A minor gong

In all the excitement of the harvest I forgot to mention that one of our wines picked up first prize in a local Galician competition for Albariño. As you may know if you read my blog regularly, we do not actively enter too many wine concourses, but now and again an odd bottle slips in, and this is usually the result! In this particular case one of the plus points of winning the competition is this rather attractive trophy, which I think is actually quite tasteful - much better than any cheap-looking silver cup that we sometimes receive......

Meanwhile, back in the bodega, the post-harvest deep cleaning programme is well under way, and we have pressure washers working everywhere to remove the sticky, dried grape juice. As you enter certain parts of the bodega you have to be careful when you open the door that you don't get a blast of water in your face, as nearly happened to me this morning (or perhaps it was on purpose?).

All the musts have now been racked, and we are about to start seeding the tanks, but before we do, I made one last, comprehensive taste of the juice. 2010 has produced a light, fragrant must, with a slightly lower acidity than last year (probably a slightly better balance). In the mouth there are floral overtones with hints of lime blossom, fresh apple, stone pears and as always, a very piercing fruit - very typical of the Albariño grape variety.

Of course we are a very long way off the finished article, but I am pretty confident that our customers will not be disappointed with the resulting wine. Now over to Angela to work her magic.....

Double success!

Seeing double?

My second post of the day is a little more serious, and is certainly worth a mention.

You may or may not know that I have mixed views about the validity of wine competitions, as for various reasons they can be a bit of a lottery - dodgy samples, dodgy judging etc, etc. Consequently, we do not actively participate in the competition circuit, but sometimes it is our importer who will enter wines on our behalf, often without our knowledge. In these circumstances we can at least guarantee that the sample used is quite literally taken 'off the shelf', and there can be no question of it being doctored, or taken from a special tank.

Unbeknown to us, our one and only retail customer in the UK, Marks & Spencer, recently submitted the wine that we ship to them for two competitions - the International Wine Challenge and the Decanter World Wine Awards.

We were lucky enough to be recognised in both, a silver medal from Decanter and a bronze in the IWC. Not bad going, and at least showing some consistency for a wine taken directly from the shop shelf!

I was inclined to make a special photo for the occassion wearing yet another Liverpool shirt, and the eagle eyed (Liverpool supporters) amongst you might notice that there is something very odd about this picture - and not just the fact that there are two of me...... answers on a postcard please.

Top Spanish prize for Casal Caeiro

Casal Caeiro - a wine of 'Distinction'

As you may have gathered if you have read my blog over the last year or so, I am not a great fan of wine competitions - there are often too many inconsistencies, both in the samples submitted, and the wide range of tasting categories.

The GALLAECIA is a local competition, tasted in Santiago de Compostela by 65 sommeliers and professionals who travel from all around Spain to judge the wines. Over 400 Galician wines are submitted, and these are whittled down to a final selection, that in turn are judged by 5 top sommelieres and 5 members of the local Consello Regulador.

There are no gold or silver medals as such, just a Certificate of Distinction, which is recognised by the Xunta of Galicia, the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, and the European Union.

For me at least, the most significant accolades are those bestowed by sommeliers who really understand our wines and denomination, and accredited journalists who make unsolicited tasting notes about our Albariño.

News Flash - Silver in Berlin for Casal Caeiro

Berlin Wine Trophy

The international wine competition in the capital city of Berlin

"Since 1994, Deutsche Weinmarketing has been organising a wine-tasting competition within the frame of the Berlin Wine Fair, which is the largest consumer wine fair in Germany.

From the beginning, this event has been monitored by the Berlin State Wine Office. In 2003, the OIV – the International Organisation of Vine and Wine – supervised and rated the performance of the event. Due to an excellent rating, the Berlin Wine Trophy has been running every year under the aegis of the OIV. This is the highest distinction for the Berlin Wine Trophy event.

However, at the national level, a change in the wine law regulations was necessary to be able to organise a recognised wine-tasting event in Berlin as a non-wine-growing Federal Land like in all other world capitals. After this obstacle was removed in December 2005, the Berlin Senate recognised Deutsche Weinmarketing as the carrier of the international competition “Berlin Wine Trophy” and notified the Federal Ministry and the European Commission accordingly.

We are glad that producers are now able to affix the rankings obtained during the Berlin Wine Trophy as a medal on the respective bottles. An ideal marketing aid assisting consumers with their decision when purchasing high-quality wines. Deutsche Weinmarketing and the whole team of Berlin Wine Trophy are looking forward to present their wines to the international jury for an award during the next wine-tasting event 2007."

Your Berlin Wine Trophy Team

Footnote: Text taken direct from the Wine Trophy website. Is it politically correct to say that this explanation sounds a bit "Vorsprung Durch Technik"?

The success continues - February Press

February has continued where January left off with yet more accolades in the International Press.

In the Annual Vancouver Wine Awards Bodega Castro Martin was a winner in the category of medium white wines, and therefore qualifies as one of British Columbia's top 100 wines. Described as "wild, leesy, highly aromatic and insanely delicious with seafood" (I think this is the first time I have heard our wine described as "wild" - but so long as we keep winning, who cares?!.....

Meanwhile, on the other side of the planet the Australian Financial Review quite liked our Castro Martin too…. Really deep and fragrant; ripe, grilled peach smelling, with lovely fragrant lychee floral smells. Quite rich and viscous on the tongue with ripe stone fruit, but tingly with mouth-watering acidity. Good length and floral mouth aromas too. Quite delicious.

March brings us another exhausting week at Alimentaria.... see our next report for the full lowdown (and photos)