Tarragona - Day 1

10-Jun-09 - So where is Torroja del Priorat (pop. 143)? Well, it's about 35 km west of Reus in the most mountainous part of Priorat, with spectacular scenery, wild hairpin bends, fabulous llicorella soils and ancient plantations of Garnacha and Cariñena (which they have to call Samsó to avoid confusion with the DO Cariñena although, this being Spain, not everybody takes any notice of the regulation). The village itself is kind of stacked, higgledy-piggledy up the hillside (most villages in Priorat seem to be in the same style) and we were lodged at the hotel Cal Compte on the Carrer Major, another grand old building in course of restoration by Anna Figueres and Joaquim Calvo, a bookish couple who have made it their life's work to return the old house to its former splendour.

The Carrer Major - too narrow for the minibus to get down. The big door on the left is the hotel entrance.

The trip was to culminate in the Reus Wine Festival and was sponsored by the Reus Chamber of Commerce. The UK/Ireland end had been arranged by Gerald Lawson-Tancred of Hispanic Consulting (see posts passim) and he very kindly carried my large bag up the four flights of stairs to my room: there is a lift but it hasn't been commissioned yet. The house has a terrace where my fellow-travellers were having lunch and I was invited to join them, although, of course, I had lunched extremely well at Cavas Vilarnau, so I merely nibbled at a pan con tomate and had a glass of wine.

One advantage of a fourth-floor room - wonderful views

My fellow travellers were Clive Platman (Birmingham Post), Andrew Catchpole (freelance, formerly of Harper's), Helen Savage (The Journal - Newcastle-upon-Tyne) Ernie Whalley (Sunday Independent, Ireland), Patricia Langton (freelance, formerly of OLN) and Rebecca Gibb (freelance, formerly of Harper's and 2006 Young Wine Writer of the Year). We were expertly hosted by Rachel Ritchie, who is English but has lived in these parts for many years, and acts as a tourist guide for visitors - she appears to know the region, and everyone in it, like the back of her hand .

Our first visit was that evening, to Mas Doix in Poboleda. The village is so close to Torroja that you can see it from the road above, but the terrain means a 13km drive around those endless hairpins - fab scenery, though: wild, untamed slopes, with those grey stone, pantiled villages clinging for dear life to the mountainsides. The winery is very small and we were hosted by the winemaker, Ramon Llagostera, scion of one of the two families which own the company, who farms 30 ha of vineyards, but only crops at 500-1,000 kg/ha (against the legal maximum of 6,000). We tasted four of his wines, all of which were excellent:

2006 Salanques (the bodega's 'second wine') - 65/20/15 Garnacha/Cariñena/Cabernet and Merlot - 12 months French. Dark purple with lovely big, concentrated, dark fruit on the nose and big extraction, power and fruit on the palate. The fruit breaks through the tannins on mid and leaves a musky finish. Needs 1-2 years. 17/20

2006 Doix - 50/50 Garnacha/Cariñena - 12 months French. Dark purple again with rich, warm 'rubbery' fruit and dark chocolate on the nose. Big, 'chewy' musky fruit on the palate but with fresh acidity. Austere on the finish: this needs time, too. 17/20

2003 Doix - as above - so this is how it will develop: perfumed summer fruit starting to emerge along with some wood-oil on the nose. Big tannins on the palate are starting to mellow out, with concentration and power on the mid and a musky-fruit finish. 18/20

1999 Doix - as above but with 3% Merlot - This is the one we were waiting for: big, dark, gamey, powerful and yet elegant on the nose. Rich and powerful on the palate, still some tannins working but the structure is coming together well. Long, long finish. This still has plenty of life left in it. 18½/20

This was an excellent introduction to the region - classic Priorat style and quality.

Then it was back to the hotel for a pre-dinner generic tasting, for which our schedule had allowed 30 minutes, and we were a little taken aback to discover that they'd laid out 80 wines for us on the upstairs terrace, arranged by village, which I thought was a little odd. The tasting was hosted by Jordi Vidal from the Scala Dei winery, and he explained the 'village' bit. There are moves afoot to put the village name on the labels, on the basis that some villages are, quite naturally, more favoured than others. You'll remember in the old days the Rhône used to do something similar with such as Côtes du Rhône-Chusclan and Côtes du Rhône-Gigondas before the villages got their own appellations. So, expect to see such as Priorat-Gratallops, Priorat-Cims de Porrera, etc. in the future. Not everyone is happy about this development, especially as many bodegas own small, scattered plots of vines which may be in several villages, so it tends to work in favour of those with larger plots. My personal view is that it's frankly unnecessary. In my lectures and presentations I have enough trouble explaining to people where and what Priorat is, without delving into the individual villages. We shall see.

80 wines arranged by village - and half an hour to taste them!

Onward, then, to the tasting. There was no means by which I was going to get through 80 wines, and I decided that this was a rare opportunity try some Priorat white wines, which are hard to find outside the region. The grape is predominantly old-vines Garnacha Blanca and the style tends to have the same structured power as the reds. There were only half a dozen, and only two worth a mention:

2008 Les Brugueres, Scala Dei - 14% abv, made without malolactic - pale straw, hints of herby fruit on the nose but a lovely fresh acidity on the palate, a strong 'meaty' fruit on the mid and a long 'savoury' finish. 17/20

Roureda Llicorella, Cellers Unió - 14% abv, barrel-fermented with 7 months on the lees - This one didn't really make the cut but I mention it as it's made with 100% PX, of which you don't see a lot in Catalunya: on the nose it really does have that Priorat rich, savoury fruit, but it's much softer on the palate, very pleasant and with a long, soft finish. 16/20

Then it was on to the reds, and in general terms I was quite surprised to see so many fairly ordinary wines - well made, good quality, but a lot of 15/20 and I recalled something that Steven Spurrier said when we had a dispute over a wine at the DECANTER World Wine Awards: "Priorat can do much better than this". It is sad but true that every region in the world which makes truly great wine also makes truly dismal wine (think Champagne, Bordeaux, Burgundy) and whilst these were not in any way dismal, they weren't what I have come to expect from Priorat. With some of them it seemed that the winemaker had been trying too hard to get the legendary Priorat concentration, and in so doing sacrified the hallmark Priorat elegance. As I wasn't able to taste more than a dozen or so I think I'll draw a veil over the exact details: it would hardly be fair to single a producer out with such a small sample.

During the tasting some of us were interviewed by Reus Digital, the regional internet magazine (it's in Catalan) and I had to smile at the description the writer gave of Rebecca Gibb. Having established that she is one of the youngest MW students in the world the writer of the article dubbed her 'La Jovenissima'.

Dinner was a leisurely affair and we cheerfully finished off our favourite bottles with it, before hiking up those four flights of stairs. I had the regulation bottle of 'duty-free' stashed away so there was time for a couple of large ones while I picked up my e-mail (free wifi, by the way - excellent!) before turning in.

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Cava and Tarragona - Day 3

Cavas Vilarnau. Pic. - GB

10-Jun-09 - Just one visit this morning, to Cavas Vilarnau, part of the González Byass (GB) empire, also in Sant Sadurní. The company was founded in 1948, bought by GB in 1982, and the present bodega was completed in 2004: spankingly modern, surrounded by immaculate vineyards and gardens. Most of the grape (120,000 ha) come from plantations around 800 metres ("for higher acidity") and they're picked overnight (from mid-August for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir) and delivered to the winery at 06:00. They, too make still wines, but Cava is 95% of production.

We were treated to a tour of the complex, hosted by winemaker Sara Vela, who, although heavily pregnant, cheerfully escorted us around in the fierce heat - she gave birth to a baby boy, Adrià, two weeks later. I was fortunate in that they are geared up for parties of visitors of all abilities, and they have their own canopied milk-float, to which I acceded gratefully.

Sara Vela amongst the vines.

The installations are, as you'd expect, ultra modern, and include an art gallery with a cinema screen showing an introduction to the winery.

During the vineyard tour Sara brought bunches of the immature grapes to show the various stages of development at this time of year, and explained that night-harvested grapes come into the winery at 15-17ºC, having been hand-selected in the vineyard, and are then chilled to 8-10ºC before a further hand-selection on the sorting tables.

Left to right: Chardonnay, Macabeo, Xarel·lo, Parrelada. This picture was taken on the 10th June. Harvest started with the Chardonnay on the 13th August - 64 days later

The winery has a pleasant dining/tasting room and terrace, and a quite a few GB bigwigs were there, including Chief Executive Mauricio González, as they'd been having a board meeting for Viñas del Vero (DO Somontano), another recent acquisition.

After a reception on the terrace we tasted through the range. These were my top 4:

Vilarnau Reserva Brut Nature - 50/35/15 Macabeo/Parellada/Chardonnay, 2 years on the lees - fresh, herby 'chalky' subtle and complex on the nose, very clean Chardonnay fruit apparent on the foretaste but blends into the mix on mid, with a 'steely-dry' finish. Excellent. 17/20

2007 Vilarnau Brut - 55/40/5 Macabeo/Parellada/Xarel·lo, 2½ years on the lees - some 'meaty' fruit and a hint of richness on the nose, classic Cava style on the palate, big, structured, complex with a clean finish. Delicious. 17/20

Vilarnau Rosé Brut - 90/10 Trepat/Pinot Noir, 18 months on the lees - soft, fragrant potpourri on the nose (Pinot Noir influence) with good, ripe, red summer fruits on the palate: clean, fresh, delicious. 17/20

2008 Vilarnau Pinot Noir Rosé, 18 hours' maceration - dark pink, very 'hi-end' fruit on the nose (ketones?), but spicy, spiky Pinot Noir fruit on the palate, fresh acidity and some real potential even if it is a little austere at the moment. 17/20

Most fascinating, perhaps, were two 'experimental' wines:

2007 Vilarnau PD was 'made by journalists': GB invited them to select the individual cuvées (Macabeo/Parellada/Xarel·lo) and put together the final wine - soft, chalky with a hint of smoke on the nose, clean, fresh gluggable and very pleasant on the palate but with no great character. I gave it 15/20

2003 Vilarnau Método Ancestral is a Chardonnay made by stopping fermentation, bottling, and then allowing the fermentation to continue, in the method pioneered in southern France in mediæval times. It results in a lower-strength wine with some residual sweetness - big, rich, tasty-oaky, smoky, brioche and fruitcake on the nose, slightly 'twangy' fruit on the foretaste, but some underlying richness, and good length. Not for me, I'm afraid, but a wonderful opportunity to try something different.

And then it was time for lunch - we went back on to the terrace to work our way through the Cavas we'd tasted, while the table was relaid, and returned to a sumptuous spread, along with the winery's still wines: Cabernet-Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Xarel·lo (this last was particularly good. I am becoming an aficionado of Xarel·lo).

Vilarnau at sunset. Pic. - GB

Then it was carriages at 15:30. The others were off back to Barcelona airport to catch their flights, but I was heading south to Tarragona. I had offered to get the train (there's a good connection from Sant Sadurní via Barcelona Sants to Reus), but the Institut very generously provided a car to take me the 120 km to Torroja del Priorat. Very civilised, but then, this is Cava country (have I said this before?).

Cava and Tarragona - Day 2

09-Jun-09 - I don't usually do breakfast (if I start eating that early in the morning my stomach tends to 'wake up' and start demanding food throughout the day. My usual desayuno in Spain is a cafe con leche and a large brandy, perhaps with a pincho of tortilla if I'm feeling really extravagant) but the spread was so appetising that I did have a nibule before we departed for our first visit.

This was to Recaredo, which is at the forefront of the Xarel·lo revolution (see posts passim), and we started out with the inevitable tasting (in this case of the 2005 - jolly good) in the vineyard under a bower of vines. We were hosted by Ton Mata Moliner, the grandson of Josep María Capellades, who founded the company in 1924.

Ton Mata in the 'sacristy'

Back in the cellar we were conducted into the 'sacristy' behind locked iron gates where (we were told) the best vintages mature. The cellarmaster obligingly disgorged a couple of examples of the finest for us on the spot, which we tasted, of course, without any licor de expedición.

1999 100% Xarel·lo, 5% fermented in old barrels, This could eventually come to market at about €95 a bottle retail in Spain - a very gentle mousse with a warm, ripe nose, noticeable autolysis, the same warmth on the mid with a 'meaty' style and real premium characteristics, complexity and structure: delicious, excellent. 18½/20

1984 40/60 Xarel·lo/Macabeo. The cork broke twice even in expert hands, so the wine was cloudy when poured as the sediment mixed in, reminding us what sparkling wine looked like before Mme Clicquot invented remuage. The nose had a powerful aroma of lees, understandably, but the palate had an enormous, 'savoury' fruit style and quite amazingly fresh acidity. The lees came back on the finish, but the wine was still fresh after 25 years.

Hand-disgorging the 1984

Then it was on to tasting the current vintages:

2002 Brut de Brut Gran Reserva (72/28 Macabeo/Xarel·lo), 71 months on the lees - good central mousse with a soft 'chalky' nose and hints of autolysis: good, mouth-filling fizz with a hint of liquorice, perhaps a bit light on the finish (but it is 7 years old). 17/20

2001 Reserva Particular 40/60 Xarel·lo/Macabeo - some autolysis and a smoky richness on the nose, but with big, powerful fruit on the palate, lotsa extract and complexity, big structure but still fresh. 18/20

"Price is a real challenge", commented Ton, "our cheapest wines are in the €13-€15 bracket, and at this level people don't really understand them." Such are the tasks facing those who are trying to promote the concept of truly premium Cava, but the bird is on the wing.

Tasting at Recaredo

One of the great advantages of visiting Cava country is that so many of the houses are clustered around Sant Sadurní d'Anoia, so there are no long-drawn-out journeys between them. Gramona is less than a kilometre from Recaredo and we arrived in good time. We were hosted by Ana López Lindon, the export director, and were to have lunch with Xavier Gramona, the fifth generation of the family. The winemaker is Xavier's cousin Jaume Gramona, and, in common with most Cava producers, the company makes still wines as well as sparkling. But this is an oversimplification: Jaume wanted to make an ice-wine but, of course, frost is not a regular visitor to the vineyards of Barcelona, so he developed a technique for taking late-harvest grapes and partially freezing them in the tank to extract the concentrated juice. This is Vi de Gel, and he makes a Gewurztraminer and a Riesling-Muscat. He also has a traditional solera making rancio-type wines, which are not sold but offered to family, friends and visitors to the winery.

One of the manicured vineyards

But that was not why we were here: after a brief tour of the vineyards we went into the winery. The cellars are large and rambling, and mercifully provided with a lift and, after the usual tour, we had the tasting, with Xavier. The tasting room is an airy, top floor affair with a glass wall and a terrace beyond where we were able to watch them laying up for lunch as we tasted. These were the highlights:

Gramona cellars - Ana in the background

2001 Celler Batlle Gran Reserva, 70/30 X/M, 7 years on the lees - some subtle autolysis on the nose with considerable complexity; the palate has the same complexity, structure and length, and that trademark Gramona freshness. 17/20

2000 Celler Batlle Gran Reserva, 70/30 X/M, 6 years on the lees - rich, biscuity with soft autolysis, more complexity and notable richness on the mid, very long, spicy finish. Excellent. 18/20

1998 Celler Batlle Gran Reserva - some bright, citrussy fruit with a hint of autolysis on the nose, and big, gamey, spicy mid and finish, but it still seems to be developing, even after all this time. 18/20

1997 Celler Batlle Gran Reserva - a mix of citrus and autolysis plus a hint of oxidation on the nose, but vibrant fruit on the foretaste fading to richness on the mid, with a gamey finish. Needs drinking up but splendid. 18/20

These were some of the finest wines we tasted on the trip - although they sell in Spain from about €40 to over €100 - and I had the opportunity to speak to Xavier about them before lunch.

"Only a family company can afford to make wines to age for 10 to 15 years." Yes but, what's the secret? "The land, the grape, the winemaker..." Fairly obvious, but, of course, "the Xarel·lo is now recovering from its reputation as a 'difficult' grape" since growers stopped leaving it on the vine too long in the hope of higher sugar-content. "Once we have grapes of the quality we want, the rest is a matter of time on the lees, and autolysis. By the time the wine is disgorged the primary aromas will have been superseded. The lactic characteristics are no longer the product of fermentation, but from the yeast. That's what gives the wine those 'toasty' aromas that we want. The autolysis of the yeast provides the ultimate complexity, and it takes years, not months." And Cava with food? "The wine has to have the weight to match with food. Young wines are too light, maturity is everything. Our aim is to make a 10-year wine which still refreshes. Something, for example, you could drink with wasabi."

Hard-working tasting (1): Xavier in silhouette, the terrace beyond

So, then it was in to lunch, or rather out to lunch on the terrace, on a lovely June afternoon. We had a light, summer meal of cheese, salad chicken, and the usual suspects and drank the Gewurztraminer Vi de Gel (astonishingly light and delicious) Gramona Chardonnay and Xarel·lo still wines, and what was left of the Cavas from the tasting. We finished off with the solera wine - amazingly nutty and almost like an old Oloroso Sherry. It was a privilege to taste this range and, perhaps, the most educational visit of the trip: a family firm refusing to 'dumb down' its Cavas to meet price points, Sadly, as yet, they are not easy to find in the UK.

Then it was back to the hotel with a full three hours for siesta and shower (and a couple of large ones) before dinner in the hotel at 21:15. Why don't more trip organisers build in this kind of relaxing break? Very civilised, but then, we are in Cava country.

Hard-working tasting (2)

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Cava and Tarragona - Day 1

08-Jun-09 - Primary school joke:

Teacher: (looking for the word 'collision') What do we call it when two things come together unexpectedly". Small boy: "Twins!"

I was reminded of this when, for the second time this year (the other was Madrid/Zamora, see posts of 30-Mar-09), I was invited on two trips which, milagroso, did not overlap, cancelling out one of them, but dovetailed into a single week very conveniently. The first (Mon-Tue-Wed) was to visit some Cava bodegas in the province of Barcelona which are pushing forward with premium wines (in the £20+ bracket), and the second (Thu-Fri-Sat) was to the province of Tarragona, with visits and tastings in/from the DDOO Priorat, Montsant, Terra Alta, Conca de Barberà and Tarragona.

The Institut del Cava had arranged the first trip, and their representatives in the UK, Threepipe had sent the invitation. My last visit to Cava-country was in 2005, but things change there so fast (as, indeed, all over Spain) that I welcomed the opportunity to have a look at what's making the running in 2009.

It was a very civilised start to the day, with a car at 08:00 to Gatwick for a 10:55 Easyjet flight to Barcelona. The Priority Pass card came into its own again with a vengeance, and this time I didn't need the milk-float but managed to creak along to the gate under my own steam, which was encouraging.

On arrival we were met by Sheena Campbell-Royle of SCRrrpp in Barcelona (she's English but has lived in Spain for more than 25 years) which handles generic PR for the Institut, and her sidekick Nadja Borovac, a multi-lingual graduate of Berkeley University in California. They were to accompany us variously throughout the trip, as well as the drop-dead gorgeous María del Mar Torres, who is the Director of the Institut del Cava.

My fellow travellers were Julie Arkell (freelance - currently Chairman of the Circle of Wine Writers), still walking with a stick after crocking her ankle falling over a dog - two years ago; Sarah Jane Evans (see posts passim); Claire Dodd of The Publican; Hannah Howard of World Drinks Report; and Alex Frith from Threepipe. Claire Dodd was arriving on a later flight so naturally I headed for the bar, and who should I meet on the way but the delightful Eleonora Scholes (a fellow member of the CWW, and see posts on the Cognac trip 23-Sep-08 to 26-Sep-08) who was on her way to join a different press trip, to Somontano. Claire's flight was, inevitably, delayed, so we got down a couple of very cold beers before it was time to leave.

We were duly whisked off to the hotel Cal Ruget in Vilobi del Penedès. This is a beautifully-restored old farmhouse, about half a kilometre from the nearest paved road, through a vineyard and then electric gates. It's run by Florian Porsche and his wife Verónica Grimal (she's Catalan, he's German) and has a very elegant style, with a swimming pool, an outside terrace for dining, pleasant gardens and free wifi, so, although it didn't offer my usual saunter down the local calle to find a sleazy bar in my spare time, it did offer everything else.

The elegant former farmhouse that is Cal Ruget. Picture www.calrugetbiohotel.com

Or, indeed, not quite. My room was separate from the main building - a lovely self-contained affair with floor-to-ceiling windows, overlooking the swimming pool and, beguilingly, a child's classroom slate in the window with my name on it. Unfortunately the wifi did not stretch this far, so I was reduced to using the O2 dongle at a frightening £3 a meg. How do they get away with it? We retired to the terrace for tapas before departing for our first visit.

Raventós i Blanc - main winery

Raventos i Blanc sits opposite the gates of its palatial 'parent' Codorníu, but Josep-María Raventós left to create his own winery in 1986 - now run by his son Manuel - and the very modern installation sits within its own 90 ha of vines, beautifully landscaped and immaculately managed. The main building centres on a 500-year-old oak tree which, sadly, was blown over in a storm last winter. It's still there, leaning at a precipitous angle, awaiting its ultimate fate.

The old oak tree - laid low after half a millennium

We had a brief trip to the vineyards to see the different terroirs and microclimates and taste a couple of wines - they grow the 'big three' Cava grapes (Macabeo, Xarel·lo and Parellada - MXP) as well as some Chardonnay and (since 2000) Pinot Noir. Manuel Raventós explained that his main pricing position is in the 'high' but not 'expensive' bracket (€13-15 retail in Spain), but that he has ambitions to create a 'super-premium' wine to retail at around €100 in Spain. He's aiming at the high-end on-trade, where Gran Reserva Cava (only 2% of all production) is gaining increasing listings. As a special service to clients, they disgorge on demand and print the date on the cap, which is very brave. I only wish we could persuade the producers of Fino and Manzanilla in Jerez to do the same.

We tasted the wines blind, which is most unusual for a bodega visit, and the highlights were these:

2006 L'Hereu (60% Macabeo, the rest XP) - crisp, green fruit and fresh acidity on the nose, bone-dry palate with good fresh fruit on mid and a citrus finish, Excellent. 17/20

2006 Raventós i Blanc Rosado (Monastrell) - gris in the glass, spiky, spicy fruit with a light, delicate perfume on the nose, some warmth and riper, red fruits on the mid and a nice, warm length. 17/20

In the tasting room

Then it was a leisurely dinner in the boardroom - a book-lined library-style room, with antique furniture and a magnificent spread with a selection of the bodega's still wines: very civilised indeed.

Dinner!

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La Palma - Days 4-5

30-May-09 - The final meeting took place in the morning, with all of the tasting panel asked to do a small presentation on their overall impressions of the tasting. Then it was time to present the prizes, hear the closing speeches, and the afternoon was free in advance of a farewell dinner for all the delegates, in the restaurant. I retired to my room to type up my notes (aka have a couple of large ones and a siesta).

Part of the tasting panel on the final day. Jürgen Mathäß (check shirt) is second from left

The dinner was very much a cut above what we'd had previously in the main restaurant: crema de calabacín y yogourth griego; solomillo del cerdo al gusto; and a mousse de gofio (a Canary classic) en teja de almendra con miel de La Palma. We drank 2008 El Nispero Albillo, Bodegas Eufrosina Pérez Rodríguez, 2008 Vega Norte Rosado, Bodegas Noroeste de La Palma (Negramoll) and the red 2008 Teneguía 2-0-0-1, Bodegas Teneguía (Negramoll plus other varieties). By now I had note-taker's cramp, but they were all very well matched to the food: a fitting ending to a very educational trip.

31-May-09 - Then it was back home - car to the south airport, where I arrived at about 14:30 for a 19:45 flight. Thank goodness (again) for Priority Pass! I was flying back with Monarch and expected a rather better service than from Easyjet, but there was little to choose between them. I did however, manage to get a seat with an empty seat next-door, so I was able to get the table down for something to eat, and drink. The flight was due in at 23:45 but arrive a bit late, so I managed to get another lift on the milk-float and got into arrivals about 00:30. My car was waiting and I was home for 01:15 - completely knackered, but a very worthwhile exercise. The following morning I woke up coughing, spluttering, with a sore throat and aching limbs, convinced that I had inhaled swine 'flu on the flight. Fortunately, this proved not to be the case.

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La Palma - Days 2-3

28-May-09 - The temperature at sea-level was in the low 30s, and I arrived at the bus for the first session in shirtsleeves. The driver looked at me curiously and asked if I had a jacket. I said I hadn't. She frowned: "I think it might be rather cold where we're going. I suggest you go and get one." It then transpired that the first tasting session was to be held in the conference room of the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos, perched on the rim of the volcanic crater at the very top of the island, at an altitude of about 2,500 m. It's only 88 km but once you get away from the populated areas it's solid hairpin bends up very steep slopes through towering pine forests, and it took us more than 2 hours. I found myself wishing that they'd hired a bus with a loo but, this being Spain, the driver pulled over after an hour and a half so that everybody could get out and have a fag. My needs were more urgent, and fortunately there was another (empty) minibus nearby where I was able invoke the Victorian Hansom Cab act (offside rear wheel subsection) while the rest scrutinised a 'you are here' map, and we subsequently had a group photograph taken.

In spite of the altitude (we were well above the clouds) it was very comfortably warm at the observatory, and I didn't need the jacket. One of the most fascinating moments came as we approached the administration buildings, when I noticed what appeared to be a giant mural by the roadside. As we got closer, it became clear that it was, in fact a concave mirror about 2 metres across and, as we passed, its reflections moved and rotated like a giant kaleidoscope.

Some of the observatory buildings on the edge of the crater

Cars parked above the clouds

Once inside there were more photographs before we got down to business. There were 35 wines, all Malvasía of course, 1 sparkler (surprisingly good), 15 dry, 2 semiseco and 17 sweet (the traditional 'Canary-Sack', famous since Shakespeare's time). We were marking on the 100-point scale but I have converted them to the 20-point scale. There were far too many to post a full list here. If you'd like to see the full list please e-mail me. My top scores (perhaps predictably) were all in the 'sweet' sector. These all got 19/20:

At 2,500 metres

2006 Mozaga, Montana Clara, DO Lanzarote - lovely, mature, honeyed, rich fruit, subtle and complex on the nose, rich, perfumed fruit and excellent balance on the mid with good acidity and a long, clean finish. Excellent.

2008 Testamento Esencia, Cumbres de Abona, DO Abona - big, soft subtle spicy fruit on the nose, clean acidity cutting the richness on the palate, fresh fruit on the mid and a long, golden finish.

2005 Tamanca, Tamanca, DO La Palma - almost Oloroso-style fruit with dark, subtle hints on the nose, and more 'Oloroso' on the palate, but with fresher fruit and good acidity, leading to a long clear finish. Excellent.

1997 Canari, El Grifo, DO Lanzarote - that Oloroso style again, with dark, nutty flavours and the beginnings of a bit of aldehyde, but the fruit leaps from the glass on the palate and the acidity is still fresh.

29-May-09 - At sea level

Day 2 of the event was held at the hotel complex, with a further 32 wines but (and here's the scary bit), the organisers had taken the top 10 wines from the previous day and inserted them into the tasting on the second, but we didn't know which they were. More on this in a minute. In the meantime, here are the 19/20 wines from day 2:

Malvasía Old Reserve 10-year-old, Barbeito (?), DOC Madeira (?) - another Oloroso style with caramel on the nose, and a rich, warm caramel/nutty mid: "Oloroso, but with fruit".

1990 Blandy's Malvasía, Blandy's, DOC Madeira - some aldehyde masking a dark, nutty fruit on the nose, lovely rich dark style but still with fresh acidity, excellent length.

Malmsey 15-year-old, Henriques & Henriques , DOC Madeira - dark, aromatic Amontillado-style nose, also on the palate with dark, warm delicious fruit and nicely balanced acidity. Excellent.

Interestingly, the wine that won 'best in show' across the board was a 1933 Malvasía from Justinho in Madeira. My tasting note was: big Oloroso-style maturity, power and richness on the nose but with aldehydes apparent, enormous power, spice and richness on the palate with a dry finish in a semi-rancio style. I gave it 18/20.

Now the scary bit: as I mentioned, they snuck the top 10 from day 1 (at 2,500 m) amongst the wines from day 2, and I cross-referenced my marks for those wines on each tasting. The average disparity was 3% higher at sea level, with a maximum difference of 14% and a minimum of 0%. Does this mean that the palate really does change according to altitude? I begin to understand the challenges faced by panels tasting wines for airlines.

But the tasting confirmed my thoughts that these are excellent wines, and deserve a wider profile. The problem seems to be that the dry wines suffer from the logistical nightmare of getting them to the mainland before they can be distributed, with its obvious cost add-ons. The sweet wines, fabulous though many of them are, have simply gone out of fashion. It's very sad.

Anyway, after the sea-level tasting we were taken to lunch at the seaside: the Kiosco La Zamora is a modest set of low buildings on a promontory sticking out into the sea at La Zamora, about 2 km up the coast from the hotel. We sat on the terrace under an open-sided canopy. Over the wall on the north side was a sheer drop to the volcanic black, sandy beach below, and in front of us was, well, my kind of food: plain-grilled fish of the day (alfonsiño on this occasion), locally-caught shrimps and lapas (limpets - not for me, unfortunately), and the classic papas arrugadas, which I love. We drank the 2008 Pedregal from Bodegas Tamanca (60/40 Bujariego/Albillo) which was splendid with the fish, and the red was a Negramoll called T!on (not sure if I've got the orthography quite right with that one) from Bodegas Carlos Fernández, which is a tiny two-man band in Breñas - it was excellent but the Pedregal was better with the fish. We finished off with tiny tumblers of 2005 Zeus Dulce from Bodegas Llanovid, the largest co-op on the island. Made from Negramoll, it was truly sublime.

The black sandy beach as seen from Kiosko La Zamora

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Head in the Clouds, feet in the sea - La Palma Day 1

27-31-May-09 - The invitation came from Jürgen Mathäß, a German journalist and fellow member of FIJEV: the organisers of the Third International Symposium on Malvasía, which was held on the island of La Palma in the Canaries were looking for three teams of three tasters, one from La Palma, one from the mainland and one made up of international journalists, of which I was to be one.

My first thought was about getting there: the original proposal was London>Madrid>Gran Canaria>La Palma but I shuddered at the thought of changing 'planes twice, especially as one of them was at Madrid terminal 4, one of my least favourite places in the universe. I did some research and ascertained that there are no direct flights to La Palma except from the other islands, so I asked if I could fly to Tenerife and thence to La Palma. The only slight issue was that, of course, international flights go to Tenerife South, and local flights go from Tenerife North, which is about 45 minutes' drive away. The organisers, however, were happy to arrange a car in both directions, so I set forth with a will.

The flight out was with Easyjet and the car came to pick me up at 04:45 to allow for an 07:40 check-in, for flight at 07:40 (does any other country in the world actually observe this absurd 2-hour check-in pantomime? Thank goodness, as always, for Priority Pass: freshly-made coffee, croissants and a large brandy to fortify the blood). As I was getting over an attack of gout I asked for a lift on the milk-float thing, and this proved propitious: instead of the mad scramble for seats I was allowed on first, and managed to get an excellent seat (1F) right at the front with extra legroom and a pop-out table that I could actually use. This was important as the flight to Tenerife is 4h15 and I'd need something to eat (admittedly, at Easyjet prices, but there was no choice).

Another car was waiting at Tenerife south and delivered me promptly to the north airport which doesn't have a lounge but does have a very pleasant bar in which to while away the wait. The flight from Tenerife to La Palma takes 30 minutes in an ATR-72 turboprop, and the cabin service was a joy to behold. It takes about 10 minutes to reach cruising altitude and about the same time to descend, so the two stewardesses had about 10 minutes to do their stuff. As soon as the seat-belt light was switched off, they sprang into action: to the back of the 'plane, wheel a trolley to the front of the 'plane, move towards the back, with the front girl dispensing a chocolate wafer biscuit and a napkin, and the second a glass of water. Then back to the front with a plastic bag for the waste, then back to the front for the descent. It was a choreographed performance.

I arrived at La Palma at 17:30 and got the shuttle to the hotel. The venue for the Malvasía event was La Palma Princess on the coast near Fuencaliente: one of those sprawling 'resort' hotels (in fact, two hotels on one campus) with separate blocks for the rooms, 12 (count 'em) swimming pools and a full programme of sporting and other events for the energetic. We arrived in the evening of Wednesday, 27th May in time for dinner, and this was a self-service (and apparently almost 24-hour) affair in a vast restaurant on the upper level. There seemed to be no limit to the number of times you could go back and refill your plate but if I tell you that once was enough for me, you can imagine that apart from the fresh salads and fruit, the quality of food was, well, more motorway service area that 4-star hotel. There was no wifi in the rooms (but there was in the conference centre) and no room service which is, I suppose, understandable in a complex with two dozen different blocks of rooms. But 4-star???

La Palma Princess - main concourse

High concourse - looking westward out to sea

Anyway, that wasn't why we were there. The programme for the event seemed a bit heavyweight, with seminars on such as 'Influence of timing and intensity of basal leaf removal on aromatic composition of cv. Istrian Malvasía wines', with delegates from Italy, Spain, Portugal, and the Baltic states. But I was relieved to learn that the tasting panel was not expected to attend these sessions, but to do two tasting concours, one on the Thursday and one on the Friday, with a final 'judge-off' on the Saturday.

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