Homeward bound
Iberians on wine
by josé
4d ago
This weekend we have tried a new Rioja made with Maturana grapes, Marqués de Reinosa 2020. It was a gift of Ignacio Castillo, a dear old friend who has the wonderful habit of sharing with me his wine discoveries. Maturana is known as the Cabernet of Rioja, a distant cousin from this well-known grape. Its production is small and it is usually added to Riojas made with tempranillo. In the last years, a few vignerons in the region have dared to create 100% Maturana wines, often with great success. Marqués de Reinosa is a return to a more simple and better world, homeward bound. It has a frank tas ..read more
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Slow walking
Iberians on wine
by josé
6M ago
One of the best birthday gifts I have received this year is a book by G. C. Lichtenberg, the extraordinary German scientist and humanist who lived in the second half of the XVIIIth century and wrote some of the most insightful aforisms about life. In one of them, he points out that you can fight the passage of time by trying to prolongue your years or by slow walking: “go out there and collect plants, walk in zig zag and in a flat terrain, if nobody is watching you, dare to do a somersault”. I have decided to put slow walking into practice. My new year resolution includes writing more often ab ..read more
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My Christmas selection
Iberians on wine
by josé
1y ago
“I read, much of the night, and I go South in the winter”, wrote T.S. Eliot. This is exactly my mood as I approach the last month of the year. But before I disappear for a couple of weeks, some of you have asked me to pick a few wines to celebrate Christmas. I write at the pleasure of my readers, so here is my list, with my best wishes for the season: I have recently discovered Xión Cuveé 2019, a Rias Baixas red with an amazing personality: very acid, but so well made that you mostly notice how fresh and light it is (12 degrees of alcohol). It combines Pedral, Souson and Espadeiro local grapes ..read more
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No surrender
Iberians on wine
by josé
1y ago
Things have not been easy in the past months, but the grim moments of the pandemic have led to other ocassions where we feel grateful for all the good things in life and make a mental note in capital letters of “no surrender”. In the early days of January we spent a couple of days in Muxía, the new-new Parador in one of the most beautiful shores of Galicia. We drove to Finisterre cape and looked at the infinite sea blessed by the winter sun. Another happy encounter was with Lagar do Cigur (7,50 euros), a red wine from Adegas Melillas in Valdeorras that took us by suprise during an aperitif. Ma ..read more
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Chez nous
Iberians on wine
by josé
1y ago
Let’s not describe these weeks with the harsh words of confinement or lock-down. We are chez nous, as the French would say, at home with much loved family members while keeping in touch with many friends. We are trying to help save lives and do our civic duty in the coronavirus crisis. In this journey, we have tried two new wines that deserve to make it into this blog as House favorites. The first one is Viña Pomal Terruño Centenario Reserva 2014, a special selection of the classic Rioja, to celebrate the centennial of these vignerons (I will stop using French words tout suite).This wine trans ..read more
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When weeds in wheels
Iberians on wine
by josé
1y ago
Gerald Manley Hopkins wrote: “Nothing is so beautiful as Spring / when weeds, in wheels, shoot long and lovely and lush”… I have read this poem in my first day of holidays in La Coruña. Driving this morning from Madrid I floated in the green and yellow countryside, eager to arrive to Galicia, the Eden garden by the sea. But Hopkins verses can also connect us with more mundane and hedonistic matters: “What is all this juice and all this joy?” he wrote. Which takes me to my notes about two Spring wines -wines that I have tasted in the last weeks and are wondrous examples of weeds in wheels. Cosm ..read more
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Merry Christmas wines
Iberians on wine
by josé
1y ago
I have been very fortunate to spend this week in Fontainebleau, teaching again my course on Power. It is wonderful to be back on the road, in spite of the uncertainties and obstacles of the pandemic. Some friends who indulge in eccentric tastes and follow this blog have insisted that before Christmas I should suggest some wines for the season. Today I was able to find a bit of time between classes and here is my list: Valenciso blanco is the best white I have tasted in 2021. It is made with Viura grapes and a bit of white Garnache by two of my favorite vignerons, Luis Valentín and Carmen Enci ..read more
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Summer is Delight
Iberians on wine
by josé
1y ago
“Summer is Delight”, wrote Emily Dickinson. I cannot agree more with her. This is the time when life begins over (according to F. Scott Fitzgerald), when everything feels new and all makes sense. I am lucky to spend this season, once again, between Galicia and Mallorca, and to enjoy Nature every day, in its Atlantic and Mediterranean splendours. From the Sil river to the valleys of the Ulloa, from the bay of Alcudia to the mythical mountains of Sierra Tramuntana, two wines stand out these summer days. The first one is Twenty Twelve, a Majorcan wine from the Es Fangar winery, presented in a bot ..read more
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A match made in heaven
Iberians on wine
by josé
1y ago
The Tramuntana mountains is one of the best spots on earth to unwind and spend quiet days (or years). Robert Graves, who moved permanently to the nearby village of Deia, wrote in a letter to Virginia Woolf, “this is Paradise… if you can stand it”. I think he was just being funny. The combination of green, orange and yellow colours from the hills and blue and silver from the sea is breathtaking. I have been lucky to spend here part of the summer since I was born. This season I found a wondrous wine from Tramuntana while I visited dear friends at the other side of the island, in the Colonia de S ..read more
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Fly me to the moon
Iberians on wine
by josé
1y ago
F. D. Reeve wrote “the full moon this May, after our last terrible winter, washes the lost Earth”. We have been indeed in full moon mood lately, as we celebrate the arrival of a long-awaited summer and vaccinations to fend off the pandemic. We found a wine to celebrate and symbolize our desire to fly again and explore the world. It was a gift from Gonzalo Entrecanales, who dreams big and understand wine as an inter-generational endeavor of endless innovation. He introduced us to one of the latest inventions of his company, “El Aeronauta 2018”, a lees-aged Godello that we have drank these weeks ..read more
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