In Search of `El Gran Putxero´! – Valencia´s Classic Stew.

P.I.G. Awaits the Putxero.

Every country in the world has its traditional Winter recipes, often hearty stews of meats and vegetables cooked in a single pot. In France it is Pot au Feu, often made from different cuts of beef including shin and ribs, with carrots, cabbage, potatos, etc in a good red wine stock.

In Spain the dish is Olla Podrida, a mixture of beef, ham, bacon, chicken, sausages cooked with chickpeas, cabbage, celery, carrots, parsnip and turnip.  But olla podrida or `rotten stew´ is just one  name, it is probably the generic for a number of regional dishes which differ in the odd ingredient here and there and which are also called Cocido de Pueblo. There is also a school of thought that `podrida´ is itself a bastardisation of `poderida´which means succulent or powerful.

In Valencia ( language and region) it is Putxero but not many people know that similar dishes are well known throughout Europe, with regional differences. in Portugal, in France ( Gascony and Brittany) and in the United Kingdom ( where it now has consolidated  into bacon boiled with cabbage) and even in Austria.

Pisto with Chistorra.

Quite how the dish spread is unknown, it could well have been by traders but given that in the 17th century it was a well known and high status dish as far from Spain as Austria it is more likely to have been spread by Royal inter-marriages and diplomatic missions.

I had never tried the dish until last November, and then not on a particularly cold day but it was one of the classics I had wanted to try for some time. You can go to the local butcher and stand behind one of the village´s  granny´s  doing her family shop and when that includes the ingredients for Putxero (asked for individually, each piece inspected for size etc) it can be a long wait until your turn.

Alternatively you can go to one of the supermarkets where you can buy the vegetables pre-packed and even similar packs of the meat ingredients……beef shin, ham bone, rear-quarters of chicken, spine, tocino or pancetta ( fatty bacon), morcilla ( local black sausages), blanquet ( local white sausage) and pilotes, a form of pork hamburger wrapped in caul-fat all of which will be slowly stewed with the vegetables  and chickpeas which have been soaked overnight ( unless you cheat and use a pre-cooked jar.)

Soup with Rice. First Course.

There is a third alternative. The Valencia region is well known for traditional restaurants where local dishes are cooked with authenticity and loving care. These are not always expensive city venues either, just about every town or village has a local bar, used by the community and passing trade on a daily basis where the local variations are regularly cooked.

Valencians, and those like myself who have fallen in love with the local food  often discuss these traditional  dishes and one such forum is to be found on Facebook where around a thousand members participate in P.I.G , the `Platform for Gastronomic Information´, led by TV personality and blogger Paco Alonso, or Pacoalanaranja.  The forum often includes fierce debate on what should or should not be included in dishes, not least recently over the creation of a D.O. for Paella Valencia.

Vegetables,the Second Course.

Thus, when offered an opportunity to join the first lunch organized by the group in `DeValencia´, ( Plaza Pintor Segrelles) to eat authentic Putxero cooked by Ángela Valero, accompanied by the wines of Chozas Carrascal, it would have been rude not to go!

Some nineteen gastronauts attended, including some fellow bloggers.

We commenced the meal with some light tapas, a pisto with chistorra and patatas bravas.

The putxero itself was a tour de force! Traditionally the dish is served in three stages, the first being a bowl of soup (or the cooking broth). Ángela serves hers as a rice dish, like a bowl of arroz caldoso. With added saffron the dish was light and full of flavor.

Second course sometimes are the pilotes wrapped in cabbage leaves. Here we were treated to the vegetables, potato, chick-peas, carrots and cabbage and the meats were served separately.

The Meat Course.

Ángelas variation does not include cardo (Cardoon, the giant artichoke thistle leaves) parsnip or turnip because it is her mother´s dish and she did not like them!

The meal was accompanied by the excellent wines from Chozas Carrascal and we enjoyed the Cava Brut Nature reserve (from 2008) with the starters, the Las Dosces 2010 Tinto Crianza with the soup and the Las Ocho 2008 with the putxero. All were a perfect marriage with the food. Interestingly the Cabernet Franc which had been intended to serve with  the main course arrived with the pudding!

Simple rings of the regions famous oranges had been laid on a plate and dusted with cinnamon and granulated sugar. This big wine not only held up against the sweetness of the dish, it positively complemented it!

The restaurant itself goes onto my list for further visits as Ángela cooks a range of traditional Valencian dishes.

Ángela Valero, Cocinera at DeValencia.

In conclusion there was  a very happy group at the end of this meal which showed just how good relatively simple dishes are and which showed this particular Valencian classic to be a truly worthy member of the canon of Valencian gastronomy!  It is well worth having a go yourself!

 

 

 

XIXth Sausage Fair in Requena…..10-12 February 2012.

Only a week to go! Next weekend will see the 19th annual sausage fair in Requena, the Muestra del Embutido Artesano y de Calidad. For those who have never visited this fair let me explain a little about what you can expect if you decide to visit Requena, just an hour out of Valencia on the A3 Motorway.

Firstly, Requena is not the only town which produces sausages…..but it is arguably the best! Quality is absolutely the key and the towns produce has its own quality mark, the CRIGP Embutidos de Requena putting it on a par with Champagne and Melton Mowbray! The Regulatory Council is responsible for authorising the products, what goes into them , their quality and then for promoting them. This fair is considered one of the cultural history fairs of Spain making it one of the most important held each year. For this reason the Valencian Government also sponsor the fair  each year.

Variety of Sausages on Sale.

The pig is queen  and only those raised within the geographical boundary of the town may be used to make Requenas sausage products. Moreover there are only twelve producers who are allowed to use the quality mark, all having butchers shops within the town or its hamlets. These are Angelita, Don Paco, Encarna, El Serrano, Emilia, Embutidos Emilia Villa, Embutidos El Ponton, Isabel, Las tres Rosas, Mari Luz, Tere and Vergara.

Only female pigs, or castrated males may be used and even the quality of the spices is strictly controlled. The sausages are entirely natural, in natural skins and have recently been the subject of a European Community study into the production of the traditional quality sausages produced all around the Mediterranean. Studies have also been carried out into reducing the fat content without changing the quality or taste of the sausages.

Sample Plates of Sausages.

Each of the  sausages produced  employs a different spice  or mix which makes them quite distinct. They are, Longaniza, Salcichon, Sobrasada, Perro, Chorizo, Morcilla de Cebolla, Güena and Orza.

Longaniza is  the sausage which looks most like an English chippolata, and can be thick or thin. They are made from around 80% lean pork and 20% bacon with salt, pepper, cinnamon, cloves and garlic and are usually dressed with a thin white string.

Salcichon is a form of longaniza but air-dried and cured. They weigh between 300-500gms and are usually sold whole. These are for slicing and eating cold. There is a long thin version called longaniza de pascua.

Bollo, Another Requenense Product!

Sobrasada is the orange coloured spreadable paste sausage, minced fine lean pork and pancetta or tocino ( fat) which is then flavoured with orange and pimenton. This is also sold whole and weighs up to 500gm depending on the skin it is in. It keeps well in the fridge and is excellent on toast!

Chorizo from Requena is a mixture of chopped lean pork (70%) and the rest tocino. Salt , pepper, pimenton, garlic, cinnamon and clove are added, and sometimes wine or spirits as well! It is the pimenton which gives the chorizo its distinct red colour.

Perro is not `dog´ but a cured , dried pork sausage sold in 500gm peices. 15-20% of lean meat, the rest Tocino and salt, pepper, spirits  and garlic. It is sliced and served cold.

Morcilla de Cebolla is a form of black sausage, made from rice and onion, lard, blood and salt, cinnamon,  clove and pepper. They are sold sausage sized and you will find them in bars all around Valencia, often served mixed in scrambled egg inside a bocadillo or with a chorizo and a longaniza…..the classic blanco, negro y rojo! The spice content is quite marked.

Pig Roast!

Güena is a longaniza with bacon and offal chopped into the pork base, and with the usual spices. It is a sausage with a bit more texture and good served hot or sliced and cold.

Orza is a tradition, it is to preserve the sausages in oil in an earthenware or glass jar and dates back to the traditional matanza when sausages are preserved to eat during the rest of the year. They are sold in jars.

The fair itself is held in the Avenida Arrabal in Requena, the towns wide tree-lined boulevard, near to the railway station. You can also park in many of the side streets. There are a number of marquees, one with the sausage producers, each of which has their own stall offering samples of all the sausages as well as selling them. There is also a bar dispensing wine from the Coviñas coop. In another marquee you can taste other products, Bollo ( the bread stuffed with sausages and bacon) olive oil, cakes and traditional dishes made by the local housewives association ( especially good are Mortueruelo- Requenas own pate- and ajoarriero a dish made from salt cod and potato). There are other attractions as well to visit in Requena so allow the whole day for your visit!

In previous years at lunchtime there has also been a hog-roast in the Avenida with a choice of dishes…usually roast pork, potatos cooked in the local style or arroz de matanza, a dish which is more or less Requenas version of arroz al horno.

Traditional Potato Dish.

The fair is best visited on Saturday or Sunday and opens at around 11.00am . On arrival an entry ticket will cost you around 10€  which holds a number of sampling tickets which will get you plates of sausages, glasses of wine , water, coffee etc. In previous years the hog-roast ticket has sometimes been included and on other occasions sold separately. This is not mentioned in any of this years publicity so it may be a victim of the crisis…..but it won´t detract from what is a great day out sampling some really traditional quality products.

And be prepared for Valencians to be there in droves, laden down with carrier bags of sausages to keep them going for a while……this is a very popular fair! Go wrapped up well….Requena can be 5-6º cooler than the coastal plain at this time of year!

Morteruelo and Ajoarriero.

Valencian Wines Support the Bisila Bokoko African Literacy Project.

Valencia  is playing a part in a charity in Africa, namely the Bisila Bokoko project, a charity aimed at ending illiteracy amongst youngsters and giving young Africans a better start and chance in Life.

How is Valencia playing it´s part? Well, grapes from across the DO and from Utiel-Requena are being made into wines specifically to be sold to raise money towards the project.

Bisila Bokoko is the daughter of an African immigrant to Valencia whose family came from Equatorial Guinea, her father going on to become the first African to qualify here as a lawyer. The family still live here, her brother working in a bank in Valencia whilst Bisila herself is Executive Director of the Spain-USA Chamber of Commerce, based in New York. Previously she was working for IVEX NYC the agency dedicated to promoting Valencian business in the USA.

In order to repay some of the advantages and benefits they received here in Spain, they have created the Foundation as a not for profit, non-partisan project with a mission to share the gift of literacy with Africa by providing new Libraries, well stocked with targeted books and periodicals which will provide centres for learning and support in creating employment, cultural and technical exchanges in the areas where the libraries are based.

How did the project begin? Well on Bisila´s first visit to Ghana she met a local chief of the Kokofu tribe in the Kumasi Region. To cut a long story short he offered her the title of Queen Development Mother and gave her a plot of land for the first Library! This library was opened in February last year and work now progresses on the next project.

These projects are targeted in Ivory Coast, Senegal, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda and will roll out as funds permit. 5 Million US Dollars is the target to raise by 2015.

However the project does not stop with building libraries…these have to be stocked with books, librarians paid a salary and the projects generally supported and monitored.

This funding is raised in a number of ways. For example last year visitors staying in a particular hotel could leave the book they took to read and receive a discount. More information  and the traditional ways such as cash donations and internet transfers are also available and can be found on the projects web-site http://bbalp.org .

Wines from the Bisila Range.

Perhaps the best way locally in Valencia to support the project is through the range of wines being made specifically for it by Torre Oria, the bodega situated just outside Requena in Derramador. Here support for the project commenced initially with a range of just three wines a couple of years ago but with the sale of the bodega a new start was made with the new owners and a range of thirteen wines has now been available for around six months.  The wine.maker for the project is Raquel Armero Simarro, a graduate of the University Polytechnic of Valencia and the Requena Wine-School. Raquel also worked with Dani Esposito at Dominio de la Vega before moving to Torre Oria last year.

The wines are all DO Valencia because it is felt that the association with Valencia is important. They sell for between 5-10 Euros a bottle and consist of four mono-varietals, ( Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Macabeo and Sauvignon Blanc and a Rosado made from pure Bobal. )

There is also a range consisting of a Crianza with twelve months oak ageing ( French and American) a Shiraz/Tempranillo blend and a pure Chardonnay. Three Cavas , a Brut, a Brut Nature and a Rosé complete the range available here, whilst a Reserva with 18 months ageing and a Gran Reserva with 26 months are aimed at the export market.

All are sold under the Bisila label and are available from SGI Drinks, Pza Barranquet, Valencia. Around ten thousand bottles have been sold so far and the aim is that 10% of the selling price will go to the project.

Wine-maker, Raquel Armero.

Of this range I can testify to the quality of the Shiraz/Tempranillo , a bright, youthful purple wine, with fresh and mature red fruit on the nose and a long fruity mouthful, easy to drink on its own or good with barbecues and the Cava Brut Nature, straw yellow with golden hints, very fine persistent bubbles, patisserie on the nose and good acidity with a long dry finish.

I am hoping to taste more wines from the range on a visit to the bodega in March once the building works are complete and have a bottle of the Cava Rosé recommended to drink with a seafood rice dish shortly!

 

 

Back to Basics? ….A Look at some Cooperative Wines.

Pedralba Wine Club.

Over the last couple of weeks, with the over-indulgence of Xmas behind us, I thought it might be time to look at some of the wines produced by Co-operatives within the Valentino district of D.O. Valencia. This is one of the sub-divisions of the D.O. and takes in two quite specific areas. First is the area around the towns of Alcublas, Villar d´Arzobispo, Lliria, Casinos, Pedralba , and Chulilla……towns that sit at  between 200 and 650m above sea level and where Merseguera, Plantafina, Macabeo and Pedro-Ximinez provide the white wines and Garnacha, Cabernet Sauvignon and Tempranillo the reds. The long  valley which holds another ( `Alto Turia´) sub-division climbs away from here Westwards towards Titaguas and Alpuente and vineyards up to 900 metres.

The second sub-division of Valentino however is dedicated to Moscatel, normally Alexandria or Romano, taking its name from the grapes which in Roman times provided the popular wines from Valentia which were exported to the entire Roman Empire. This sub-division includes towns such as Chiva, Cheste, Godelleta, Montroy, Monserrat and Turis. There are red grapes grown here and sold  by the local co-ops and organisations such as Bodegas Vinival who are bulk wine traders. The Moscatels are king ( or queen ) here, producing Mistelas or Vinos de Licor, sweet wines stopped by adding alcohol to preserve the natural sugars but there are dry whites from the same variety, dry and sweet espumosas and even an Orujo commercialised in the zone.

And although many of these wines are first choice for locals who still go to the co-operatives to buy their daily tipple, for drinking with elevenses or lunch, they are often far from basic and there are some traditional wines produced across the two zones which appear to be  largely unknown in Valencia itself !

It is just coming up to two years since I became involved with setting up a tasting club in Pedralba. Today there are members from Monserrat and Torrente and Vilamarxant as well. It was for the first tasting that I initially went looking for some wines from local producers rather than looking for top bodegas, there would hopefully be opportunities to look at some of these at later tastings…….just what we have done in fact, sampling wines from Castellon, Utiel-Requena, Alicante as well as all the parts of D.O.Valencia.

As the next tasting is in Monserrat I thought it might be time to go back, look at some of the bodegas we had first sampled and see if there was anything new.

Ximo Semillon.

I started in Villar D´Arzobispo, where the El Villar and Comeche bodegas have provided wines in the past. Although Comeche continues to produce quality wines , quite  a lot of it exported, apart from buying several litres of the excellent Rancio Solera for my barrel at home there was nothing new whilst next door in the new shop from which El Villar sell their wines I found a Semillon, sold under the Ximo label. Semillon is a newly permitted variety, wines were only beginning to be produced from a couple of experimental plots when I arrived. There were as I was told small plots in the Turia valley and up near Siete Aguas. Covibex, the Valencian experimental bodega in Chiva, a modern establishment built to replace  local bodegas in Lliria, Bugarra, Gestalgar, Pedralba and Vilamarxant produced a basic dry semillon and a barrel fermented version both of which I tried some time back. The Semillon from El Villar is 12.5% ABV, from the 2010 vintage. A straw colour, green and golden flashes, clean and bright. On the nose nice acidity, I was surprised at the ripe fruit, honey and citric notes which evolved and as the wine opens across the palate these were added to by green apple, as well as hints of peaches. The back lable suggests the wine is good with seafood, shell-fish and white meat. We had it with clochinas al vapor, Valencian mussels in a little wine with lemon and garlic. Perfect! An inexpensive wine at 2.20€ a bottle and one which I will now be stocking!

Nothing much seemed to have changed at the Co-op in Casinos which dates to 1952. We had tried their astonishing Vi Dolç at the first tasting….Xmas pudding in a glass!

Pedralba´s wine making ended at the co-op a few years ago and now the wines are made in a big co-op on the A3 motorway. So nothing new there although the Bonachon  brand remains a very good sweet wine.

The new wines from Cheste Agraria, the co-op which produces Reymos were covered in my post on the second Sweet wine Fair held in Valencia at the DO HQ in Calle  Quart.

Wines from Godelleta.

So I crossed the motorway and headed to Godelleta, the first town on this stretch of the CV 50 which runs down through the pretty countryside towards the coast. Acting on a tip-off I wanted to see what else was being produced apart from the honeyed Moscatel Vino de Licor. Well what a surprise was awaiting! Three additions to the range I had not seen or tasted before!

First of these is a white dry Moscatel, Castillo Godelleta and 12%ABV. Produced from a selection of grapes which are young and fruity, all Moscatel de Alejandria, the wine is a product of cold maceration and cold fermentation. This has resulted in a pale yellow wine, clean, bright and lighter than the Semillon. On the nose it is fresh, aromatic with hints of apricots and in the mouth it retains its freshness, good acidity, and fruit which grows but remains subtle ending with a nice mineraly, long dry finish. A nice wine as an aperitif as well as good with the clochinas! I find this an interesting wine, clearly produced to compete with Alicante dry moscatels such as Marina Alta and Bahia de Denia. For me it is not quite there yet but…..at 1.90€ it is half the price and very good value price to quality.

Also new to me was an 11.5% Espumoso ( we are outside the Cava DO and in any case it is from a non-permitted variety )  Moscatel . Fine bubbles rise through this yellow gold wine, bright  and with hints of green apples, white flowers and lemon peel on the nose. In the mouth I was expecting a sweet wine but no, it is dry, rich and with just that subtle hint of fresh sweet fruit, A good long finish, a satisfying wine. Bottled for the bodega by Pago de Tharsys and at 4.50€ a bottle of something else to try at the Monserrat tasting.

Newly Pruned Moscatel Vine.

Finally and keeping up the association with Pago de Tharsys I spotted the Orujo in its slim black box……  Orujo is rather more traditional in Galicia than here in Valencia, where you tend to see the variety steeped with herbs, in bars. However Pago de Tharsys in Requena have been commercialising their orujo from  Albarino for a while and BOCOPA, the Alicante Co-operative also commercialise a pure orujo from Moscatel. This one is a bargain 12.10€ a bottle ( 50cl) and has been added to the cellar!

Armed with enough wines for the next tasting it seems I will need to visit some of the other Cooperatives in DO Valencia shortly….. Alto Turia and Clariano here we come!

A Visit to Bodega Enologica Oleana, Vinos Marsilea in Sinarcas, Utiel-Requena.

January is not generally a month for sun-loving softies to go to the interior , here in Valencia. Cold mornings are made worse by a serious drop in temperatures as you rise away from Valencia and head West towards Requena. Sinarcas, our destination for this visit is even higher at 900m above sea level and 3º was the best on offer temperature wise.

Sebastián Mancebo, Winemaker at Ecologica Oleana.

Sinarcas is the furthest of the towns making up the Utiel-Requena denomination, home also to a co-operative and Bodegas Pasiego, is a centre of chicken farms ( most of Valencia´s eggs are produced here) and to all intents and purposes appeared to be a sleepy little town, the only signs of life being the occasional lone worker pruning vines.

Fortunately, our host, Sebastián Mancebo, wine-maker at Oleana had booked us in for almuerzo in the excellent Bar Sinarcas. This consisted of a hearty plate of sausages, made at the bar itself, pisto, the obligatory fried eggs and  fresh bread washed down of course by a selection of the bodegas wines, followed by coffee and an orujo with honey…..a very good start!

Sebastián first impressed me with the bodega´s wines at the 2010 Valencia wine and food fair. The bodega is wholly ecological and proudly displays the Valencian Government´s certificate on the back labels of their wines. Situated in a warehouse on the edge of town, the bodega is relatively small and Sebastián makes mono-varietal wines from Bobal ( Rosado, Joven and Methode Tradicional) , Merlot, and a blend of red from Syrah, Merlot, Tempranillo and Bobal and whites from Verdejo and Gewurtztraminer all from the 60 hectares of vines ( and from some 28 small parcels with different orientations) at this family owned vineyard.

There are also vinos de agujo, a white and a rosado and a bag in the box range, all called Albiar. The wines are sold in Valencia City through a distributor but Sebastián is developing overseas markets including Germany and Belgium and, good news, Birmingham in the UK! He hopes to go to wine-fairs in Germany, the UK and France this year to develop these markets.

20 Year Old Tempranillo.

Marsilea is the name for the top wines from the bodega and Fusion is the coupage made in 2009 from Bobal, Tempranillo, Merlot and Syrah which, in 2011 will for certain be without the Tempranillo as Sebastián was unhappy with the quality and sold it on to someone else. The Merlot is of sufficient quality to reserve some this year for a mono-varietal, a former marque  which has not been produced for 2-3 years.

The vineyards are the typically red soil of the region, sandy, stony and poor in quality despite being between the two dry river-beds of the Rambla Madre and the Rambla de la Hoz which feed the Oleana, ( or Rio Magro) which in turn passes through Requena on its way to the Cabriel and ultimately the sea.

And so to the wines.

We started over breakfast with the Fusion 2009 which is 14.5% ABV. The wine has a good youthful colour still, violet and with long legs. The nose is packed with fruit red, black and with lots of jam. In the mouth it is a full, fruity, easy to drink red, the fruit going well with the spicy sausages and pisto which accompanied it.

Equally good was the Marsilea Brut Nature, Methode Tradicional, Valentià, 100% Bobal and the only rosado in this style made from this variety in the region. The bottle had enjoyed 28 months on its lees before dis-gorging on 1 December 2010, thus enjoying another couple of years maturing which accounted for the very `champignon´ shaped cork which failed to expand. A quite full rose, strawberry colour, with lots of very fine , persistent bubbles, on the nose patisserie, toasty with soft fruits and in the mouth, full, nice attack , very well-balanced and a  surprisingly good match with guëno, chorizo and morcilla!

In the bodega we embarked on a tasting of 2011´s from deposit.

Gewurztraminer 2011.

The Verdejo was pale gold, with long legs and on the nose bananas, ripe tropical fruit, grassy and herby and in the mouth satisfying dry, but full, buttery and with a mineral finish. The wine is ready and awaiting bottling.

The Gewurztraminer is the only pure mono-varietal wine made in the Valencian region from this German/Alsacian grape. Very gold on the nose, clean, bright, long slow legs. On the nose fragrant, ripe fruit, white flowers, mango, lychee, a little orange scent, almond. In the mouth full, good balance, a wine for drinking young and which will go well with foie, pate, blue cheeses and , dare I say light curries! If this is what Gewurztraminer can produce I think there should be more of it grown! At 13.5% ABV and around 5-6 € a bottle in the shops this is a real find!

The next two wines were pure Bobals, the rosado and the joven. The grapes for these wines are grown at 900-1000m above sea-level, the highest in the DO. As a result the grape skins are thicker and contain more aromatics and colour. Also, the long hot days are complemented by sharp drops in night temperatures and breezes which reduces the stree in the grapes. As a result maturity is slower than around Requena. From a first pressing the wine is, not unexpectedly, reasonably deep in colour, bags of hard-boiled fruits on the nose, bubble-gum and in the mouth strawberries and cream but with a bit more depth of flavour.

In the Bodega.

The Joven from the same vineyards is more concentrated, bright purple and still undergoing a malolactic fermentation. unmistakably Bobal, purple, bright violet-blue edge, very long legs. Very fruity deep, concentrated, and heading shortly for barrica.

2011 has turned out to be a particularly good year for Merlot. This had finished its malolactic fermentation and is 13.1%ABV. Some of this harvest is likely to be retained for a mono-varietal this year, something the bodega has produced in the past but more recently has been included in the Fusion blend. Bright purple, with very long slow legs, colouring the glass, on the nose very sweet, mature damson and plum fruit but concentrated blackcurrant as well, jammy. In the mouth full, jammy and youthful, very concentrated. A wine to look forward to!

That I think is probably a description that I would be happy to apply to this bodega…..wines to look forward to which are always a pleasure to drink. A bodega which deserves to be better known than is currently the case! Another gem in this wonderful DO!

The Bodegas Facade in Sinarcas

A Visit to Bodega La Encina, New Artesans in Wine.

Carlos Espi and Tim O ´Donnell.

 

The tiny hamlet of La Encina is situated close to the border between Alicante, Valencia and Castilla La Mancha. It is close to a number of Bronze age settlements because the location is on the ancient tracks from the coast to the `meseta´ which formed trade routes and those of migration in ancient times.

Today this tiny hamlet of Villena, some 18km away towards Alicante, is recognised as one of just 14 railway building towns in Spain and the only one within the Valencian Community. Population has fluctuated reaching around 1200 in the heyday of railway building ( 1960´s) but today has dropped back to around 150. The houses were built largely for the railway builders along the side of the tracks, still maintained and in use today.

In one small street of houses, tucked below the railway lines between the new high-speed train track and the motorway both of which are under construction, three small buildings make up Bodega La Encina, a new addition to the winemaking tradition in Valencia. Carlos Espi and his uncle, José Maria Espi Sánchez are responsible for the bodega, which has vineyards in la Mancha as well as DO Alicante, although both are just between 2-5 km away from La Encina.

Wines From La Encina.

Wines therefore have  either  the DO Alicante mark, or the Viñedos de España `Vinos de la Tierra´ mark for those coming from the La Mancha vineyards. What both share is an absolute dedication to ecological practices with no use of chemicals or chemical fertilizers. The entire process is carefully handled, small boxes for the grapes, transport in chilled van, hand selection and then all of this is subject to inspection by the authorities Valencian Governments Ecological Agriculture Committee who award the prestigious back label certificate which aids export sales.

I was visiting with Tim O Donnell of the newly created Alizarin Wines in South London who is exploring Valencian vineyards with a view to importing wines for delicatessens, restaurants and for retail sales as well. Good ecological wines fit his business plan well.

Accompanied by Tim´s wife Suzanne, Carlos and José were keen to show us this years wines, still in deposit, and earlier wines from the barrel.

The bodega produces four wines currently. `Cero´ which is Vinos de España, 2008 and a blend of Garnacha, Merlot and Monastrell with ten months in French oak and 10 months in bottle before release. `Albalat´ Roble, with around three months in either French or American oak, `Albalat´Crianza with 8 months in oak and both 90% Monastrell, and `Rojoydulce´a mistela from Monastrell, all of which were reviewed in my post covering the L´ Alcúdia gastronomy fair in October 2011 ( see archive for tasting notes).

Forcallet, Rosado.

The three buildings contain respectively the press, deposits and bottling plant, the offices and the barrel park, some of it underground and some of it in an old pigeon loft……though this also just under ground level! There is a separate finca nearer the vineyards which contains another 100 barrels making up the total of around 2oo that the bodega uses.

The deposits are either stainless steel covered with epoxy resin or plastic and the bodega produces around 35-40 thousand litres a year.

The three varieties used currently are Monastrell, Garnacha and Merlot but there is some Forcallet which is producing a rosado .

It was the Forcallet 2011 we tried first, from deposit and with a deep onion skin which will fade when it is filtered before bottling. On the nose redcurrant fruit and in the mouth a hint of sparkle, fruity but very nicely balanced with acidity, long dry finish. I´m looking forward to trying this when it is released.

Secondly we tried the rojoydulce from deposit, also a rosado colour but much more red than the  Forcallet. This seemed still quite dry to me at this stage but deep in flavour.

 

Albalat Crianza.

 

The Albalat Roble 2010 is now approaching botttling time but we tasted directly from the barrel. The 2010 has had nearer to five months in wood and was full of lovely fruit, perhaps a little stalky at this stage. This will evolve and improve in bottle.

Down in the cellar we tasted the Tinto Cero 2010, 70%  Garnacha,  with the balance being Monastrell and Merlot (5%) .This was a deep dark red in colour, a little astringent currently but with Morello cherry fruit and green apple skin flavours. We tasted the same wine, but this time one which was bottled three months ago, from  which the green apple flavours had completely disappeared, This was rounder, more integrated and softer…..and interesting because it showed the influence of bottle in the evolution of wine.

We also tasted the 2010 Albalat Crianza from barrel before moving back upstairs to taste the 2011 varietals direct from deposit. ( `Albalat ´ is  Valencià for a Pago, like a French Chateau a bodega surrounded by it´s vineyards).

The Garnacha is a deep purple colour, 14% ABV, full of fruit and with a good depth. This is ready to go to barrel now which will happen once the Roble has been bottled. With ageing and rounding out in wood this looks like being a spectacular wine for eventually blending.

The Monastrell was if anything even more purple and heady, bags of fruit on the nose and floral notes, great bunches of violets! These were carried through into the mouth which was very full and deep at this stage.

Monastrell 2011 From Deposit.

José told us the soils were very poor, in places sandy and the rest full of stone but that the vines produced better wine if they had to struggle a bit. He described his vineyards as quite stressed! Certainly this was not a description you could apply to either Carlos or José. the latter a former architect who started the project about 10 years ago but who, with the crisis in full swing, now has rather more time to spend on his  new project. Both were very animated and happy with the progress they are making.

A good thing too! The wines have been well received and I have used them in tastings already. They have also been selected twice by Vino-Valencia for their events and  also have a very good price to quality ratio. There are plenty more reposing in the cellars at La Encina. This is officially now a bodega on my list of those to watch and next time I visit I am looking forward to accepting the invitation to lunch in the vineyards!

 

 

 

 

An Interesting Bottle Came My Way…Awatea Hawkes Bay 1992 Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot.

Awatea, So Good I took Two Pictures!

Pre-Xmas, sat at home, Arroz al Horno de Xativa ( home-cooked) for lunch and I felt I needed to try something different to drink!

So a hunt through the older bottles in the cellar offered up a New Zealand wine with a bit of age and promise and well….you can only open it once!

From memory Hawkes Bay and most of New Zealand  shares the equivalent of a Northern European climate. It is for this reason their Sauvignon Blancs like Cloudy Bay have a European feel if being a bit more grassy on the nose.

So, Awatea ( which means `Eye of the Dawn´ in Maori) is a  Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot with a touch of Cabernet Franc and with almost 20 years of age it raised my interest ….would it be past it? Would it still be alive and with promise or even better still? Where did the bottle come from? Well, from memory I think my youngest  brother gave it to me some years ago but whatever, it has been well cellared and today was the day to open it!

The neck level appeared to be normal, no loss there so no expectation of unwanted oxidation. The cork appeared perfect but proved to be shorter than expected… don´t these New Zealanders expect us Brits to keep bottles longer than they might? And, the cork broke in half, despite its lack of length!

Disappointed so far….? Not me, I could smell what the bottle had to offer…..immediately  fruit of the forest…..it fairly flowed from the neck!

And when I poured the first glass I could barely believe the colour……no hints of terracotta on the edge despite nearly 20 years, this was a bottle with a deep, dark, black cherry colour with almost a ruby edge! Long legs slowly crept down the glass and that fruit continued to dominate, now the whole room could smell it,  I think!

Arroz al Horno.

On the nose I was amazed! Here we have a wine picked between 21-30 April 1992 ( Southern Hemisphere of course!) The grapes were macerated for 10-15 days and following the malolactic fermentation it was transferred  into French oak ( 70% of it new) for 18 months. We are dealing here with a wine that is 92% Cabernet Sauvignon and 4% each of Merlot and Cabernet Franc, but we might have been dealing with a very good Chinon or Bourgeuil  because on closer attention to me it was the Cabernet Franc that dominated the nose….that lovely raspberry  fruit I remember so well from Druet or Lamé-Delille-Boucard  wines I drank many bottles of in the 80´s on visits to the area or with friends in London.

Also on the nose was a clear hint of clove.

In the mouth there was no disappointment. What a fine wine! That raspberry fruit had a gravel, mineral undertone, still mature fruit and still very lively….two and a half hours later I am still enjoying the second glass which is full, round, long-lived and extremely well balanced…..oh how I wish my brother had brought me a half-dozen bottles!

Worth Another Look!

What a pleasure, it stood up very, very well to the fat in the pork ribs, the sweetness of the roasted garlic, saffron and morcilla de cebolla.

This may have been a self-indulgent lunch on a cold, very windy, Valencian Autumn day but one I shall remember for a very long time to come!

Ricardo´s Ten Most Enjoyed Valencian Wines of 2011.

Tasting in Villena.

Well 2011 has been a spectacular year for tastings with first visits to regions outside Valencia, some hot tastings in Valencia, some wonderful evenings at Las Añadas, Vino-Valencia, Pedralba and Vilamarxant Wine Clubs, some great fairs in Valencia, Requena, Alicante and Castellon and a host of Bodega visits!

Now, of course any list is entirely subjective, it doesn´t matter whether you are Peñin, Parker, Miller, Els Bodeguers or an avid supporter of Verema. We all have aspects about wine which excite us more and in the final analysis even if you know a particular wine is spectacular it will not make it to a final list if something else in another wine tips the balance, be it fruit, a preference for French or American oak,  concentration or just plain quirkiness or a preference for a particular variety or disdain of the same! And please remember these are the wines I most enjoyed, not necessarily the best

Poster for 3rd Cava Fair.

All I know is that going back over the years tasting notes there were wines each time which got exclamation marks and `loved it´in the margin! No boring gradation from 1.1 to 9.9 in my notes! ( Well there are  and it was surprising how many made it into the 8.2 to 9.2 range!) And on that note any bodega which feels their wine should be included in my list….I am sorry…..all wines not included are 0.1 point below the succesful ones!

Let us start with cava….and what a list there was to choose from including some which don´t count as cava because they are made outside the DO or from grape varieties that are not permitted. Amongst these are the `Metodo Propio´ of Carlos Carcel whose just disgorged bottle we enjoyed at the bodega or brother Ernesto´s 9 D’Octubre….both pure Macabeos. Amongst the strong contenders….and still in the running for Xmas Selection ( which comes later) along with these two are three more from Requena, `Sybarus ´from Torroja, Chozas Carrascal and Vera de Estenas. Top contenders for me were however ArteMayor from Dominio de la Vega together with their Pinot Noir rosado, Hispano Suiza´s Tantum Ergo and their rosado also from Pinot Noir, or Pago de Tharsy´s Unico….a `blanc de noir´ from pure Bobal. There is also a 6-year-old cava lurking in the cellars of bodegas Cueva where Mariano Taberner has been conducting one of his experiments! Well Hispano Suiza did rather well with the critics who probably know much better than me naming the rosado best Cava……..but for me `Unico´ just wins, a distinct quality wine which for me is better value than commercial champagne such as Veuve Cliquot, Lanson, etc.

With carlos Carcel.

In fresh whites the choice was immense from varieties such as Macabeo, Merseguera, Verdil, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Tardana, Viognier, Riesling, Moscatel, Malvasia  and more. Of the Tardanas the outstanding wine is of course Sybarus from Torroja. ( A Spanish friend thinks he knows of a small parcel which still remains in Pedralba- where it will be called Plantafina and which could possibly be recuperated.) Of the Verdil´s the best for me is Belda´s 2011, much cleaner and fresher than the 2010. I still like a co-operative white from Merseguera, Balcon de Valencia from Alcublas and loved some of the dry moscatels from Alicante, but in the end Macabeo produced some of the best wines in this category, full of ripe melon and green apple, satisfying with lovely acidity it does grow well in Valencia. Torre Oria, Marmiton, Enterizo from Coviñas in Requena, Vera de Estenas, the list is immense but the wine which stood out was the Marmiton, accompanying morteruelo and ajoarriero in La Sarten in La Portera…. a truly unforgettable couple of bottles with a wonderful meal!

Finca Collado at the Valencia Mostra.

No messing about with the cask aged whites. There were chardonnays from Vinessens, a new bodega in Villena, Viña Lidon from Vera de Estenas, Sauvignon Blanc from Hispano Suizas….(who can forget that vertical tasting of five vintages?)  Ernesto Carcels Macabeo crianza from American oak and of course Chardonnay from Alvarez Nölting and Finca Collado´s blend of Chardonnay and Moscatel from Salinas in Alicante. Magnanimvs blanco, Clemente´s Florante , Angosto Blanco and Frailes Blanco also performed memorably in this category.

Els Bodeguers placed the Alvarez Nölting first and gave the silver to Finca Collado ( ahead of Daniel Belda) which  also went on to win a Bachus later in the year. Of the pure Chardonnays Viña Lidon is hands down winner for me with its  banana fruit and acidity in 2010 but overall I just prefer the Finca Collado 2010, DO Alicante,  blended with Moscatel which now has wonderful citrus ( grapefruit) flavours.

In the rosados Beldas 2010 Merlot, Finca Collado´s Merlot, Pedro Moreno´s Bobal, Parreño from Latorre, Vera de Estenas  Bobal, Torre Oria´s and some others were refreshing, easy drinkers. Amongst the biggest prizewinners were the rosados from Bobal from Coviñas who consistently provide outstanding wines in the category. Of the range from Enterizo, Al Vent or Aula the Al Vent was the winner in this catgory, lovely colour, fresh fruit and cream nose but with a hint of minerality and better acidity in the finish.

In the light red category there were some interesting wines from  2010, generally considered difficult in Utiel-Requena, better in Valencia  Castellon and Alicante although there was a lot of oidium and a lot of treatment as a result.

Of the  reds with a touch of cask ageing Vicente Flors `Flor de Clotas´ from Tempranillo, Bobal from Dominio de la Vega, Cero from La Encina a new ecological bodega in Villena, the 2009 Merlot from Finca Collado, the Martinez Bermell Merlot from Vera de Estenas , La Peña from Alejandro Perez  a small family bodega in Mañan and the green label Viñas de Calles from Vegamar have all excited at tastings. For me the Finca Collado and Vera de Estenas, the Bobal from Dominio de la Vega are serious wines whilst the La Peña and Viña de Calles are more everyday drinkers. Judging by the number of bottles which came through the house or those of friends the La Peña wins the former light red category and the Martinez Bermell the slightly more serious category. There were no basic tintos which excited me at all!

In the `proper´cask-aged reds category there are some very heavyweight contenders. Wines from Muro (Almoroig) , Torrevellisca, Belda, Enguera, Mendoza, Carabibas,  six of the seven members of the  Asociación Primum Bobal, Olivastro, Mustiguillo, Emilio Clemente, and from Castellon `Clotas´ from Vicente Flors, a Tempranillo that I will forever remember standing up to artichokes, Gabriel Mayo Garcia´s Platinum series, a whole host of wines with depth, concentration and flavour.

Serious Contenders from Muro D´Alcoy.

Bobal is such a distinct grape and with such potential that `best bobal´ is a category in its own right. The only rule was that it had to be a pure 100% monovarietal.  Contenders were Olivastro from Viñedos y Bodegas Carres, Pago de Molinos from Dani Esposito, `Casa Don Angel´ from Vera de Estenas, all three quite distinct wines. I have enjoyed the Pago at Asociación tastings, the Vera de Estenas at special tastings and lunch at the bodega and the Olivastro at home as well as the bodega. For me there is very little to separate them but for me the 2008 Olivastro just edges the other two for its explosive fruit. All three develop after opening and are outstanding wines from the variety that demonstrate the ageing potential, depth, concentration and flavours possible.

For me the other winner in this category is the Carabibas, Sierra de Cabreras from Salinas ( DO Alicante) a wine of huge concentration but pushed hard by the Almoroig,  Mendoza´s Petit Verdot, Terrerazo from Mustiguillo,  Ca Belda, with a lot more coming up on the rails!

In sweet wines where to go? Moscatels abound in Valencia and are concentrated but not exclusive to the Marina Alta in DO Alicante and the area around Turis in DO Valencia ( Valentino). But there are some produced in Utiel-requena from Bobal (Sybarus or Dagon ) and from other varieties at Dominio de la Vega and Chozas Carrascal amongst others. In Castellon La Palera produced around Vilafames is a sweet sticky syrup of figs from Tempranillo and we should not forget the Bonachon from Pedralba ( Garnacha) or the dulce from Comeche in Villar d´Arzobispo or the sweet reds from Alicante from Monastrell, not to mention the Fondillons from around Monovar. Some of the Moscatels are produced as light espumosos such as those from Bocopa and Reymos from Cheste. There are also wines produced for the mass from Malvasia in Turis and this year was a delight even if the Sweet wine fair in Valencia and the Alicante LomejordeGastronomia had rather less to taste this year than last.

Miquelius from Bodegas Dagon.

Two straight winners……. in sticky reds it has to be the unforgettable Dagon and in the lighter espumos0s Reymos for it´s consistency and light easy drinking!

So there you go, my favourite 10 wines of this year. Bet they will all be different at the end of 2012!

 1. Cava….Pago de Tharsys Unico.

 2. Light Whites….Marmiton Macabeo 2010 , DO Utiel-Requena.

3. Oaked Whites….Finca Collado Blanco 2010, DO Alicante.

4. Rosado….Bobal …Al Vent 2010 Coviñas DO Utiel-Requena.

5. Young reds……La Peña Alejandro Perez. DO Alicante.

6. Medium reds….. Martinez Bermell Merlot, Vera de Estenas, DO Utiel-Requena.

7.Serious Reds…Bobal…Olivastro 2008 , Carrés, DO Utiel-Requena.

8. Serious reds…Other Varieties….Carabibas, Sierra de Cabreras 2009 DO Alicante.

9. Sweet Wines….Heavy…Bobal, Bodegas Dagon, Utiel-Requena.

10. Sweet Wines…Espumosos, Reymos, Cheste Co-op. DO Valencia.

Vilafamés, Gastronomy Days 2011.

Poster for the Vilafamés Fair.

Just once in a while, despite thinking you know somewhere well, something jumps out and gives you a huge surprise! The Jornadas Gastronòmiques de Vilafamés was one of these. Normally these `Jornadas´ are held in local restaurants in a town and are a showcase for local cooking at reasonable prices and this was no exception with all the bars and restaurants displaying tables laid up for excited diners in the know. Unusually I think this is accompanied by a local fair in the market place in Vilafamés, a very pretty town about an hour North of Valencia with a ruined castle and set in a steep valley between mountain ranges.

I think I have been to Vilafamés five or six times this year, it is the home to Bodegas Mayo Garcia and Señorio de Vilafames, as well as having a local Co-op bodega as well. It also is home to the olive oil Co-op named after the local mountain peak of Penyagolosa.

From the town there are astounding views over the Plà de Vilafames and the vineyards it contains, in the narrow streets with their tall  houses, some built into the stone of the mountainsides there is colour and a vibrancy which may well be due to the light.

Discussing Sausages at Casa Marta.

It was this colour which first surpised me on arrival at the fair. Our usual parking space in the towns main square was not available due to the marquee in which local bakers, butchers, sausage-makers, the olive oil co-op and Bodegas Mayo Garcia were showing their range of wines called Magnanimvs. Here also, local restaurants were displaying their menus and taking bookings for lunch or dinner.

Outside it was a very bright and warm December day, we have been enjoying an Autumn with daytime temperatures still around 18 degrees and so far without frosts. Inside the marquee, often drab and uninviting, the colours abounded on the various stalls.

We were to be tempted by Bunuelos and figs from the local housewives association served with a sweet rich Moscatel Vino de Licor.

In a corner one of the local butchers, Casa Marta, which also provides a take-away service, were displaying a huge range of sausages, white, black and red, blanquettes, longanizas, chorizos, botifarras, sobrasadas and morcillas, perro and artesan cheeses with rosemary, olives and in the traditional servilleta and tronchon shapes. From here we selected a sheeps cheese, `El Poble Benessal´semi-curado and from an artesan cheesemaker, a member of the Valencian Cheese Makers Association.

Selection of Breads and Cocas.

From the next door bakers stall Forn de Pa Natural , we selected a  bread weighing about a pound, crisp and fresh, to add to our emerging lunch. To this we added a generous portion of coca, like a pizza base but dressed with sardine, anchovy, red pepper, and aubergine slices.

At the nearby butchers stall of Maria Dolores (MD from the next village of St Joan del Moro) we admired another selection of sausages. Amongst the longanizas frescas was a range which to all intents and purposes could have been English. Thicker in style and with herbs and spices we could have had pork with wine, sobrasada, pork with roquefort, with garlic or other varieties! We selected pork with ajos-tiernos , young green garlic and a botifarra montaña with spices.

Next we called at the stall of Gabriel Mayo Garcia, a very good winemaker and selected some white Magnanimvs as well as the red `Gold top´-as well as sampling the Rosado and `Platinum Top´! These wines have all been reviewed following previous visits to the Bodega earlier in the year ( see archives). Wines should also have been available from both the Co-op, Bodegas Vilafamés, and Señorio de Vilafamés whose cavas and reds I particularly like, but despite advertising their presence neither were there.

Moscatel, Vino de Licor at the Housewives Stall.

Moving on we tried a sobrasada, quite mild, from Estela and some savoury tarts from Entrepans Paima, before stealing outside for a refreshing beer. Here the other bakery in the village, Rafael Galindo, was doing a roaring trade with his chocolate covered fruits. This bakery is renowned for its sweets and sweet tarts and we have visited it before to try almond based pastries!

Up the hill towards the Church and Castle, local shops were selling ceramic and other products. One of these shops is a local delicatessen `La Palera´. Every visit to the town has culminated here so far to buy a few bottles of the Vi dolç, a dark sweet syrup of figs pudding wine from long aged Tempranillo with pasification.  Paco and Mari-Carmen sell quality wines from Castellon, dispense samples of their sweet wine and otherwise have good quality olive oil, honey, marmalades and tourist oriented goods! This time they were dispensing samples of a new white and rosado from their own grapes which they are now commercializing. The white is dry, from Malvasia, Merseguera and Moscatel and was light, fresh, dry, well-balanced with floral notes and apricots and a good finish. The rosado is onion skin in colour with nice viscocity. On the nose quite closed, it may have been a little over chilled but in the mouth was full of fruit, with an initial sweetness balanced by fresh acidity and lovely raspberry and strawberry flavours, quite full with a creamy long finish. From Tempranillo and , unusual in Castellon, Bobal.

Outside La Palera.

We strolled  down the hill, had a coffee, this time avoiding the Carajillo de Ron, ( a lethal rum based coffee) for which the town is infamous and made our way back to the car. From here an hours drive home saw us cooking the sausages and laying out our impromptu lunch. I can only say these were amongst my favourite sausages from Valencia, the Botifarra spicy and peppery and the longaniza with its garlic….well, garlicky but not overso! Both had a wonderful texture and displayed no fat in the cooking……the coca of sardine was excellent with the bread base easy to eat and neither too oily nor dry. The bread was fresh, easy to carve and well….our next visit to Vilafamés will now have other motives than just visiting the bodegas!

A Visit to Bodegas Mustiguillo, Finca Terrerazo, Bodegas Pasiego and Lunch in San Antonio.

Bodegas Mustiguillo.

It was a  weekend in which we were spoilt for choice, The third Valencian Fair showing DO Cava made around Requena but representing Bodegas from Castellon to Fontanars was being held in the Plaça Arbol in the centre of Valencia under cloudless skies. Casinos, a centre of almond growing was holding it´s annual Turron fair. In Fontanars, Terres dels Alforins the new eno-tourism organisation representing bodegas from the immediate environs held its first  wine fair at Daniel Belda´s bodega.

This week also sees Las Añadas de Utiel-Requena, the annual fair held in Valencia by  the DO at which associated bodegas show some of their newer releases, not necessarily those from the 2011 vintage. Plus there were offers of bodega visits to  taste the new wines from Vicente Flors and a cheese tasting in central Valencia.

`Terroir´ Award.

It was I believe impossible to fit all this in, but somewhat difficult to decide what to omit………..so when the chance came to visit Bodegas Mustiguillo, Finca Terrerazo near Utiel followed by lunch in the region it seemed Saturday was sorted for me! I was very lucky to visit Tony Sarrion at Mustiguillo shortly after arriving in Valencia in the company of José-Luis Contreras of Verema and a group from the University of Valencia and it was a visit that confirmed in my mind what the potential for Valencian wine was.

This week has seen his efforts with ecological wine-making, the terrain and in particular bobal recognised by the University Polytechnic of Valencia, the Gran Pagos organisation and the Valencian Government  with the giving of the `Terroir´ award on Thursday evening.  The time was therefore perfect to visit the bodega and catch up with Tony´s assessment of the development of the property and taste some wines.

Javi Prats, fellow blogger had organised the invitation and we were joined by Fernando Crespo now responsible for the bodegas PR. We joined a tour conducted by Tony himself with around twenty-five other visitors which commenced in the vineyard with its heavily stony soil.

Government Recognition.

His background may have included family vineyards but Tony qualified in Business Management and came to wine making in 1999 when he decided to make a proper job of it and dedicate himself to giving the vines the attention they merited. Finca Terrerazo had been bought in the 1970´s and consisted of some 250 Hectares near to Las Cuevas de Utiel at 800m above sea-level.

The new bodega buildings were constructed around and above the old farm buildings on the site and the first vintage was produced in 1999. The bodega itself is very modern with state of the art technology but this is used to make artesan wines. Currently 85 Hectares are in use for wine-making.

Making those wines well was also more important than following the rules of the DO and from  the outset the wines were no more than Vinos de La Tierra de Terrerazo but by 2010 the fruits of his labour and the extraordinary development of Bobal in particular led the bodega to obtain Pago status which gives its own DO status as well, the first in the Mediterranean to achieve this.

Garnacha in the Vineyard.

The attention to detail starts in the vineyard where you will encounter vines en espalda, en vaso, with or without watering all according to the type of terroir or the `experiment´ Tony is conducting in evaluating the variety. All this leads to vines which produce very small bunches of tightly packed grapes, the best for producing high quality bobal based wines.

Selection continues in picking by hand, then refridgeration for at least 24 hours before a second-hand sorting to ensure only the very best fruit used. Fermentation takes place in stainless steel and the bodega has around 20 small deposits, including 3.5k litre wooden tanks. In the cellar beneath the wines conduct their malolactic fermentation and crianzas in one of around 200 oak barrels from a number of different producers.

Further details on this process are to be found in Javi Prats blog, visiting Bodegas Mustiguillo  http://javiprats.blogspot.com  . Following the visit to the subterranean barrel park we repaired to the tasting room to try two of the wines for which the bodega is rightly renouned, Mestizaje and Terrerazo.

Mestizaje in Gran Format!

Mestizaje 2010 is a young bobal in blend with other varieties, 13.5% ABV and VdeT de El Terrerazo. A medium to deep cherry and plum red with violet edge, and has very fat, long slow legs. It is quite brilliant and glossy. On the nose cherry and a little alcohol, violets and a spiky raspberry fruit. In the mouth initially acidic, then opens really quickly with violets, blackcurrant and if it wasn´t for the acidity would be full of boiled sweets. In fact it is well-balanced, nicely structured and round.

The Terrerazo 2005 by contrast is a much deeper cherry colour, with a more ruby edge, long legs. On the nose it has more depth, plum, damson, jam, cedar wood, menthol, clove and then more concentrated mature fruit, raisins, tobacco, chocolate and liquorice. Very complex , full and in the mouth a very round well-balanced wine, full of mature fruit with smooth tannins. A fabulous wine.

The Bodega also makes a top wine Quincha  Corral.

Our visit over we moved on to Bodegas Pasiego in nearby Sinarcas, the most Northern of the towns in the DO and the most high at 900m above sea-level. This is another of the artesan bodegas in the DO situated close to the road Criadoras y Artesanos sell their wines under the Pasiego label.

José-Luis Perez of Pasiego.

 

The bodega has recently undergone re-development and expansion but remains essentially a small bodega with just four wines, a white from Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc, Pasiego Crianza, ( Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvignon) Pasiego Reserva which also includes about 10% Merlot and Pasiego del Autor with Cabernet Sauvignon, Bobal and Tempranillo.

This last wine is one of the Primum Bobal wines, the bodega being a member of the association and provider of some of the grapes for the new wine which is about to be launched by them.

However we were there to sample the varietals from deposit many of which were still in malolactic fermentation. We first tried a Cabernet Sauvignon, full of fruit and green pepper, then a Bobal and finally a Merlot before trying the blended white from deposit which was full of banana, tropical fruit, white flowers and nice acidity. Finally following a chat ( and a glass of the 2010 white ) with José-Luis Perez one of three brothers who own the property we left in search of lunch.

We settled on Bar Ramos in San Antonio where we had both eaten before……..but were very lucky to get a table as , surprisingly for a Saturday lunchtime, it was absolutely packed with tables full of multiple diners! This is clearly a good sign for a restaurant with a great reputation for traditional, local cookery.

 

Ajoarriero, Mortuerelo and Gazpacho in Bar Ramos.

Nor were we disappointed, the wait for the table being rewarded by some of our favourite dishes, ajoarriero, mortuerelo, gazpacho manchego, embutidos and pancetta washed down with the excellent 2005 L ´Angelet from Bodegas Palmera, a wine of great depth and full of mature soft fruit. We finished the meal with Cava from Chozas Carrascal,  generously donated by the adjoining table which had been celebrating a family birthday.

Another excellent visit to two contrasting but excellent bodegas in this exciting wine-growing area and another educational day!

 

L ´Angelet 2005, Bodegas Palmera.