Foster & Dobbs

Last Sunday I was visited by cheese connoisseurs Luan Schooler and Tim Wilson of Foster & Dobbs Authentic Foods in Portland, Oregon. They were particularly interested in our wines because of how well they pair with different cheeses. First we had a special tasting of Botani, Selección Especial and Victoria 2010 from the tanks at the bodega. Botani 2010 is now finished but we tasted the sweet wines (which won’t be finished until June or July) to detect any flaws and inform the winemaker.

After the tasting we drove up to the vineyards. As you can see in the photo below, it was a spectacular day. We also went to the Raisin Museum in Almachar. One of the growers gave us a box of raisins in clusters and Luan and Tim said they had never tasted anything like it before. Then we had lunch on the beach – in February! – at Maricuchi in Málaga, and enjoyed some amazing seafood with a bottle of newly released Botani 2010. With our dessert we sampled Selección Especial nº1 2008, Victoria nº2 2008 and Viejas Viñas nº3 2007.

All in all, a very pleasant Sunday in very pleasant company.

 

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 and regions attributed this excellence. The soil here is strictly specialised for the intricacies of the grape, and the villages that make up this area of Málaga have been working for centuries to ensure the survival of this divine elixir destined for humans”.

The article features five Axarquía wineries:

• Victoria Ordoñez – Jorge Ordoñez & Co
• Juan Muñoz – Dimobe
• André Both – Bentomiz
• Avila – Almijara
• David Dupuch – Vinos Telmo Rodriguez

The photo shoot took place in the Muñoz family Wine Museum in their winery in Moclinejo. We were drinking… um, sampling … moscatels in order to get in the mood for our session and I think you can tell that the result was quite effective, especially for me. I’ve never looked more “natural”. 😉

Fernando Rueda was the photographer, and he has not only written books about the Axarquía, he is also an expert on the gastronomy of Málaga. We were discussing the recipe for gazpachuelo, a typical Malagueña soup – which has nothing to do with gazpacho! – that I strongly recommend to everybody who comes to Málaga. It’s my favourite soup ever. Fish, seafood and mayonnaise are the basic ingredients. And it pairs wonderfully with Botani, which I didn’t realise until I had it at the Café de Paris here in Málaga.

Summer Memories

I am presently shivering in chilly London so it was great to receive this video today that was filmed last August at the Bodega during the Botani pressing. And as you can see, I am wearing the “Vendimia Vestido”.

WOW

Jan Yaxtheimer, Donna Van Noy, Detra Walker, Kathy Blount & Elaine Dawson

Our wine club is called Women of Wine or WOW. We get together once a month and try wines and discuss stocks. With the way the stock market falls so frequently in the last few years, the wine is often the focus of the evening.

These are photos recently sent to me by Donna Van Noy from WOW in Salinas, California, after their bodega and vineyard visit. As you can see, it was a beautiful day and we had a great time, stopping at the finca up in the mountains for a wine tasting.

Salud!

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 who makes the gorgeous Avanthia Godello told me that the harvest took one week – how I envy him! By the way my favourite white wine, besides moscatel of course, is made from godello and garnacha blanca.

I’m happy to report that the vendimia this year has been excellent because we had very good weather and we also had rainfall when we needed it. But some very old vines, more than 100 years old, gave a lower yield in spite of higher moisture levels. The vintner said that curisously this viñero gives fewer grapes during rainy times than in drought.

I’ve also had a lot of visitors during the harvest. I know that many wineries don’t accept visitors during their vendimia but I like to welcome them at this time because this way they can see the process and the care that is taken, how everything is done by hand, and how tenderly the grapes are treated. And of course the landscape is breathtaking. Then back at the bodega they can taste the “must” of Botani and Victoria nº2 2010.

Among the visitors were José Ramón Lizarrague from Madrid, a lover of wines from Axarquía, who took about 300 photos and enjoyed talking with the vinters. Our UK distributor, José Belo Rego from C&D Wines, not only visited but helped in the harvest, including leading the mule (or the mule leading him?). Jordi from TAPS in Barcelona and Shawn from Sevilla Tapas also stopped by.

In general we are very tired but satisfied with the results for now. We have one more harvest and then we are done. Looking forward to an excellent vintage!

Vendimia Vestido

Looking back through the blog posts it occurred to me that in almost every photo taken of me (at different times by different people) from just before the start of the vendimia, I am wearing the same dress! Now known as the official vendimia uniform, this simple cotton dress is actually very practical and comfortable, and versatile enough to take me from the bodega, out to the vineyards and then out to lunch with clients. But just to show you that I do actually own some other clothes…

Our New Bodega

It was a crazy summer this year. In April we started moving to new spacious premises in Vélez Málaga, incorporating our three separate facilities in Almáchar (warehouse and sweet wine cellar) and Vélez Málaga (Botani cellar). This ended up taking until June because the installations for a winery are very complex with all the special plumbing and refridgeration that is required. Luckily we were able to continue using the equipment we already had and so we were all set up in time for the vendimia.

The other day I was speaking to our distributor for the Canary Islands, Mario Reyes, who remembered visiting the old bodega in Almáchar and thinking that clearly it wasn’t the building that was important in the making of a great wine, as long as you have the best equipment and, of course, the know-how.

Having said that, I feel that with our new 1,000 square metre installation we will be able to work more efficiently with less extra costs, which will not only allow us to be more productive but also gives us more potential for future growth, and we are very happy with our shiny new home.

Botani 2010 Pressing

These are few images from our new winery where we are in the middle of pressing grapes for Botani 2010. It’s a later harvest than usual this year but the grapes are very healthy and the production has been going well. This is a very crucial time in the winemaking process and so far it looks like we’ll be enjoying this new Botani sometime early next year.