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... Means nothing to me, but maybe to Tinca, Sy or Falcon. ...
Too me, Spanish wines are rather sweet, though nothing like an Amarone, which I am always amazed people spend that kind of money for something so disgustingly sweet!
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Pedro Ximenez is a very different type of wine. It is a muscatel grape, so the wine is very sweet and has more alcoholic strength than "normal" wines
Dehydrating the grapes before fermentation CAN result in a sweeter wine, as much as 4-5% is left as sugar. It depends whether it is fermented until all the sugar is gone. If it is fully fermented, then it will be dryer, and the 14% minimum alcohol level for Amarone may be well-exceeded.Both you and falcon referred to Amarone as sweet
Lavinia is very famous in Madrid but I have been there only once and i don´t remember very well that place.
I know Bodegas Santa Cecilia c/Blasco de Garay 74 Metro Islas Filipinas that is a big shop and I was always well informed by the staff.
In my opinion, it is easier to be succesful choosing a Rioja than a Ribera (where of course there are also very good wines).
In case of Mencia I'd choose a Ribeira Sacra or a Valdeorras.
Hi, Pelegrin, thanks for that suggestion, it's about half the distance from my hotel as the Livinia, so I'll probably go there. It's also just a block away from the street I lived on in the 70s, Calle Galileo, where the next door neighbor had cows and the sereno used to drink on the corner waiting to open the door for my roommate and me. So I can take a little nostalgia trip while I'm looking for a bottle of wine!
On the Camino de Levante somewhere before Toledo, we were having a menu del dia that was about 16 euros, pretty steep for pilgrim budgets but for some reason in Castilla y Leon, they frequently double menu del dia prices on weekends.
Try Muga reserva, especialI am going to be in Madrid next week and want to buy a good bottle of wine to bring home for someone as a special thank you. This person has quite the wine palate and I guess you'd call him a wine snob, though I'm not using that term pejoratively. My taste is such that I enjoy a Coto Crianza more than a box of wine, but that's about the extent of it. So I'm out of my league here.
Here's what I'd like help with:
A good bottle of reserva Rioja that is not generally or widely available in the US.
Any ideas on where I would find it.
Thanks to all the alcohol experts out there, Al does your knowledge extend beyond the whiskey category?
Buen camino, Laurie
In UK you can buy at http://www.ultracomida.co.uk/spanish-food-wine/show/muga-seleccin-especial-riojaI am going to be in Madrid next week and want to buy a good bottle of wine to bring home for someone as a special thank you. This person has quite the wine palate and I guess you'd call him a wine snob, though I'm not using that term pejoratively. My taste is such that I enjoy a Coto Crianza more than a box of wine, but that's about the extent of it. So I'm out of my league here.
Here's what I'd like help with:
A good bottle of reserva Rioja that is not generally or widely available in the US.
Any ideas on where I would find it.
Thanks to all the alcohol experts out there, Al does your knowledge extend beyond the whiskey category?
Buen camino, Laurie
I guess I'm a little late with this post since you've already purchased the wine, but . . . . a few years back there was great PBS special called On the Road with Mark Bittman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Maria Batalli and a Spanish actress whose name I have forgotten. They are driving around Spain eating and drinking. It was a great series. One of the wines that they all loved was Albarino, a white, which I believe comes from Galicia. They drank it and used it in some recipes. You can get some of the recipes on the On the Road website.Why rioja and not a Galician wine ? Galician wines are increasingly well regarded in most wine outlets in Madrid, they're in fashion !! Ask for some help and advice if you can. Otherwise look out for an oak matured red from Ribeira Sacra like Guimaro which secure 98 points with Parker a few years ago.
Well, thanks, everyone. I'm in Madrid and spent the day trying to get my circadian rhythms moved over to Spain time, Lots of walking, a trip to my favorite little art museum, Museo de Sorolla ... but I digress. Thanks so much to pelegrin for the recommendation of Santa Cecelia on Blasgo de Garay. It's a great place and the people were very helpful. I got a 35 euro bottle of some rioja reserva whose name I can't remember and which is sitting wapped up in bubble wrap for the trip home. I also got my husband a bottle of special Spanish brandy, which I've never drunk and about which I know nothing! The staff seemed quite trustworthy and knowledgeable. Buen camino, Laurie
I guess I'm a little late with this post since you've already purchased the wine, but . . . . a few years back there was great PBS special called On the Road with Mark Bittman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Maria Batalli and a Spanish actress whose name I have forgotten. They are driving around Spain eating and drinking. It was a great series. One of the wines that they all loved was Albarino, a white, which I believe comes from Galicia. They drank it and used it in some recipes. You can get some of the recipes on the On the Road website.
Agree. As you travel from across Spain you are , frankly, spoiled for choice on choosing a good wine from each regionWhile I am also late for this conversation, I would suggest that you have a look at a mencia, a grape grown in Bierzo, which is like a clean-tasting burgundy. While I very much like the vino negros of Rioja and Catalonia, this is a pleasant alternative from the usual substantial Spanish reds. I was introduced to it by a handful of grapes from some vineyard workers out of Villafranca de Bierzo and the grapes were so good that I thought I would try it out of the bottle.
Thanks for sharingWell as this thread continues its wonderful perambulation - I am minded to share my little secret, In Santiago there is a great little Hotel Costa Vella, on Rúa da Porta da Pena, 17, which has a wonderfully secluded leafy courtyard garden and where at the drop of a hat they serve fabulous Galician Wines, they taste wonderful and are reasonably priced .
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Well as this thread continues its wonderful perambulation - I am minded to share my little secret, In Santiago there is a great little Hotel Costa Vella, on Rúa da Porta da Pena, 17, which has a wonderfully secluded leafy courtyard garden and where at the drop of a hat they serve fabulous Galician Wines, they taste wonderful and are reasonably priced .
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Store fronts appear everywhere along all the caminos where you can wine taste or just drink. The ones I have visited feature just a few local wines. The cost has always been modest. Sharing a bottle of wine with fellow pilgrims is a regular activity in the nearest bar or restaurant, but you can suggest that the group go to the nearest bodega instead.there are quite a few up and coming bodegas
I totally agree with your wine selections. I love Muga wines. If you want quality wines Marquess de Murrieta produce Castillo Ygay which is great and Marques de Caceres have "Gaudium" which are top notch too. Then there is Toro and Ribera del Duero - where do I stop...!For something good, that you won't see too often in the US, I'd go for Viña Tondonia from R. Lopez de Heredia. I'm a fan of the wineries in Haro- Muga, Ramon Bilbao, Rioja Alta are all winners in my book. However, RLdH's wines that come to the US usually end up in restaurants with ridiculous mark ups. The others are easy to find here, to the point that I've seen Ramon Bilbao and Muga at Costco on occasion.
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