A good start…

The tasting on Friday 27 January 2023 at the Gazteluleku gastronomic society in Pamplona was unforgettable. The Gazteluleku tasting group has been meeting for almost 30 years (once a month) to taste and enjoy our hobby, first a tasting and then a dinner of brotherhood.

Entrance to Gazteluleku, photo by Miguel Osés

It is always difficult to find all wines to be at a great level, and it is normal to disappointed by some. But what happened at the end of January was memorable! We tasted five great wines that have been outstanding and above the average of what we are used to. 1.- Château Pichon Longueville 2015 Comtesse de Lalande Gran Cru Classée. Pauillac

• Intense colour
• Spectacular, powerful bouquet: spices blend with the wood and ripe red fruits. Very balanced.
• Harmonious, intense and long on the palate. Liquorice, tobacco, cocoa and blackberries. Atlantic wine.
• A success to be the first one to taste, without disappointing the great previous expectations. Justified its points and its very good reputation, with life ahead of it.

Since 2007 Champagne Roederer is the owner. Wine grapes composition: C.S 68%, Merlot 29%, C.F. 2%, Petit Verdot 1%. Planting density 10.000 vines/ 89 Has. of 40 years old vines. 18/20 months in French oak barrels, 50% new. 96 Parker points.

2.- LUCE 2015, Tenuta  Luce. Toscana

There is a lot of talk about terroir, a vineyard planted in the middle of nowhere among stones does not produce the same wines as other much more exuberant areas. LUCE shows it both on the nose and on the palate. Think Tuscan lifestyle. That's Luce but in wine form.

• Good colour, the layer is a little less than the previous one.
• Opulent nose, black cherry, blackcurrant, leather and pipe tobacco.
• A Mediterranean wine on the palate with good integrated alcohol, with an aftertaste that lingers for quite some time in the retronasal. You will get green pepper, pepper, blackberries, herbaceous notes...

Owner Frescobaldi. Tuscany. Varieties: 50% Merlot, 50% Sangiovesse. 94 Parker points .

3.- AMARONE DellaValpolicella 2017 Classico Allegrini

• A different wine, made from raisined grapes.
• Deep black layer
• Opulent aroma where you can appreciate the fruit and the well-integrated sweetness.
• In the mouth, it is an explosion of ripe fruit, spicy with good acidity.
• A wine to remember

Ownership: Allegrini. Grape varieties: Corvina, Rondinella and Oseleta. The bunches are left to raisin under cover for ¾ months, which means a weight loss of about 40%.

4.- Altura Maxima Salta 2011 Malbec Argentina

• Possibly the best Argentinian wine.
• Very full of colour.
• Aroma where the rustic and the primary are in line, and impresses with its length.
• An unforgettable mouth, where the rusticity rises to high levels, for its roundness, balance and good passage.
• A wine that most of us did not know and has left an unforgettable memory.

Owner, the couple Hess, from Swiss origin: Colomé Winery. Variety 100% Malbec. Vineyard at an altitude of 2.500m. In Calayate, Calchaqui Valley. In the extreme North West of Argentina. 5.-Chateau la Negly, L´Ancely, Languedoc La Clape 2011

• Languedoc continues to surprise us.
• A good layer, but less intense than the previous ones.
• Fresh aroma of fruit (kirsch, cassis), well integrated and vibrant.
• In the mouth it is harmonious, fresh, pleasant, easier to drink than the previous ones. But with a gratifying passage with flavours of chocolate and spices.

Grape varieties: 70% Monastrell, 20% Grenache and 10% Syrah. Aged in 1500l. casks. 93 Parker points.

Corks, in perfect condition

Unusual high scores, but reflecting the enormous quality of all the wines, and the exceptionality of this selection, which ended to unanimous applause.

The dinner, which in this exceptional case, was a Friday lunch, was a real highlight. Carried out by Carlos Velázquez and Carlos Marañon.

The appetizer An unusual starter. On toasted brioche, a salted butter cream with marrow (recovered from the second course), with a little grated Grana Padano, black pepper and grated truffle on top. A delightful accompaniment to a good rosé wine of Petit Verdot from Ciudad Real. The starter Carbonara is a humble, shepherds' dish. And as a humble dish, it is usually simple and easy to prepare. With two basic premises. One, it has to be finished practically at the moment we are going to eat it. Two, no cream, it is totally forbidden. The ingredients are easy to find and, as a good Italian dish, simple to make. A good pasta, quality eggs of which we will only use the yolks, a good smoked bacon with abundant white streak and extra virgin olive oil. The bacon is poached in extra virgin olive oil to obtain a fat that is deeply flavoured with smoke, and the hot cooked pasta is poured over it to mix it with the fat and give it flavour. Grated Granna Padano cheese and a little of the cooking water are then added until the whole is juicy. Plate by plate, serve as much as you like and break two egg yolks on each plate, stirring again. This simple little trick is what gives the carbonara its unctuousness and delicious flavour. To close the dish, and as we were at a truffle-themed meal, we grated black truffle on top and closed the dish with some thin slices of the same bacon which, with the heat of the pasta, sweat and remain transparent on the plate. The second dish To celebrate the fact that this weekend, the last weekend in January, Peralta is celebrating the 3rd Thistle Day (Thistle or Cardoon, a source of health), we take Julie Andrieu's hand and go to Lyon, on the banks of the Rhône, to prepare the flagship dish of the Brotherhood of the Cardon de Vaulx de Velin, Gratin de Cardons, also known as Cardons à la Lyonnaise. The traditional recipe is prepared with a butter roux to which is added a broth made from vegetables and cane bones. The marrow in this case has been used as an appetizer, and a good portion of grated truffle has been added instead when mixing the sauce with the cardoon. Emmental cheese for the gratin and, when presenting the hot dish, truffle slices on top. Dessert For dessert, the famous La Viña cheesecake, with a good portion of cream cheese, cream and eggs, accompanied by a scoop of cream ice cream. Inside the tart, the remains of the truffle used throughout the meal (80 g of Tuber melanosporum nabarra). Conclusion To make gifts, to arrange flowers, to improve the decoration of a room, to make the most of your clothes, you have to have art. Everything fits together for some hidden reason. That ulterior motive is beauty. When there is emotion in front of something, beauty is present. In this first meeting of 2023 it was a meeting with art, art because all the wines, all of them displayed an outstanding level. Art because the truffle dishes had just the right amount of truffle and were splendidly executed. And art because the comments from all the attendees were splendid. It was a day very difficult to forget and to repeat, because art is not found every day, it is not felt every day and this first meeting in January was simply art. An exercise in art. A very good atmosphere, caused by the great satisfaction of a good drink and a good meal. It was the homage we needed to forget for a while all the problems of everyday life. The combination of the above with a good company of friends produced in all of us a great enjoyment. In essence a good start ...to 2023, which we don't know what it will bring.

Carlos Velázquez, Carlos Marañon, Juan Narvaiza y Ricardo Guelbenzu

Surprise records by “cognac” Fundador

¡Surprise records! What is this marvel? A total surprise! Look what you can find in the best record shops, in this case, in Dientes Largos  in Pamplona, Navarra, at the 45th Jarauta Street, run by the wonderful Kike Crespo! The surprise records are special editions of 7" vinyl records that were given as gifts by Bodegas Domecq, especially for Christmas, to their customers who bought the "cognac" Fundador. Yes, of course, today it's called brandy, but in those days it was called cognac! Be aware! Once again, grapes and music high five! The campaign started in 1962 and lasted until 1973 and a catalogue of more than 250 7" records was published, some of which had prizes engraved on the record! You could win a car or a TV, a record player, beauty products, or watches. If you got the prize on the record, you had to show up with it at Bodegas Domecq to exchange it for your prize! A little bit like Willy Wonka with the golden ticket - marvellous!   If you find out a surprise record, you are in front of one the most analogue and historical ways of beverage marketing through music.  Certainly a way a lot more fun than creating algorithmic campaigns on facebook and co. Ouh Yeah! Somewhat-real-rhythmic campaigns are much better!

KISS MY GLASS masterclasses around the world

KISS MY GLASS magnificent wine events and masterclasses by Wine Defender!Coming soon and around the world! And this is the beautiful logo introduction done by the incredible and talented Florian Miny. 

Here you can find some of her other works: florianeminy.com

More news very soon about the very first event in IG: @winedefenders and in facebook: We Are Wine Defender !

Back to the Future : Castillo de Ygay 1925

A Taste of Chillida : Vertical tasting of Abadia Retuerta’s white ‘Le Domaine Blanco’

Chillida Leku with Luis Chillida and vertical tasting of 10 vintages in magnum format of Abadia Retuerta's white 'Le Domaine Blanco'.

A Taste of Chillida

There are conversations that inspire you, that make an impression on you and that totally hit you. There is nothing more beautiful than listening to a son talk about his father with deep admiration, and if that son is Luis Chillida, it is even more exciting.

What a surprise, arriving at the Chillida-Leku past 25th of april in Donosti for a vertical tasting of 10 vintages of Le Domaine Blanco from Abadía Retuerta, which already promised to be unforgettable and also, to meet Luis Chillida for a walk around Chillida's place (literal translation of Chillida-Leku) and learn first-hand about the life and work of his father Eduardo, the famous Basque sculptor who created the 'Comb of the Sea' in Ondarreta, and so many other amazing sculptural works.

 

Luis Chillida, in front of a work by his father Eduardo Chillida in Chillida-Leku

Eduardo Chillida (1924-2002) decided many things in his life, discarding what he did not want to be, as happened to him with architecture, which he soon became disillusioned with along the way. At other times, fate made decisions for him, as when he was 19 years old and a sensation at Real Sociedad as a goalkeeper, an injury forced him to give up football, which allowed him to pursue other, more artistic pursuits.

When he started working in Hernani, where he moved with his family, he came across iron, which introduced a fundamental change in his career.

For him, learning consisted in the repetition of confronting what you don't know how to do. You need to open your mind. Are you familiar with the idea of getting out of your comfort zone? Well, that's what it is! You have to dare more, and you have to be less comfortable.

It took him 26 years to make the 'Comb of the Sea' (Peine del Viento) since he had the first idea, walking by the sea with his wife Pilar Belzunce. We ask ourselves, what is time in reality? It is nothing more than something elastic and relative. All we have is the present. Are we stressed? Well, time to relax, to breathe deeply and to savour time.

Chillida worked being conscious of the value of what he did, not the price. Well, what luck some people will say. But let's not forget that to do the impossible, you first have to dream it.

Chillida never wanted to make replicas of his works and only ever agreed to make a maximum of 10 replicas. He called himself a 'ruminant', Luis tells us, as he took his time for everything. Something that is very difficult nowadays, as we live very fast, and that would be good for all of us. To take possession of time. To stop it. To savour it.

So he decided not to make reproductions to reach the masses, and he had a great idea, to place one of his works in a public space, where everyone is the owner, a revolutionary concept for the time, back in '57, the beginning of public works.

Eduardo Chillida wanted to be freer, not to limit his works to having to make something small in order to exhibit them, so he found what he called his little Basque Country (Chillida-Leku), a space without limitations, where he could express himself and exhibit his work.

In the summer of 2021 I saw a fabulous concert of The Jayhawks from Minnesota in Chillida-Leku, with a glass of wine and hammocks, a marvel, Eduardo would have been proud, even if his favourite music was Bach.

And now we go to the incredible tasting of 10 historic vintages of Abadía Retuerta's Guarda white wine, Le Domaine !

The fruit of chance or destiny, like all great things, as some white grape vines were planted in the middle of a red grape vineyard by mistake. Initially they thought it was Merlot, but surprise! Sauvignon blanc was there to stay and to become one of the great whites of Spain, fruit of the union with a Verdejo blend. From the sun-drenched Pago de la Raya, with natural water reserves, the terroir of sand and pebbles produced a marvel.

It is always a pleasure to see Enrique Valero and Álvaro Perez Navazo, and my father gave my regards to them and to the Navarran winemaker Ángel Anocíbar. And on top of all that, we sat with my partner in crime in Mugaritz,, Kristell Monot alongside with two Rekondo ambassadors, including Iñigo Galatas, and members of the friendly tasting group called the Irrekonductibles, and also the charming Enrique Larumbe from Eurogap. What a team we have put together and what a luxury tasting. After Enrique's passionate introduction, Álvaro's explanations were impeccable with mastery and patience.

Well, the Sauvignon blanc was introduced by a kind of error in his vineyards, blessed mistake, because from then on they kept on growing, the experiments started later. Le Domaine Blanco usually has 70% Sauvignon Blanc and 30% Verdejo, and 7 to 8 months in French oak barrels. Let's go to the tasting impressions, although I have to admit that I concentrated more on enjoying them to focus on the present, as Eduardo would have done. It is not every day that you taste magnum bottles of whites wines with such style!

2011 : Extreme intensity, vanilla, butter and fine, creamy pastry, with a touch of turmeric. And yet, a freshness on the palate thanks to the acidity. At first it reminded me of the aromas of a Tokaj. It was a warm vintage. I can see Kristell's eyes, it's her favourite! And so it is for a lot of people. 2012 : Apricot, honey, flowers, a touch of menthol and much more freshness, very long and dynamic in the mouth, this is more my style! It was harvested earlier and with 50% of used barrels. 2013 : A great blend, with the nose of 2011 and the palate of 2012. 2014 : On the nose it keeps the aromatics of house, and on the palate lighter and fresher, citric and aromatic. 2015 : On the nose it still has that a slightly tropical complexity, but in the mouth it has more volume, also very fresh. 2016 : It rained in spring, with more production, more heat. Aromas of dried apricots and warmth on the nose and more weight on the palate 14% (instead of the usual 13.5%). 2017 : pleasant petrol aromas reminding of riesling, slight reduction, more intense aroma. Year of drought and frost. 2018 : Again fresh and minty, more mineral. Product of a cold vintage with sunshine at the end. 2019 : On the nose, it maintains the house style. More electric, on the palate, lots of freshness even though it is a warm vintage. Slightly pétillant. 2020: The year of mildew! Yes, it was not only the year of Covid. There was a lot of humidity and temperature, they decided not to treat the vines. They were right as the fungus did not reproduce, luck or destiny! Good volume in the mouth and good production.

To top it all off, we finished on site sitting on the terrace with chef Marc Segarra from El Refectorio in Valladolid, who was there to make us taste some of his creations after the tasting.

And here we are each one of us with our favourite glass of Le Domaine in hand and these ephemeral and delicious kandinskians gastronomic art pieces. With Mondays like this, the weeks are unforgettable.