Archive

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JR's notes:

This was a unique supplement to the December, 1999 issue of DECANTER. A number of writers were asked to come up with - well, see the title for details. My department was Spain and I had tremendous fun with this. The DECANTER website is at www.decanter.com

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1,000 HINTS FOR THE MILLENNIUM - SPAIN

i - RAVING RIOJAS

i-1 Manuel Quintana was the first to send his wines to America in new oak barrels, about 1800. His neighbours refused to speak to him, so he stopped. Commemorate his pioneering spirit with a gran reserva.

i-2 They said the first Riscal was raving when he tried to change the way Rioja was made in 1860. Rave over his gorgeous, rich, spicy Barón de Chirel reserva and decide whether he was right.

i-3 On Good Friday pilgrims in San Vicente de la Sonsierra put on white habits with open backs and walk barefoot through the town, whipping themselves until they bleed. It makes them feel good. Don't join in.

i-4 The Battle of the Wine happens outside Haro every 29th June, in which participants drink wine, throw wine, drink wine, get drenched in wine and drink wine before returning home, singing. Do join in.

i-4 Rioja has celebrated 9 excelente vintages since it got the DO: 1934, 1948, 1952, 1955, 1958, 1964, 1982, 1994 and 1995. Buy the 94s and 95s if you can find them, and stash them for twenty years.

i-5 David Moreno was sacked from a car-factory in 1979. He used his redundancy pay to buy some wine, borrowed a book on winemaking, and now makes a million litres a year. Enjoy it as decent, good-value Rioja.

i-6 Rioja has suffered only six deficiente vintages since it got the DO: 1929, 1938, 1945, 1953, 1965, 1971 and 1972. Cook with it, sprinkle on chips or just pour down the loo. Or don't bother to buy it at all.

i-7 Traditional white Rioja is made from Viura and Malvasía, cask-aged and pale gold, oaky, smoky, oxidised and heavy. It's an acquired taste which appeals only to a minority of very weird individuals. Join us!

i-8 New-wave white Rioja is made from Viura and sometimes 'experimental' varieties (and no Ch*rd*nn*y, honest guv, leave it out!). Experiment with Ijalba, Cosme Palacio, CVNE and Remelluri, but don't tell anyone else.

i-9 López Heredia, La Rioja Alta and Murrieta are some of the producers who have had little or no truck with 'new wave' wines. These are the shrines at which traditionalists worship. Come to church!

i-10 Single-vineyard Riojas have been popular only with an obscure group of aficionados. So you won't want to try Remelluri, Contino, Martínez-Bujanda or Barón de Ley, for example.

ii - CRISP, CRISP WHITES

ii-1 Paper-white, petal-crisp, frost-fresh manzanilla with the scent of the sea air and the nutty savour of baking bread: try this with a plain-poached fillet of white fish and weep that you don't live in Sanlúcar.

ii-2 Success in Rueda: rise at 2:00 am, pick Verdejo, cover with inert gas, chill grapes, chill must, make wine and be a member of the Sanz family or, if you can afford it, be the Marqués de Griñón.

ii-3 Go to the coast of Galicia and order cigalas and salad. Experiment with anything made from peachy, voluptuous Albariño (not the R**sl*ng, guv, that was just a rumour, never been proved). Beware the frumious percebes.

ii-4 Introduce yourself to Miguel Torres. Get invited to The Witch's House and taste Fransola, Milmanda and Gran Viña Sol. Failing this, try good old Viña Sol - the honest taste of value-for-money Penedès.

ii-5 Cast aside your prejudices about La Mancha and wallow in that most despised of grape-varieties, the Airén: look for the names Naranjo, Yuntero, Zagarrón, Alhambra and Lorenzete and stuff the pundits.

ii-6 Take a holiday at Getaria in the Basque country, and go and see Txomin Etxaniz. You will never get to pronounce his name or that of his wine (Getariako Txakolina). Just drink it with shellfish.

ii-7 The monastery in O Barco de Valdeorras (1095) is now a spanking-new winery. If you want crisp, and to know the future, taste Viña Godeval: the monks would have had nun of it.

ii-8 Cueva del Rey is a tiny winery in Ycoden-Daute-Isora (Tenerife), belonging to an English teacher who could teach some much bigger outfits about making cool, fresh white wine on a shoestring. Tie some!

ii-9 Cut your apéritif costs with Montilla: supermarket 'pale-dry' examples sell for peanuts (and are even better with peanuts). Look especially for the names Alvear and Barquero, and do 'The Full Montilla'.

ii-10 Climb every mountain to Barbastro in Aragón and the wines of Somontano: elegant, aromatic Gewürztraminer; cool, stylish Sauvignon; and, most fascinating, a little local number called Alcañón.

iii - CAPTIVATING CAVAS

iii-1 In Sant Sadurni d'Anoia the directions to the Cava houses are more prominent than the road-signs. Visit them all, sample the Cavas, understand why it's the world's best-selling sparkler after Champagne.

iii-2 Josep Raventós made the first Cava in 1872 and once wrecked a cartload in the city centre to ensure headlines in the next morning's papers. Watch the traffic in Barcelona: nothing has changed.

iii-3 Chop strawberries, add a pinch of black pepper and a teaspoon of sugar, marinate in Catalan brandy in the fridge overnight, strain and mix 25/75 with cold Cava. Tell them you made it up yourself.

iii-4 Go to Raïmat and look round the winery. It's the best example of post-modern, infra-classical, neo-Californian, hi-tec, extraplanetary architecture in the Lleida area. The Cava's not bad, either.

iii-5 Buy five bottles of sparkling wine from five different countries, add a bottle of Cava and put on a blind tasting for your friends. Ask them which one they liked the best. Prepare to be surprised.

iii-6 Go to Barcelona on New Year's Eve and join the revellers on the Ramblas. See how long you can last out before you accept a glass of Cava: prize of a miserable night for the one who lasts longest.

iii-7 When in Barcelona on New Year's Eve, don't be tempted to fire a Cava-cork from the central spire of the Sagrada Familia. It's not clever, it's not brave and, anyway, it's been done before.

iii-8 Solve an on-going diplomatic incident: taste Cava with Chardonnay and Cava without Chardonnay, then write to Freixenet and Codorníu and tell them which is better. Then finish both and buy some more.

iii-9 Visit Rovellats in San Martí de Sarocca, and sip a glass of Brut Nature in their surreal 1930s garden in the autumn twilight. Don't be surprised if you see elves and fairies cavorting in the woods.

iii-10 Please! Go to Juvé y Camps and pass on my grovelling apology for leaving them out of my last book. Sample the Reserva de la Familia 1994 and feel the world's lesser sparkling wines melt into insignificance.

iv - PLEASURES FROM PENEDÈS

iv-1 Marvel at the Montserrat - the soul of Catalunya moulded in rock. It's best seen from the Manresa-Barcelona road. Raise a glass of Ull de Llebre to the Black Madonna, and you may discover a miracle.

iv-2 Stay at San Sebastián Playa on the seafront at Sitges, eat fresh fish and drink cold Macabeo at Mare Nostrum, and watch the world go by: it's always a gay day in Sitges.

iv-3 You now how Pinot Noir doesn't perform well outside of its native Burgundy? Order a bottle of Mas Borras from Torres and then write to the pundits telling them they know nothing.

iv-4 If you thought the best Tempranillo came from Rioja, try a joven from - say - Albet i Noya, the youngest you can find. Revel in the fresh soft raspberry scent and young, vibrant fruit.

iv-5 Cabernet-Sauvignon is king of the reds in some parts of Penedès. Everyone's heard of Torres' Mas La Plana, but try the crianzas from René Barbier and Alsina i Sardá or the reserva from CoViDes.

iv-6 Don't believe anyone who tells you that Cabernet is king. Try Gran Toc reserva from Cavas Hill (Tempranillo and Garnacha) with the local butifarra (white black pudding) and wild mushrooms alioli.

iv-7 The King of Aragón used to live in Vilafranca del Penedès and his old house is now a wine museum. Have a look at the way things used to be before anyone had ever seen a stainless-steel tank.

iv-8 Take your life in your hands by asking for rancio - the most ancient wine of Penedès. It's old, black, astringent, mindblowing and you'll never forget the taste... Or order it again.

iv-9 Set up a selection of chilled, white Penedès wines, with mature, barrel-fermented Chardonnay at one end and a young Parellada/Macabeo/Xarel.lo at the other. Drink them.

iv-10 Seek out the rare, sweet Muscat of Sitges and drink it with freshly-made crema catalana - Catalunya's greatest culinary gift to the world. We call it crème brulée and think it's from France, but we're wrong.

v - WINES TO DRINK WITH TAPAS

v-1 Tapas should always be consumed with a half-bottle of fino or manzanlla Sherry. Anything else is sacrilege and if you insist on breaking this rule the Sherry Police will come round and arrest you.

v-2 Don't believe anyone who tells you that only Sherry goes with tapas. Experiment with every known wine of Spain - it's the best possible opportunity to figure out new food and wine partnerships.

v-3 They're called tapas ('lids' in Spanish) because Andaluz barkeepers used to offer a little saucer with a nibble of food on top of the copita when you ordered your Sherry. In Spain, wine and food were inseparable.

v-4 On the coast, stick with the seafood tapas and drink the local white wine: these will have grown up together and are most likely to have been betrothed in childhood. Gambas al ajillo with fino is the classic.

v-5 Go to the Plaza Santa Ana or the Plaza Mayor in Madrid and take a tapas-cruise through the bars in the surrounding streets. You will see sights and experience tastes you'll find nowhere else.

v-6 In northern cities try meaty tapas - albondigas, chorizo, riñones and morcilla for example: these were made to match Spain's robust reds from Rioja and Navarra - mix, match and admire.

v-7 In the countryside, experiment with local cheeses. Queso manchego is everywhere and matches everything, but every region has a special cheese and you can bet that local wine is going to be a perfect match.

v-8 If you're choosing the wine first and the Tapas second, try croquetas and any of the myriad tortillas - the simple taste matches well with any wine, white, red or rosado and enhances them all.

v-9 Order a large number of small portions of Tapas and try then out with two or three wines between two people. Order more as you run out, and then you can forget the main course altogether.

v-9 Splash out on the jamón pata negra. Enjoy it with almost any white wine from Spain - but choose softer wines such as joven Tempranillo if your taste runs to red: fat and tannin don't mix!

vi - THE REGIONS WITH NAMES FROM THE MOON...

vi-1 ABONA - fly to Tenerife and take the bus to Santa Cruz and you'll pass through Abona. Its main claim to fame is the highest vineyards in Spain, at 1,700 metres. That's a conversation-stopper at dinner-parties.

vi-2 BELCHITE - head south on the A222 from Zaragoza and you'll find this country-wine district. There's a rumour that if you drink the local wine too fast you'll... Well, figure it out for yourself.

vi-3 BIERZO - go to Prada a Tope in Cacabelos and eat dinner under the stars in the Bodega courtyard. The food is good, the wine is cheerful and the bill will make you wish you lived in Castilla-León.

vi-4 CALATAYUD - the only decent hotel has no air conditioning and, in the summer, you could fry eggs on the pavement. The local co-op makes a wine called Viña Armantes from pure, cool, Tempranillo which is dirt-cheap and to die for.

vi-5 GRATALLOPS - in the DO Priorat(o) is home to some of Spain's most exciting and most fabulously expensive wines. Clos l'Ermita is now more expensive than Vega Sicilia. Jolly good, though.

vi-6 TORO - makes wine with balls, as you'd expect. Blockbusting Tempranillo and/or Cabernet-Sauvignon up to 15% natural abv: drink them with beef, lamb, pork, gusto. Look for the name Fariña.

vi-7 TREMP - you'll find this country-wine town north of Lleida about 30 km from the border with Aragón. They say that if you drink too much of the local Macabeo it'll make you... Yes, you get the idea.

vi-8 YECLA in Murcia is one of Spain most unpretentious wine-towns with one of the most underrated wineries: Castaño a bodega which has reminded us how good the Monastrell (Mourvèdre in France) is.

vi-9 YCODEN-DAUTE-ISORA is on Tenerife, and includes the town of Icod which is home to the 10,000-year-old Dragon tree. The excellent white wine will help you to spend some time out of it.

vi-10 THE SEA OF TRANQUILITY really is on the Moon, but also describes where you'll be after a lunch of tapas followed by cordero followed by an appropriate digestivo: it's one small sip for a man, one giant Le Panto for mankind.

vii - Sherry for the Festive Season

Dateline 25DEC99 - Saturday:

vii-1 0100 - Santa arrives and criticises the ghastly Pale Cream which Aunt Euphemia has left out for him. Soften him up with a heartwarming rich old Oloroso to fortify his journey.

vii-2 0101 - Discourage Rudolf from finishing the Pale Cream, pointing out that he's setting a bad example to Dasher and Dancer who've started on the Bristol Milk and Donner and Blitzen (but they're on San Miguel).

vii-3 0500 - You are woken by the children, anxious to open their presents. Amontillado-Fino (or Fino-Amontillado) should inject enough energy into the system to survive until breakfast.

vii-4 0800 - Toys now comprehensively broken, the children have gone back to sleep. Breakfast on smoked haddock, poached eggs, black pepper, wholemeal toast, unsalted butter, and the lightest, freshest manzanilla.

vii-5 0900 - Put turkey in oven. Go back to bed. Sneak glass of PX to aid restful sleep.

vii-6 1200 - Wake up as children bounce on bed. Stagger to kitchen. Crack one raw egg into large glass of dry oloroso (prairie oyster), but do not stir, drink! Hangover miraculously disappears (for the moment).

vii-7 1300 - Turkey about ready, time for aperitivos: offer decent fino (La Ina, San Patricio) to assembled guests. Keep the stuff in the blue bottle in reserve for elderly relatives. Keep Inocente or Papirusa for yourself.

vii-8 1600 - Here comes the cheese - the ripest blue Stilton from Colston Basset or Long Clawson, of course. The richest old oloroso alone will do justice (Matúsalem or Royal Corregidor).

vii-9 1800 - The vicar calls to ask why you weren't in church today and have you got any Sherry left? Ideal opportunity to use up the Pale Cream and the blue bottle. Vicar obliges, and also offers forgiveness as long as you turn up tomorrow...

Dateline 26DEC99 - Sunday

vii-10 1100 - Family Eucharist. Sing hymns, invite vicar back. Only one thing to offer him (her) to expiate our guilt and that is, of course, Apóstoles. Hang on a minute - aren't we Jewish?

Author's health warning: I am a professional. Don't try this at home.

viii - WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT NAVARRA

viii-1 What Ogden Nash probably would have said about the subject if it had ever crossed his mind, which it probably didn't (read this with an American accent):

Rioja

Is a cracker

But Navarra

Is tomorrow...

viii-2 The biggest and oldest (1647) firm in Navarra is Chivite, which was responsible for three-quarters of all exports of Navarra wine as recently as 15 years ago. Men! Don't fall in love with Mercedes!

viii-3 The world's only working wine-fountain is alongside the Camino de Santiago at Bodegas Irache in Ayegui. The wine is free as long as you drink it in situ. If you want to take some with you in your gourd, you have to pay.

viii-4 There's a splendid restaurant above a smoky bar in the town of Peralta called Mesón Atalaya. The food is very good, but the most fascinating things are the loo doors. The 'Gents' is marked with a '1' and the 'Ladies' with a '0'. I can't figure it out.

viii-5 There's a wonderful rustic restaurant (the only one) in the village of Ujué which serves migas (breadcrumbs and leftovers) and chuletillas (roasted baby lamb-chops) cooked over an open fire, with crusty bread and unlabelled local wine.

viii-6 Bodegas Vicente Malumbres in Corella has a sideline in teasels, both industrial and decorative. Their biggest customer is a firm in Yorkshire, and the most popular decorative item is an effigy of Mrs Tiggywinkle.

viii-7 Javier Ochoa runs a small family firm in Olite which turns out some of the best wine of Navarra. He also devotes time to the œnological research establishment EVENA which has done so much to revitalise the region.

viii-8 In July the capital, Pamplona, is gripped by the San Fermín, when young bulls run uncheck'd through the city streets and young men in white trajes with red sashes desperately try to impress their girlfriends by running with them. Some die.

viii-9 There's a vegetable called borraja which grows in Navarra in September, and nowhere else. It's like a giant, extended nettle without the sting, and they serve it with everything during its very short season.

viii-10 The most beautiful bodega in Navarra is the Señorío de Sarría - a self-contained small town in Puenta de la Reina, with renaissance buildings, landscaped vineyards and decent wines, too.

ix - THE BIGGEST, BOLDEST REDS

ix-1 RIBERA DEL DUERO: Vega Sicilia - still number one. Solid Tempranillo and Cabernet-Sauvignon, uncounted years in oak, as big as a house, as red as a monkey's bum, as expensive as a night out with Joan Collins... And just as fulfilling.

ix-2 PRIORAT(O): L'Ermita - more expensive than Joan Collins, more voluptuous than Dolly Parton, more complex than the Guardian crossword, more persistent than an insurance salesman. Challenging for first place.

ix-3 PRIORAT(O): Cartoixa Scala Dei - as old-fashioned as Eartha Kitt, as dark as Othello, as deep as the Well of Samaria and as long-lived as Noah. Like L'Ermita, pure Garnacha - and they say it's a cheap grape.

ix-4 RIOJA: Anything from López-Heredia, where even the joven wines are old and the reservas are ancient. Don't even ask about the gran reserva or, indeed what grapes were used in the mix or how long it's been in cask. They won't tell you.

ix-5 RIOJA: La Rioja Alta is still family-owned after all these years and still makes its wine to suit itself, regardless of modern regulations. Ardanza is sublime. Reservas 890 and 904 are even more sublime.

ix-6 RIOJA: (all right, this is the last) CVNE - Imperial reserva, Viña Real reserva, if you can find old vintages they're stunning. Contino is a magnificent single-vineyard soon to be split into tiny... What's the Spanish for einzellagen?

ix-7 NAVARRA: the Guelbenzu family features an artist, an archæologist, three doctors, three lawyers and no winemakers. They have cash but no hang-ups, which may be why their wines are so excellent.

ix-8 NAVARRA: Yes, well, all right, the winemaker at Guelbenzu comes from Principe de Viana, whose Export Director Tony Barrero pulled together co-operative, commercial and boutique winemaking into a magnificent joint venture.

ix-9 JUMILLA: received wisdom that the Monastrell was a duff grape in a hick-town area was turned on its head at the old SAVIN winery in Jumilla. Today, the local co-op makes a stonking red called, peculiarly, Jumilla Parker-Rowles.

ix-10 TOLEDO doesn't have a DO but it does have Carlos Falcó, the Marqués de Griñón who makes blockbusting Cabernet, Merlot, Syrah and Tempranillo at his hunting-lodge at Malpica de Tajo. Don't shoot until you see the reds of their wines!

x - WHAT TO DRINK TO COOL YOURSELF AFTER YOUR FLAMENCO LESSON

x-1 PATO FRÍO: one bottle of Cava brut, one bottle of dry white Penedès, one bottle of sparkling Vichy-Catalan, ice. Mix, stir, pour and, quite literally, 'chill out'. Serves six (or two).

x-2 BURBUJAS DEL MACHO: one bottle of La Mancha Espumoso brut, half a litre of freshly-squeezed Valencia orange juice, ice. Mix, stir, pour and pack a Peña!

x-3 MANZANILLA: every year, pilgrims trek to the small town of El Rocio in the Coto de Doñana, north of the river Guadalquivír, to pay their respects to Nuestra Señora del Rocio. At night they dance the flamenco, sing the cante jondo, and drink manzanilla.

x-4 UN VINO BLANCO: in every part of Spain there is a small town with a small bar with half a hectare of vines which are turned into house wine. Tourists ask for white Rioja and pay retail. Locals ask for un vino blanco frío and pay cacahuetes.

x-5 BIZKAIKO TXAKOLINA: they make one of the coolest wines in Spain near Bilbao. Eat at Currito in Santurtzi, order the cod or sea-bass with flat-bottomed half-pint glasses of Txakoli; Guggenheim in the afternoon. Or sleep.

x-6 COLUNGO: this is an aniseed spirit made in the highlands of Aragón and served at arctic temperatures with pure spring water or, better, still, melted snow from the Aragonès Pyrenees. Ski later.

x-7 IN YOUR CUPS: chop up some citrus fruit and marinate in the cheapest orujo you can find; add the cheapest dry white vino de mesa you can find and top up with the cheapest fizzy water you can find. It's cheap.

x-8 YOU CAN'T TORQUEMADA THIS... Hot drinks cool you down: in Galicia they put the local grape-spirit into an earthenware bowl, add peppercorns, citrus zest, herbs, spices... And then set fire to it. They call it quemada, which means 'burnt'.

x-9 CASTILLA-CASCANUECES: take a bottle of Rueda espumoso (ice cold), a bag of roasted almonds and a glacé cherry. Drink the wine, eat the nuts, and give the cherry to the pretty girl at the next table, in case she's lost hers (men only).

x-10 UN GRANDE: imprescindible apéritif on any press-trip. Take one large whisky-DyC, add ice, agua mineral con gas and another large whisky-DyC. Add ice and a final whisky-DyC and the balance is complete.

(Health warning as above)

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