Tasting at Coda with Miquelangel Cerda i Capo From Anima Negra

Miquelagel is one of those winemakers you just know you are going to like on first sight. Stocky with crazy hair, he looks like a man who spends a lot of time out in the vineyard. Bucket loads of charm and energy, plus he can spin a good yarn. A real character, plus he has that great Mediterranean hospitality of making everyone feel welcome, especially the ladies!

Wine Blog Awards and Slow updates

If you are a regular reader of Tinto y Blanco, you will notice that it’s a bit quiet around here. Full time work, part time Masters level study, life and ,well lets face it, Sundy morning hangovers, have gotten the better of me over the past little while. I have been tasting quite a lot of late, just haven’t had the time to write things up and do the photos etc. End of semester is at the end of June, so I’ll try to get some of the tasting up as bulk notes with odd photo. Full service will return later in the year with a bit of a revamp of the site too.

In other news, I’ve been nominated (or the site really) in the Best Single Subject category in the Wine Blog Awards…if you’re inclined to vote you can do so here: http://bit.ly/aVCpdd or just click on the icon

Bierzo in a nutshell…(part 2)

So, I’ve finished traveling all around the place (I hope) and back into writing up my last trip to Spain….

Back in the saddle….

coit towerAfter a month or so break, I’m back with more tasting notes. I’ve spent the last month or so traveling around lesser known parts of Idaho and Utah (with a quick stop in San Francisco) and recovering from a bout of swine flu, but there has been a few Spanish and Portuguese wine moments along the way. A few high lights: Tasting most of the big name 2007 vintage ports (do believe the hype in most cases, its a great vintage), drinking MartinCodax Albarino while my Mormon hosts look on in horror and disdain, and eating Mexican food in California.

La Vendimia 2009 (The harvest post)

Things are a bit slow on the site at the moment, It would seem that attempting to finish a Master degree, doing home renovations and trying to hold down a job are not conductive to posting. But I have been firing off a few emails to see whats happening with the 2009 harvest all over Spain, and I thought I’d put up a few tid bits for those who are interested. So far, most of the news is from Rioja, but a bit extra from all over the place as well. Things are looking fairly good so far, the harvest has finished for many of the whites in the south of Spain, with reds starting to come in, while up north things are starting up shortly. I’ll add more as they come in.

R. López de Heredia Viña Tondonia Gran Reserva Blanco 1987

This is a note that has been in draft mode for about 6 months now. Not because the wine is bad or anything like that, its just an increadbly hard wine to describe. Reading an article in the NY Times, I thought it was about time to post it. I bought this bottle after coming back from Rioja and visiting López de Heredia and literaly being overwhelmed by how these people make this crazy wine. By all logic is should be well past it by the time it’s released, I mean who has heard of white wine kept in casks for nine and a half years then in bottle for another 13 or so years before its released? The people who make it say the secret is the acid, and you can clearly see that when you taste it. It looks oxidized, but tastes like it could do another 10 years standing on it’s head. It sounds like it should be musty and mouldy, but its fresh and floral.

Lanzaga mini vertical - 2002 to 2006

Earlier this year I was lucky enough to have a look at 5 vintages of one of the standout Rioja wines available in Australia, Lanzaga from Compania del Vinos de Telmo Rodríguez . I tend use the full name of the company these days, as when I visited in February it became very clear that partnership between Pablo Eguzkiza and Telmo Rodríguez has been a key ingredient to building this now very well known company. I still have a load of stuff to write up from my last trip, one of the highlights being a day looking the company’s many operations in Rioja…

Lunch at Bodega

I had a quick day work trip up to Sydney yesterday, so what better to do than stop into Bodega for lunch in between meetings. And what a great way to spend a couple of hours, some nice drinks, great food and outstanding atmosphere. One of the things I like here is the slight rockabilly undertone, it reminds me of being in my mid 20s, out and about seeing ska, punk and rockabilly bands.

Tasting with Eguren wines

It’s hard to know what to call these guys, they have a number of different brand, 3.5 bodegas (one is being built) and they are a huge family (there are Egurens making wine all over Rioja). But whatever they are called they make a diverse range of wines ine Rioja Alta and Alvesa. We kicked off our visits in Rioja with a look around Vinedos de Paganos where the vineyards and bodega for El Puntido and La Nieta are located, then a quick drive over San Vincente to have a look at the bodega for San Vicente followed by a tasting. One habit I could used to is tucking into some fine jamon y queso after a tasting…

Calle Laurel: a culinary institution

On my first trip to Rioja, I was given some great advice: ‘There are plenty of good places to eat in La Rioja, but there is only one place that you musteat during a trip here and that is the tapas street of Calle Laurel in the old town of Logroño.’ There are tapas streets in other towns: Haro has it’s ‘Horseshoe’ area and there are good little bars in most towns and villages, but they don’t come close to Calle Laurel.