A Change of Scene

WINE IS.....

......NOT JUST FROM BORDEAUX!

Valentine's Special: A Getaway Weekend in BILBAO

This week one of our blog team had the chance to spend a weekend in BILBAO.

Here is what she found.....

BILBAO

Situated near the “Gran Via” of Bilbao (in the opposite direction to the Guggenheim), the “Globo” bar is known for its “pintxos” and all different kinds of tapas. 

All the best tourist and gastronomic guides sing its praises.

As you can see from the wine list, wines by the glass are at a very reasonable price. We chose:

“Ribera Del Duero” “Vina Sastre “2011, 100% Tempranillo

Tasting notes:

NOSE: jammy red fruits with soft spices (something typical of the wine’s region)

TASTE: similarly elegant to the nose, with a slight touch of greenery because of its age.

To accompany such a bold wine we ordered “Jamón ibérico” which, like the wine, is a speciality of this region of Spain. 

This came with fresh bread (one can never really leave France behind) and tomato purée made with exquisite olive oil. Simple but perfect!

Bilbao really is an amazing city – one weekend was not enough! Great eats, great drinks – the perfect treat for Valentine's Day.

Happy Belated Valentine's Day! See you next week....

Behind The Bottle - Who really makes wine?

What WE go to School For....

#Who?

For our Wine Event this week, we stayed close to home and went to our very own Business School, INSEEC, for a tasting!

A couple of years ago, the Masters 2 Wine students (Class of 11/12) were given the opportunity to create their own wine, in association with Crushpad Bordeaux.(http://www.makebordeauxwine.com/en/about)

#What?

THE WINE

• The vintage 2011 will be ready in four months
• 300 bottles will be released on the market.

The mission of release has been given to the 2012/13 Masters 2 students. They had to start from scratch, choosing the wine's name, creating the label and constructing the sales strategy.

To present their "Enfant Prodige", the students talked about passion, innovation, dreams and love. 

Their goal through their wine is to give a new face to the wine market, according to the new ways of consuming.

#Where?

• The wine had been sourced from different areas, Cabernet Franc from Fronsac, Merlot from St Emilion and Cabernet Franc from Margaux.

#The Taste?

While tasting, you can feel it is still a bit young, but has an excellent potential. 
The colour is dark, an intense purple red, the nose is fruity and powerful, the mouth is long but not too woody. Stored at Lynch Bages, the wine will be bottled in spring.
The real strength of this project is the diversity of the students in charge and their personal views on how to infiltrate the wine industry.
They would like to give special thanks to those professors (Bill Moore, Paul Dawson) who gave them advice throughout the project.

We found it really interesting to talk to people about the actual making of wine

keep following to find out who we talk to next week!

A BIRTHDAY TASTING

One of our blog team celebrated her birthday this week. 

Here’s how we helped her celebrate!

#Eats

Classic birthday cupcakes 

• Double chocolate flavour with cream cheese frosting. 
• The recipe comes from the "Hummingbird Bakery" - leave a comment if you'd like to find out more!
• These were more for decorative purposes than to pair with wine, but we did of course enjoy some BIRTHDAY CHAMPAGNE with them.....

#Drinks

It’s never a party with champagne! – we tried two different bottles.....

1. Mont-Hauban Prestige Blanc de Blancs (right)
• NOSE: White flowers (honeysuckle, linden) with a hint of grapefruit and lemon zest.
• PALATE: Fresh, light & fun. Beginning notes of stone fruit (apricot, plum) with a vanilla finish - as shown on the cork cap!
2. Hervy-Quenardel 2005 Blanc de Noirs (left)
• NOSE: Aromas of toast, candied orange & vanilla pod to begin. Leaving the wine to air revealed hints of violet and fresh raspberries.
• PALATE: A broad and smooth texture with very noticeable tastes of red fruits, particularly cherry.

...That's not all!

The team also tried a still white wine from Germany:

Anselmann Gewürztraminer Spätlese

• VINTAGE: 2011
• NOSE: Incredibly fresh pink, tropical & stone fruit - guava, pineapple and apricot in particular with a touch of elderflower.
• PALATE: The taste matches its nose perfectly with a texture of supreme finesse. The wine boasts a very long and creamy finish which never loses its fresh & fruity mouth-feel. We found this paired surprisingly well with the cream cheese icing on the cupcakes!

A very Happy Birthday to our own birthday girl, and to all of you who have birthdays just past or up-coming, we hope you enjoy the following video.....

HAppy BirthDay !!!

Sweet Sensations

WINE CHATTER

A Change of Scene: What?

Thanks to mutual friends in Bordeaux (gracias a Juan y David), the IFeelWine team did something different this week.





We had the chance to meet a 25-year old Spanish oenologist, working for Château Sigalas-Rabaud, Sauterne 1er Grand Cru Classé.

Cesar arrived in Bommes for an internship and following a 3 month period of learning how the Château was run he was then given the opportunity to stay and work with the team.

Sigalas-Rabaud is a very intense and complex sweet white wine, recommended as an aperitif or with dessert. As it ages, the colour of the wine turns to amber and the palate offers a harmonious mix of roasted nuts, candied fruits and honey.

1. What is so special to you about Sauternes?

"You have to think that the way Sauternes wines are made, moreover the botritys cinerea rot process, is very special in the World. This is the only place you can find this kind of rot, giving its very taste to the wine.

This type of vinification is even more singular to a Spanish professional, since all the sweet wines I learned about in my country are made in a very different way.

2. What was the oldest vintage of Sigalas-Rabaud you tasted?

"There were 3 in fact, 1914, 1921 and 1923. A very good customer came to have his bottles refilled. The wines were surprisingly fresh, showing a very good balance between alcohol, sugar and acidity, with powerful spicy notes and a very long finish."

3.Do you know where the wine you make is going?

"The majority of our wine goes to Asian market, especially Korea, Japan and China. Its golden colour and sweet and fruity taste are very much appreciated there."

4. After Sigalas-Rabaud, where would you like to go?

"Even if I’m really happy so far in Bommes, if I had to move, I would love to go to Australia or South Africa, to see how people work there. They are real pioneers in terms of winemaking, they always focus on innovations. They also benefit from more flexible vinification rules and new techniques, such as thermo-vinification or cryoextration, which really appeal my curiosity.

Also, I think that after working with white grape varieties for a while, I would like to change and concentrate more on red ones, such as Syrah, Grenache and off course Tempranillo, the Spanish flagship grape variety. But this is for another day."

BIG Thank you to Cesar for his time - we wish him a lot of successful harvests all around the world!

What are your questions? Let us know if there's anything else YOU would like to know - send us on another wine adventure next week. 



Cheers!