A Taste of Spain in Reigate
Click on the play button above and whisk yourself away to balmy nights and the night time smells of eucalyptus and orange blossom, sipping an aperitif or two whilst nibbling on tapas and olives.
The Roe Deer, (who were hosting a Spanish wine tasting evening) fabulous as it is, is not quite Seville, Barcelona or the Andalucian Mountains but James Child from Bibendum Wine brought the life and passion of our Iberian friends to our tables and our palates through the swirling, sniffing and slurping of a variety of Spanish wines.
Kicking off the evening was the rather superb Segura Viudas Vintage 2008 Cava from Catalonia. Many people turn their noses up at Cava as cheap fizz and quite rightly so if it’s the over produced £3 bottles that became so readily available ten years ago. This is certainly not the case now, according to James. Cava having been usurped by the suave Italian Prosecco, it is now making a resurgence with top quality bottles of bubbles. This is super light and rather elegant Cava I would be happy to drink or serve.
Spanish cheeses obviously go with Spanish wines and Marie had paired the Cava with possibly Spain’s greatest goats’ milk cheese. From retired builder to artisan cheesemaker, Rafael Baez and his daughter Paloma have been producing Monte Enebro, for the past 25 years in Avila, Spain. Shaped like a large flattened log slightly reminiscent of an ashen brick and aged with mold on the rind. The stunning Monte Enebro packs a powerful punch, salty and acidic but with a satisfying smooth flesh which makes it pretty irresistible not to go back for more.
José Pizarro recipe: deep-fried goat’s cheese with orange-blossom honey
The next wine was a little bit of a star with me. I do like a glass of Sauvignon Blanc every now and then *coughs*, and particularly so on a lovely sunny day. I can imagine replacing my trusted Sauv Blanc with this little beauty, San Abadio Albarino Rias Baixas. A vibrant, light quaffable little number with a high acidity, making it a perfect accompaniment for seafood and will definitely choose this over a Sauvignon Blanc the next time I am sitting in the sun in The Roe Deer’s garden.
The cheese we enjoyed with the Albarino was the king of Spanish cheeses, Manchego officially Queso Manchego. is a cheese made in the La Mancha region of Spain from the milk of sheep of the Manchega breed. Official Manchego cheese is to be aged for between 60 days and two years with a slightly piqant and nutty taste.
Most people associate the tempranillo grape with red wine and equally don’t associate Rioja with white wine. Until now most white Rioja’s I have tasted has not been high on my list but the Vivanco Viura Malvasisia Blanco, 2012 was a pleasant surprise, fresh and crisp with a definite smell of apple when I stuck my nose in the glass and with the guidance of James able to pick out a hint of citrus too, though not my favourite wine of the tasting.
The next cheese certainly packed a punch. The Queso Azul de Valdeón is a mixed milk (blend of cow and sometimes goats milk, sometimes ewes milk) made in the Valdeón valley in the province of León. This Spanish Blue has a strong, salty, not too spicy flavour with a buttery-creamy texture that melts in your mouth, which is offset with an earthiness from being wrapped in sycamore, maple or chestnut leaves. This disappeared all too quickly from the cheese board!
Well hello red wine! To the colour of Rioja we all know and love with a Dinastia Vivanco Crianza, 2009. Made using some of the oldest wine-making techniques located in the Briones region, an enclave in the Rioja Alta amongst the foothills of the Cantabrian Mountain Range with 100% tempranillo grape it’s very fruity and almost cherry like. The perfect accompaniment to this wine, none other than the ubiquitous chorizo sausage. We were treated to two choices, a traditional Spanish chorizo, course and meaty with fat running through it and a spicy Suffolk chorizo from Cannon and Cannon which worked rather well.
Up until now James had just been teasing us, as what he pulled out of his magic Spanish wine stash next Acustic Cellars Ritme Carinyena Garnacha, 2011, Priorat got everyone talking. In my opinion a sublime wine, soft, deep and light, both subtle and complex. It was definitely the hit of the evening and to have a pub selling this quality of wine I think is a real treat.
James explained that this wine epitomises the new breed of young passionate winemakers entering the Spainsh arena.This is made from very old low yielding vines from the Priorat region, from Garnacha and Carignan (Garnatxa and Carinyena). What makes this so unusual is the freshness and delicacy not usually found in Spanish reds. Generally the warmer the climate, the further up into the hills or altitude you will have to go in order to get this kind of lightness. In Priorat you have cliff like terraces that rise up to 1000 metres. It is this difference between day and night time temperatures that gives the vine a chance to de-stress overnight, and the cooling night time brings down the overall quickness of ripening time. For example, the best apples are grown in England because it has a long cool growing season. Same with grapes. For this reason you will not find too many wines of lightness in the Mediterranean vine growing regions.
For the finale James sprung a rather unusual aperitif on us. We all like a drop a Sherry at Christmas and maybe when granny pops round but Rodriguez la-Cave Manzanilla “Barbiana”, NV, Sanlucar de Barrameda is probably not what you’d pass around willy nilly. This sherry is definitely an acquired taste. It packs a light, fresh, savoury/nutty/briny punch. Perfect for sipping as the sun goes down with either oysters, boquerones or a few slices of Jamon. It was a winner in my book for sure.
The Roe Deer were perfect hosts and the energetic and enthusiastic James Childs from Bibendum made the wines come alive with his passion and knowledge.
Should you wish to find out more about or purchase any of the wines or cheeses above, they are all available from The Roe Deer. The Roe Deer regularly host tasting evenings, visit their website for further details. Rumour has it they have a ‘Great British Ale and Spirits Festival’ coming up, including gin tasting…book me in!
