A Night At Bar Inopia: Keep It Coming!

Last night I was treated to foodie heaven - a spot at the reserved table at Bar Inopia. Much of this restaurant's popularity comes from the fame of it's owner - Albert Adria (the brother and pastry chef of the world's best chef three years running, Ferran Adria). Albert wanted to provide a venue where traditional tapas could be enjoyed by everyone and after one night here I can tell you that he accomplished his goal!

About six months ago I was able to score a reservation for the one - yes, only one - reserved table at the restaurant (thanks Bobby!!!). If you are lucky enough to get the table you don't have to wait with the scores of people outside to be seated. Incidentally, there were people that waited over two hours to get into the restaurant (and even then they still didn't get a table). At the reserved table for one price they bring their signature tapas to you one by one until you tell them to stop (or you reach the end). There was never a doubt that we (Bob, Jen, Jamie, and myself) would make it through every single one. Even if I was full I would find a way to get to the end. Our fantastic server, Albert (not the owner), provided us with a tremendous food experience as well as some fantastic wines (we left it up to him to choose the best wines for the meal). So, three hours, five bottles of wine, and 22 tapas later we were as happy as could be.

What were my favorites you ask? The seared tuna belly, Cantabrian anchovies, tomatoes with onion and tuna, croquetas, cañarejal cheese (a soft spreadable sheep's milk cheese), and white figs with sour cream were my top picks. Choosing the best one? Impossible. Our wines were all superb as well - cava from Penedés, white wine from Rueda (El Perro Verde), and red wine from Priorat (Camins del Priorat by Alvaro Palacios). This was a tremendous experience and well worth it. By the looks of the faces of the other patrons in the restaurant the sentiments were shared by all. For those who weren't able to make it in for dinner I can only hope they get the chance in the future.

Life is short. Drink great wine!

A Day In The Vineyards

I recently had the opportunity to participate in a grape harvest in the "old" Priorat region at one of the Priorat's finest wineries, La Conreria d'Scala Dei. We arrived at the bodega and donned our straw hats and took a short ride out to some of the garnacha vineyards owned by Scala Dei. Pairing up with my buddy, Vivian, we grabbed a crate and some clippers and headed out to do some cutting. I must say that it's pretty tough work. The grapes we were harvesting were on five year old vines and thus are not very tall. First you gently hold the bunch of grapes underneath and then clip the stem, being careful to look for any mold or fungus on the bunch. Drop it into the crate and move on to the next one. You are bent over a good bit of the time so you have to be careful not to strain your back. We spent about an hour or so in the fields and filled three crates (Vivian and I). Given that the vines grow on slopes and that they are all hand-picked it is no wonder these wines tend to be a little pricier; but it is also easy to see how much attention and care goes into the process and it makes it all worth it.

After the grape harvest we were treated to a taste of the grapes as they go through the process to become wine. We tried grapes that had just been pressed an hour before (it was the absolute best grape juice you have ever had). Then we tried some juice that had been fermenting in the tank for about a week. Next, we headed into the cellar and were able to taste wine from the barrel - currently aging in French oak for 12 months. After a taste it was obvious that this wine was not quite ready yet. Our guide told us that this wine would need another couple of months in the barrel and then a year or so in the bottle before it would be at its best. Finally, we tasted the finished product - a wonderful 2005 Iugiter made from a blend of garnacha (the base grape), cabernet sauvignon, cariñena, and merlot.

Tradition says that once the grapes have been harvested everyone gets together for a big barbecue where they chow down on a "clotxa." A large round loaf of bread is cut open at the time and all the filling pulled out. Inside the hollow loaf you place roasted onions, roasted tomatoes, roasted garlic, grilled cured herring (yes, herring), and a generous portion (and I do mean generous) of olive oil. Take a fork and mash it all around and have at it. What did I think? Um, yeah. The herring was just a bit much. The best part of this was washing it down with more of their wine! After getting about 2/3 of my clotxa down (I guess I'm just polite) we had the best butifarra sausage that I have ever eaten. It was worth it.

This was an experience that I will never forget - being able to go from the grape on the vine to the wine in the glass was awesome. It makes drinking these wines all the more fun.

Life is short. Drink great wine!

It's Official... I Am The Best!

What am I the best at? More in a minute...

Just when you think you have had the greatest day possible something happens to change that - you wake up again at Catacurian! A couple of days ago we ventured out to another family run winery in the Montsant - Joan d'Anguera. Here we were met by purple-handed Josep (Joseph) - one of two sons of the founder and a winemaker for the winery. Talk about "hands on" work! Of course, I was a little envious and ready to get my hands dirty but there would be time for that. We toured the winery (their production is about 100,000 bottles a year) and tasted three of their wines. It truly is amazing what tremendous wines are being produced in this region. You have got to check them out! Don't worry. When we are back in the states I will make some recommendations of wines to try that you can get in the U.S.

Another fantastic lunch with the Catacurian crew (more to come on our week here in a future post) followed our visit to Joan d'Anguera. One notable dish were the gambas (shrimp) from Palamós. These bright red shrimp are known for their tremendous flavor - and most of that is in the juice in the head. Yep, you suck the juice out of the head. It was fantastic!

The following day at Catacurian we made paella and Tortilla Española (check out the pics on 9/19) and drank from a porrón. A porrón is a glass wine pitcher typical of Cataluña. It is a cross between a wine bottle and watering can with a top that can be sealed with a cork and a spout that stems from the pitcher tapering to a very small opening. It is shaped as such so the wine inside will have very little contact with the air and thus be preserved. They are commonly filled with white or red wines and don't touch the lips when used so they are perfect to share with a group of people. To drink from a porrón you start by bringing it very close to your mouth and tilt it back so the beak points towards your teeth. Once the wine starts coming out you simultaneously pull the porrón away from your face and look up. Lower it back close to your mouth before stopping so as to not spill any on yourself.

Alicia (our host at Catacurian) filled our first porrón with white wine, then rosé, then red! The trick is to not spill any wine on yourself, but as you can guess we all wore at least a little bit... Alicia is a pro at this and her father used to have competitions with his friends about how far up his face he could pour the wine and still have it ALL go into his mouth and not all over himself. At one time Alicia was able to pour it on the bridge of her nose and it would all run into her mouth. So, the challenge was on and I was not about to back down. First round - just get it into your mouth so you get the feel of it. Second round - let the wine hit your teeth and run into your mouth. Third round - the wine hits your lips and runs into your mouth. Final round (at least this time) - the wine hits your nose, flows over your lips and into your mouth. I did it! Although I'm not as good Alicia she did tell me that I was the best at the porrón that she has ever seen here in the six years she has been running Catacurian. Yeah, me! But Alicia had better keep practicing. I'll be back!

What a Wine Day!

After a light breakfast at Catacurian we headed out for a 45-minute winding drive through the mountains of Monstant to the even higher mountains of Priorat. We were on our way to the Scala Dei Monastery. Only ruins exist of this once profoundly devout and silent order of Carthusian monks (the order was founded in the 11th century). The village of Escaladei is where we will participate in the grape harvest this Sunday.

From here we stopped off in Gratallops and were treated (and I do mean treated) to a tour from the owner and winemaker of Clos de L'Obac (Carles Pastrana). His wines have a tremendous reputation for quality and consistency, and after this visit I can understand why. Two things set Carles and his wines apart from all other wines in the Priorat (and in some ways the world). First, he is the only winemaker in Priorat who sources all of his grapes from his own vineyards. Second, and most astounding, is that he uses the same blend every single year for his wines (i.e. his signature Clos L'Obac is a blend of 35% Garnacha, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cariñena, 10% Merlot, and 10% Syrah and has not changed since he created it). As far as anyone knows he is also the only winemaker to NOT make any changes to his wine blends (either by grape or percentage) from year to year. He relies on nature to give his wines a different character from year to year - and that they do have. We tried his wine from the 2002 vintage and when I asked him about what he thought of the 2004 (which by many standards) was a prime vintage he said, "let me show you" and proceeded to open a bottle for us to try! (Personally, I liked the 2002 better and would probably age the 2004 another couple of years - although it is clearly ready to drink now.) What an absolutely fantastic experience!

After cooking a fantastic lunch - rice with monkfish and galenas (a type of shellfish) - I decided to take a little walk around our little village and do some sight-seeing. I walked to the edge of town to spend some time in a vineyard that I saw as we drove out this morning and had another amazing experience. Let me preface this next part by saying that 2009 has been an unusual year in Spain for growing grapes and most of the harvest began in mid-August (so it's not as easy to find vines with grapes "ripe for the pickin'." Well, this vineyard was chock full of grapes so I decided to head down and immerse myself in the moment and try a couple of grapes right off the vine. Yowza! The grapes were smaller than I expected but that is because of the type of grape that it is (Syrah). As I walked through the vineyards I saw someone walking through so I stopped her to ask her what type of grapes they were and to my surprise (and luck) she is a winemaker who was out tasting grapes to decide whether or not there were ready to harvest. Nuria (the girl a met) is the winemaker for Can Blau winery in Montsant. They produce two wines - Can Blau and Mas de Can Blau - both of which are very good wines and available in the United States. We spoke for a few minutes and she told me that it has been a difficult year and that she thinks those particular grapes will need another two weeks or so. After they are harvested (these Syrah grapes), they will blend with Garnacha and Cariñena to create their two wines. She was a charming lady but you could see her "concern" for getting everything just right. I asked what she looks for and how she will know it's time and she basically said "you will know when it's right". I figured as much.

Well, we are back at Catacurian and I'm sure we'll have another phenomenal meal (Alicia is truly an amazing cook and host). There will be much more to come about my food adventure. ¡Hasta pronto!

Life is short. Drink great wine!

It's A Small World After All

Over the past couple of days I have been popping in and out of tapas bars to grab a bite to eat - sorta my own little tapas crawl. Well, since arriving and in the last four days I have met folks from San Diego (who's relative works with me at Merrill Lynch!), Seattle, New York, Connecticut, and Florida (our high schools played each other in football!). What did we all have in common? Spain! Well, we are all here for different reasons but a curiosity or obsession (as in my case) brought us here and into each other's path. I have found that there is a profound interest in Spanish wines from the Americans that I have come in contact with - maybe in part because they are in Spain, but maybe because they realize that Spain has a lot to offer. Regardless, we all have so much to learn and hopefully this site can provide some of the backdrop.

Bodega Meets Catavino ... And Then Some

So, I'll start with the "And Then Some" first...

Potato chips cooked in olive oil infused with the flavor of jamón serrano, large olives stuffed with gundilla peppers (Basque), hand cut jamón serrano, and a couple of nice glasses of a new wine for me - 100% Syrah from Yecla (in the Levant). No, I didn't have dinner at a cool tapas bar in the city. This is what I bought at the store and prepared at my hotel!

The last few days have been jam-packed and it really is just the beginning. I arrived on Saturday evening and settled in. On Sunday morning I toured the National Museum of Catalan Art (MNAC). Early that afternoon I met Ryan Opaz from Catavino (check out this site - it really is awesome!). I have to honestly tell you that I could not have asked for a better seven hours - yes, SEVEN HOURS! We started our tapas crawl at a little tapas bar (Neyras) on Via Laietana. Here we had a really nice "house" cava with some pan con tomaté (bread with tomato), white asparagus with jamón, navajas (razor clams) - these were AWESOME! - and sepia a la plancha (grilled sepia - kind of a large squid). WOW! What a start; and I do mean "start".

Next, we stepped next door to the wine shop that Neyras owns (and Ryan helped out with) to peruse their selection of Spanish wines. To our surprise the girl who was working at the shop that day turned out to be an incredible and charming hostess! She opened for us a very cool red wine from Penedés as well as a Malbec from Argentina (oh, did I mention that our "hostess" is from Argentina). Both of these wines were absolutely fantastic! We spent quite a bit of time there chatting with her and looking at their impressive wine selection and then moved on to our next stop (recommended by her) - Bastaix (a new wine and tapas bar that opened a month or so ago). Here we had a couple more incredible tapas - boquerones (white anchovies), fava beans with mint and jamón iberico, and potato with mushrooms - and more great wine (a white from Montsant and a red from Portugal).

After some time here we headed down to the port and then off to our next stop up the Rambla de Catalunya - Piscolabis. This was a cute little (well, not so little) tapas bar that had the most incredible butifarra stuffed with foie gras on toast. Of course a couple more drinks were had and then we had to part ways. I must say that I could probably have spent seven more hours with Ryan - he was a tremendous host and a lot of fun to be around! As a matter of fact, Jamie and I will be meeting up with he and his wife, Gabriella, for dinner on their rooftop with a view of Montserrat in a couple of weeks. Stay tuned!

Finally, please check out the trip pics so far (click on the link on the left under Bodega Is On The Road) for up to date pictures of the trip, including a stop today at the Boqueria Market (I'll be back there tomorrow and will write more later). All the best from Barcelona!

Life is short. Drink great wine!

I'm Official...

I just got the email...

"CONGRATULATIONS!

Dear Rick, We are pleased to inform you that you have passed both of our exams and now you have become a Spanish Wine Educator."

I actually passed with a score of 86.8%. This is the score that they will use when they choose the ten people that win the free trip to Spain (from all who take the course in 2009). We'll see what happens, but I learned so much in this course that it is really enough. I know, those of you who really know me are saying, "Liar!". We'll see what happens...

Life is short. Drink great wine!

The Adventure Begins...

I'm sitting in the British Airways lounge at LAX. Thank God for lounges!!! Unfortunately, they don't have any Spanish wine or cava available, but there will be plenty of time for that. There is nothing like having five TVs to watch with daytime soaps, Divorce Court, and Martha Stewart. UGH! So... I pulled out the September issue of Wine Enthusiast magazine and read the cover story - Spain's 10 Best Wines. Yahoo!!! What a way to start the Bodega Adventure! This article really showcases the versatility and breadth of Spanish wines. The Tempranillo grape really takes the stage here. The wines hail from a variety of DOs - Rioja, Ribera del Duero, Priorat, Rias Baixas, Toro, Bierzo, Cava, and Jerez. Here are the wines if you decide to hunt any of them down (listed in no particular order):

• 2001 Gramona Illustros Gran Reserva Brut Nature (Cava)
• 2008 Pazo de Señorans Albariño (Rias Baixas)
• 2005 San Vicente (Rioja)
• 2005 Bodegas Roda Cirsion (Rioja)
• 2006 Alvaro Palacios Finca Dofí (Priorat)
• 1998 Vega Sicilia Unico Gran Reserva (Ribera del Duero)
• 2006 Numanthia-Termes, S.A. Numanthia (Toro)
• 2005 Emilio Moro Malleolus (Ribera del Duero)
• 2006 Descendientes de J. Palacios Villa de Carullón (Bierzo)
• Lustau Almacenista Palo Cortado (Jerez)

This should get you started while you're waiting for me to land in Barcelona and pour the first glass. I'll do my best to post often. Be sure to click on the link to the left (under Bodega Is On The Road) to check out the latest pictures. Be back soon!

Life is short. Drink great wine!

Spain ... On The Road Again (Part 2)

Move over Mario and Gwyneth. There is a new Spanish traveler "on the road again." On September 11, 2009 be prepared to follow the travels of yours truly (with three other wary souls) throughout Cataluña and the Basque Country. The trip will begin in Barcelona where I will tour its world famous markets and museums and begin to peruse the many tastes (and libations, of course) that the city has to offer. Hopefully, here I will meet up with Ryan and Gabriella of Catavino fame. Then it is off to the Priorat wine region with the illustrious Bob and Jen Romano for a week-long cooking and wine trip at Catacurian. Should we all be able to stand up straight after this week we will return to Barcelona where Jamie will meet up with us. It is here that we will celebrate La Mercè (the annual festival to honor the patron saint of Barcelona - the Virgen de la Merced) and experience the Catalan Wine and Cava Show that accompanies the celebration. Jamie and I will then whisk off to Basque Country where we will visit San Sebastian and (hopefully) Bilbao (unfortunately, the Romano's must return home as they must begin shooting their next movie). A short return trip to Barcelona will round out the adventure.

Please stay tuned to Bodega as I will do my best to post regularly. Write-ups of the days adventures along with pictures (and hopefully some video) should give you a sense of what it is like to be in Spain...On The Road Again.

Life is short. Drink great wine!