Wine with Leslie: Wines to keep the holiday memories alive until your next trip
Wine with Leslie: bean and sausage stew, seafood, and Galician beef — and great choices of Spanish wine in Northern Spain
I’ve changed my mind. A couple of years ago I wrote that if I was to live in a wine region it would be Piedmont in Northern Italy (Barolo and Truffle country). But after two weeks of driving around Northern Spain I’m not so sure.
Turin to Bilbao is a 12-hour drive and would take you through some amazing French wine regions so it could be done, but now I think I’d live in Northern Spain and make occasional road trips to Italy.
I’m mere hours back as I write this and I miss Spain terribly. We began our adventure in France by taking the Cork-Roscoff Ferry and spent a few days driving to San Sebastian where we rested a bit. The Pintxo was even better than I remembered and remarkable value — a meal for 2 in Narru (1 Michelin Star) cost just €82 including several glasses of pitch-perfect zingy salty Txacoli for €3.50 each.
On our way to Santiago de Compostela, we stopped in Asturias to visit the mountain-top knife- making village of Terramundi and to try the famed ‘Fabada Asturiana’ bean and sausage stew which is even better than you could imagine. A large tureen was placed on the table and we all had 2-3 bowls, washing it down with a complimentary bottle of ‘Tinta de la Casa’ red (served cool of course).
In Santiago, we ate rich flavourful Galician beef (regular ‘joven’, not the retired dairy version this time) washed down with Mencía from Ribeira and Bierzo. There was also octopus and shellfish with fruity Albariño and Godello and Treixadura from Valdeorras and Ribeira Sacra — the latter two regions usually better value than the famed whites of Rias Baixas; see Guímaro Blanco below.
Next to Valladolid, the perfect place to stay if you want to visit Ribera del Duero, Cigales, Toro or Rueda although the heat meant we only got to visit Rueda and Ribera del Duero this time. Our AirBnB host recommended the La Parilla de San Lorenzo restaurant where we feasted on seafood with tangy Cuatro Rayas Verdejo (see below) and succulent milk-fed lamb with meaty rich Pesquera Crianza (served deliciously cool). The restaurant must have had 100 covers that night and I think we were the only non-Spanish-speakers.
The boat back from Bilbao to Rosslare was simple but comfortable but I’m told a newer better boat will be in service from the autumn. I can’t wait to get back.
Normally I try to ignore TV and celebrity chef wine tie-ins but this is a solid example of Verdejo at a bargain price.
There is also a Rioja Crianza and a Joven Tempranillo in the range at the same price until July — all chosen by Spanish sommelier, Javier Gila.
This has bright citrus and washed stone aromas with some floral and tropical fruit touches, lively and fresh with tangy apple fruits on the finish
Don’t let the low price fool you: this tastes as good as many a Ribera del Duero for five or eight euro more.
Four months in French oak so cedar, vanilla and spice notes are evident but mostly this has dark fruit aromas. On the palate are blackberries, dark plums and pomegranate, soft dark berries —and pleasing weight and substance for such a low price.
DeAlberto is an old producer, currently in its 5th generation — I’d love if O’Briens would bring in their Rancio ‘Dorado’ wine which is not unlike a fine old Oloroso. This is reduced from €15.45 and even at full price I would be recommending it: bright lemon, apple and anise aromas with a touch of bay leaf — fruity, textured and fresh with pleasing crisp fruit and a touch of bitter lemon on the finish.
I drank this with a plate of Queen Scallops in Café Altamira in Santiago de Compostela and it was perfect: the creamy lemon and bitter-sweet citrus flavours lifting the scallops to another realm. Mainly Godello, this has lemon verbena and cream aromas, layered tropical & citrus fruits, supple, textured and delicious.
Also, try their Mencía.
I drank a couple of excellent Cuatro Rayas wines on my Spanish holiday and had an impressive visit to their winery in 2017.
From 80-100-year-old vines (including pre-phylloxera ungrafted vines): honeysuckle and citrus aromas with notes of anise and ripe pear, supremely fruity and crisp with pleasing textures and zing and a touch of lemon pith on the finish.
Cepa 21 was created to celebrate the arrival of the 21st century by long-established family winery, Emilio Moro. This has typical rich dark fruit aromas with cedar, pepper and spice notes in the background, textured, crunchy blackberries — and with a gorgeous mouthfeel.
The Emilio Moro Ribera range is more widely available and also recommended (O’Briens, JJ O’Driscoll etc.)
Brewed in Belfast by Boundary Brewing, a Co-Operative brewery shaped and run by its members. I think this is my first time mentioning Boundary (my bad), although I’ve had their beers several times — and not a bad one yet. This hop combination of Mosaic and Azacca took many months to perfect they say and is a perfect summer drink.
Pouring a dusky hazy honey gold with malt and tropical aromas (overripe mango and papaya for me): fruity and textured on the palate with lingering yellow peach and a pleasing bitter-fresh citrus finish.
Also, watch for their recently released Black is the Colour IPA.
