaps I've exposed myself by now but despite having much love for Madrid, all my answers are in the Barcelona corner. In the same way that, of course, the Red Sox are the team to follow and the Yankees the team to be hated. Just the way it should be.

Sorry, I forgot that you spent 8 months in Barcelona years ago, which means that you really are a "first-timer" in Spain. (As you can see from tee-shirts in Barcelona "Catalunya is not Spain.")

This means if you want to see Spain, let's talk about that. If you want to continue to base yourself in Barcelona and explore Catalunya, let's talk about that. To give you an idea, if I had stayed in my native Cadiz province and Sevilla, which can be wonderful, and limited myself to Andalucia, I would have still had a great time (and did!), but I would never have discovered the glories of Madrid, Extremadura, Castilla y Leon, La Rioja, Navarra, The Basque Country, Asturias and Galicia, let alone La Mancha and La Comunitat Valenciana, especially Valencia and Alicante or my beloved Barcelona (and surrounding Catalunya).

So, what's it going to be? Barcelona-centric (or Boston-centric) and miss all the great Santa Fe, Austin, New Orleans, San Francisco, Napa Valley, Seattle, New York (and Hudson Valley), etc. glories.

Let me know, either way I can help.

I love Barcelona. Do you know one of my favorite "pueblos" in Spain, La Boqueria?

English Version of Boquería Gourmand (Published in October by Viena Edicions), a New Book about Barcelona's Fabulous La Boquería Market (Foreword by Gerry Dawes)

My best, Gerry Dawes :rolleyes:

Gerry Dawes's Spain: An Insider's Guide to Spanish Food, Wine, Culture and Travel

IMG_2158-1%20Quim%20Marquez%20Quim%20de%20la%20Boqueria.jpg

Quím Marquéz, Chef-owner, Quím de la Boquería

Photo: Gerry Dawes©2011 / gerrydawes@aol.com.

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[Gerry will understandably be less responsive over the long weekend, but keep your questions coming to give him some notice, and he'll be back at full speed next week.

In advance, Señor Dawes, thank you for the considerable effort you're putting into this chat. You're funny, substantive, friendly, and you make me proud to support a gentleman of substance such as you are. Bravo in advance, my friend. (And I'd like to get into some weirder, more obscure varietals next, and ask if you'll be importing any.

Any thoughts on Quique Dacosta?]

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[Gerry will understandably be less responsive over the long weekend, but keep your questions coming to give him some notice, and he'll be back at full speed next week.In advance, Señor Dawes, thank you for the considerable effort you're putting into this chat. You're funny, substantive, friendly, and you make me proud to support a gentleman of substance such as you are. Bravo in advance, my friend. (And I'd like to get into some weirder, more obscure varietals next, and ask if you'll be importing any.

Any thoughts on Quique Dacosta?]

Don, you asked.

IMG_4898.JPG

Quique Dacosta at Casa Elías, Xinorlet (Alicante), October 18, 2012.

Photo by Gerry Dawes©2011. gerrydawes@aol.com

Quique Dacosta has long been a friend of mine. I was very happy to hear that is was announced yesterday that he had received his third Michelin star, for which he has worked so hard for so many years [Editor's Note: Quique Dacosta was also just named #1 Restaurant In The World by opinionatedabout.com and theworlds50best.com]. I last ate at Restaurante Quique Dacosta in October 2011, when I was staying in Denia at Hotel La Posada del Mar. I was traveling with Ryan Mcilwraith, Michael Chiarello's executive sous chef and we were supposed to go to Quique Dacosta that night. Ryan was sick with a bad stomach, so I decided not to go either, but Quique called me on my cell phone at 10:30 p.m. and demanded that I get my ass over there (it is about 2 kilometers from the hotel), so I ended up going by myself. I was pretty wiped out from ten days of taking Michael and Ryan around northern Spain (Michael had left the day before from Barcelona), so I told Quique I was only up for an abbreviated menu. He sent out a dazzling parade of his incredible cocina de vanguardia estilo Quique dishes, then came out and sat with me for half an hour.

IMG_0539%2520%2520Quique%2520Dacosta%252C%2520Denia%2520%2528Alicante%2529.%2520%2520%2520Dish%2520with%2520the%2520spooky%2520vapors%2520of%2520the%2520dry%2520ice%2520beneath%2520swirling%2520around%2520your%2520food..jpg

Quique Dacosta, Denia (Alicante). Dish with the spooky vapors of the dry ice beneath swirling around your food.

Photo by Gerry Dawes©2011. gerrydawes@aol.com

This October, I was the inaugural speaker at the annual Turismo conference in Benidorm (Alicante) and I met Director General de Turismo de Valencia Sebastian Fernández, who told me he was going for lunch at one of my favorite restaurantes in Spain, Casa Elías, a exceptional family place in the small village of Xinorlet. Casa Elías specializes in wonderful thin-layered arroses (rice dishes, call them paellas) con conejo y caracoles (rabbit and local snails [with fresh rosemary]) cooked over grape vine cuttings, usually from the local Monastrell vineyards. Casa Elías also serves a number of other authentic local speciaties (see photos of the luncheon here: Xinorlet (Alicante) Casa Elias Rabbit & Snail Paella Paco Torreblanca - Quique Dacosta Oct 18, 2012). Sr. Fernández also told me that two great friends--two of my favorite Spanish chefs--Quique Dacosta and Paco Torreblanca were also coming. I managed to wrangle (not wangle) an invitation to accompany Sr. Fernández to the luncheon.

We got to Casa Elías first and I hid in a private dining room until Paco, his wife Chelo, Quique and journalist Maria Canabal (http://www.gastronomad.eu) were in the main dining, then came out to surprise them (I took it as a good sign that they didn't flee). I felt like I had hit the lottery. Not only did I get to schmooze the Director of Tourism for Valencia on the hour-long ride from Benidorm to Xinorlet and have a chance to eat the terrific food at Casa Elías again, among my dining companions for the next two hours were two of Spain's real culinary super stars: Paco Torreblanca may be the top chocolatier in Europe and Quique Dacosta could well be the heir apparent to Ferran Adria's throne, now that elBulli has closed.

I never see Quique without remembering (how could I not?) that I was having lunch with Santa Fe Chef Mark Miller (then owner of Coyote Cafe) at Quique's restaurant in Denia, at the time called El Poblet. Halfway through a terrific meal--we were having a course of supernal grilled gambas de Denia (superb rosa-colored shrimp that actually come from deep water off the Balearic Island of Ibiza), when my Spanish cell phone rang. It was chef Teresa Barrenechea, who then owned Marichu restaurant in Manhattan. She, too, was traveling in Spain. She told me that a plane had hit The World Trade Center. I thought, "Wow, someone has had the misfortune to have crashed a private plane into The World Trade Center!" Soon enough, Quique called us to the bar, where we saw the rest in real time, including the second plane crashing into the second tower. Mark Miller, Quique, myself and his employees watched dumbfounded as we the events unfolded on television. Mark Miller's Coyote Cafe restaurant managers from Santa Fe and Las Vegas were still in-flight headed for Valencia, where we were supposed to pick them up after lunch.

IMG_0855.JPG

Mark Miller (at the end of the table) and some friends tasting wines with me at Taberna La Boca in Santa Fe during the Santa Fe Wine & Chile Fiesta in September 2012

Miller's managers were able to get to Valencia on time, but, as we soon found out, there would be no going back to the U.S. right away, since all flights were grounded, so we continued on our planned intinerary to Barcelona, Navarra, The Basque Country, la Rioja and back to Madrid. In Navarra, we had lunch in Tudela, and found out the next day that an Al-Qaeda operative who had planned to blow up the U.S. Embassy in Paris had been apprehended in a nearby village, where he had been living for several months.

For several days, I was sure that I had lost friends in The World Trade Center attack, including Michael Lomonaco, one of the original members of my Chefs From Hell Club, who was then Executive Chef of Windows on the World, Cellar in the Sky and The World Trade Center Club; Jules Roinnel, the Managing Director of The World Trade Center Club; and a number of others who had been on a trip to Spain with me that spring.

IMG_9228.JPG

Chef Michael Lomonaco, now Chef-partner at Porterhouse New York.

Ironically, in May of 2001, I had led a group of 26 people from The World Trade Center Club around Spain for eleven days. The group include Jules Roinnel, the Club's Director and my old friend, Michael Lomonaco, Executive Chef of Windows on the World, Cellar in the Sky and The World Trade Center Club. Ironically, on that trip, we had gone for lunch one day in Madrid at a great seafood restaurant, La Trainera, on calle Lagasca. Since the street was too narrow for our bus, the driver double-parked the bus alongside some parked cars on calle Goya across the street from Bar Goya and in front of a BBVA bank branch and we walked a block or so to the restaurant. After a terrific lunch, at which on old friend of mine, John Ewing, joined the group, we drove back to our hotel and continuing touring Madrid in the afternoon.

After dinner, some of us decided to have a drink in the Hemingway Bar at the Hotel Palace.John Ewing, who had also joined us for dinner, decided to all it night and took a cab back to his hotel, which coincidentally was the Hotel Lagasca, on the street where we had had lunch. Within half an hour, Ewing called me on my cell phone and told me, "You won't believe what just happened! A bomb just exploded and damned near blew me out of bed."The Basque separatist group ETA had planted a bomb in a car parked in front of that BBVA bank branch where our bus was parked during lunch.

For all we knew the bomb could have been there while our bus was there. The bomb injured 14 people, destroyed a number of cars and wrecked a number of business along calle Goya, including the Bar Goya, which got destroyed and was where John Ewing had considered stopping for a nightcap, but opted to return to his hotel, go to bed and read a book, a decision that may have saved his life.

The next morning, our World Trade Center Club group was preparing to leave for Ribera del Duero, Burgos and The Basque Country. The Deputy Security Inspector for The Bridge and Tunnel Authority, which was in charge of The World Trade Center, had his offices on the 77th Floor of the tower that was home to the World Trade Center Club, Windows on the World, Cellar in the Sky and City Lights Bar. He stood outside the cargo compartments of the bus and made sure that each bag belonged to its owner and was verified. Looking back, I have always considered that Basque bomb on calle Goya as a harbinger of things to come.

As Mark Miller, his Coyote Cafe managers and I continued our trip, I checked newspapers at every stop and listened to Spanish radio in the car, but, in the absence of any direct news about my friends, I was almost sure that they had perished. Then three days later, my daughter, Elena, who had dined with me at Windows on the World in August, called crying about the attacks, but told me that she had seen my friend, Chef Lomonaco, on television. Michael had survived because he took 15 minutes to have his glasses repaired and did not catch the elevator that would have taken him 110 stories to his kitchens at Windows on the World and to certain death.

Later I would find out that Jules Roinnel had switched shifts and planned to work that evening. The Deputy Inspector who had checked the bags going on the bus in front of the Hotel Ritz in May had had breakfast at The World Trade Center Club and had just reached the 77th floor when the first plane hit. He was able to get out in time by walking down all those flights of stairs, helping and injured person to get out as well, injuring his neck in the process. But, of the some 24 people on that Spain trip with me, not a one perished. Pardon me if I have digressed in reporting about Quique Dacosta's third Michelin star, but I spent one of the most unforgettable days of my life in his restaurant.

Subsequent meals at Quique Dacosta have fortunately had a much happier outcome, but we seldom see one another for any length of time without recalling that incredible afternoon that we watched unfold on television together.

(A video trailer on Valencia and Alicante showing Quique Dacosta, Paco Torreblanca and Casa Elías.)

Gerry Dawes

Gerry Dawes's Spain: An Insider's Guide to Spanish Food, Wine, Culture and Travel

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I think you are lucky that you are able to couple your memory of 9/11 w/ a wonderful trip, & meals, & it is amazing how sometimes the slightest coincidence separates tragedy w/ survival. Congratulations to Chef Dacosta on his star, thank you for joining us here, I enjoy reading your posts, I would love to take my kids to Spain...

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I think you are lucky that you are able to couple your memory of 9/11 w/ a wonderful trip, & meals, & it is amazing how sometimes the slightest coincidence separates tragedy w/ survival. Congratulations to Chef Dacosta on his star, thank you for joining us here, I enjoy reading your posts, I would love to take my kids to Spain...

I was very, very lucky, by not being in New York on 9/11 and by not being a part of that bomb blast in May, 2001. What might have happened had we had dinner at La Trainera, instead of lunch?

I actually, maybe crazily, have been talking to some other people with children (and a nanny), who would like to go to Spain. I may just put a trip together that would allow travelers to bring there children and have someone (or more than one someone) to look after them along the way. I took my small children to Spain several times, a couple of times with invited 16-year old relatives (girls), who would look after the children at night a few times when we went out to dinner, but most times, in Spanish restaurants, we usually took the kids with us to lunch or dinner.

Thanks for you kind comments about the posts.

Gerry Dawes

Gerry Dawes's Spain: An Insider's Guide to Spanish Food, Wine, Culture and Travel

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I had not heard this, but I am not surprised by it. Whatever Tintilla de Rota red wine vineyards disappeared were for than compensated for by the economic boon to the region from American money pouring in to build and maintain the base at Rota, which still employs many locals. Tintilla de Rota is apparently the same grape or, at least very similar, to Rioja's Graciano.

I also found this on the very fine Fringe Wine blog, whose author has concluded after a good deal of research that Tintilla de Rota is Graciano:

"Tintilla de Rota is used in both table wine and fortified wine production around the Sherry region of Spain. Rota is the name of a town in the Sherry region whose sandy soils are particularly well suited to the cultivation of the Tintilla grape. It has been known in this region since the 1500's, but was pushed to the brink of extinction in the 1950's as an American military base was constructed where many Tintilla vines were once planted. The wine that I was able to find was the fortified version from Emilio Lustau, which I picked up my friends at the Spirited Gourmet for about $45 (I believe Curtis Liquors carries this as well). To make this wine, the grapes are picked and then left out in the sun for two or three weeks to dry out. They are then placed in tubs and covered with mats to minimize the amount of air contact. They're left in the tubs for about a month and periodically stirred before being pressed. The wine is fortified to about 17% (mine was 17.5%) and then aged for awhile in casks before being bottled."

This is so cool. As you know I'm on a similar crusade trying to keep spoofulation out of Portugal and help it keep as many of its ancient varieties in the ground so we can all drink these in future. One of the grapes I've been chasing down there is Tinta Miuda, none other than Spain's Graciano, one of my favorite varieties.

Miuda seems to have been a major red variety around Lisbon before and just after phylloxera hit there. Surprisingly, Alvarinho was also a dominant white in Lisboa as well. Both have almost completely disappeared over course of 20th century. No one makes pure varietals from either now in Lisboa that I've been able to find so far, but there are vines still in old mixed vineyards there so hope survives.

Your digging up this infor about Tintilla de Rota makes me wonder if there is a connection between the two important seaports and the grapes they shared. Previously I wondered if maybe the origin of the grape in Lisbon came from Rioja. But this seaport link makes it just as likely Graciano originated in Andalucia and moved its way north by sea. Bilbao to Logrono maybe?

And that same reasoning spills over into Mencia's connection to Portugal where it's called Jaen in Dao (where it makes some damned fine wine from this grape). The logic of that is that it followed pilgrims up the Santiago Trail from Jaen in Spain.

As it's possible with DNA measurement (of clonal populations) now to pinpoint precisely where grapes came from, the real shame of the naval base ripping up those vineyards is we may never know now where Graciano originated.

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More Quique Dacosta info from my Departures article, Spain's Best Undiscovered Restaurants:

Restaurante Quique Dacosta

Dénia (Valencia)

Chef Quique Dacosta’s rock-star looks and ultra vanguardia cuisine have few peers in Spain. The creative riffs that emerge from his Michelin two-star kitchen, located in the Mediterranean city of Dénia in the region of Valencia, continue to thrill, chill and amaze: an oyster prepared to look like a small chunk of Frank Gehry’s titanium-clad Guggenheim Bilbao, say, or a dish served on a box with a glass top whose holes allow the spooky vapors of the dry ice beneath it to swirl around the plate. Prepared with impeccable ingredients, Dacosta’s futuristic food is well conceived, supremely delicious and just as original as anything that Ferran Adrià does. In fact, with El Bulli closing at the end of July, Restaurante Quique Dacosta may just become the new destination for those looking to experience food in another dimension. Dinner, $145. 1 Carrer Rascassa, Dénia, Alicante, Valencia; 34-965/784-179.

Where to Stay: The charming Posada del Mar (rooms, from $220; Plaza Drassanes; 34-966/432-966) in the center of Dénia is directly across the street from the afternoon fish market.

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This is so cool. As you know I'm on a similar crusade trying to keep spoofulation out of Portugal and help it keep as many of its ancient varieties in the ground so we can all drink these in future. One of the grapes I've been chasing down there is Tinta Miuda, none other than Spain's Graciano, one of my favorite varieties.

Miuda seems to have been a major red variety around Lisbon before and just after phylloxera hit there. Surprisingly, Alvarinho was also a dominant white in Lisboa as well. Both have almost completely disappeared over course of 20th century. No one makes pure varietals from either now in Lisboa that I've been able to find so far, but there are vines still in old mixed vineyards there so hope survives.

Your digging up this info about Tintilla de Rota makes me wonder if there is a connection between the two important seaports and the grapes they shared. Previously I wondered if maybe the origin of the grape in Lisbon came from Rioja. But this seaport link makes it just as likely Graciano originated in Andalucia and moved its way north by sea. Bilbao to Logrono maybe?

And that same reasoning spills over into Mencia's connection to Portugal where it's called Jaen in Dao (where it makes some damned fine wine from this grape). The logic of that is that it followed pilgrims up the Santiago Trail from Jaen in Spain.

As it's possible with DNA measurement (of clonal populations) now to pinpoint precisely where grapes came from, the real shame of the naval base ripping up those vineyards is we may never know now where Graciano originated.

Rota was not an important seaport, it was a fishing village until the U.S. Navy made it an important military port.

Following a pilgrim's trail from Jaen to Portugal is a big stretch, since that would not have been a logical pilgrim's trail. Lisbon is west of Jaen, Santiago northwest. Jaen would have been impossible to a part of any pilgrim's trail to Santiago until after the 13th century, when the city was re-conquered from the Moors. It took 2 and a half more centuries to re-conquer Granada, which is only 60 miles south of Jaen, so no vine-carrying pilgrims were coming from there. How Mencia came to be called Jaen, could have come to be called "Jaen" in Portugal, could be one of those accidents of history.

How graciano got to Rota, if indeed Tintilla de Rota is actually Graciano and not just similar to Graciano, is anybody's guess. It has been there, according to some reports since the 1500s, and apparently it is not extinct. I think there may still be a few vineyards around Rota, because there are still a couple of Tintillas made by Emilio Lustau and especially by J. Ferris. If you read Spanish, you may find this 2005 article by Ricardo Romero, the enologist of Bodegas J. Ferris, interesting (I just found it and haven't been able to digest it all yet). Romero also says that it is Graciano and that the sandy soil around Rota saved it from being wiped out by phylloxera here.

The trail is pretty much vined over by history and the fact that Tintilla has not been an important wine in the Jerez's broad portfolio.

I will let you know if I find out any more about how Graciano arrived in Rota. I hope this helps. :)

Gerry Dawes

Gerry Dawes's Spain: An Insider's Guide to Spanish Food, Wine, Culture and Travel

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Gerry,

Sorry I didn't really toss a question in there for you in last post, Gerry. It was really more a brainstorm riffing off your handing me a new factoid about Graciano. The grape got me to thinking about another connection.

It was somewhat ironic that Graciano caused our first meeting in Rioja during a wine journalist tour a good dozen years ago. I was there chasing down Graciano for an article I was writing for an Australian wine magazine. My eventual conclusion was its high acidity had huge potential in Oz, fortunately no one took my advice and the grape hasn't been spoofulated to death there in the interim (I except Brown Brothers who have honorably championed the grape since the 1920s and hold the largest Graciano vineyards in the world).

But as important as that trip was for me on that count, even more so was your helping me to understand that Rioja, at that point, was at a critical juncture. The battle between (internationally driven) 'modernists' and the 'traditionalists' was raging and you helped me understand who was on what side and what really was at stake. I am deeply indebted to you for that. It quickly became clear the traditionalis were probably going to lose the battle to big money and dummed down market demands.

So my question is where do you see the battle ground now? Who is losing or is the battle over? Are any guerillas on the upsurge? Will places like Navara and Penedes and Alicante/Valencia ever toss out French grapes and replant their native grapes and rediscover their local terroir?

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Rota was not an important seaport, it was a fishing village until the U.S. Navy made it an important military port.

I was thinking as it was close to Cadiz and all the other little fishing villages up to Huelva might have been growing the same/similar grapes. High acid Graciano makes sense there, although it probably gets sun-burned pretty easy.

Following a pilgrim's trail from Jaen to Portugal is a big stretch, since that would not have been a logical pilgrim's trail. Lisbon is west of Jaen, Santiago northwest. Jaen would have been impossible to a part of any pilgrim's trail to Santiago until after the 13th century, when the city was re-conquered from the Moors. It took 2 and a half more centuries to re-conquer Granada, which is only 60 miles south of Jaen, so no vine-carrying pilgrims were coming from there. How Mencia came to be called Jaen, could have come to be called "Jaen" in Portugal, could be one of those accidents of history.

Yeah, it may be one of the accidents of history, which DNA will clear up. But sometimes there just might be a bit of truth hidden there too.

Actually the Portuguese 'central way' Santiago trail came through Dao and up from the southeast via Evora, Caceres and Seville and points east and south. Keying on the old Roman capitol Viseau, it carried on inland on to Valanca bording Galicia further inland. it wasn't really attached to the Coastal Way through Lisbon far to the west.

On timing, the trail has been in continuous use for hundreds of years after Jaen fell to the Christians so there is a chance the grape might have come in after that. DNA has nailed Jaen as one of the youngest arrivals, apart from French grapes post Napoleon. It may have slipped in from short hop up to Sacra or who knows where from in south.

Somewhere in the back of my head I recall that a local relative/clone of Mencia does exist near Jaen under a different name. Poor recall? or do you know anything about this? What are the wines like around Jaen, if any? They must be some old field blends of something the locals drink.

A few years back I was judging wine in Valencia. One of saddest moments was trying to find a bottle of local Bobal to drink afterwards. I think I plowed through 120 bottles of locally made French variety labeled wines and only found 2 Bobal to taste. What's your take on all that?

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Gerry,

Sorry I didn't really toss a question in there for you in last post, Gerry. It was really more a brainstorm riffing off your handing me a new factoid about Graciano. The grape got me to thinking about another connection.

It was somewhat ironic that Graciano caused our first meeting in Rioja during a wine journalist tour a good dozen years ago. I was there chasing down Graciano for an article I was writing for an Australian wine magazine. My eventual conclusion was its high acidity had huge potential in Oz, fortunately no one took my advice and the grape hasn't been spoofulated to death there in the interim (I except Brown Brothers who have honorably championed the grape since the 1920s and hold the largest Graciano vineyards in the world).

But as important as that trip was for me on that count, even more so was your helping me to understand that Rioja, at that point, was at a critical juncture. The battle between (internationally driven) 'modernists' and the 'traditionalists' was raging and you helped me understand who was on what side and what really was at stake. I am deeply indebted to you for that. It quickly became clear the traditionalis were probably going to lose the battle to big money and dummed down market demands.

So my question is where do you see the battle ground now? Who is losing or is the battle over? Are any guerillas on the upsurge? Will places like Navara and Penedes and Alicante/Valencia ever toss out French grapes and replant their native grapes and rediscover their local terroir?

I remember exactly the point at which you could date your epiphany about understanding Rioja. We were at a dinner in the bodega at R. López de Heredia and I was sitting next to María José López de Heredia. I had one mission in mind, to taste the R. López de Heredia Viña Bosconia 1947 once again (I had had it some four times in the 1970s and despite having sold the greatest Burgundies for some 15 years in New York, I was convinced that this wine may have been the greatest red wine I had ever drunk). I confided that to María José and casually asked her if she had had that wine recently. To my astonishment, she said that she didn't remember if she had ever tasted it. Shortly thereafter, admittedly with some subtle prodding on my part, she called a trusted bodega employee over and whispered something to him. He disappeared and some 20 minutes later, emerged from the darkness off to our right with a pair of Burgundy bottles, which he discreetly placed on an empty table behind us. He opened a bottle just for our table, the other was a reserve in the case the first bottle was off! By then this 1947 Bosconia was at least 50 years old. María José and I were poured a taste. The wine was alive, vibrant, magnificent, like old Burgundy and every thing I thought it to be. We savored it in small sips, but I had to share it, so I had some more wine poured into my glasses, went over to your table and asked you to accompany me off into a place off to the left where there were no tables set up, so, out of sight of the some 80-100 people at the tables set up amongst the giant wooden tino vats, I could get your opinion on the wine. Shortly after I had given you a chance to taste the wine and returned to my table, Mercedes, María José's sister came over to our table demanding to know what they Hell we were drinking. She demanded that the second bottle be opened, so she could have some, so we got to taste some of that one, too, which further convinced me that I was right about the 1947 Bosconia.

The newbie bodegas sought to destroy this type of wine, simply because it was too damned expensive and time-consuming to have that many barrels, a cooper shop to maintain them and 14 years to let a gran reserva develop before putting it on the market (R. López de Heredia has a rosado that they age for something like six years before putting it out for sale).

I could elaborate on this hours, but it is late and I would just get saddled with the wine 'Taliban" label again.

I will answer more of your questions tomorrow.

My best and a big abrazo,

Gerry Dawes

Gerry Dawes's Spain: An Insider's Guide to Spanish Food, Wine, Culture and Travel

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Gerry,

Sorry I am late to the party, was stuck in a wheel of 24 months old Comte in Burgundy for 10 days.

Since the subject of Lopez de Heredia came up, I wonder if you could comment on their recent releases of the Rosado. This wine has been, outside of the Loire Valley, easily my favourite still Rose. I am noticing, particularly with the 1998 and 2000 releases, that the style is a bit more oxidative, perhaps along the lines of what I would expect to find in their Blanco.

I guess there are multiple questions.

Are you observing the same phenomenon, or am I imagining this?

If so, do you think it is intentional?

Given that previous vintages of this wine did converge to a more oxidative style with bottle age (although with additional complexity), do you think these new vintages are simply meant to be consumed earlier?

And finally, could you please give us a hint of where LdH rosados have belonged on your table - as aperitif or accompanying dishes, and what kind of dishes, depending on the wines' stage of evolution?

Many thanks,

Sasha

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Gerry,

Sorry I am late to the party, was stuck in a wheel of 24 months old Comte in Burgundy for 10 days.

Since the subject of Lopez de Heredia came up, I wonder if you could comment on their recent releases of the Rosado. This wine has been, outside of the Loire Valley, easily my favourite still Rose. I am noticing, particularly with the 1998 and 2000 releases, that the style is a bit more oxidative, perhaps along the lines of what I would expect to find in their Blanco.

I guess there are multiple questions.

Are you observing the same phenomenon, or am I imagining this?

If so, do you think it is intentional?

Given that previous vintages of this wine did converge to a more oxidative style with bottle age (although with additional complexity), do you think these new vintages are simply meant to be consumed earlier?

And finally, could you please give us a hint of where LdH rosados have belonged on your table - as aperitif or accompanying dishes, and what kind of dishes, depending on the wines' stage of evolution?

Many thanks,

Sasha

Sorry to tell you, Sasha, that I haven't had a bottle of Lopez de Heredia in a while. I ran through a case or so of the 1988 when I had it, then I believe the 1991 was next, but I think I have only had one bottle or so in the past five years. It is a rare wine that I once thought was for only those in tune with the L de H style, but after having drunk it with friends who were relatively unsophisticated I thought in the appreciation of such a wine, I found that they loved it.

Rioja+Lopez+de+Heredia+Maria+Jose.JPG

María Jésus López de Heredia in El Cementerio.

Photo by Gerry Dawes, copyright 2008 / gerrydawes@aol.com

That oxidative style, which because it sees a year in barrica and several years in bottle before release, seems to me to be the natural oxidation (or maderization) of a wine with age.

I never served or drank Lopez de Heredia Rosado as an aperitif. Like the L de H white wine, it always needs food, IMO. It goes very well with dishes that need a wine with good acidity, especially dishes with sauces. I would serve this wine with pasta with a cheese sauce, Alfredo, for instance. It would also be great with cheeses, especially aged or blue cheeses. Gambas al ajillo (garlic shrimp), bacalao al ajoarriero, mushrooms sauteed with garlic and parsley (and a little of the vino) and dishes with alioli come to mind.

You might enjoy this piece I did on the wines of R. López de Heredia, The Wines of Yesterday

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La Rioja: The Wines of Yesterday, the 19th Century bodega of R. López de Heredia

in Haro, the wine capital of La Rioja Alta.

Photo by Gerry Dawes, copyright 2008 / gerrydawes@aol.com

You might also want to check out this article by Hugh Acheson on the 2000 R. López de Heredia Rosado.

And here is my original report on the V. Bosconia 1947 (the happening with Paul White; see post above) that comes from A Traveller in Wines:

"During a visit in 2002, just a year short of the 20th anniversary of my first visit to López de Heredia, I was invited to dinner at the winery with some thirty other Spanish and foreign wine writers who were attending a three-day tasting session of Rioja wines called Los Grandes de la Rioja. Formal dining tables were set up inside one of the most spectacular naves of the bodega. We were surrounded by huge 50,000-liter wooden vats that have been used to ferment and store wines here for more than a century. The subdued lighting, from old style, low-wattage and flickering candles created a fantastic ambience. I was seated next to María Jésus López de Heredia, with whom I had become friends in recent years. As we were chatting during dinner, I told her about my experiences with the 1947 Viña Bosconia in the mid-1870s and told her that I still believed after more than 30 years of drinking Spanish wines and 20 years selling the best wines of France, Italia and the United States to the top restaurants in New York, the 1947 Bosconia was still the best red wine I had ever drunk.

“Have you tasted it recently?” I asked.

“No, but, if you think it is that good, there we are going to taste it now. Just don’t tell anyone else,” she answered.

Maria Jésus called a bodega worker over and had a brief discreet discussion. The man left the room and ten minutes later returned with two bottles from the cementerio, one of which he opened on an empty station table between two of the wine vats, the other was a backup bottle in case the first bottle was flawed. It was the 1947 Bosconia, now 57 years old. It had been one of Anastasio’s young lads of 27 when I last drank it in 1974. Now, even with another 29 years tacked on, the wine was still magnificent. I was gratified to find that it every bit as stupendous as had I imagined it to be all these years. It was easily a 100-point wine, even coming on the heels of the great 1964 Viña Tondonia and 1964 Viña Bosconia–itself a 98-point maravilla– that we had drunk earlier at the dinner. No fading rose, the 1947 Bosconia still had a deep black ruby color and fabulous deep, ripe nose. The great acidity was in perfect balance with delicious fruit and still firm tannins, which needed food to soften them up.

Even though Maria Jésus had sworn us the secrecy, the wine caused quite a stir at our table. We attracted the attention of her sister, Mercedes, who upon quizzing Maria Jésus, demanded that the other bottle of 1947 Bosconia be opened for her table. I called Paul White, an American wine writer who lives in New Zealand, aside and shared some of my glass with him. He, too, was astounded by the quality of this nearly 60-year old perfectly preserved museum piece that has stood the test of time and represents the pinnacle of quality that La Rioja is capable of obtaining–wines that do indeed still have a beautiful “bloom” to them even decades after the wines were made.

During the early part of the millenium, denigrating the traditional wine houses of La Rioja became a significant national pastime among Spanish wine writers, many of whom would have us believe that truly great wines must be dark as ink, overripe, above 14% alcohol and infused with enough new oak flavor to evoke visions of a sawmill. The time-honored house of R. López de Heredia, who has been making fine wines for more than 125 years came under attack as colorless, flavorless wines made by antiquated methods. I feared that they would have to dramatically change their philosophy and the style of their wines to survive. It has been heartening in the past few years to see young sommeliers from the United States and other countries embrace these wines for what they are: the unique, finely crafted, wonderfully drinkable wines of another era. I call them the wines of yesterday. "

Gerry Dawes

Gerry Dawes's Spain: An Insider's Guide to Spanish Food, Wine, Culture and Travel

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I'm sorry to let everyone know that this weekend, we lost Diana Valenti, Gerry's former wife and the mother of his three daughters, Erica, Elena, and Maria.

I'm so sorry, Gerry. The pictures I've seen of Diana are just beautiful - please feel free to share them with the community, if you wish.

Take as much time as you need, and don't worry about this chat - there's no urgency here, and we can always put everything on pause and hit the play button later. Right now, you need to take care of yourself and your family.

Un abrazo,

Don

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I'm sorry to let everyone know that this weekend, we lost Diana Valenti, Gerry's former wife and the mother of his three daughters, Erica, Elena, and Maria.

I'm so sorry, Gerry. The pictures I've seen of Diana are just beautiful - please feel free to share them with the community, if you wish.

Take as much time as you need, and don't worry about this chat - there's no urgency here, and we can always put everything on pause and hit the play button later. Right now, you need to take care of yourself and your family.

Un abrazo,

Don

Many, many thanks, Don. Your thoughts are greatly appreciated.

The only upside, if there is one, to an illness like Diana had, is that at least my daughters (and myself, we were still very close friends) had time to get used to the fact that she was no longer going to be with them.

Here are some photos of Diana during the time we were together (28 years!), in Spain (Valencia, Pamplona), Portugal's Algarve, Five Islands, Maine, in New York and in Austin, Texas with James Michener.

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Diana modeling a dress for El Corte Ingles, Valencia 1972.

I do not need to take a break from this board, lots of memories from Spain are re-surfacing and I will want to share some of them with your followers, not just concerning Diana, but many of the wine, food and Spain adventures during those years.

My very best,

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Many, many thanks, Don. Your thoughts are greatly appreciated.

The only upside, if there is one, to an illness like Diana had, is that at least my daughters (and myself, we were still very close friends) had time to get used to the fact that she was no longer going to be with them.

Here are some photos of Diana during the time we were together (28 years!), in Spain (Valencia, Pamplona), Portugal's Algarve, Five Islands, Maine, in New York and in Austin, Texas with James Michener.

Gerry, in case you're wondering why nobody's saying anything, I think it's because everyone's feeling shellshocked (I know I am).

Diana sounded like she was beautiful, both inside and out.

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Many thanks, Don. Diana was remarkable. When we lived in Mijas, a village overlooking the Costa del Sol, we had no television. Instead we read each night in front of the fire in our whitewashed village house, whose fireplace was held together, rounded and smoothed out, by cal (whitewash, layer upon layer). Through one stretch, from Julian's Lending Library in Fuengirola, where we would buy used Penguin Books Classic for 25 pesetas, she would read one Faulkner novel after another, while I was reading damned near everything Orwell ever wrote (except for '1984') or Flaubert or Fitzgerald or Dos Passos.

Only in mid-October this year, had I re-discovered a copy of '1984' in my library, so I finally decide to read it (inspired by the ghastly pre-election political machinations going on this year and the conviction that Karl Rove had thumbed through it so many times that he run through multiple copies). I decided to take 1984 on my trip to Spain, which regrettably I had booked on the world's most ghastly airline, United (Untied greed airlines run rampant; "want more leg room, you can move up to the civilized rows for only $179.00; we take credit cards"). I began reading 1984 on the trip and, you can't make this up, I found that it was actually Diana's book. Her name was inscribed in the front cover of the paperback and she had owned it since before she had even met me. You can't make this up either:. As I was deplaning in Madrid, the book was left behind in my seat as I was gathering up my other things.

So, ironically, almost as if she willed it, a piece of her in Orwell's 1984 stayed in Spain. I guess it was her last goodbye to a country that she loved and fit so well into. I had no idea what my leaving that book behind meant until just now. That was the seed she planted, so she will have roots when she gets back home to Spain.

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Here are the bean dishes from Asturias, along with the arroz con leche, that I mentioned in my answer to docsconz.

"Neighboring Asturias is another sleeper. It has only a miniscule amount of wine, but great cider and a multitude of some of the best cheeses in the world and bean dishes like verdinas con mariscos (green flageolot-type beans cooked with crab, shrimp and/or clams) and fabada asturiana, along with arroz con leche (rice pudding) with a creme brulee-like caramelized crust. Then you add some of the most awesomely beautiful high mountain scenery and seashore in Spain, bucolic mountain villages saved by cheese making and colorful fishing ports and Asturias is a paradise, a place to get away from it all."

I have made this dish twice since I returned from Asturias.

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Asturian verdinas con mariscos (beans cooked with shellfish), a dish made with beans

brought back from my recent trip to Asturias, crab legs, clams and shrimp. 11-11-2012.

Dish and photo by Gerry Dawes, 2012.

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La Maquina restaurant's famous fabada asturiana, fabada bean stew with chorizo and morcilla.

Photo by Gerry Dawes©2011 / gerrydawes@aol.com.

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La Maquina restaurant's arroz con leche, rice pudding with a caramelized crust.

Photo by Gerry Dawes©2011 / gerrydawes@aol.com.

Gerry Dawes

Gerry Dawes's Spain: An Insider's Guide to Spanish Food, Wine, Culture and Travel

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Gerry,

A few quick viticulture/wine-making questions--feel free to answer them briefly: I believe you've mentioned slate-laden soils and steep slopes as key to Mencia, would you list any other prime factors as beneficial to this grape? Could you see it doing well somewhere in the Western hemisphere? Once harvested you've mentioned neutral barrels (French or American?), what about maceration times? Does anyone leave the stems in as part of the pomace/cap? Do most use indigenous yeasts?

Sorry for the first semester UC Davis style questions. One of my first experiences with Mencia was a 2003 Luna Beberide "Daniel" that tasted like a campfire and I've been hooked since.

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Sorry for the first semester UC Davis style questions. One of my first experiences with Mencia was a 2003 Luna Beberide "Daniel" that tasted like a campfire and I've been hooked since.

[Goodness don't apologize for asking a question such as you did. If everyone's afraid to breathe, no one will take a breath.] :(

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Gerry,

A few quick viticulture/wine-making questions--feel free to answer them briefly: I believe you've mentioned slate-laden soils and steep slopes as key to Mencia, would you list any other prime factors as beneficial to this grape? Could you see it doing well somewhere in the Western hemisphere? Once harvested you've mentioned neutral barrels (French or American?), what about maceration times? Does anyone leave the stems in as part of the pomace/cap? Do most use indigenous yeasts?

Sorry for the first semester UC Davis style questions. One of my first experiences with Mencia was a 2003 Luna Beberide "Daniel" that tasted like a campfire and I've been hooked since.

No problem. I will answer what I can and ask my most trusted source in La Ribeira Sacra to fill me in on the rest. I certainly don't know it all, but I can probably find out who does.

Well, if you can find a moderate vineyard climate with a little altitude and that area happens to have 2,000-year old terraces built by the Romans (or their slaves, at least) on 85% inclines hanging over a deep river canyon, Hell, yes, go ahead and give Mencia a shot in the Western Hemisphere. :)

IMG_6451.JPG

Manuel Formigo of Adegas Manuel Formigo in Ribeiro visiting La Ribiera Sacra.

Tour boat on the Sil River far below the Amandi vineyards of La Ribeira Sacra.

Photo by Gerry Dawes©2011 / gerrydawes@aol.com.

I will find out about maceration times, but I am very much against long macerations just to pick up deep color (which doesn't have to do with a wine's quality) and a lot of pigmentation that is just going to fall out later in your bottle, so you can throw it away, instead of letting the winery do it. I would prefer that the wines pass time in epoxy-lined cement tanks as a part of the ageing process, then, if wood must be used, put the wine in well-cared for used barrels, like they always did in La Rioja until the de-forestation lobbyists and salesmen began to dominate the flavor of our wines with ghastly oak, instead of the flavor of grapes and soil-driven (terroir) flavors that make wines taste like the only place they could have come from.

IMO many of the best Mencia wines in Ribeira Sacra have a distinct pomegranate flavor component and often have an equally characteristic lead pencil or graphite-lie taste in the finish. If the winemaker doesn't oak up so much that the timber kills the terroir in the finish, these wines can be a thing of true beauty. But, when wood becomes a flavoring agent, instead of an ageing receptacle, it kills flavor, complexity and charm.

In an article I wrote about oaky, high alcohol, new-wave Spanish wines more than ten years ago, I quoted Josh Raynolds, now with Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar, but then National Sales Representative for Neal Rosenthal Wine Merchants (New York). Here is an excerpt from that piece:

”It's not even about the grape anymore, much less the terroir. I consider myself a pretty good blind taster - 13 years full time in the business, drinking and attending tastings for 20 years, a year in Europe devoted to visiting estates, and going to Europe once or twice a year to taste for the last 11 years."

"I am often at a loss to even hazard a guess as to even what *&$#@*# variety has been poured," Josh Raynolds told me, "I can, however, often guess what type of oak was used and even who the winemaker or consultant was. My experience is that there is a sameness to the wines that makes a taster think more about who made it, who consulted on it, what the alcohol level must be and where the wood came from (not to mention what it must have cost)."

Oak had become such a important flavoring agent in new wave wines that according to an American visitor (ten years ago), a new wave Rioja producer was very disappointed that he had been turned down when he tried to buy the same type of barrels used by Romanée Contí from François Freres, a producer of the type of assertive French oak that is very much in vogue. Then one day François Freres called and said, "You got a 90 from (Robert) Parker, so you can have some barrels." (GD)

I also quoted Raynolds in that piece saying:

"New Wave cult wines are undeniably tasty and appealing in a shame-inducing way, like Slim Jims (which they resemble - smoky, meaty, spiced, oily, sweet) but they should in no way be confused with truly great wines, as Slim Jims ought not be confused with fine cuisine."

As to Luna Beberide 'Daniel,' named for the importer's son and thus his special cuvee, that wine was certainly not be my benchmark wine from Bierzo, even though my good friend Gregory Perez undoubtedly had a hand in making it, as did another good friend, the great Mariano Garcia (once the winemaker at Vega Sicilia), who was consulting at Luna Beberide at the time.

According to their published specs on that wine, it was "Macerated and fermented in small stainless steel vats for 20 days with 2 or 3 pumping overs every day. The wine was aged for 15 months in New French oak (Renou, Seguin Moreau, Taransaud). Fined with egg whites and bottled unfiltered in April 2005."

Several Ribeira Sacra producers do leave some stems in (I think I had one last night!). I will make some inquiries and give you some names. Many of my producers ferment with native yeasts.

Many thanks for you questions, ChiantiandFava.

My best, Gerry Dawes

Gerry Dawes's Spain: An Insider's Guide to Spanish Food, Wine, Culture and Travel

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I just noticed that Spain is shaped like a bulls head.

wine_spainmap.gif

Is there greatness (or at least distinction) to be found in all of these smaller regions, or are some just "forced?" Who or what was the impetus behind Priorat becoming so well-known?

More importantly, I know a lot of people - myself included - who often don't like Cava for the same reason they don't like Prosecco - it's often just fizzy, and doesn't have much complexity at all. How many Cavas will you be bringing in, and what do you look for in a good one? What are the varietals permitted? (I'm not even sure what the precise definition of a Cava is, and if I don't know, I suspect many others don't, either).

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Towering Torreblanca: Alicante's Maestro Paco Torreblanca, One of World's Greatest Chocolatiers & Pastry Chefs

image-4.jpg

For those of you who may not know the great Spanish pastry chef, Paco Torreblanca, who is descended from a Jewish family that came to Spain 800 years ago, the above link leads to an article and a slide show. Paco is one of the world's greatest desserts maestros.

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Paco Torreblanca in front of the ancient olive tree growing in his Totel chocolate and desserts plant, Monover-Elda, Alicante.

Photograph by Gerry Dawes©2012 / gerrydawes@aol.com /

http://www.gerrydawesspain.com

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I just noticed that Spain is shaped like a bulls head.

wine_spainmap.gif

Is there greatness (or at least distinction) to be found in all of these smaller regions, or are some just "forced?" Who or what was the impetus behind Priorat becoming so well-known?

More importantly, I know a lot of people - myself included - who often don't like Cava for the same reason they don't like Prosecco - it's often just fizzy, and doesn't have much complexity at all. How many Cavas will you be bringing in, and what do you look for in a good one? What are the varietals permitted? (I'm not even sure what the precise definition of a Cava is, and if I don't know, I suspect many others don't, either).

Don, it has been written many times that Spain is shaped like a bull's hide, or ox hide. If it a bull's head, I guess the horns are Galicia and Catalunya! :rolleyes:

There are plenty of jewels to be found in some of the lesser known regions like Ribeira Sacra, Monterrei and Ribera de Arlanza. Priorat has some high quality wines, but they tend to be very alcoholic and that is after taming the alcohol levels that historically soared very high (only the isolated indigenous acclimated yeasts could survive to allow those wines of yesteryear to reach 18%!). That and politically powerful, nationalistic Catalunya needed its own 'grand cru' wines, so Priorat has been heavily promoted. Just a few years ago, Priorat was considered the hottest, sexiest (insert other adjectives here) in Spain, but now the combination of high alcohol, new oak and very high prices has considerably dampened enthusiasm.

I wrote this a few years ago:

Not since the six-century Roman occupation of Spain (until the early 5th Century) when Pliny the Elder praised the wines of Tarraconensis, have the wines from Spain’s Tarragona province–the Priorat, Montsant, Terra Alta, Conca de Barberà, a small piece of Costers de Segre and the eponymous Tarragona denominaciónes de origen, or D.O.s–been so highly rated as they are today. Until the recent explosive debut of Priorat wines on the international wine scene, Tarragona, located in Cataluña, about two hours southwest of Barcelona, was best known for its Roman ruins, for romesco (a superb, addictive sauce made with olive oil, garlic, dried peppers, tomatoes and hazelnuts or almonds), and as the birthplace (in Reus) of modernista architect Antoní Gaudí.

American wine guru Robert M. Parker, Jr., a considerably more powerful wine writer than Pliny, once predicted that Tarragona’s major D.O. Priorat (Priorato in Spanish) would surpass La Rioja and Ribera del Duero as the top wine region in Spain. However, due to its small size and the geographical limits of Priorat’s licorella, or slate, soil, which accounts for its famous terruño (terroir), coupled with Mr. Parker’s never having stepped foot in Spain as a wine writer in his entire career (until October 2009, when he was paid a reported 100,000 Euros to speak at a wine conference), we seriously questioned that prediction as we have many of his pronunciamentos on Spain. Priorat has just 4000 acres of registered vineyards and its boundaries are now surrounded like a crescent by the new Montsant DO, a division that is partially defined by Montsant’s soils, which have much less slate in their composition. Rioja, by contrast has more than 150,000 acres of vineyards, which, if you count only 10%, or 15,000 acres (a low estimate) as producing top quality wine rated at 90+ points and above, is still nearly four times what Priorat is capable of producing and that’s if all the wine in Priorat had a 90+ point rating, which it does not.

Nevertheless, Robert Parker’s high opinion of the region gives an idea of the esteem in which the wines are held and Christopher Canaan, a man with one of the most experienced and sophisticated palates in Europe and President of Bordeaux-based Europvin--which has one of the top portfolios of Spanish wines (Vega Sicilia, Rioja Alta, Lustau sherries, etc.) and has taken up a significant position in both Priorat and Montsant-- is sold on the area. Canaan, who owns several brands in Priorat and Monstant, concurs with Parker’s assessment of Priorat’s quality, “Indeed, I think that Priorat already ranks with the great wine regions of the Mediterranean.” (It is important to note that the climates of the top Spanish wine regions of La Rioja, Ribera del Duero, Toro, Rias Baixas, Rueda, and Bierzo are primarly influenced by the Atlantic Ocean, not the Mediterranean, and often achieve natural balances of fruit, acid and alcohol seldom seen in warm-country wines such as those of Tarragona.)

You can read the rest of the story here:

The Powerful New-Wave Catalan Wines of Old Roman Tarragona

As to your question about cava, your statement leads be to believe that you haven't had many of the really good ones.

Back in 2006, I wrote this:

Over the past few years of sipping Cavas in some of Spain's top restaurants, it has become increasingly apparent that a number of the country's smaller producers are bottling some absolutely superb sparkling wines. By contrast, not too long ago, Spanish sparkling wine was little more than quaffable, mass-market bubbly widely available at bargain prices. While that still holds true for a large percentage of the staggering ten million-plus cases of Cava exported each year (another eight million-plus cases are consumed in Spain), during the past ten years — hand-in-hand with quality advances on the country's wine and gastronomy fronts — a number of Champagne-quality Cavas from a wide range of producers have emerged. Some of these exceptional wines are vintage dated, prestige brut cuvées; bone-dry, palate-cleansing brut natures (great with shellfish); and an increasingly impressive group of sparkling rosados (rosats in Catalan), some made with pinot noir, others with indigenous varieties such as trepat.

Juve y Camps, a family firm that has long been appreciated here by wine aficionados, is probably the best known of these cavas, but top-quality names such as Agustí Torelló Mata, Raventos i Blanc, Parxet, Gramona and Castillo Perelada are well worth tasting. The Spanish Artisan Wine Group has some exceptional cavas from Can Festis, but they are not available in the U.S. right now (stay tuned).

To give you an idea of what one critic thinks about the quality of cava, in September, John Gilman, who recently made a trip to Catalunya and came away excited about cava, wrote this in the July-August issue of his View From The Cellar newsletter:

Can Festis Cava (Jaume Giró et Giró)

While I will be doing a full-fledged feature on Cava in the next issue, I wanted to include notes here on The Spanish Artisan Wine Group’s fine Catalan producer, Jaume Giró et Giró and their excellent label of Can Festis Cava. Like virtually all of the top producers I have tasted in recent months, Jaume Giró et Giró is part of the “Six Percent Club” who own their own vineyards and produce Cava solely from their own grapes. As I will elaborate on in my article on Cava, in my experience, this is one of the fundamental building blocks for producing truly world class Cava, and if one were to simply limit one’s consumption of Cava to producers who grow their own grapes and make their own wines, one could steer clear of disappointingly bland examples and come to appreciate just how beautifully delicate and complex top flight Cava can be from members of this “Six Percent Club”. Señor Giró produces three levels of Cava, all fermented in the bottle like Champagne, with the three levels neatly reflecting the Bronze, Silver and Gold medals of the Olympics. These are outstanding sparkling wines that are every bit as interesting as top examples of Champagne in the classic, dancing style of great Cava.

Thanks for your questions, Don! :rolleyes:

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I'll write back in more detail soon once I've dug myself out at work, but having just returned from Spain yesterday I wanted to really thank Gerry for this chat, and the incredible advice he had for us. We had an amazing trip, and your recommendations and suggestions helped to make it so. In particular we loved Sanlucar, the salmorejo and berenjenas fritas at Taberna Juan Pena in Cordoba, and the crazy scene and food at the bar at La Castella in Madrid (the zamburinas there may have been the single best thing I ate during our entire trip).

Thank you so much.

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I'll write back in more detail soon once I've dug myself out at work, but having just returned from Spain yesterday I wanted to really thank Gerry for this chat, and the incredible advice he had for us. We had an amazing trip, and your recommendations and suggestions helped to make it so. In particular we loved Sanlucar, the salmorejo and berenjenas fritas at Taberna Juan Pena in Cordoba, and the crazy scene and food at the bar at La Castella in Madrid (the zamburinas there may have been the single best thing I ate during our entire trip).

Thank you so much.

Wow, Mark. I was hoping to hear how you made out. I am very happy that Sanlúcar worked out and really thrilled that you got to Taberna Juan Peña in Córdoba and La Castela in Madrid (love those zamburiñas). Looking forward to hearing more details.

My best, Gerry :)

Sunset in a Glass: Drinking Manzanilla Sherry at the Source

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Langostinos de Sanlúcar with La Gitana manzanilla in the evening,

Bajo de Guía beach on the Guadalquívir River, Sanlúcar de Barrameda.

Gerry Dawes©2008 / gerrydawes@aol.com

A Modern Version of Cordoban Classic Tomato-based Salmorejo at the Legendary Taberna Mesón Juan Peña

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At the legendary Taberna Juan Peña in Córdoba, the classic tomato-based salmorejo with Cordoban extra virgen olive oil, topped with hard-cooked egg and small bits of Spanish jamón Ibérico de bellota (from the D.O. Pedroches, Córdoba province), ham from free-range pata negra (black hoof breed) pigs fattened on acorns. Juan's wife, Mari Carmen, makes theses salmorejos. It was served with a sherry-like fino from Montilla-Moriles, a D.O. also from Córdoba province. Berenjenas fritas, olive oil fried eggplant strips are often served with salmorejo as a sauce into which the eggplant strips are dipped. Like the most exquisite French fries with the most exquisite ketchup you have ever eaten.

La Castela, Madrid

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Zamburiñas (small scallops), La Castela, Madrid.

Photos by Gerry Dawes©2012

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Don, it has been written many times that Spain is shaped like a bull's hide, or ox hide. If it a bull's head, I guess the horns are Galicia and Catalunya! :rolleyes:

That was my observation: Galica and Catalunya were the horns (has nobody ever brought this up before?)

Is there any region on that map you haven't visited?

How are you holding up, buddy? I really feel for your daughters right now.

I'm all for keeping this chat rolling at a leisurely pace - it's an important document, and it's the best thing that's happened to this website in a long time. I feel like you're finally getting some of the recognition you deserve.

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About my former wife, Diana, thanks. I am doing okay, just a rough couple of days of scanning old fotos and reliving old memories. My daughers are hurting because she was such a terrific Mom to them. Thanks for asking.

Spain has been described a bull's hide drying in the sun, but no usually as a bull's head. As to Galician and Catalunya being the horns, many without a sense of humor in those two regions might object to that since putting the cuernos, or horns, on someone means you are insinuating that they are a cabrón, or cuckold. Neither region lacks its fair share of cabrones, for sure. Most of my friends and I in those regions (and elsewhere) endearingly address one another thusly: "Hola, cabrón." If you use that word in anger, it can cause a problem and if you use it in the literal sense, it can cause a very big problem. In Galicia, where some of my best friends are and where I contend that cabronismo has been raised to a fine art, I sometimes begin a conversation with "Hola, cabrón de Galego, then I apologize for being redundant.

But, then I have a galego friend who address me as "Rey Pugnante," or the "King of the Repugnants." Like I said Galicians have raised cabronismo to a fine art. :o:rolleyes:

As to regions on the bull's hide that I have not visited: I have been once to Mallorca, but not to Menorca, where I want to visit because of Mahón cheese, caldereta de langosta (a seafood stew with a whole lobster) and Xoriguer, a good gin that has been made there since the island was occupied from 1707-1756 (and again for 20 years at the end of the century) by English soldiers, who, by the way, did not like cheese made with ewe's or goat's milk, so cows were imported from England and the somewhat Cheddar style of Mahón was developed. Mahón is the capital city of Menorca and is the origin of one of the world's most famous sauces, mayonesa, or mayonnaise.

I have been to all the other mainland regions multiple times, but I still need to spend a bit more time in Aragon and in the Catalan Pyrenees. Though I have been to each the following provinces a few times and have slept in all their capital cities on more than one occasion, I still need some more time in Ávila, Salamanca, and León provinces. :unsure:

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Unfortunately the wine shop at Bodegas Hidalgo was closed for siesta when we finished our tour with Miguel, so we were unable to purchase any wine while in Sanlucar. As a result, currently my most pressing Spain question is where can I find examples of the wonderful wines we drank at the Bodega in the US? My limited searching in the past couple of days has yielded very little (my local stores don't list them on their websites, but haven't stopped in, and wine.com has only the oloroso among the dry sherries). Any help here would be greatly appreciated.

This bodega visit, and the trip in general, was very eye-opening for us with regard to sherry. We had very little experience with this style of wine before going, yet drank manzanilla throughout the trip and loved it. The bodega visit and a couple of trips to a wonderful sherry bar, La Venencia, in Madrid, were fantastic as well.

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Your mention of gin has me thinking - I've heard a lot about the gin and tonics of Spain, how there are so many types of gins, and tonics, and how carefully they match them. I don't think I've ever tried a Spanish gin, however.

Is there a specific style that makes a Spanish gin, or does it usually more replicate the London Dry gins? Do you know of any available in the US that would make for a good introduction to Spanish gins? I would assume the same would go for tonics...

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Unfortunately the wine shop at Bodegas Hidalgo was closed for siesta when we finished our tour with Miguel, so we were unable to purchase any wine while in Sanlucar. As a result, currently my most pressing Spain question is where can I find examples of the wonderful wines we drank at the Bodega in the US? My limited searching in the past couple of days has yielded very little (my local stores don't list them on their websites, but haven't stopped in, and wine.com has only the oloroso among the dry sherries). Any help here would be greatly appreciated.

This bodega visit, and the trip in general, was very eye-opening for us with regard to sherry. We had very little experience with this style of wine before going, yet drank manzanilla throughout the trip and loved it. The bodega visit and a couple of trips to a wonderful sherry bar, La Venencia, in Madrid, were fantastic as well.

Hi, Mark, go on to the Hidalgo importer, Classical Wines's website, get their contact info and ask where they have it in D.C.

Suerte, G.

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I have essentially no knowledge of Spanish gin, and the only one that I know I've tried was on this trip, at Bar Cock just north of Gran Via in Madrid (recommended to us by Katie Nelson).

10993.06a66e79016cce51a2292919904fcb9c.jpg

While there I had a martini (surprisingly not a gin and tonic) made with the bartender's recommended gin, Giro. The bartender recommended it by saying "This is a really nice Spanish, I'm sorry I can't call them that, a really nice Catalunyan gin." I was probably too many drinks in at that point to give you a really detailed and descriptive review, but it was a perfectly fine martini.

On the topic of gin and tonics, good lord do the Spanish love their gin and tonics. In essentially every bar we were in gins outnumbered vodka by on average 10 to 1, and many bars had upwards of 40 or 50 different gins. Each different gin would have different tonics to match with it as well as specific garnishes (at the rooftop bar in the Mercado San Anton the Mobassa gin was matched with Pimiento Rojo tonic, red peppercorns and a lime peel while the Martin Miller gin was matched with a lavender tonic and apple slices). At Bar O'Clock in Sevilla the Junipero gin and tonicwas paired with halved blueberries, whole blackberries and lime peel.

Only tangentially related because it involves booze, but the difference in the makeup of a typical Spanish bar compared to an American bar is rather large. Their top spirits were always gin, then scotch (or "malts", then rum. We seldom saw more than maybe a bottle of tequila, and the most bourbons, or bourbon-like spirits, we ever saw in a bar were five (at the aforementioned Bar Cock, which had Four Roses, Four Roses Single Barrel, Makers Mark, Jim Beam and Jack Daniels). Four Roses (yellow label) and Jack Daniels were by far the most common American whiskeys (or "Whisk-ays" as they call them) over there.

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Your mention of gin has me thinking - I've heard a lot about the gin and tonics of Spain, how there are so many types of gins, and tonics, and how carefully they match them. I don't think I've ever tried a Spanish gin, however.

Is there a specific style that makes a Spanish gin, or does it usually more replicate the London Dry gins? Do you know of any available in the US that would make for a good introduction to Spanish gins? I would assume the same would go for tonics...

I am not real expert in gin, but, except for Xoriguer, I think most of the gins produced in Spain are imitations of the London Dry Gin's. They even have knock-off label that looks like Gordon's.

Xoriguer (pronounced sho-ri-gair) is the same today as it always has been.

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This is from the drinkshop.com website in the UK:

"It is the result of distillation in traditional copper stills, using high quality wine alcohol and carefully selected juniper berries, which come from the neighbouring Mediterranean mountains, together with aromatic herbs. These herbs are the jealousy guarded "secret" of the liquor's original bouquet. Only the heirs of family know the identity and proportion of this valuable ingredient, which is added behind closed doors and without witnesses, at the start of each distilling. The respect for tradition is such that the fuel still used today in the distillation is wood.

The distillation begins when the vapours which are produced in the still's boiler circulate through copper pipes until they reach a coil, where they condense, forming a precious liquid that drips into jars.

An expert tastes the liquid at intervals to determine the pecise moment when the distillation is complete. Once this is accomplished the gin is stored in large oak barrels, where it retains unchanging its colour, flavour and aroma, until finally it is bottled.

Xoriguer, thanks to its unique character and to its distillation from natural products, is free of any unwanted additives which could impair its preservation or spoil any kind of cocktail or mixed drink.

Menorca is a Mediterranean island which belonged to the British crown over 200 years ago, for most of the XVIII century. Thousands of British soldiers and sailors were stationed on the island in those days. They frequented the local taverns, but they were unable to find the liquor that was fashionable at the time in their country: GIN.

Soon someMahón craftsmen found a solution to the problem. They would import juniper berries and produce gin on the island, using wine alcohol from Mediterranean vineyards.

In this way, gin, a nordic drink, was successfully launched in Menorca. During the XVIII and XIX centuries, it became established as a popular drink, and became an indispensable feature at any special event, private or public, on the island. In the early part of the XX century, on the initiative of a Menorcan family of craftsmen, a brand name was born: Xoriguer, which began to bottle and carefully commercialise the product which hitherto had only been marketed locally.

Xoriguer is the name of the old windmill built in 1784, in which many generations of the Pons family had converted bushels of wheat into white flour.

Miquel Pons Justo, heir to a long tradition of craftsmen, wanted to put these traditional values of quality and refinement to use in his liquor company, and for this he chose as an emblem not only the name but also the image of the century-old family business: the graceful windmill with its wind-sails.

Gin Xoriguer ceased to be merely a local curiosity and became a product with an ever widening reach, opening the way in the market with its quality and attractive bottling.

Due to its origins, traditions and Mediterranean characteristics, Gin Xoriguer has gained recognition throughout the EEC, being denominated a guaranteed traditional speciality or specific name of product E.T.G. Mahón Menorca.

Xoriguer is still a family business, looking to the future, faithful to its origins and to a continuing tradition of craftsmanship, with the desire to please all their clients and friends with its carefully elaborated Gin Xoriguer."

Xoriguer is also the name of a falcon-hawk.

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I have essentially no knowledge of Spanish gin, and the only one that I know I've tried was on this trip, at Bar Cock just north of Gran Via in Madrid (recommended to us by Katie Nelson).

10993.06a66e79016cce51a2292919904fcb9c.jpg

While there I had a martini (surprisingly not a gin and tonic) made with the bartender's recommended gin, Giro. The bartender recommended it by saying "This is a really nice Spanish, I'm sorry I can't call them that, a really nice Catalunyan gin." I was probably too many drinks in at that point to give you a really detailed and descriptive review, but it was a perfectly fine martini.

On the topic of gin and tonics, good lord do the Spanish love their gin and tonics. In essentially every bar we were in gins outnumbered vodka by on average 10 to 1, and many bars had upwards of 40 or 50 different gins. Each different gin would have different tonics to match with it as well as specific garnishes (at the rooftop bar in the Mercado San Anton the Mobassa gin was matched with Pimiento Rojo tonic, red peppercorns and a lime peel while the Martin Miller gin was matched with a lavender tonic and apple slices). At Bar O'Clock in Sevilla the Junipero gin and tonicwas paired with halved blueberries, whole blackberries and lime peel.

Only tangentially related because it involves booze, but the difference in the makeup of a typical Spanish bar compared to an American bar is rather large. Their top spirits were always gin, then scotch (or "malts", then rum. We seldom saw more than maybe a bottle of tequila, and the most bourbons, or bourbon-like spirits, we ever saw in a bar were five (at the aforementioned Bar Cock, which had Four Roses, Four Roses Single Barrel, Makers Mark, Jim Beam and Jack Daniels). Four Roses (yellow label) and Jack Daniels were by far the most common American whiskeys (or "Whisk-ays" as they call them) over there.

Well, Mark, I see you found the 'Cock' bar in Madrid!

Obviously, at the Cock, you should have asked for the Dutch Fockink Gin (click on this link to see a hilarious video), which is served all over Spain and worth bringing back, just so you can refill the bottle and serve it guests! B)

5005480371_703bc374b5.jpg

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While we didn't make a concerted search, we actually had trouble finding an actual liquor store, or at least what we consider a proper liquor store, while over there. Because we likely would have picked up some sherry or other different sorts of booze had we found one.

On the Bodegas Hidalgo front, I lobbed an e-mail in to their distributor, so hopefully I'll have some luck on that front.

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More on Gin and Spain (and Washington's own José Andrés)

Food Arts, El Quencher: Mad dogs and Spaniards? How did the quintessential quaff of British colonials become a runaway hit in Spain? Gerry Dawes reports.

IMG_3678%2520Jose%2520Andres%2520with%2520gin-tonic%2520at%2520Bar%2520Blanca%2520at%2520The%2520Bazaar%2520crp%25202.jpg

José Andrés with "The Ultimate Gin & Tonic," made with Hendrick's gin and Fever Tree tonic water,

at Bar Blanca at The Bazaar by José Andrés at the SLS Hotel, Beverly Hills.

Photo by Gerry Dawes ©2012; contact gerrydawes@aol.com for publication rights.

Spain—and lately its high-flying vanguard of chefs—has long had a love affair with Gin & Tonic, or “Gintonic,” as they call it. Who knew? No wonder, then, that the proliferating tapas bars in the United States are introducing Gintonic menus.

Estadio, a Spanish restaurant near Logan Circle in Washington, D.C., mixes Old Raj Gin with house-made orange thyme tonic and Tanqueray 10 with house-made elderflower citrus tonic. In Brooklyn, New York, Cynthia Diaz’s Bar Celona celebrates “Spain’s most popular tipple” by using artisanal gins, house-made tonics, and nontraditional ingredients: The Sea Monkey calls for Death’s Door Gin, house-made celery/apple juice, lemon, anise, Fever Tree Tonic, and fennel salt; El Matador has spiced gin, house-made tonic, cava, and bitters.

Andrés’ newly renovated Jaleo Restaurant and Tapas Bar in Washington, D.C., will likely outdo them all. His ThinkFoodGroup lead bartendar, Owen Thomson, has a Gintonic menu that includes Death’s Door and Fentiman’s Tonic with fennel, radish, cubeb, and kumquat; Ransom Old Tom and Bittermen’s Tonic with pickled ginger, allspice, orange, and lemon; Ridge Silver Tip and Fever Tree with tarragon, lemon, lime, and borage; Botanist & Q Tonic with coriander blossom, lemon, and lime; and Tanqueray 10 and house-made tonic with grapefruit, mint, lemon, and white pepper.

Since a Gin & Tonic is a drink ostensibly made for hot climates, many people have been drinking it—most often gin with Schweppes Tonic and a twist of lemon—for decades in Spain, where more than 200 brands of gin are sold.

Read the rest of the article here: Food Arts, El Quencher, May 2012

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Gerry,

Thanks for taking the time to post your thoughts and show everyone the Spain beyond Madrid and Barcelona, i can sense in your writing that Spain means a lot to you. I am from the canary islands, moved back home after many years in dc and am curious about your thoughts on wines from the Canary Islands. There is so much tradition here, everyone makes their own wine but they are never mentioned. I have enjoyed the whites here made with old Malvasia grapes, as well as a few reds.

The varietals here are all local as the islands are free from phylloxera and they have just discovered seeds from grapes that date back to the roman empire (so I hear). Whats the good word on canary wine? Thanks!

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Gerry,

Thanks for taking the time to post your thoughts and show everyone the Spain beyond Madrid and Barcelona, i can sense in your writing that Spain means a lot to you. I am from the canary islands, moved back home after many years in dc and am curious about your thoughts on wines from the Canary Islands. There is so much tradition here, everyone makes their own wine but they are never mentioned. I have enjoyed the whites here made with old Malvasia grapes, as well as a few reds.

The varietals here are all local as the islands are free from phylloxera and they have just discovered seeds from grapes that date back to the roman empire (so I hear). Whats the good word on canary wine? Thanks!

I am on the run, so this is all I have time for right now, but I will post some more info later.

Canary Islands: Exotic Spanish Islands with a Unique Culinary & Wine Heritage

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Tenerife's Teide, the volcano that is the tallest mountain in all of Spain

and third tallest volcano in the world. Photo by Gerry Dawes©2012.

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Another article on The Canary Islands

The Wines of the Canary Islands - Article in Wines From Spain News

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Canary Islands wines in the market at La Laguna, Tenerife.

All photographs by Gerry Dawes © 2009. Use of photos prohibited without written permission.

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Vines growing on volcanic ash deposits near Stratus winery on Lanzarote.

All photographs by Gerry Dawes © 2009. Use of photos prohibited without written permission.

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Giant rock that fell onto the property at Los Berrazales during an earthquake. They built around it and incorporated it into the winery.

Agaeda, Gran Canaria. All photographs by Gerry Dawes © 2009. Use of photos prohibited without written permission.

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Canary Islands Seafood - Fish Available in the Markets of Las Islas Canarias

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Boquerones, pickled fresh anchovies and "unicorn" fish.

:rolleyes:

All photographs by Gerry Dawes © 2009. Use of photos prohibited without written permission.

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Sargos, white sea bream, caught off Senegal.

(Note: Since the water is so deep right off these volcanic islands, many of the fish are caught in the shallower waters of the African coast.)

All photographs by Gerry Dawes © 2009. Use of photos prohibited without written permission.

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Goats Who Stare at Men, Men Who Stare at Rabbits and Rabbits Who Won't Be Staring Back (Slide Show: Asturias, Canary Islands, Andalucía) :o :o

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Goat, La Palma, Canary Islands. Photo by Gerry Dawes©2009.

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Goats, La Palma, Canary Islands. Photo by Gerry Dawes©2009.

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Men who stare at rabbits, at a restaurant in the Canary Islands. Photo by Zach Minot ©2009.

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