The History of Esencia

White, Naturally Sweet Variety: 100% Muscat Alexandria Vinification: Aged 24 months in oak barrel Alcohol: 4% Temperature: 6ºC Very complex. Intense color, marmalade. On the nose, captivating with its aromas of marmalade and caramelized tropical fruits. Great depth and concentration and a long and pure finish. Esencia is a unique wine that incorporates the raisined [...]

Botani 2010

I want to thank everyone who has been (impatiently) waiting for the release of Botani 2010. Today is the day! And the verdict is – very good! Botani 2010 is very delicate wine with such a great body for a wine that is so aromatic and elegant. I love the finish, it’s long, round and [...]

La Axarquía es Moscatel

This is the cover of Excelente: Revista de Turismo, Gastronómico y Enológico – N0 30, which features an excellent article called La Axarquía es Moscatel on pages 21-33. “There’s no need to look hard to realise that the region of Axarquia is now considered to be the embryo of the best muscat in Spain, although other localities [...]

Cambridge University Wine Society

This Wednesday I’ll be in Cambridge with Master of Wine Pancho Campo presenting a selection of my sweet wines for the University of Cambridge Wine Society. Sweet Wines from Bodegas Ordoñez November 3, 2010 Peterhouse College, Upper Hall

La Vendimia 2010 (part 2)

Believe it or not we started harvesting mid-August and we haven’t finished yet. It’s the same every year – this really has to be the longest vendimia in Spain. While everyone else is on holiday in August we begin with Botani (early harvest) and finish with Selection Especial (last harvest) mid-October. My friend Alistair Gardener [...]

Viñas Viejas in Vanity Fair

[click to enlarge] Although Michelle Chaplow quite rightly thinks that Botani is my sexiest wine, it was actually Viñas Viejas (Old Vines) that made it into Vanity Fair España this month in their article called Sorbos Excelentes: vinos para paladear el otoño. You can just about read the article if you enlarge it and you’ll [...]

Spain has Conquered the World

George Miliotes, Master Sommelier for The Capital Grille (and one of fewer than 200 Master Sommeliers in the world), has chosen an excellent selection of wines from Australia, Europe and California for their latest Master Wine Tasting Event, which runs through September 5th, pairing wine and food while knowledgeable servers guide you through the tasting. [...]

Sevilla Visit Video

This is a video we made last night at the end of my trip to Sevilla, in Puracepa with their wine expert Filippo. The written version with photos will come a bit later. I’m back in Málaga now. Lots to do before the vendimia starts, but I hope to get back to Sevilla soon.

Vineyard Visit

Yesterday I had the chance to meet a friend of my brother Jorge’s, Dana Street, who runs the Fore Street Restaurant in Portland Maine. He was in Spain with his team, Sam Hayward, Riley Shryock and Ken Thomas, to do research on Spanish food and wine for their new tapas restaurant and we had arranged [...]

Muscat Kit Kats

This is definitely a food pairing I never would have thought of for my beloved muscat grapes. But Nestlé Japan seems to enjoy coming up with different and quite unusual flavour combinations for their candy bars, including wasabi, soya sauce and green tea. And apparently also Muscat of Alexandria flavoured Kit Kats. According to The Chocolate [...]