Malaga Film Festival

The Malaga Film Festival began in 1998 and has since become one of the most important cinema festivals in Spain, with more than 300,000 people visiting each year. A wide variety of the latest feature films, shorts and documentaries from Spain and Latin America compete to win the coveted Biznaga de Oro, which acknowledges artistic acheivement as well as assuring commercial success. There is also the opportunity to talk with film producers, directors and actors, making it a uniquely intimate film event.

I am happy to say that all of our wines, including Botani 2010, are also being featured at this year’s festival. Hope to see you there!

Malaga Film Festival
March 26 – April 2, 2011

Bodegas Ordoñez at Cambridge University

I first met Gareth Powell, the President of the Cambridge University Wine Society, last year at the Decanter Fine Wine Encounter in London. In fact, almost exactly a year ago as I’ll be attending the next Decanter event this coming weekend. Well, Gareth tasted the Ordoñez wines and invited me to present my wines at Cambridge. You can imagine my answer! In January of this year we confirmed the date and the wines I’d be presenting – these special wine tastings always take place on a Thursday and so I chose November 3rd.

Gareth also told me that I could invite a guest to accompany me and the first person I thought of was Pancho Campo. After all, he is not only a Master of Wine but was the only Spanish one at that time (Pedro Ballesteros Torres has recently become an Master of Wine – in fact he got his MW in London on the exact same day at almost the same time of my presentation in Cambridge). But due to various factors Pancho was unable to commit, so I was very surprised and pleased to hear from him just one week before the Cambridge event saying that he’d be able to come with me.

I was very impressed with Cambridge University. The atmosphere was very special and you could really feel the history and the sense of tradition and ritual. As the guest of honour I was put up at Trinity College, which was just incredible. It was also very flattering to be included in such illustrious company as Chateau Margot, the Council of Bordeaux wines and Chateau Lafite. The interest in wines at this University is really amazing, even among the young students of my children’s age. This is very good news for the future of the wine industry.

The event was held at Peterhouse College in candlelight, hence the difficulty in getting any pictures – pity! I started off the presentation with a history of the winery and an introduction of the wines and the different vintages. Then Pancho explained the more technical side of things. It was actually very entertaining because we bantered back and forth as I told anecdotes about the winery and Pancho clarified some terms so that the audience could contextualise the wines in the Denominación Origin Malaga and Sierras de Malaga, which is always a challenge for anyone. There were 50 people in attendance, all members of the Wine Society, an institution founded in the 18th century. I was told that the event had sold out in just six minutes, which Gareth said was a record.

So I was not only very pleased and honoured to have been invited to this very prestigious event, but it seems that I may go back again next year and I am very much looking forward to it.

Here is a very good write up of tasting notes from the event by Cambridge graduate student Vinoremus.

CUWS M10 – Jorge Ordonez

Fiesta del Carmen

The Fiesta del Carmen is held on the 16th July, and is of particular importance in Málaga city and the surrounding towns and villages with a maritime tradition. Carmen is the patron saint of seafarers and the festival dates back to when the main source of revenue in the area was the fishing industry. It wasn’t long ago, perhaps in my grandmother’s time, that people wouldn’t go swimming until the Virgin had blessed the waters.

During the procession, a statue of Our Lady Carmen is carried through all the fishing districts in the evening by bearers dressed in the traditional marengo costume of white shirt, black trousers, a red cummerbund and canvas espadrilles. Afterwards they take off their shoes and wade out to sea, carefully placing the statue on a fishing boat adorned with flowers. It is then taken out to sea, followed by a multitude of small jábegas (fishing boats). There is music and cheering, singing and dancing as well as a fireworks display.

Celebrations vary slightly from town to town. In Málaga city the procession takes place at the Malagueta beach and carries on until the Baños del Carmen. There is another procession in the old fishing quarter of Pedregalejo (where these photos were taken), with people from the city and other neighbouring fishing quarters taking part. The fabulous seafood restaurants in this area get booked up well in advance, as they also do in El Palo and Rincon de la Victoria, and the celebrations usually continue well into the night.

51 Festival Cueva de Nerja

In the Axarquía, where we have our vineyard, you will also find the spectacular Nerja Caves, which were discovered in 1959. Once inhabited by Neanderthals, these caves are notable for their fantastic rock formations, stalagmites and stalactites.

Since the summer of 1960 the silence of centuries has been broken each year with the now world famous Cueva de Nerja International Festival of Music and Dance.

Now in its 51st year, the Festival showcases the arts of flamenco, ballet, contemporary dance, and classical music.

Last night in the largest of these amazing caves, I saw the tango show by the Julio Bocca Argentine Ballet. It was a wonderful performance in a truly extraordinary setting.

Cueva de Nerja Festival
July 13 to 17, 2010
Nerja, Málaga
Website:
Cueva de Nerja

Introduction to Wine Tasting

This week I will be going to Trabanca to take part in the opening of the Summer School of the University of Salamanca, which starts today. The first course is an introduction to wine tasting and I’ll be giving a talk on Wine Culture on Tuesday afternoon.

This special series of courses and international conferences is being made available by the University of Salamanca and the Trabanca City Council. They are aimed at both students and teachers, and are also open to professionals and the general public.