Hitting the tapas bars of Logroño at the EWBC

jamon iberico

After the EWBC Winebloggers Invitational on Friday nite, we had to get something in our stomachs so off we went to dinner in the old part of Logroño. All the meals in Spain start with jamon iberico (spanish ham), at least that's what we got at the start of every meal, including breakfast.

After a neverending parade of food, all of which were tapas (or appetizers), we still hadn't had enough to eat and drink so we went for a walk down the Calle Laurel, a raucaus little alleyway lined with tapas bars. Here's just a random sample of the bars and streetlife:

pulling pints, just as cheerful there as they are here

more jamon, this time diluted by bread

now there's a sensible table for drinks

bloggers on the streets of Logroño - Justin, Giampiero and Gabriella

EWBC '08 Bloggers Invitational-the wines

More from the EWBC '08, this time it's the Winebloggers Invitational and, to see me interviewed, check out the following link from VinusTV (click here) who were on hand to interview all us bloggers.

It was great fun to see what the other bloggers brought for us to try. There were wines from as far away as Canada (a rather intriguing attempt at producing cabernet sauvignon in that northern climate). The Spanish wine giant, Codorniu was one of the main sponsors of the conference and brought plenty of Cava as well as their new range of still table red and white wines for the first nights' event. I've tried them all before in London (see July 08 post) but that didn't stop me from trying them all again to see if they were just as good as I remembered them. They were!

I'm partial to sweeties and Thomas Lippert from winzerblog based in Germany (which is unfortunately for me, written in German) brought not only dry rieslings but also an icewine, which he produces. I spoke to him later about his icewine and he told me that they are only produced in exceptional vintages and that they usually have to pick on Christmas or New Year's Eve - such is the hardships of an icewine producer. His wine however, is definitely worth the effort. He brought along a 2001 icewine which was unctuous and sweet, like candy while at the same time with enough acidity to keep it well balanced. I love icewine and this one only reinforced my opinion.

Another sweetie was the Bodega Tintoralba Dulce, a red dessert wine. I was a bit surprised when I poured it as I thought it was going to be a white wine but any doubts were dispelled once I tried it. It was a delicious, red nectar, not cloying but nicely well balanced with plenty of boysenberry and raspberry in the mix. The wine is produced from over-ripened Garnacha Tintorera, a spanish variety which produces wines that are thick and deeply coloured. The grapes undergo carbonic maceration to preserve their delicate flavours and aromas. It was served chilled and reminded me of the red dessert wines from Rasteau in the Rhone valley.



The Portuguese were also well represented with some mouthwatering dry red wine on display.

Jose Eduardo J Silva, the Cortes de Cima winery blogger, brought two excellent examples of their wines, their Incognito '05 and their Touriga Nacional '05.

According to the website,the Incognito got it's name because back in the day, when they first started making and bottling syrah, it was still considered an "illegal" varietal in Alentejo. They couldn't call it syrah, hence the name, "Incognito." Well, this wine shouldn't stay hidden anymore. It was a fabulous full bodied example with plenty of dark fruits and a solid tannic structure to hang it's hat on. It was drinking well now but another year or two wouldn't hurt it.

The Touriga Nacional '05 was a bit softer and much more aromatic with lots of dark berries, black cherry and hints of toasty oak. Lots of soft tannins which made it go down nice and smooth and plenty of fruit without being overbearing or jammy. A definite crowd pleaser.


Andre Ribeirinho from Adegga.com brought along some interesting Portuguese wines from Herdade do Portocarro. Of the three he brought, I enjoyed the Cavulo Maluco '05 the most. The Cavulo, was a fruity blend of Touriga Nacional, Touriga Nacional and Petit Verdot. It had an upfront oaky nose with black fruits and exotic spicy notes shining through. There was plenty of black cherry and ripe black fruits on the palate and it's definitely not for wimps being quite full bodied and tannic with notes of sweet spice and vanilla. It was a powerhouse of a wine while subtle at the same time, not over-oaked or over-extracted, but a very enjoyable wine to drink.

EWBC '08 and the Chapel Down '07 English Rosé

Rioja vineyard

On the plane back to England from the EWBC I was exhausted!! But what a weekend! I met loads of really great people, drank plenty of fabulous (and interesting) wines, visited some fantastic wineries, met the winemakers, had my eyes open to the possibilities out there regarding the web via the both the roundtable discussions and informal ones and generally had a blast. There was so much going on, I barely had time to catch my breath. But who'd want to stop with all the excitement surrounding us? The conference was extremely well organized and planned. It was such an exhilarating and febrile atmosphere to be a part of that I can't wait to attend the next one and I'm already planning on attending the USA conference in October.

(Gabriella getting an appreciative smack from Ricard!)

I have to give a HUGE thanks to the organizers, Ryan and Gabriella Opaz of Catavino and Robert Mcintosh of The Wine Conversation. And, a big shout out to Robert for his ability to get all us bloggers moving on time and in the right direction. I think I overheard him comparing us bloggers to herding cats but cats are much easier to direct!

The first night was the winebloggers invitational,whereby we each had to bring a wine that represented our area of interest or expertise. I had chosen an english rosé (made from the germanic variety, dornfelder) from the Chapel Down winery based in Kent, southeast England. What a reaction! That rosé definitely raised a few eyebrows and looks of disbelief. People had heard of English wines but those Continentals were rather dubious as to the quality of the wine. I found out later that not many had ever actually had the opportunity to try English wine before the conference.

Luckily, it passed with flying colours! I had tried it before I left so I knew that it wasn't bad but everyone else was surprised at the quality. I got quite a few positive comments from the others. So, score one for English wines! I think it convinced a fair amount of people that England is capable of producing quality table wines.

In case your wondering, here are my tasting notes for the Chapel Down English Rosé 2007:

A clear, pale, smoked salmon coloured wine. Upon pouring, the fresh summer smells of England seem to rise up from the glass. It reminded me of a summer's day after a sudden downpour in the park, you know, the clean scent of the air that follows a sudden rainstorm while your picnicking in the park (as so often occurs here) and after you've just run to the car and thrown everything in the backseat! Wet grass, a bit herby, red cherry and something akin to strawberries after they've been sitting in sugar and have gone all syrupy were some of the aromas that I detected.

It was however, quite dry and crisp. Plenty of fruit on the palate, strawberry tart with plenty of zippiness to keep it from becoming sluggish. There was also a hint of dill on the back of it and an apricot-like finish, which was quite long. I think this is a really great food wine, something to have with grilled salmon and boiled new potatoes tossed with dill. We had it with a hunk of mature english cheddar and bread and it was scrumpdiliumptious!

Thanks to Penny at the Bluebird Wine shop for recommending that one.

retail £11
alc., a light and lovely 11%

Notes from the European Winebloggers Conference 08

The following are some of my notes from the European Winebloggers Conference 2008 (EWBC) in Rioja.

Flying over the Bay of Biscay this morning, looking down onto the green craggy hills of the sun-drenched Spanish coast was a bit of a surprise. Over the years, I've visited Spain many times but always the southern coast of Spain or Madrid, both of which are more reminiscent of semi-arid deserts with their scrub covered brown rolling hills and plains rather then the lush carpet of green I was currently flying over. I had to remind myself why I was on that plane. I was here for the European Winebloggers Conference 2008 (EWBC) taking place in Rioja that weekend. I hoped that it was going to be a fun and informative weekend and seeing as copious amounts of Riojan wine were going to be available, I knew that it would at least be an opportunity to sharpen my Rioja tasting skills.

I wasn't really sure what to expect but the organizers, Ryan and Gabriella Opaz from the Catavino blog and Robert McIntosh of The WineConversation blog, have a full schedule planned for us and plenty of Riojan wine on hand for us to sample. Not to mention the winebloggers invitational, where we all get to bring our own wines to share. I'm full of anticipation while I wait at the Bilbao Airport for my ride to Logrono in Rioja.