Archive for April, 2011
We’re Not Leaving Yet: More on Spain
John and Spanish wine legend Miguel Torres
In my last blogpost, I announced I’d take you on a year-long virtual trip to the world’s famous wine regions, starting in Spain. Our itinerary called for visiting Germany next but, as with travel in the real world, there’s been a last-minute change in plans. Instead, we’re hanging out in Spain a bit longer.
My recent trip to Spain was to attend a meeting of the International Wine Clubs Association, a networking group that meets twice a year. The meeting took place in Barcelona, the Spanish capital of Catalonia and truly an international city with wide boulevards, exciting restaurants, stunning architecture and a very energetic night life. Throw in the fact that Barcelona is also Spain’s cultural center and you’ve got quite a vibrant city to explore and discover.
East of Barcelona is the Penedes, This famedwine growing district is home not only to cavas (sparkling wines made using the French method) and large plantings of international grape varieties, including Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay, but also to the legendary Torres Winery.
The driving force behind Torres is Miguel Torres, who single-handedly fostered a revolution in Spanish wine making when he began work in the family business in 1962. Through his efforts, the taste of Spanish wines was transformed and the Penedes region became a globally recognized fine wine region. Miguel and his winery have received just about every international award bestowed in the wine industry.
I’ve been familiar with Torres wines since the late 1960s and for several decades I’ve been hearing about the Torres family. My father-in-law, at the time a dentist, happened to meet several members of the Torres family at a US tasting. He provided them with his professional services and they were so appreciative of his work that they arranged for him to lecture at several Spanish dental schools. This story has been a big part of our family’s lore.
Now, forty years later, I’m sitting next to Miguel Torres at a delicious lunch served at his winery. When I mentioned my father-in-law Miguel instantly pulled a toothbrush and a tiny tube of toothpaste from his jacket pocket. He enthusiastically told me he still follows the dental care plan my father-in-law prescribed.
Well, it’s not every day I get to have lunch with a true wine legend and have my picture taken with a famous toothbrush and toothpaste.
The winery tour and the lunch were superb as was the opportunity to meet Miguel Torres.
Kind regards,
John Davis, founder, Wine Insiders
If it’s April, this must be Spain
Spanish wine pioneer Alejandro Fernandez and John
Join me this year as my blog goes “Around the Wine World in 12 Months.” Each month we’ll take a virtual tour of a different wine-growing country and I’ll share some of my tasting adventures.
I’ll start in Spain because I’ll be attending a meeting next week of the International Wine Clubs Association (IWCA) in Barcelona, one of Europe’s great cities. Besides sampling several of Barcelona’s more than 10,000 restaurants and attending flamenco shows, I’m also hoping to explore the nearby Penedes wine region.
While outstanding whites and reds are produced in Penedes, it’s most famous for Cava, a terrific sparkling wine comparable to Champagne, at a third of the cost. Cava come in a range of levels of sweetness, from the very dry Extra Brut to Brut, Extra Seco, Seco, Semi-Seco, and Dulce, a sweet dessert wine. I like them all, depending on the occasion and the food. One of the names from this area you may be familiar with is Freixenet. Their most popular bubbly comes in a familiar black bottle.
While this will be my first visit to Barcelona, it’s far from my first trip to Spain. On one memorable occasion I met famed winemaker Alejandro Fernandez who is primarily responsible for transforming Ribera del Duro (north of Madrid; south of Rioja) into a world class wine region. It’s not every day that you are given a personal tasting tour and a traditional Spanish lunch by a legendary vintner.
There’s far more to Spanish wines then I can cover here, but we’re on the move. Next up: my German wine travels.
Kind regards,
John Davis, founder, Wine Insiders
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