Tea and toast

There is an old saying that goes "a little of what you fancy does you good", and to prove a point I woke up the other day with a craving for some thick cut marmalade on a slice of hot buttered toast. Fortunately I had all the ingredients in my fridge and cupboards, and savoured every mouthful, accompanied by a mug of piping hot Yorkshire tea. It's sometimes the really simple pleasures that manage to hit the spot. Another such example - a rare fillet steak with a thick, freshly-made bearnaise sauce. Simple, but truly a match made in heaven....

Fortunately we are all have different tastes and enjoy different things, so when I used to get asked "which wine should I drink?" my reply was always the same - drink the wine that you enjoy.

Referring back to my post of a week or two ago about food and wine matching, I was lucky enough to dine in a good restaurant in Vigo yesterday. They had a special French promotion, which is highly unusual in Spain and so I jumped at the chance of eating (and drinking) some old, familiar favourites. An excellent Chablis 1er Cru Fourchaume 2008 from probably the best co-operative that I know (anywhere in the world) - La Chablisienne, and a drop of Sauternes, Chateau d'Arche, with dessert.

The Chablis was super dry, racy and stylish, with a shot of steely gunflint running through it. People often talk about the influence of the soil on wine, and I swear that in this case, I could actually taste the calcareous kimmerigian clay and chalk that dominates the region. An absolute joy with the shellfish that I was eating. It's really easy to get excited about wine when a humble meal somehow becomes more memorable for all the right reasons.

Wine transformed

I sometimes write about wine and food pairing, quite simply as I am fascinated by the subject. It's true that there is a lot of snobbery associated with this subject, and quite rightly so. Some of the old fashioned, traditional views just don't stack up, such as drinking red wine with fish, which can be perfectly acceptable given the right combination..... And thereby lies the secret.... the right combination.

There is no doubt that some of the old rules do still apply, and using them simply as a general guideline can sometimes help steer you towards finding new food and wine matches - it's just a matter of trial and error, and believe me there will be a lot of errors along the way!

Some combinations just don't work, and can clash very badly, but the most important thing to remember is that it is actually your perception of the wine that will be modified, and doesn't necessarily mean that the wine by itself is poor. I read only a day or so ago about a serious taster who assessed some wines at a tasting, marked them down as being pretty mediocre, but then had to amend his score when he enjoyed the very same wines with food - the wines had been transformed.

I can quote a very good example of my own from many years ago. I was lucky enough to be eating at the Restaurant Beaugraviere in Mondragon, near Orange at the southern end of the Rhone Valley. It's a restaurant that specialises in truffles, and in those days was not quite as expensive as it is now (the dining room, shown in my picture has also been upgraded quite a lot). We selected one of their speciality dishes of scrambled egg with truffle, and had pretty much given up on the idea of finding a suitable wine - eggs as we know are notoriously difficult to match. The sommelier however, suggested that we try an old white Chateauneuf-du-Pape (from my fading memory I think it might have been a Chateau Rayas Blanc 1983, but I could be wrong). When we were invited to sample the wine before serving, it came out of the bottle as a heavily coloured rather tired looking wine, that was seriously starting to lose it's fruit. We were not really impressed, but opted to persevere - and boy, what a transformation! With the eggs the wine was just sensational, which obviously explains why this experience has been etched into my memory.

Just to finish, I once had the very opposite experience with a beef dish, that I decided to enjoy with a good Red Burgundy. The beef was served with a jus, a reduction of the beef stock made with a drop of red wine, giving it a very strong umami flavour. In theory it should have worked - so why was I getting such a harsh, bitter, metallic sensation in my mouth? When I made a few enquiries I finally discovered that the pureed potatoes had been made with a touch of horseradish sauce! Once again my wine had been transformed, but this time not in a good way.

We live and learn.

Height Cuisine or Haute Cuisine?

I'm sure that we have all had some widely varying experiences when it comes to in-flight dining on aircraft, from the sublime to the downright inedible (ever tried Ainsley Harriott's cup-a-soup on Iberia?) But when did you last stop to consider the amount of work that goes into selecting the food and wines that are served during your flight?

Of course many airlines boast Michelin starred chefs to select and design their menus, and indeed I have heard rumours of regular transatlantic flyers being persuaded to a particular carrier based on the quality of in-flight catering on offer.... and why not?

At Castro Martin we are lucky enough to have had our wine selected for service at high altitude, but did you know that how you perceive your glass will be determined by the length of time that you spend in the air? Cabin pressure can play havoc with your tastebuds over time, and the wine that you adore on the ground might taste tough and bitter after several hours cooped up on a plane.

During the forthcoming 'Taste of London' event later this month, our friends at British Airways will be showcasing their experiences on how food and wine works in the air, and explaining the science behind some of their menu and wine selections.

Personally, I find this subject truly fascinating, and by way of a 'taster' would highly recommend taking a look at this video of an in-flight wine tasting.

Food flavours

A few days ago I wrote about a cheese and wine paring website I had discovered on the web which was both well presented and reasonably informative. Today it is the turn of a book I bought from Amazon that covers the concept of pairing different foods and discusses how various flavour combinations may or may not work together.

It is obviously true to say that there is a very close relationship between food and wine that probably goes a long way towards explaining why nearly every person that I know in the wine trade is also a quite serious 'foodie'. Indeed, if I look at my own collection of books it is probably split 50/50 between wine and food.

This new book is quite simply named The Flavour Thesaurus (by Niki Segnit), and attempts, quite successfully, to do exactly what is says on the cover, providing an extensive reference of foods and their flavours.

By way of a first step to simplify and organise, the book starts by grouping flavours together under headings such as citrus, woodland, meaty, earthy, marine etc., (and you might not always agree with them as taste is always so subjective). One of the things that I still find the most difficult despite my many years in the wine business is trying to express different flavours and taste sensations in words, using vocabulary that people will understand. Fortunately, I was rarely writing my tasting notes for the literary masses, but usually only for my own personal reference, so if I decided to use an obscure turn of phrase I would always know exactly what it meant. For example, I would sometimes write 'spangled fruit' in my notes, which is a reference to the fruit spangle sweets that I used to eat as a child - it is a particular type of slightly tart, piercing, boiled sweet fruit, the important thing being that it was a description that I always understood...... sorry, I digress.

Under each food heading comes the actual pairing, where for example, black pudding might be paired with bacon or chocolate - sounds bizarre? Well, perhaps, but the thing that this book really attempts to do is to stimulate and open your mind to new and untried possibilities. Throw away the old culinary crutches of Delia Smith and Robert Carrier and enter the new and exciting world of endless flavour combinations. For instance, we have all been dazzled in recent years by the audacious food pairings of contemporary chefs such as Ferran Adrià and Heston Blumenthal, so why not buy this book and use it as your inspiration to go a bit wild in the confines of your own kitchen?!

By the way this is strictly a reference book, and so if you only like food books with lots of glossy pictures then forget it, this book is not for you!

More cheese Gromit?

I 'stumbled' across an entertaining new website the other day, strangely named Wisconsin cheese cupid - the name alone is enough to make you curious, or perhaps that's the idea.

Obviously you can take a look yourself, but the site is all about matching cheese and wine. Unfortunately they don't list albariño, but they do have riesling, which is similar when it comes to paring with cheese. They recommend a dozen cheeses to go with that particular wine, including many with very strong flavours which sounds about right, but interestingly they do not include the strong goat's cheese that many people think goes perfectly.

This actually reminds me of an amusing story from my wine buying days. I was once visiting the famous village of Chavignol in the Loire Valley of France, looking for some decent Sancerre to buy for my company - it was lunch time. Crottin de Chavignol is a well known goat's cheese with its very own AOC, and as the name implies, can only be made in that very place. It was therefore not difficult to find a restaurant with cheese on the menu, and indeed, I actually selected one which had a special Crottin menu....

To cut a long story short, I think the only thing that didn't include cheese were the salt and pepper pots on the table (although they may have been tainted). To be very frank it was a slight case of 'overkill', and in the end I was actually glad to leave and get back to some normal, non-cheese food! If it's possible to have a goat's cheese nightmare, then that was probably it.

Having said all that, try it with your albariño some time!

Great with Turkey!

With only 30 days left until Thanksgiving it just gives you enough time to place your order for some Albariño (and a bit longer if you want to drink it with your Christmas turkey)!

OK, so it may be a bit of a ploy to boost our sales a little, but I am really not joking when I say that our wine is particularly good with poultry. Obviously it depends on the type of trimmings that you are planning to serve with your bird, whether you decide to make a traditional turkey gravy using the giblets and the neck, or whether you decide to 'spice it up' a little, as I often do. Now when I say spice it up, I don't mean spice in the sense of pepper, chillis or anything hot, I mean spice it up by perhaps introducing a few less traditional flavours. For example, one that I use quite a lot with chicken or turkey is a lemon and tarragon gravy - simply adding a sprig or two of tarragon and the juice of half a lemon to my sauce. This just gives the gravy a nice tangy 'lift', and adds a bit of an unconventional twist to the traditional recipe.

It goes without saying that your tender, juicy turkey meat with just a hint of tarragon and lemon makes an ideal partner for our albariño..... don't just take my word for it, try it and see for yourself!

Madeira makes a comeback

I read somewhere quite recently, that the sales of Madeira have increased by up to 20% in the last 12 months and that it was making a come back..... for me at least, it has really never been away.

OK, so I have to confess that I am not really too much of a Madeira drinker, but always have a bottle in my kitchen cupboard that I use much more for cooking purposes than I do for quaffing. I guess that this gives my age away, in that Madeira is a pretty old-fashioned, or should I say, traditional cooking ingredient, which quite curiously is extensively used in the French Repertoire de la Cuisine. Anyway, I highly recommend using a less expensive bottle to splash into a tomato based or brown sauce for meat, whilst the good stuff can be reserved for more serious appreciation.

Madeira wine as we know it today actually evolved over centuries, and was developed by a series of 'happy accidents'. The story begins with the discovery of the island by João Gonçalves - the wonderfully nicknamed O Zarco "the cross-eyed", in 1418. It was a regular port of call on the busy shipping routes between Europe, the New World and the East Indies. Originally covered by forest (hence it's name - Madeira meaning 'wood' in Portuguese), it was eventually cleared and planted mostly with sugar cane, but also with wheat and a few vines imported by different European settlers.

As the sugar cane market declined, so the wine became more important, and by the middle of the 16th century it started to be exported to America, Brazil, the West Indies and England. This new Madeira wine became a great favourite in America, and its style was already starting to evolve, probably more by accident than by design. On its long sea journeys around the world the wine would be subjected to very high temperatures and start to oxidise within the wooden casks that were used for shipping. This baked, oxidised wine actually becoming such an acquired taste that it was a firm favourite of General Washington, and was drunk to celebrate his inauguration as President of the United States.

It was during the 18th century that alcohol was used to fortify the wine, but again this was not a planned development. As exports were halted by sea battles around the islands, so the stockpiles of wine grew, and in an attempt to preserve their longevity, so the alcohol was added. Yet again this proved to be a popular augmentation, so much so that Madeira was known as the 'Isle of wine'.

As with many other wine regions, Madeira was devastated by the arrival of both oidium and phylloxera between 1850 and 1870, but in this case, the industry on the island never really recovered, and this fortified wine never regained its previous level of popularity.

Alcohol free rosé wine..... in a can!

In some perverse way I applaud Iberia Airlines in their attempt to produce a 'healthy' menu for short haul passengers - the fact that you have to pay for your menu selection is another story.

I must confess that I haven't tried it yet, but I did notice that they offer an alcohol free rosé wine in a can. Of all the containers that can be used for packaging wine, bottles (both plastic and glass), tetra briks and wood (if you include very small barrels), I have to confess that I am not so sure about using cans.

As a beer drinker I do notice the difference in taste between particular brands that are sold in both bottles and cans. There is most definitely a taint that appears when the packaging is made from aluminium, so what effect this might this have on a wine? Well, I will simply have to try it and see.

Apart from the ready sliced apple served in a plastic bag, there was one other offering from the new Iberia menu which also quite surprised me. Their healthy soup.

UK television channels are awash with celebrity chefs, cookery programmes and cooking competitions, and as a frustrated chef myself, I confess that I am a great fan of many - they can be great entertainment and you can pick up many new cooking styles and techniques.

There is however, one 'celebrity' chef that I simply can't abide. His name is Ainsley Harriott. Apart from being relatively talentless, there is just something about his manner that gets up my nose - his website describes it as flamboyant, so perhaps that explains why he flails his arms around like a demented octopus when he cooks. I am convinced that one day he will actually shout "Ole" when he completes a dish!

His CV is also not that impressive when compared to most other TV chefs. After reaching the dizzy heights of commis chef, he gave up cooking to persue a music career with the Calypso Twins, before becoming a comedian. To quote him from his own website, he says "I think that it’s an enormous advantage to know how to make delicious beans on toast", which just about says it all.

Anyway, of all the famous chefs from around the world (including Spain) that Iberia could have picked..... yes, you guessed it - they now include the Ainsley Harriott collection of soups on their menu. I don't think for one second that the Spanish will have a clue of who he is, but for me at least, his name does not serve as an endorsement for quality food.

By the way, if you think that I am becoming a bit anti-Iberia, then you should see some of the passenger comments on this website!

Another Michelin listing

The one thing that I tend to neglect on our blog are the references as to exactly where you can enjoy our wines. We are delighted to be the Albariño supplier to many top wine importers around the world, and in turn, many of them provide wines to some of the worlds most exclusive restaurants. Perhaps I should compile a list?

For example, we have just received news from Holland that we are now listed in the two star Michelin restaurant De Zwethheul, located near Rotterdam. Chef Mario Knight was voted Chef of the Year 2009 by Gault Millau and is a member of the Dutch Guild of Master Chefs. Mario's cuisine is renowned for its combination of classic simplicity and pure class, but like many of the best things in life, it does not come cheap.

I have to say that I love his philosophy, which is actually quite similar to our own - "Quality survives everything and everyone".

All I have to do now is plan a visit to Rotterdam.

Consistency is the key

Is this what they mean by uniform?

When you buy a tin of baked beans, the first thing that you usually do is seek out the brand that you like (assuming that the price is right). Of course when you open the tin you also assume, or should I say, take for granted, that the taste will be exactly the same as the last time you bought them. Establishing this level of consistency is without doubt the most important factor in building any brand and creating the vital element of brand loyalty.

Well, the same rule applies to wine, the only difference being that the quality of our end product can sometimes be influenced by the vagaries of the weather. Despite this slight handicap a good wine cellar, using a bit of meticulous wine making, can usually ensure that their quality is consistently high no matter how nature decides to do intervene.

Although much of our quality is already established in the vineyard, a grape is still a grape and the final nuances are only determined by what you do to them, in the same way that a bean is just a bean until you cook it using your own recipe.

It's all about attention to detail, and knowing how to handle the fruit in order to ensure that not only do you get the best out of it, but that you end up with the quality and style that your customers will recognise. As I have already mentioned, the difficulty sometimes lies in the vintage, in that not every year is the same, and this is where the real skill of the winemaker comes into its own. You still have to produce a wine at a level of quality that your customers will enjoy no matter what the harvest throws at you - when they follow your brand, they are putting their faith in that skill.

It goes without saying that there is another type of consistency that plays an important part in the equation, especially these days...... that of price!

The 'Holy Grail' of any wine buyer is to discover a fantastic wine that represents really great value for money. It doesn't matter what the language, buyers and sellers will always talk of the price/quality ratio. Being able to maintain that ratio is another story and makes for a lot of hard work, bordering on a degree of obsession.

In the end this is probably the the real recipe for success..... a really good, consistent wine, at a really fair and consistent price.

In illustrious company

From time to time we are lucky enough to get direct feedback from our customers in different parts of the world, and I am pleased to say that the vast majority of it is very positive.

The most usual mail that we get is when someone has tried our wine in a restaurant and simply wants to know where they can buy it. Naturally we always reply quicky to this type of request to put them in touch with either our importer or a local distributor.

Today however, we have received a rather unusual story from Caracas, Venezuela where a supporter of our bodega bought a bottle of Casal Caeiro to accompany a dish of mussels that they enjoyed at home with their friends. They went on to tell us that they started the evening with Veuve Cliquot as an aperitif, followed by our albariño, moving on to a magnum of Chateau Cheval Blanc and rounded off with a bottle of Chateau Gilette (Sauternes) 1937!

I urgently need to find some friends like this - please send CV and details of your private cellar to the following address......

Movida Rustica

We have a friend in Melbourne who runs one of Australia's best restaurants, that just happens to be Spanish. His name is Frank Camorra, and his restaurant is MoVida (also MoVida Next Door, which not surprisingly is located immediately adjacent to the main restaurant)

Over the last few years he has made several trips to Spain, touring the countryside, gathering information and recipes etc., compiling books about Spanish food. I hesitate to call them recipe books, because in reality they are much more than that - Frank delves into the background and traditions behind the food that he includes, meeting the local people who cook the dishes as part of their daily lives. Not professional chefs, but ordinary people who prepare local fare using methods handed down over generations.

The latest of his three books, just released, is called Movida Rustica, and is co-authored by Australian food writer and critic, Richard Cornish.

Whilst we are not mentioned by name, we are actually pictured picnicking in our 'El Pazo' vineyard, tucking into some great local dishes such as 'empanada de vieiras' (a corn pie made with fresh scallops). I know that I say it every time, but I will say it again - a perfect dish to eat accompanied by a glass of Castro Martin albariño.

In the picture taken from the book, you can just make out Angela on the left, and see the back of my head (which many say is my best side!)

Dope on a rope!

Now, I really like Gordon Ramsey, albeit that times have been pretty tough for him in the last year or so. I always think it's a bit of a mistake when a really talented chef leaves his kitchen and starts empire building - effectively risking his good name and reputation. It rarely seems to work, and usually the only thing that appears to suffer is quality. Almost an inevitability when you stop and think about it.

You can therefore imagine my surprise to see him on TV, dangling from the end of a rope at the bottom of a 300ft cliff in search of a Galician seafood delicacy - Percebes, otherwise known as Goose Barnicles (or maybe dinosaur feet as one of my friends calls them). In fact, swinging at the end of a rope he looked more like the bait than the fisherman.... it was quite dramatic.

Filming for his Channel 4 series 'The F Word', I think it's fair to say that he used more than his fair share of expletives as the crashing waves smashed him against the rocks. In the circumstances I can hardly blame him. Ironically, after a small degree of success he was finally submerged by one huge wave that swept away his precious harvest. I doubt if he will be doing that again in a hurry!

And so back to the Perecebes themselves. An expensive delicacy on any dinner table, and when you see how they are harvested you may begin to understand why. Apparently the Galician coast is especially suited to this type of barnacle, as the fast flowing waters of the Atlantic ocean against the rocky outcrops make the necks of the percebes stronger, fatter and therefore tastier to eat. I have been lucky enough to savour them on a couple of occassions, and when they are really fresh, the flavour of the sea literally burst from the necks as you bite into them..... delicious!

Of course, as always, I can't close without reminding you that they are alsolutely perfect to eat accompanied by a refreshing glass of Castro Martin albariño.

Warning labels

One of the campaigns that we support most vigorously is that of responsible drinking. This doesn't necessarily mean that we stick warning labels all over our bottles, as to be honest, I am not really sure that our Albariño would necessarily be the first choice of those who drink more than they should. However, in an ever increasing number of markets these days, it is actually becoming obligatory to include certain warnings on the label of the bottles that we sell.

Take France as an example. Now, whilst we don't sell huge volumes of our wine to the French market (albeit I am very proud of the fact that we at least sell some), we are now obliged to add the silhouette of an expectant mother encompassed by a warning circle (see above) to each bottle - a recommendation not to drink during pregnancy. The same sentiment has actually been expressed in words on the back label of our U.S. exports for many years now, along with a reminder of the hazards of drinking, driving and operating machinery.

My own opinion is that we now need to agree a new 'International Standard' of all the various warnings, in order that they can be encompassed in one single format. If not, then there is a very real danger that we will simply be overwhelmed by the number of individual labels that we will have to print for different customers around the world.

Is there anybody out there (in a position of some influence) listening?

Wine and Food - problem dishes, part 2

I deliberately used this photograph to remind you that food served as an appetiser, amuse-bouche, tapas or whatever you chose to call it can just as easily influence the taste of your aperitif wine.

Simple salted foods including cashew or peanuts will certainly modify flavour, as will olives (except that a nice glass of a bone-dry chilled sherry, such as a fresh Manzanilla, might save the day). Cooked olives however, as part of casserole or sauce will probably require a full bodied red wine, such as a good Rhone to support the richness.

In a similar way, artichokes have to be treated with great caution - the bitter, phenolic flavours of globe artichokes can and will make many wines taste decidedly odd, although a clean white wine with fresh acidity, such as an albariño, is a possible option (dependent on how the dish is prepared). I mention preparation simply by way of a reminder that it is not always the raw ingredient on it's own that will decide the suitability of the wine you have selected, but just as importantly, the way that the dish is cooked i.e. the sauce or seasoning that has been added.

Also pay particular attention to oily or smoked fish - fresh, aromatic white wine should certainly help to give a lift, but please be aware that a good wine might be 'tainted' by a strong smoky flavour.

Cooking with fruit (fresh or dried) may once again play tricks with your wine. Fruit used in savoury dishes does run the possibility of making a dry wine taste thin, tart or even completely flat. So take care, and if in doubt, experiment at home before you invite your guests to dinner (a good excuse for a tasting, as if it were needed).

Dessert is a whole different subject..... There are many obviously good selections that can be made - sweet, fortified wine such as Australian muscat is the perfect choice with chocolate, in the same way that it can stand up to a palate-numbing ice cream pudding. I am sure that I have also seen Albariño as a recommendation for dessert, but this was probably made by someone desperate to sell wine (no, it wasn't me!)

Finally, I will mention cheese. Now the traditionalists will say that you need a good Bordeaux to go with your cheese, or possibly a port with your Stilton, and who am I to argue? The only thing that I would say is that there are many styles of cheese, in the same way that there are many styles of wine - some work, and some don't.

Sauternes with your Roquefort should be delicious, and a Sancerre or Pouilly Fumé will go very nicely with a goat's cheese. Indeed, I once ate in a restaurant in Sancerre where the menu was made up entirely of goat's cheese dishes, and by the end of the meal I had grown a small beard and developed the ability to balance on tree branches. OK, so the latter part is not true, but the wine suggestion does work. And last but not least, Albariño can also be served with goat's cheese, more especially those with a tart, sharp flavour.

Wine and Food - problem dishes, part 1

I have been threatening for some time now to write about food and wine recommendations and/or parings etc, and today is the 'first in the series'. I thought I would start by highlighting some of the more difficult foods to match, that are perhaps best avoided, not just with Albariño, but possibly with any type of wine.

The most obvious are the highly spiced dishes that incorporate curry or chilli spices. Before I moved to Spain I had always believed that the Spanish enjoyed the odd hot dish or two, and that in the South there would be recipes influenced by historical connections with North Africa. Not so - the Spanish use hot spices very sparingly in their cooking, and in reality have a very low tolerance to piquancy.

Several years ago I was fortunate enough to participate in an experimental tasting of different wine styles and spicy Asian foods. Whilst we discovered one or two wines that could just about stand up to the heat (such as an aromatic Sauvignon Blanc for example), most wines, red or white, were almost completely overpowered. This being the case, it would certainly be a waste of money to invest in a fine, subtle wine only to have it blown away by the food on your plate. My advice therefore, with strong Chilli or Curry..... stick to beer!

OK, so that's one or two of the more obvious dishes out of the way, so now for a few things that you might not immediately realise could spell disaster for your favourite tipple.

Making good wine is really a question of balance - balance between the basic elements such as fruit, acidity, tannin etc. We spend a lot of time, not only prior to picking, but also in the making of our wine to make sure that there is no single element that dominates another, and that the end product is well-balanced. In this way you will soon understand why the following foods can have a big influence on your wine.

Any food or condiment with a high acidity such as vinegar, will certainly have a detrimental effect - the addition of acetic acid in a salad dressing for example, could not only ruin the balance, but will make many red wines taste sour and volatile. If you must use vinegar try to find one that is a little more mellow.

For the same reason an excess use of lemon juice can also throw your wine out of shape. It rather depends on how dominant the lemon flavour is, and how much acidity is already present in the wine. On our website I have suggested that Albariño might support a lemon sauce or other sharp flavours, but I will qualify this by saying that it is a question of degree - don't be too heavy handed with the lemon squeezer! Oh, and by the way, lemon and red wine? Probably not a good idea.

Slightly less obvious is the humble tomato, or tomato as we say here in Europe (old joke, or old song actually). Once again it can be the acidity that does the damage, more especially to ripe and fleshy red wines. Having said that Italian red wine, that can have a slightly elevated acidity, may help to solve this problem. It is possible that Italian reds have actully evolved like this over time, to help deal with the oil and tomato so used widely in the national cuisine.

End of Part 1

Herminda's famous empanada

Lights.... Camera.... Action!

A few months ago we had a visit from some Australian restaurateurs who were in the process of compiling a book about Spanish food - MoVida2 - not just a recipe book, but more a book about the actual origin of the recipes and the local people who prepare them.

On this first visit we introduced them to Herminda (la 'jefa' of our picking team), who had prepared a delicious corn empanada, and tortilla made using only the freshest of eggs. They were so taken with Herminda's character and her food that they wanted to feature her recipes in the book, so they made a second trip half way around the world in order to try to recreate the entire experience.

On the morning of the scheduled visit it was pouring with rain, and the chances of taking photos in the vineyard looked fairly remote, but by the time they arrived, by some miracle, the sun was shining. (Who ever knew that Australians were so righteous!)

Angela looks on anxiously as the famous empanda is divided

Just a few days ago our Pazo vineyard was the scene of frantic activity as the grapes were gathered in, today it formed the backdrop for a photoshoot. In some fine sunshine we enjoyed Herminda's great cooking once again, together with a very nice drop of Albarino, whilst at the same time photos for the new book were collected.

So now we just have to wait until next year when the book is published and Herminda's recipes are immortalised in print.

El Corte Inglés - Journadas Gastronómícas

It seems to me like I'm always shouting about what we do with our wines around the world, paying little attention to our impact on the local market. Well, as if further references were needed, here's quite a good one - El Corte Ingles.

For those of you who don't know, the Corte Ingles is a chain of upmarket department stores located throughout Spain - every city in Spain has at least one, Madrid boasts several, as does Barcelona. Many stores include high quality 'supermarkets' and nearly all have cafeterias and restaurants.

It is a proud boast of ours that we have been featured in the restaurants and supermarkets of the Corte Ingles here in Galicia for around 20 years now - many Albariños on their list come and go, but we are happy to say that our Casal Caeiro albariño has been a permanent feature.

Every summer the local restaurants of the Corte Ingles celebrate Galician Gastronomy with special menus comprising, as you might imagine, mostly fish and seafood dishes (albeit there are a few meat dishes thrown in for the carnivors among us).

Naturally the featured wines are Galician too, and we proudly list our Casal Caeiro brand amongst the handful of Albariños on offer. So, if you find yourself in Galicia over the next few weeks why not take a break from your shopping, put your feet up, and enjoy a refreshing glass of albariño!

My little wine oasis

There is no doubt that Spain produces some great wines, and is probably one of the most exciting countries in the world when it comes to the development and discovery of new wines and wine regions.

However, local restaurants here in Galicia do not always have an extensive choice on their wine lists, and usually restrict their selection to Galician wines, plus a selection of 'safe bet' wines from the better known denominations of Spain. Certainly this limited range will suffice for the palate of many a local wine consumer, but for the more adventurous among us, it is, well, just a little bit predictable and boring!

Apart from the odd bottle of Champagne here and there, it is very rare to find any overseas wine at all, from either the new world or even adjacent countries in the old world. (I do of course have a few bottles of my own secreted away in my private cellar, but this does not help me very much when I'm sitting in a local restaurant).

Pepe Vieira to the rescue! My favourite local restaurant not only boasts the great cooking of chef Xose Cannas, but in his brother Xoan, they also have one of the best sommeliers, not only in Galicia, but possibly the whole of Spain. On top of that Xoan speaks perfect English which makes it considerably easier for us to discuss our favourite wine selections.

Their wine list includes an extensive choice from every part of Spain, as you would expect, but then continue turning the pages and you will find a hand-picked collection of wines from Burgundy, Bordeaux, the Loire, the Rhone and Champagne. In addition there is also a small selection of fine New World wines.

Like I said - my own personal food and wine oasis......

Galician gastronomy

A lot is written in tourist guides about Galician gastronomy, more especially about the wonderful fish and seafood that can be found. Well, of course this is all true - to visit a local fish market is a real joy - to see the bright-eyed fish still flapping on the counter, whilst the crabs and prawns plot to make their escape! It goes without saying that such fresh produce does not require much culinary intervention, and is probably best enjoyed in its most natural state, grilled, pan-fried or 'a la Gallega'. This is perhaps the best known and most widely available type of cuisine in our area, but there is now however, an alternative......

Over recent years, Spain has quite rightly enjoyed a growing reputation for imaginative cooking, spurred on by a generation a young, up-and-coming chefs, and inspired perhaps by the most famous of them all, Ferran Adrià (El Bulli)

Galicia is no exception, and the food revolution is lead by a group of highly talented young men and women who call themselves the Grupo NOVE. Exploiting our wonderful local produce they create memorable dishes with great flair and imagination, sometimes by simply taking traditional Galician dishes and giving them a more modern twist.

My local favourite out of this group (of about 20 restaurants) is Pepe Vieira, now situated in the hills above the road between Pontevedra and Sanxenxo. Not exactly a location that you would stumble upon by accident, but in my opinion, certainly worth a detour. Excellent food, efficient and unobtrusive service, an extensive wine list that includes quite a few non-Spanish wines, and not to mention, some spectacular views of the Ria of Pontevedra!

I should close by saying that my comments are purely objective, borne out of my passion for great food and wine. As yet we do not supply our Albariño to these restaurants, but I am however convinced that with our growing International reputation, that it is simply a matter of time....