'The Magic of Montilla'
28/29-Sep-08 - Bristol and Montilla PX. It's always a pleasure to go to Bristol: many years ago I worked for a company there, although we only went down once a week (or less) for board meetings. However, a great deal has changed since then. I took the up train on Sunday afternoon to Victoria and then across to Paddington for the Temple Meads train. I don't know why but Paddington trains to Bristol are always absolutely packed, so travelling on a Sunday you can take advantage of the 'weekend first' upgrade (a bargain at £10), and the client, Focus PR, who are handling the Montilla PX account, had fixed me up at the Thistle hotel so I would be ready for an early (10:00 am) start on the Monday morning. The Thistle is comfortable if a bit labyrinthine, and room service is excellent: Jill had packed me up with some pastrami sandwiches (have I mentioned the fabulous pastrami from the Cheshire Smokehouse before?) and I sent down for a large glass of the house Merlot, a large whisky, a bottle of sparkling water and a bowl of skin-on-fries, which proved to be an excellent accompaniment to the pastrami - very crisp, deliciously soft in the middle, and piping hot.
Next morning it was off to the Hotel du Vin, where the tasting was being held. It was hosted by the très charmante Céline Bouteiller, and the idea was that I'd do a 45-minute presentation in the morning and the afternoon, with a walk-in tasting and food-pairing session in between. It worked very well - four representatives of the Montilla houses were there, including old acquaintance Rafael Delgado of Bodegas Pérez Barquero, and in the seminars we were able to demonstrated the astonishing range of different styles of this classic sweet wine - some very rich, figgy and chocolatey, others with more acidity and freshness. The youngest was a 2005 vintage from Bodegas Alvear (and the lovely María Alvear Garijo was there to explain the background), and the oldest was a 1981 vintage from Bodegas La Aurora. Every one was different, not only in the glass but in the packaging: some were startlingly modern, others reassuringly traditional, but all were very much appreciated by those present. In the lunch break we were able to taste some Finos and Amontillados with food-matching canapés, and the whole thing was beautifully organised. The only disappointment was that the final seminar, which had been booked solid, was depleted by 14 people who simply didn't turn up. The organisers had prepared the food-matching samples and the wines, of course, which were all wasted. The wine trade is a busy and unpredictable business, as I know from my own experiences, but it is SO rude to put your name down for an event which requires this much organisation and then simply not to turn up without even bothering to 'phone and apologise.
Montilla vineyards - spot the chalk!
Got lucky with the train home, though - Bristol to Southampton Central (with the luxury of three coaches rather than two on the train from Cardiff - a miracle) and same-platform connection to Worthing, so home by nine o'clock. And because it was platform 2, with no shops or bars (they're all on platforms 1 and 4), there was no temptation to buy railway-station food and a bottle of wine, which was probably just as well.
Next morning it was off to the Hotel du Vin, where the tasting was being held. It was hosted by the très charmante Céline Bouteiller, and the idea was that I'd do a 45-minute presentation in the morning and the afternoon, with a walk-in tasting and food-pairing session in between. It worked very well - four representatives of the Montilla houses were there, including old acquaintance Rafael Delgado of Bodegas Pérez Barquero, and in the seminars we were able to demonstrated the astonishing range of different styles of this classic sweet wine - some very rich, figgy and chocolatey, others with more acidity and freshness. The youngest was a 2005 vintage from Bodegas Alvear (and the lovely María Alvear Garijo was there to explain the background), and the oldest was a 1981 vintage from Bodegas La Aurora. Every one was different, not only in the glass but in the packaging: some were startlingly modern, others reassuringly traditional, but all were very much appreciated by those present. In the lunch break we were able to taste some Finos and Amontillados with food-matching canapés, and the whole thing was beautifully organised. The only disappointment was that the final seminar, which had been booked solid, was depleted by 14 people who simply didn't turn up. The organisers had prepared the food-matching samples and the wines, of course, which were all wasted. The wine trade is a busy and unpredictable business, as I know from my own experiences, but it is SO rude to put your name down for an event which requires this much organisation and then simply not to turn up without even bothering to 'phone and apologise.
Montilla vineyards - spot the chalk!Got lucky with the train home, though - Bristol to Southampton Central (with the luxury of three coaches rather than two on the train from Cardiff - a miracle) and same-platform connection to Worthing, so home by nine o'clock. And because it was platform 2, with no shops or bars (they're all on platforms 1 and 4), there was no temptation to buy railway-station food and a bottle of wine, which was probably just as well.
posted by John Radford at
17:57
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