Spreading the Californian joy

June 24, 2015June 24, 2015 / dolcevitaspinelli / Leave a comment

Sometimes it is nice to give you some insights from within the winery business. A hot topic for the moment is about Hasselt Millesime, one of Belgium’s top 3 wine import companies (wholesale). They are enlarging import gamma! After already being the distributor (amongst other) for one of Italy’s largest wineries (Zonin), it will now be importing wines from the biggest Californian wine estate that I’m sure you all know E &J Gallo winery. I know E & J Gallo mostly from seeing it in the supermarkets here in Belgium, but under the leading hand of Hasselt Millesime (for Belgium) they will try to enlarge their share in restaurants 🙂 In case you think ‘ooh’ it is just a wine they sell in the supermarket, I can tell for a fact that they are more than that, they obviously have wines from all levels or a wine for everybody going from a regular table wine to more gastronomical wines like their Gallo Signature Series. What I personally didn’t know is that they also produce other drinks besides wine like Rum,Tequila, Gin 🙂 (all the other products)… Lots of new things to try

Anyhow, I wish them both the best of luck and I’m sure Hasselt Millesime can help the Family grow 🙂

Spanish summer in a glass

December 30, 2014December 30, 2014 / dolcevitaspinelli / Leave a comment

Who knew Halle (near Brussels) could feel like Spain or even feel like summer in middle of winter?! Andy De Brouwer did as he was the one to create this oasis in his restaurant Les Eleveurs (aka a Walhalla for food and wine 🙂 ) together with the Rueda wine region. Rueda might not seem too familiar, but Verdejo might ring a bell for more people as it is without any doubt the Spain’s most famous white wine… or one of as technically speaking Sherry (Jerez) is also a white wine 🙂

The Rueda region is located in the North of Spain between Portugal and that other very famous Spanish wine region Rioja. You can see it as the Spanish part of the Portuguese Douro valley as the Duera (Douro) river continues its path in this region. The vineyards/vines in the Rueda region are planted 700 to 800 meters above sea- level on dark grey – brown soils… mostly stony (but easy to farm), with good ventilation and draining. Important to know is that the soil is very rich of calcium and magnesium essential for a good development of the vines.

I must rephrase what I said before as I said this region mostly know for it white wine, but it does also have some world renowned red’s of Toro, Ribera del Duero and Leon. The wine grape of Toro, called Tinta de Toro, has long been considered a mutant of Tempranillo (one of the main grapes in the Rioja region). Today we’ll be focusing on the white wines.

Why I referred to summer is because the Rueda wines or Verdejo is the perfect wine for on a warm summer’s day in the garden under a pergola with some olives or some thinly sliced Parma ham or Pata Negra. Basically an everyman’s friend… young, playful, refreshing, smooth and floral. Typically Verdejo wines are aromatic (very fruity), often soft, and full-bodied. That full-bodyness it has to thank to the altitude on which the grapes are grown (+600m)

If Andy wouldn’t have told me it would have taking me much longer to find out what the smell and taste of the Verdejo reminded me of, as it did remind me of something I had tasted before… Apparently the Verdejo grape is a sister grape of Sauvignon Blanc and therefore has more or less the same notions as a Sauvignon Blanc and the confuse the enemy even more they sometimes also blend the 2 grape kinds together 🙂 . Sooo being a Sauvignon Blanc lover it won’t come as a surprise I like Verdejo wines as well??!! Also this was the reason it seemed so familiar. But do keep in mind that it are young wines that should be drunk young as they are not really aging material… also most Verdejo or Rueda wines in general (white ones) haven’t seen too much wooden barrels, which also isn’t necessary as it would make this already lovely wine more complex without too much reason if it would stay a long time in wooden barrels:-).If they blend the Verdejo with the Sauvignon Blanc it will make a richer and more aromatic wine.

We can do is a make a little distinction between the wines that are really ‘apero’ material as other do require a little snack or dish with it… From the 9 wines we tasted, the first 3 were the perfect example of non expensive (around 7 EUR) ‘apero’ or ‘summery’ wines (don’t get me wrong all 9 go well without food, but the 3 first best). The wines I’m talking about were a 2013 Rueda Verdejo by Marqués de Riscal (100% Verdejo), a 2013 Verdejo by Emina (100% Verdejo) and last but not least the 2013 Badajo Rueda Verdejo by Gotica. I loved the label from the Badajo as it reminded me a of the wallpaper I used on one of the walls from my still to be born daughter 🙂 🙂 (JUST FYI). Although all 3 wines are 100% of Verdejo grapes you could taste a small difference, the Marques de Riscal fruitier, whereas the Emina was more silt/salty like. FYI all the wines I’m mentioning are available in Belgium.

What I did enjoy was that for the remaining wines Andy and Nico (chef from Les Eleveurs) created and found some great matching dishes tapa style to go with the wines :-). The first matching dish they had to find was to fit with the 2013 Analivia Verdejo by Pagos del Rey. Although it won’t come as a surprise that most dishes included fish as although with can also match some meats the best pairing is still with fish… So for the first dish they went for a puffed codfish skin with hand peeled grey shrimps and avocado. The freshness of the dish went perfectly with the fruitiness and freshness of the wine. I do love my grey shrimps from the North-sea!!

Followed by crayfish with a risotto ‘croquette’ to match the Verdejo de Alberto still in the wine types of before nothing extravagant yet, just lovely and easy to drink.

The wines that were about to follow were slightly more ‘complex’ wines in comparison with the previous ones as some of them did get a little wooden barrel time (not too much though). The Verdejo from Traslagares is a good example.Well balanced acidity with a touch of bitterness and the taste for 2nd glass and one the favorites of the evening 🙂 Perfect for the hand-caught bass with eggplant caviar and a black olive crumble.

As first non fish dish we received a on low heat roasted chicken leg Moroccan style paired for the Rueda Verdejo wine by Reina de Castilla probably the most complex wine together with the last wine of the night.

The frosting on the cake is always the dessert, isn’t it? Normally they had forseen cheeses, but as I’m not really a cheesy guy (in every sense of the word) they gave me a caramel/pear/ice/chocolat dessert which also match perfect with I think favorite wine of the evening the PR3 Barricas Verdejo by Prado Rey that has been on wood for 9 months… which is a long time for this type of wine and results in a stronger wine, but still not too complex, I’d rather call it tropical with a light wood sense in between .

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I can’t wait for it to be summer, but I’m sure glass of Rueda wine will help me to keep patient as it truly is summer in a glass!

Hope to visit this region some day!

Thanks to Rueda Wines and Andy De Brouwer for learning me more about wines…

Tour de France without bikes but with wine and bubbles: J de Telmont

December 8, 2014December 8, 2014 / dolcevitaspinelli / Leave a comment

The initial plan was to just drive home after visiting the Beaune vineyards, but then I saw the Champagne region wasn’t an enormous detour to get back home… so what else could I do?? I just had to make the little ‘detour’ via the Champagne region to visit my 2^nd Champagne vineyard aka J. de Telmont. I wanted to visit the J. de Telmont vineyard for a while now, it is one of the 3 champagne vineyards on my ‘wish /to do’ list (the other 2 are Bollinger that I visited last year and the 3^rd vineyard I’m not gonna say yet 🙂 ). I know there are more than 3 vineyards in this region, but these are already for a long time the only ones I feel like visiting…. (it is like with everything else, you always have a few favorites)

When most people think of the Champagne region they automatically think of Reims or Erpernay, but there are many more little towns around those 2 bigger ‘cities’ where Champagne is made. I know this is only my 2^nd time in this region, but I do find it funny to see how close all the Champagne houses are to each other… no matter how you turn your head, you’ll always see another/ different one 🙂 Just made something clear, there is Champagne and champagne. I’ll clarify, it is not because on the label there is written ‘Champagne’ that it means it is a good champagne… Drinking a good champagne is a totally different sensation. In a good champagne there might be lots of bubbles, but they don’t disturb you or don’t get acid reflux or a headache the day after like you sometimes get when drinking ‘lesser quality’ champagnes. In case you were wondering, J. de Telmont is one the good ones, otherwise I wouldn’t be writing about them 😉

What I like and admire about J. de Telmont is that besides making very nice Champagnes, they also try to teach people how the whole ‘making-of’ process works. (BTW this is also the motto and philosophy of the house: conviviality, hospitality and sharing) They even go that far that you can blend your own champagne aka ‘Les Ateliers J. De Telmont‘ … I can hear you think that this is probably something only for professionals?? Wrong! This is something they do for and with everybody who is interested in it . Even the best sommeliers learn a lot from these workshops. For our visit we were honored to be guided around by mr. Bertrand Lhopital himself, 4^th generation of the Lhopital family to lead the company and to work (together with his team) to make every champagne they make their best champagne. He told us that from time to time some couples who are getting married come to make their own champagne for their wedding…

I did already tell you this but just in case you forgot, champagne gets made from 3 grape varieties:Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. These grapes must come from the area/region defined by the Champagne heritage board, if they don’t the finished product may not wear the name ‘Champagne’ but rather ‘Crémant’ (like Crémant de Loire, Crémant de Bourgogne). Champagne gets made in 2 fermentation periods. During the first fermentation the champagne makers will be making an actual (normal, but slightly more acidic) wine and it is only during the 2nd fermentation (aka Malolactic fermentation) by adding sugar that over time the bubbles will get in the wine and it will be come a Champagne. The assembling of different wines (from same or different grapes) happens just before the 2nd fermentation. Then what makes that not all champagnes taste the same?? Well because every champagne maker will just like any other winemakers ‘play’ with assembling wines from different vintages, age their wines in wooden barrels or stainless steel tanks and age wines longer etc…. all of this also in combination with working with the best grapes and traditions (FYI these are just a few examples)

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J. de Telmont was founded in 1912, but it was not until 1959 that André Lhopital (Bertrand’s grandfather) decided to change their name from Lhopital into Telmont… Why Telmont?? Well, it might seem like it corresponds to a person (I also initially thought this), but this is not true. As new name he wanted to use the name of his best parcel of land with historic vines from the vineyard on them aka “Beaumonts”. Unfortunately this name was already in use and there was refused by the CIVC. Mr Lhopital then opted to chance “Beaumonts “into “Belmont”, but again CIVC refused as there was still too much resemblance with the name“Beaumonts”. As Mr. Lhopital was no quitter he decided to try one more time by change “b” into “t” and adding initials to make it more special with as a result that in 1952 finally CIVC approved the vineyard was known as J. De Telmont 🙂 talking about perseverance!!

It was not my first contact with J. de Telmont as I was already able to taste some of their Champagnes during the yearly ‘Best Belgian sommelier’ trophy from which J. de Telmont since a few years is sponsor. It was during these first contacts that J. de Telmont came on my ‘wishlist’ of vineyards I definitely wanted to visit as the few things I tasted gave me taste for more exploring of their selection 🙂

I don’t want to sound cliche because I keep saying this, but I love hearing a passionate person like in this case mr. Lhopital speak. It is so contagious, I mean you just want to keep listing to what they have to say. They can make the most technical things sound like some the easiest and explain it in such a way that you can actually understand it as they really want to you to understand it (without only throwing around with fancy terms that sometimes make things more confusing). This is also what I always try to do in my blogpost of when explaining something in person. A good example was that we got to taste some wines before their 2nd fermentation to understand how the wines keep developing and change over time and during the 2nd fermentation. The frosting on the cake for me (besides tasting the finished product) is always walking through enormous cellars where maybe millions of bottles are stored from all vintages… a walk through Telmont’s history basically.

To celebrate this exceptional anniversary, the family Lhopital wants to share some of their history by reselling some of their older (best) vintage from 1964, 1969, 1975, 1976, 1982, 1985, 1986, 1990 and 1992. Champagne from ‘Collection Héritage’ as they are called are elaborated with 100 % Pinot Meunier grape variety You would expect this would be for exceptionally high prices, but you are wrong. They Lhopital family wanted the prices reasonable as they want everybody to be able to enjoy this and not only the happy few… it is part of their philosophy (sharing). It speaks for itself that they won’t be giving them neither, but can be bought ,depending the vintage, from 70 to 150EUR… Just as comparison if you would want a Burgundy or Bordeaux wine from 1964 you’ll have add a few zero’s.. J. de Telmont just wants everybody to be able to enjoy a bit of that legacy. SOOO if you want to know how 1985 tasted like… here is you chance 🙂

My absolute favorite champagne of the Telmont selection would be the Centenaire which unfortunately is not for sale and can only be tasted in exceptional cases like this year’s Gala diner after the ‘Best Belgian Sommlier’ trophy where fortunate enough to be part of :-). This one does without any doubt get followed by the O.R.1735 which is has the wonderful smell grilled/ freshly baked brioches or bread with notes of vanilla and a taste that makes every sip of champagne a feast… the O.R. 1735 is in a few words a Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru (Grapes come from Grand Cru area’s). If you afterwards compare it with the ‘regular’ Blanc de blancs, you’ll find the same notes, but less complex and less vanilla notes.

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From the non 100% Chardonnay champagnes my preference went to the Grande Réserve Brut which had and is the perfect balance between all 3 grape kinds as it exists out of equal shares of all 3 grape types (Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir). A very round full bodied wine with notes of fresh hard white fruits. I guess it won’t come as a surprise when I tell you that by miracle the just mentioned champagnes found its way to our homes (both mine as Carlos’) 🙂 🙂 My excuse was my daughter’s birth and being able to celebrate it with a good glass… not sure what Carlos’ excuse was 😉 ???

After our visit we can confirm that their philosophy isn’t only a few words, but in fact their way of work as it felt like visiting friends for whom they took all their time and we were the most important (hospitality and conviviality)and we learned a lot about champagne making and got to taste some real beauties (sharing)….Just the way I like it!!

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The end 🙂 We go back home with lots of new knowledge and a trunk full of wine 🙂

Tour de France without bikes but with wine: Maison Louis Jadot

November 28, 2014December 1, 2014 / dolcevitaspinelli / Leave a comment

It might seem strange to visit more than 1 vineyard in the same region or even in the same town. But every winemaker has its own way of making wines and therefore have wines will taste differently… also they don’t all have vines on the same places or might use different grape varieties. As second Bourgogne vineyard we visited Maison Louis Jadot. Maison Louis Jadot is not as old as the previous vineyard I wrote about, but nearly as old Jadot was founded in 1859 by Louis Henry Denis Jadot and belonged to the Jadot family until 1985. In this year in order to ensure the company’s future, Madame Jadot (who didn’t have children) decided to sell the company to the 3 daughters of Rudy Kopf, Jadot’s US importer and a very good friend of her. FYI these 3 sisters are still alive and kicking, they still visit the vineyard once a week or once a month (can’t remember it exactly). Maison Louis Jadot today gets run by Pierre-Henry Gagey and this since 1985 (with the helping hand of Technical Director Frédéric Barnier since 2011) . Obviously more things happened between 1859 and 2014, but I decided to keep the history to a minimum as you can read most about their history on their website 🙂

Our visit of Maison Jadot was at their ‘new’ location or better ‘cuverie’ (where they bottle and ago most wines except for the old vintages) where they moved in just a few years ago . I would have loved visiting their original location aka ’Couvent des Jacobins’, that as you might already guessed from its name used to be a convent. The ‘Couvent des Jacobins’ is still used as storage/aging location for the Grand Cru wines and some of the older wines… but one cannot have it all and their new location is as magnificent and incredible but just more modern :-). The mental picture that sticks in my mind when I think back (besides the one from the enormous cellar) was the production hall. Yes, production hall!! It reminded me a bit of a concert arena (that big) where they had a specific way to make and distribute their wines in/to barrels and stainless steal (INOX)tanks. They pump the grapes in INOX tanks via a unique stubbing system that I have never seen before. Also they will be pumping the grapes in both INOX and wooden barrels, the reason they pump it in both types of barrels is purely related to space 🙂 as in that stage the types of barrels don’t matter yet. FYI the aging in tanks all happens naturally, as for as far as we were told there is no temperature control! Like for example the Gamay grapes they destem the grapes in order to allow them to undergo a vinification according to the traditional method from the 19th century. This basically means the fermentation is done with wild yeasts, with maceration periods lasting two up to three weeks. What I also noticed during their explanations by Baptiste (our guide) is that as they don’t regulate their temperatures automatically they depend on seasons and weather even more than other vineyards. Anyhow, a very interesting method they use!

The cellars were also an eye-catcher with wooden barrels as far as the eye can see. It is like when you’re walking through Harrods in London, you always find a new room you didn’t see before with more stuff … in Jadot’s case always a new room with more wooden wine barrels. I’m not sure how many it were, but A LOT!! We considered ourselves lucky to be able to taste some wines directly from the barrel itself. First of all to experience how some wines taste during their aging process (young, not completely developed or maybe ready for bottling), but also to afterwards being able to make better comparisons with the similar finished/ already bottled wine from a different year. A way of tasting you learn a lot from to my opinion… I think Carlos also had a favorite?! Or he forgot spitting and started feeling it 😉

Something I noticed about the Jadot wines had a more herbal/ complex taste and smell compared to the ones we tasted at Bouchard for example. Best way for you guys to try this is to for example buy a particular wine from the same region from different wine makers and taste them next to each other. This will prove 100% what I’ve been saying until now that 2 (of more) winemakers might have vineyards on the same location, but both of their finished product will have a completely different product! Of course this might have also been because of the selection they served us, but still…

Plan appellations Jadot (2)

Feast your eyes on the soils 🙂

To make the tasting of the bottled wines more interesting Baptiste made it a blind tasting. I admit I wasn’t nearly as good I started thinking I was 😦 I think most of the wines we tasted were Mâcconais which is close to the Beaujolais wine region where the wines also have this more herbal taste/scent … but this is my amateur opinion. It is true lots of wines should be drunk accompanied from some food (Cheeses, meat, etc…) as this will make you look at these wines from a totally different perspective. Nevertheless I did find a few favorites like the Corton-Pougets Grand Cru 🙂 (Carlos even insisted I took a picture with it as I couldn’t stop saying how good it was)

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BUT I did learn lots of new things during our visit and cannot wait to open one of the Jadot Bottle I now have a home and learn some more 😉 On the question which of the Burgundy wines I liked the most I wouldn’t be able as they were too different + they all have something I like for a different occasion (If I don’t find one I’ll make one). You try them and see what your opinion is?!

Up to Champagne….

In case you would want more about these wines please contact Peter lauwerens from Cinoco – Le palais Du Vin +32 (0)475/595.3456 – peter.lauwerens@cinoco.com

Tour de France without bikes but with wine – Bouchard

November 24, 2014November 25, 2014 / dolcevitaspinelli / 1 Comment

After a good night of sleep (which we needed because the day before was a very long day) we set sail to visit a vineyard in one of Beaune’s most ancient buildings that goes back to Louis XI (15^th century) and where thanks to Michel Bouchard there is wine made. Up to today this vineyard is still family owned with Christophe Bouchard as current General Manager. I must add that eventhough the vineyard is still family owned and lead by a Bouchard family member, it is now owned by the Henriot family (who are also owner of Henriot Champagne). Welcome to the Bouchard vineyard I’d say! We are in Beaune… for those who didn’t know it yet, we entered the world of Bourgogne/Burgundy wines. Together with Bordeaux, Bourgogneis one of the most spoken about all over the world (mainly the wine world I’m sure). Most wine makers from outside of France either follow the Bordeaux or the Bourgogne methodology to make their wines … so I was really interested in knowing/seeing what was so special about it and what fascinates/attracts all the winemakers to this wine region, but also why they all come here to learn everything about winemaking.

First things first. What do you guys need to know about Bourgogne/ Burgundy wines to be able to mingle in when people are talking about this wine region? The Bourgogne wine region is located somewhere between Lyon and Dijon in which we can distinguish 4 different departments: Yonne (Chablis), Côte-d’Or (Côtes de Nuits and Côte de Beaune), Saône-et-Loire (Chalonnais en Mâconnais which is next to the Beaujolais (Fleurie) wine region) and last but not least Nièvre. The vineyard from our friends from Bouchard is in the Côte-d’Or which is basically the heart and soul of the Bourgogne wine region.

As grapes, they mainly use Pinot Noir for the red wines and for white wines this would be Chardonnay. Sometimes they’ll also blend with other kinds of grape like Pinot Blanc for whites and Gamay Noire or César for the reds. Bouchard mostly sticks to the Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Something that always used to confuse me in the past with French wines was when they started talking about ‘Premier cru’, ‘Grand cru’ and/or ‘Village’… you agree?? The difference between them all is mostly the location of the grapes which leads to either a very affordable or very expensive wine 🙂 (so even in winemaking it is all about ‘location, location, location’). The ‘Grand Cru’ represents the best of the best where the grapes were able to grow in the best conditions (best weather, sunshine, nutrition, etc…) whereas the regular wines aka ‘Appellations Régionales’ in “lesser” conditions (there are obviously more differences, but my example is just generally speaking). Due to the fact that there are not that many grounds/area’s that are considered as ‘’Grand Cru’makes it that it only represents 2% of the total wine volume and therefore are also much more expensive than the ‘Appellations Régionales’ or the’ Appellations Villages’ For example. A fact you do also need to take into consideration is that Grand or Premier Cru wines also age much longer (so a bigger investment for the winemaker) Maybe the pyramid below will help you understanding.

It is also very possible that for example a particular wine can all 4 gradations of wine of the pyramid. So for example a ‘regular’ Nuits Saint-Georges and a Nuits Saint-Georges 1ière cru 🙂 . To understand the best the difference between them you should just buy all 3 and taste them next to each other… a whole new world will open, I promise!

Back to our visit to Bouchard which was basically a walk through history (without some King doing his business behind the curtain in the hallway that is 🙂 (luckily)). All kidding aside, Bouchard might be one of the most beautiful vineyards I have ever visited and it being in an ancient castle with everything still intact makes it soooo incredible. I was also surprised to find out they still have a few bottles from the 19^th century that believe it or not that are still drinkable! They did admit that not all of the bottles preserved as well. A reason why Bouchard still has bottled wines of the 19^th and 20^th century, is because they first of all can age them in the original conditions and they change the corks every X years (depending on the wine they do it more regularly, but mostly between 20-30 years) . The moment they change the corks, they do check if the wine is still OK or not. In case it is not OK anymore they don’t keep that bottle… this makes that the bottles they do still have are still good to drink… can you imagine to drink a wine from over 200 years??? Obviously this is only something a few fortunate people are able to taste, but still….

BTW Comme Chez Soi’s wine-cellar reminds me a bit of the Bouchard cellar (less ancient obviously) … just FYI that I mentioned that 🙂

I hope it doesn’t come over in a wrong way or make you think differently about me, but it was 10:30 in the morning we started tasting wine 🙂 🙂 BUT in my defense, when I say tasting I do mean tasting and spitting out the wine (so NOT drinking it) no matter how good they were. It might be strange we started tasting the reds and afterwards the whites, but according to a French saying, ’Blanc sur rouge, rien ne bouge, rouge sur blanc tout fout le camp’ that says that it is better to first drink red and than white wine 🙂 so we didn’t want to argue with that…

Already from the first sip I was converted into a Côte-d’Or Bourgogne fan… even the first, a 2011 Monthélie , wasn’t the highest level they had or more complex wine yet it was definitely my cup of tea :-). It was a very playful wine that everybody would like and is easy to drink and that leaves a very fresh fruity taste in your mouth. FYI all wines we tasted were 2011 Premier Cru’s (besides the first that is as that was an Appellation Village)… which proved (not that I needed it to be proved) I prefer the stronger/ more complex wines and that I am one spoiled brat :-).

My Absolute favourite from amongst the red wines we tasted was the Nuits-Saint-Georges – Les Cailles Premier Cru with scent and taste of very ripe dark red fruits like cassis or bil/blue berry and even lickerish accents in it and yet very elegant to drink without too heavy tannins…. The second favorite would be the Volnay – Caillerets Premier Cru which is made from the Bouchard Family’s first and oldest vineyard… It must be said that these wines are best with a stronger meal and not really like a Monthélie that can be drunk on a summer’s day outside with some friends.

What I was surprised to read is that unlike the Rhône valley where red wine is 89% of the total wine production and I did also assume it would be the same for Bourgogne… but I was wrong as it seems that 70% of the total wine production in this region is white??? Who knew (I didn’t, nor expected it)

When tasting their white wines I started understanding why… the most famous white wines from this region that for sure ring a bell are Chablis (Chardonnay) or Pouilly-Fuisse. FYI not all chardonnay wine from this region is Chablis! What is nice about white wines, is that most of the time you can distinguish ‘easier’ what flavours or smells they have. Like the white variant of the Monthélie (and with variant I mean that you can drink outside on a sunny day with friends) would be the Bourgogne Chardonnay La Vignée where you can find hinds of peach and pear.

Again here my preference went to the stronger whites. Number 1 would be the Meursault – Genevrières a rich wine with hinds of vanilla, wood (not too much) that can still ago for 8 years and would be a perfect match for foie gras or poultry. N°2 and 3 would be the Beaune du Château Premier Cru (Marzipan, almonds, grilled bread) and the Montagny Premier Cru (Honey).

I could keep talking about how they taste or with what they would go well, but there is only 1 way to find it all out yourself and that is by tasting it yourself (I know I say it every time, but it is true). Also I think this post it more than long enough and I hope you already learned something 🙂 BUT there is still more to learn!!

To be continued….

info about these wines like where you can buy them contact Peter Lauwerens: Cinoco – Le palais Du Vin 0475/595.3456 – peter.lauwerens@cinoco.com

Tour de France without bikes but with wine

November 18, 2014November 18, 2014 / dolcevitaspinelli / Leave a comment

This year the main theme on my blog has been wine. I had the occasion to visit some vineyards across Europe, in Spain, Italy and Portugal and learn lots of new things . When my wife told me she had to travel to San Diego for a few weeks for business I saw this as the perfect opportunity to organize myself a little French wine trip together with one of my best friends Carlos. The main reason for traveling to France was because it is the wine country I know less about … so I found it the time to learn more about French wines 🙂 . The other reason is/was knowing that in a few months my daughter will be born and visiting vineyards will be out of the question for a while :-)… Reason enough not to travel to just 1 wine region, but to make it through 3 French wines regions… Going from Cornas (Rhône), through Beaune (Bourgogne) to end up in Damary (Champagne). It seemed very logical to start our trip with the most distant location which in this case was Cornas at the Jean-Luc Colombo vineyard. For people who are already following me for a while ‘Jean-Luc Colombo’ might sound familiar because I did already talk about their wines. A few years ago I had a sommelier lunch in company of the lovely Laure Colombo (daughter of…) who introduced us the world of their (Rhône) wines resulting that I their vineyard has been on my ‘wish/to do’ list ever since!

Jean-Luc Colombo’s vineyard is as mentioned located in Cornas, a town in the Northern part of the Rhône wine country where the main grape (aka cepage) used for the Red wines is Syrah (aka Shiraz for the Australians) and for the white wines Viognier and Marsanne. I emphasize that there vineyard is in the Northern part, is because there is a big distinction that can be made between Northern and southern… already starting with the use of different grapes as in the Southern part of the Rhône they mainly use the Grenache grape for the red wines. (Find here the complete grape list used in the Rhône region). We also couldn’t have picked a better day as it was the most beautiful (sunny) day they had in weeks… Unfortunately Laure wasn’t able to join us for the visit as she was held up in the UK… but she left in the good hands of Florie who revealed some Colombo’s ‘secrets’ for making a good Rhône wine. I did found it a pity I didn’t get to see where the magic happens aka winemaking itself is done, I would have really enjoyed to see it… on the other hand I did get to walk through the vines on a very sunny day and had a taste of some of their wines. When driving through this region I also got why people like coming here 🙂 Beautiful region

What I have learned over the last year is that there are so many different ways of winemaking, everybody tries to find his/her way to make the perfect wine year in year out… as they also keep perfecting and exploring their techniques or even finding new/better techniques . Obviously it are still the grapes itself that play the main role on how the wine will be, but it takes the masters touch/hand to turn the grape juice into a wonderful wine!! Just like an artist who is making a new painting or sculpture…

A few more facts(besides the grapes, but I already told you about that) I want to share with you like for example that 89% of the wine they produce in the Rhône valley is red wine and only 4% white wine… another important thing to know is that from the 5 soil types in Rhône Valley the Colombo family chose the most difficult to work with 🙂 as in Cornas there is a granite, basically a very hard soil and yet the vines seem to survive already hundreds of years and they have roots that grown up to 15 meters underground to find nutrition…Also all the little green areas (small forests) between the vineyards are protected by law as they have a very big influence on . The Cornas vineyards are as mentioned very old and go back to the 9^th and 10^th century!! Legend has it that Charlemagne himself tasted the wine when traveling through Cornas in the year 840, and liked it so much that he had some sent on to his residence in Aix la Chapelle…Historical !! 🙂

A big difference between the Jean-Luc Colombo vineyards and the ones from their colleague winemakers in the region is the way they plant and grown their vines. At the Colombo vineyard they grown the like rose arches (see picture below and I’m sure you’ll get what I’m talking about). One of the reasons for this is that this way the grapes won’t touch the soil. Something we also noticed was that they used tree bark in-between the vines, this is to keep the coldness underground and to keep the grass from growing in-between the vines…

Knowing that 89% of the wines produced in the Rhône valley are red, it won’t come as a surprise that most of the wines in the Jean-Luc Colombo range are red, but they do also have a few nasty white ones that I didn’t expect to find in this region… Trying all their wines would have been a too much, so Florie made a selection of her own favorites that she was sure would be of our liking. We started with tasting 2 white wines, the La Redonne with its fresh and very floral smell and the Belle de Mai that had not such an open smell, but you have a light buttery, nutty and woody scent. My preference went to the 2nd one because it had a richer taste eventhough the scent of the first was sooo nice 🙂 . The favorite reds were without ‘Les Méjéans’ that some very nice hinds of raspberry and was very mineral. The ‘Les Terres Brûlées’ on the other hand had a more concentrated scent of red fruits (jam), the taste was as lovely . Last but definitely not least was the ‘Les Ruchets‘ which maybe is my n°1 (of the wines we tasted that is), it was most complex/strong wine we tasted… I think it would even be better to enjoy it with some red meat of stronger cheeses… I know it were my favorites as I bought some bottles to drink at home 🙂 I’m also trying to describe the wines in the best way (not being a professional doesn’t make it easier)

Something nice to know is that all the names of the wines reference to parts of the city of Marseille where Jean-Luc Colombo is originally from. All drawings you’ll find on the labels of the bottles were designed by a local Cornas artist if I remember it right.

Sun, great wine, a lovely young lady joinng us… can you imagine a better way to spend a day?? Great start for our first stop on this French wine trip!!

BTW, I’m getting better and better keeping my blogposts “shorter” 😉

To be continued….

The mandatory holiday wine trip: Bodegas Beronia

September 29, 2014October 14, 2014 / dolcevitaspinelli / Leave a comment

The last few years my interest for knowing more about wines has grown a lot. I’m also of the opinion that you learn the most about something (in this case wine) by visiting the actual vineyards instead of reading about it in books… That’s why mostly in the last 2 years I visited quit a few vineyards in Europe. Being only 1 ½ hour drive from the Rioja wine region during my stay at San Sebastian, it would be a crime not to visit some Bodegas… Like with the food I promised my beautiful wife that I would only be visiting 1 vineyard during our trip (although there were a few more I wanted to visit), so I had to choose wisely :-). Just like with the food in San Sebastian, here I again have the perfect excuse to come back to Rioja.

I decided to visit Bodegas Beronia, which was a decision I quickly made because the first time I tasted one of their wines at restaurant Pazzo in Antwerp I became a fan. I know there are lots of great Bodegas in Rioja like Muga or Viña Tondonia… but 1 vineyard is 1 vineyard and a promise a promise 🙂 and Bodegas Beronia seemed like the perfect place to start learning more about Rioja wines. Bodegas Beronia was founded in 1973 by a Gastronomy club and since 1982 is part of the Gonzalez-Byass group who helped Bodegas Beronia to grow and to invest in new technologies. In 1973 the winemaking was more to provide friends and family from wine, nowadays they produce around 5 million bottles and this without reducing the quality the founders aimed and cherished. They basically helped them to make an even better product.

Just like with all my blog posts about wine regions, also for Rioja wines there are a few basic things you should know. But don’t worry I won’t get to technical and try to keep it as simple as possible. Let me start with the Rioja region itself. This region can be subdivided in 3 regions – Rioja Alavesa, Rioja Alta and Rioja Baja. With the last area (Baja) being the most southern, where due to the drier and warmer climate than in the other 2 resulting in deeply coloured and higher/more alcoholic wines with some wines at 18% alcohol (due to the more sugar in the grapes because of the warmth). They usually blend this wine with wine from the other 2 regions. Rioja Alta on the other hand is close to the little town called Haro and as “Alta” may already make suspect is also located more North. Rioja Alta is also the region where Bodegas Beronia is located. In the Alta region (located higher above sea level) produces brighter fruit flavored wines and in comparison with the ones from the Baja region with a lesser alcoholic percentage. The most full body wines will be produced in the Alavesa region. So mix the 3 together and you have a winner ;-). I must also add that most of the wines produced in the Rioja are red, you can also get white and rosé wines (some also very good ones), but the focus is mostly on red wines.

To make the Rioja wines they always use a blend (mix) from a few grape variaties mostly Tempranillo, Garnacha Tinta, Graciano, and Mazuelo. Just FYI, the Tempranillo will make that you can age the wine more. For the white ones they will mostly use Macabeo in combination with another grape like Malvasia for example.

FYI, just like in other wines region in Rioja there also is a Supervising board to make sure the wine is made according to the rules and tradition. For example vineyards can only use small barrels not the huge ones you sometimes see in other wine regions… or the cost of the grapes used to make Rioja must exceed by at least 200% the national average of wine grapes used in all Spanish wines.

The aging of the Rioja wines happens in French oak, American oak or both types of oak. The biggest reason (historically) why they also started using American oak is that French oak was getting very expense back in the days… and this would in the end result in the wine makers having to sell their wines more expensive and having less competitive price

After the location and grapes used is maybe the difference between the types of wines. There are 4 categories:

Rioja: less than 1 year aging in wooden barrels
Crianza: aged for at least 2 years from which 1 at least in wooden barrels. At Bodegas Beronia. 1 year in wooden barrels and the rest in bottle.
Rioja Riserva: aging at least 3 years of which at least 1 in wooden barrels. At Bodegas Beronia it stays 18 months in wooden barrels and 18 months in bottle before being released.
Rioja Gran Riserva: aging at least 2 years in wooden barrels and 3 years in bottle and only produced in exceptional years. In case of Bodegas Beronia the last vintage for the Gran Riserva was 2005 and aged 24 months in French and American oak and I don’t think it has yet been released on the market

The references I make to the Bodegas Beronia wines above are the ones from the Classic range as they also have a few other ranges like Single variety (100% wine of 1 type of grape), Premium Range (special vintages) and ecological wines.

A vineyard visit without tasting is like going to a bakery without buying bread… Bodegas Beronia or better Julia and Maria-Jesus assembled a collection of wines for me to tasting out of the first 3 wine ranges. If you don’t know much about wines and want to get introduced or better to get used to the Rioja wine taste the best way to do this by tasting the Single variety wines that as mentioned are made 100% from 1 grape kind (Tempranillo, Graciano, Viura and Mazuelo). You can see them as an “everybody’s friend”. With as exception the Mazuelo as it has a quit exceptional taste that most people would only appreciate accompanied by a good steak or aged red meat (or strong cheeses)… so more for the advanced wine lover to taste without food :-). I liked the Mazuelo a lot even without the food and can’t wait to heat up the BBQ for that meat 😉 to complete the wine taste even more. Oh yes, a taste I liked a lot in this wine was the taste en smell of mele cotogne jam (I think in English this is called quince apples) which brings me back to my family in Croatia who filled pancakes with this jam 🙂 and is a standard to eat when I visit them.

The Classic Range (or better Reserva and Gran Reserva) and Premium wines where definitely of a next level and 100% my cup of tea. It was actually their Rioja Reserva that convinced me of their quality a few years ago at restaurant Pazzo and during my tasting at the Bodega convinced me again. Having a alcohol percentage between 13,5 and 14% and having aged in new oak barrels their taste is much more elegant, fruity and fresh than one would expect. You would expect a more aggressive and wood taste and scent. Which one I liked best if difficult to say, that’s why I bought all of them to try again at home 😉 (Les excuses sont fait pour s’en server). I have already done the effort of not going to the top restaurants, so some wine for me seems like an honest alternative.

No the real reason is just because they all have their particular taste and depending on the occasion one wine will be more fitting than the other. Still keeping some similarities between for example the Rioja Reserva and Gran Reserva in the chocolate and mature black/red fruit taste. Sometimes I did smell things thanks to the help of Maria-Jesus, because sometimes you just can’t put your finger on what it exactly is. The frosting on the cake however was the Reserva 198 Barricas so if I must really choose a favourite it would be this one (I think because of the slightly more spice aromas, but also because it was just good 🙂 ). Again here as these wines are stronger it is better to enjoy these wines paired with a meal, some cured ham or cheese.

Mmmm, not as short as I had hoped to keep it… ah well that’s the way it is 😉 Tonight I’ll sit back and relax with a nice glass of Rioja wine 🙂 hope you will too. Hope you learned something new thanks to this post?! I know I did…

A special thanks to Julia and Maria-Jesus for their wonderful explanation and introducing me more in the world of Rioja wines !

A reason to smile: Taylor’s port

August 4, 2014October 14, 2014 / dolcevitaspinelli / Leave a comment

Since my visit to Tio Pepe last year I became a very big fan of wines like Sherry, Porto and Madeira (as they are more or less similar products). So I figured now that I was doing a Portugal trip and stopping in Porto, a visit to a Port lodge is just obliged! I am of the opinion that if you do something you do it well and therefore if you want to visit a Port Lodge you visit one that makes a high quality product… which in this case lead me to the Lodge of Taylor’s or better Taylor’s, Fladgate and Yeatman as those are all 3 names of the founders from Taylor’s Port and the full name (FYI, this is still a family owned Brand). First things first, there are a few things you should know about Port wine before we can talk more about Taylor’s itself (although one can’t go without the other 🙂 ).

I already mentioned it a few times in previous posts , the wine itself gets made in the Douro valley where the grapes are actually picked and later in the process they will be transported to Vila Nova de Gaia to age. Of course there is more to it to make a Port. There around 48 different types of grapes that port makers use to make Port wines, in the case of Taylor’s they only use 10 of those4 white varieties and 6 red of which 30% is still pressed by trampling them barefoot (so not using a machine). The manual trampling is because it gives the best result, not entirely because of tourism. I’m sure you have already heard some people speak about Ruby or Tawny and maybe if you are lucky also about Vintage or LBV (Late Bottled Vintage), but have no clue what the differences are? Well let me enlighten your thoughts by briefly explaining it to you (trying to keep it as short as possible). The most important things to know is that the 2 big port wine “types” or “families” are Tawny and Ruby all the other terms used are usually indicating a special type of those 2…

Let’s start with Ruby (Vintage) that thanks its name because of its color resembling the color of the ruby stone/diamond . Ruby ages in large(old) barrels (in case of Taylor’s always wooden barrels) as they don’t want a hard wood smell/flavor in the wine. This wine gets made with the best grapes from good years.

LBV (Ruby style) stands for Late Bottled Vintage. LBV gets made every year from the best Ruby grapes. Once it is put in a bottle it won’t change or age further anymore. Best is when you open the bottle to decant it, otherwise there might get oxidation in the bottle and you will have some expensive vinegar :-). Also the difference with the Vintage would be just like the name indicates is that it is bottled later… It is also important that once you opened the bottle to drink it within 3 months if you want to enjoy it in the optimal conditions and maximum flavors.

Tawny on the other hand gets aged in smaller wooden barrels (French oak) giving them a slightly woodier flavor, but not too much as they use old barrels. Taylor’s also prefers their wines having a herbal taste instead of a wood taste. Tawny also gets made with a combination of grapes from different years. Differently than Ruby, Tawny does change over the years in the bottle, it will get a lighter color. Tawny is also best served a little bit cooler. It is also best to drink the Tawny within 6 months

Something you should also know is that Taylor’s doesn’t sell his used barrels like some other Port makers. They re-use their old barrels (they repair them of course) as when they are older than 60 years they don’t give any more flavor to the wines in them… the oldest barrel that still gets used is one from 1864… talking about an investment.

I think this is already a good base for you to know about Port, if you want the Port making process in more detail, please check following link.

The tour around the Lodge was nice, but tasting the finished product is even nicer (also if you do it in company of a real port specialist like Luis Carneiro). As I might have already told, is that Taylor’s Port house is part of a group of Port 3 port houses: Taylor’s, Fonseca & Croft. These 3 together are aka the Fladgate Partnership :-). Which made the tasting better as we tasted all Port from all 3 estates. This tasting taught us that although they all belong to 1 group, each one still has their own identity, tasts and uniqueness. This is first of all because of the location of each estate and grapes (see on map below), as the altitude, north/south location, types of grapes, etc… will have a big influence on the finished product.

If we would have to draw a line between the 3 different brands or give characteristics that make them different, I would say that Taylor’s is the most straight and stronger taste (less sweet taste), Fonseca a more rounder and more fruity (a nice cherry after taste 🙂 and slightly sweeter ) and Croft as the sweetest from all 3, but then again also very play full flavors… In general my preference went to the 20 (30 and 40) year old tawny Taylor’s ports and Single harvest Port from 1964 as my favorites because of their round, full and nutty flavor. My fiancée had a bigger preference for the Fonseca & Croft ports, I think because they were a bit sweeter and fruiter… and I think she definitely liked the 2009 LBV from Croft because of its chocolaty flavors :-). One thing is sure that Port wine is best for at the beginning or end of a meal as during it might become a bit heavy (minimum 19,5% alcohol). Like with all things, this is a personal taste… and my biggest problem like with all visits to vineyards is that I want them all in my collection 😦 . That’s it I’m moving to a warehouse 🙂 😉

FYI, please check following link to find out the best way to serve Port wines. I’m also convinced that if you are not used yet to drink Port wines the best is to start with the White or for example the Bin 27 by Fonseca or maybe using a Croft Pink in a cocktail (mixed with Tonic water, few leafs of mint and slice of lemon) . After this the next level would be the LBV and if you get used to it the vintages…

I did get hungry from all that tasting, so a “light” lunch at the Barão Fladgate Restaurant in the Taylor’s lodge (open for public). I followed our host on taking a succulent piece of Lombinho meat with a Port sauce, my fiancée on the other hand preferred keeping it light (although she made up for it with a dessert) and took the Turbot with sepia Linguini. For with our 40 year old Taylor Port we chose the perfect dessert for on a summer’s day, they heaviest (but definitely worth it) chocolate dessert from the menu: Chocolate cake with dark chocolate sauce, milk chocolate mousse and white chocolate mousse.

PEOPLE, please stop seeing Sherry, Port or Madeira as old people drinks!!! Just try a good Port (or Sherry or Madeira) and a whole new world will be opening for you, one with lots of flavors and with lots of history!!! DO IT 🙂 you won’t regret it, I promise you (and don’t buy the junk Ports, buy a good one or try a good one in a place where you know they only serve good stuff)

THE END!

Every wine is their best wine: Niepoort

July 29, 2014October 14, 2014 / dolcevitaspinelli / Leave a comment

I have already met quite a few winemakers, but non as “crazy” about wines as Dirk Niepoort, owner and fifth generation of the Niepoort winery. Niepoort has so many different types of wine in its assortment that I think not even Dirk himself knows 100% how many they actually make 🙂 🙂 Next to their “regular” gamma of wines and Port wines, Dirk also has something he calls “projects” (basically Dirk’s playground 🙂 ) . These “projects”go from making a Portuguese Riesling to making Baga to …. Niepoort even has an own app for your Smartphone where you can find almost all their wines (including some of the projects), but I’m sure there are still other projects that haven’t been officialised yet and therefore aren’t on the app yet. BTW, Dirk also loves to taste good wines (also non-Niepoort), he didn’t tell me, but something gave it away 🙂 (see pictures below)

We had an appointment to meet Dirk Niepoort in Quinta de Nápoles in the Douro valley, but due to unforeseen circumstances he was only able to meet us in the evening, so it was the lovely Gabriella who showed us around the estate and introduced us to the wonderful world of Niepoort wines where we enjoyed again some very beautiful views of the Douro valley.

The Niepoort vineyard can be subdivided in 2 parts, the Port wine vineyard and the “regular” wine vineyard. Like with all Port makers, Niepoort also age most of their Port wines in Villa nova de Gaia. Their regular wines on the other hand in Quinta de Nápoles in the Douro valley. When you first arrive at this Quinta you think it is a small vineyard as you only see 2 small houses, but once you enter them you notice that half the hill ( at the interior 4 levels down) is all part of the wine estate and is where the wines are made and age. Inredible!! With a total wine production between 1,5 and 2 million bottles a year (depending on harvest, etc… of course)… Niepoort is seen as a big vineyard amongst the small ones and a “small” one of the big ones :-). I must be honest with you and admit that until maybe 1 or 2 years ago I was of the idea that Niepoort only produced Port wines, so that is why my visit to the vineyard was mostly with a focus on their regular wines… What I won’t be doing is describe all their wines, as that would make my blogpost even bigger than they usually already are + they are already very well described on their website that I would just be doing double work. So in case you want to know all their wines and project do check the Niepoort website or download the free app of your Smartphone or tablet. A nice thing to know is that the first wine Dirk Niepoort made since his “leadership” of the Niepoort vineyard was the 1990 Robustus that back in the 90’s didn’t get released, but since 2004 got tributed under the same name (and I’m sure also an improved version). Not sure why it didn’t get released in 90’s though…

For me Niepoort wines are fun wines, first of all because of the fun product in the bottle, but also because of the bottles itself or better their labels. You will ALWAYS be able to recognize a Niepoort wine (even from a far distance) thanks to its “stamp-like” labels (or at least, that is what it reminds me of – check picture below) and their country specific labels… Yes, country specific labels. They have a particular type of wine (Fabulous wines) for which they had asked designer Cordula Allesandri to make a comic book story to label their bottles and for each country a different one… It’s almost a pity to throw away the bottle afterwards… (I had a few “Allez santé” at home). A collector’s item I guess …although I’m not really the type of person who likes to keep the bottles too long in their cellar as they are to “njammy” to not touch…

Dirk Niepoort is “private” person, someone who doesn’t talk that much when you first meet him (at least that the impression I had, but it could have been because of me of course). Once you start talking about and tasting wines you see him opening up with sparkles in his eyes… and the enthusiasm to have you taste all his best wines and all his new wine projects. If it were for Dirk, I think he would have opened every barrel. I know I keep repeating myself, but it is so much more fun to be around a person who is passionate about something and who wants to teach you something than somebody who doesn’t like what he’s doing… and Dirk has that enthusiasm x 10 🙂 and the amount of knowledge he has about wines from all over the world, WOW!

Luckily for us we visited Niepoort on ‘Dia de São João’aka St. John’s as because of this we could join the celebration that goes along to this day involving food and meeting interesting people. On Dia de São João it is tradition to eat grilled sardines and a local soup… to make a long story short, we had a wonderful celebration with lots of food and some great Niepoort wines… basically it all comes down to that it are the simple things in life that make people happy not matter how rich or famous… Simple food and wine in the company of Friends and/ or family . Events like this are also what I dream of whole year while working in Belgium…

Niepoort has such a wide range of Ports and wines that it is difficult to really indicate a favorite, I mean for every moment or occasion you’ll find the perfect wine due to their difference and particularity. Each wine is as good as all the passion, know-how, good products and devotion you put in them, this makes that every wine you make is your best wine… Although I would suggest to try all of them, from the Ports I loved their Colheita’s and from their “regular” wines to many to mention… my wine-cabinet will be to small for all the new wines I’ll be buying after my Portugal trip 🙂

Enjoy!

Each man has a dream: Quinta do popa

July 25, 2014October 14, 2014 / dolcevitaspinelli / Leave a comment

As mentioned in my previous blog post, the main reason to visit the Douro Valley is for its wines. The vineyards in Douro have all been given the name ‘Quinta’ which would mean little farmhouse in Portuguese. You can compare it with the French using “Chateau”, only the Portuguese are more modest and therefore use a more modest name 😉 . The first vineyard I want to introduce to you is a newer vineyard from the Douro valley, Quinta do Popa. I know it might not immediately sound familiar, but after reading my blogpost that’ll change 🙂

After a quite steep climb towards Quinta do Popa (you have incredible views from up here) you get a welcome like you wouldn’t believe, they welcomed us like they would welcome family in their home. A very nice feeling (really)! Normally we were here to meet Stéphane Ferriera (owner), but he got hold of some Worldcup tickets for Brazil 🙂 I can imagine for a football fan this is like finding the holy grail so unfortunately he wasn’t able to meet us… but if it weren’t’ for this we would have never met the very charming Leila +now I have the perfect excuse to come back to Quinta do Popa.

Quinta do Pôpa was bought by José Ferreira in 2003 as tribute to his father and to build up his father’s (Francisco Ferreira aka Pôpa) long life dream of one day owning his own Quinta. Pôpa actually refers to the crested hair like Elvis used to have and to a particular type of bird. The reason his father was given the nickname Pôpa was because after a whole day of hard work on the fields he would very dirty except for his hear, his hair was always in the perfect condition 🙂 talking about a proud man.

The reason why I wanted to visit this vineyard was first of all because I like wines and am always keen on trying something new… but also because no one less then Luis Pato believed so much in this project he decided to help Stéphane and Vanessa (José’s children who are the faces of the vineyard and hardworking team behind José) with realizing their dream. It made me very curious on knowing more about this dream.

On their 30ha estate only on 14ha they have mostly old vines (some even up to 80 years old) where they mostly grow grapes to make red wine (although they do have a white as well). With Tinta Amarela (for dark coloring and full body flavour), Tinto Cão (will add finesse and complexity to the wine, is also rare grape kind), Touriga Franca (very perfumed), Tinta Roriz (aka Tempranillo)and Touriga Nacional (gives structure and body to wine, with high tannins and concentrated flavours of black fruit ) as their mean grape varieties. On the other remaining 16ha. they have olive trees from which they make some nice olive oil.

In their wines they have 4 distinctions or I might even say levels.

Contos da Terra: these are to me everybody’s friend easy to drink wines for when you are sitting outside or in front of TV. and feel like having a glass of wine
Pôpa: more complex wines than the Contos wines and my preferred type of wines (bit stronger and full bodied). Here you have a choice between TR (Tinta Roriz), TN (Touriga Nacional) or VV (old vines and my personal favorite and soon part of my wine collection 😉 )
Pôpa Doce: a sweet wine (not to sweet) perfect for with dessert
TRePA / PAPO: the perfect marriage between Douro and Barraida wines. The Roriz from Douro (Quinta do Pôpa) and Baga from Barraida (Luis Pato). Also a very interesting (must try) wine and very soon also another addition to my collection 🙂

I know I indicated which ones were my favorites, but this is of course a personal choice and it also depends on which occasion you are drinking it (and if there is no, we’ll find an occasion 😉 ). Whenever I buy wines, I always prefer buying from vineyards I know and I have visited and have seen the sparkle in the eyes of the winemakers (which I did also see in Leila’s eyes (I didn’t stare to long, I promise!) and I’m sure José, Vanessa and Stéphane also have) which basically means the wine has been made with so much love, care and respect for the product you can be sure you’ll be having a great glass/ bottle… something that mass production products can and will never have….

Quinta do Pôpa gave me one a gift I will cherish a lot. They gave me a little bottle filled with sand from their vineyards… so every time I feel sad or feel like going to the Douro valley, I just poor the sand on the floor, sit in it, serve myself a nice glass of Quita’s VV wine and close my eyes… it will feel like I’m back at Quinta do Pôpa on a summery day! (A holiday feeling right in my living room thanks to them 🙂 ) Thank you for that Leila (And Stéphane, Vanessa, José) and I’m sure we’ll be meeting again very soon!!

One last thing about the winemaking I want to share, in the Douro valley to press the wine (to get the juice out of the grapes) they still have people stumble them like in the old days. FYI this is not for nostalgic or touristic reason they do this, they do this because it still seems the best way to do it…. just FYI 🙂

Spinelli's Dolce Vita

My passion for life

Vineyards

Spreading the Californian joy

Spanish summer in a glass

Tour de France without bikes but with wine and bubbles: J de Telmont

Tour de France without bikes but with wine: Maison Louis Jadot

Tour de France without bikes but with wine – Bouchard

Tour de France without bikes but with wine

The mandatory holiday wine trip: Bodegas Beronia

A reason to smile: Taylor’s port

Every wine is their best wine: Niepoort

Each man has a dream: Quinta do popa