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Market & Tapas Tours
Category: wine
Feria de la Manzanilla (in Sevilla)
The plan for yesterday was to take the bus to Sanlúcar de Barrameda to visit their Feria de la Manzanilla for the first time. Unfortunately the bus service to Sanlúcar was less than feriante friendly with one bus at 10 am and the next not until 2 pm and when I mentioned this on Twitter my friend and sherry expert Annie Manson said that, knowing me, I’d end up creating my own Feria de la Manzanilla here. So that’s what I did. 🙂
Sanlúcar de Barrameda is located at the mouth of the Guadalquivir river where it meets the Altantic and, along with Jerez and El Puerto de Santa María, forms the famous Sherry Triangle in the Cádiz province. It is also home to the oldest horse races in Spain, which take place just before sunset along the beach during the month of August. Another Sanlúcar event I have yet to witness. But I digress…
My companion yesterday was Peter Tatford Seville Concierge and at one stop Eduardo Blanco Different Spain also briefly joined us. Since my idea was to recreate being in Sanlúcar the obvious place to start was Restaurante Barbiana which not only features wines and seafood from there but also makes the best tortillitas de camarones I’ve ever had outside Sanlúcar. We started with a nice plate of jamón Ibérico de Bellota paired with a manzanilla fina from Bodegas Barbiana, served at a perfectly chilled 1ºC. For our tortillita I chose an amontillado to go with it which worked very nicely.
Then we went on to La Moneda, which was where we ment up with Eduardo. There we tried two different manzanillas (Solear and La Gitana) with fried salmonetes (which I was told came from Sanlúcar) and a very nice soupy rice with gambas, clams and monkfish.
For our third stop we taxied over to Taberna Chani in Nervión to try their manzanilla en rama from Bodegas Baron, which we paired with fabulous fried boquerones (also from Sanlúcar) and some grilled Almadraba tuna cheeks.
And then we were done. I have to say that although the food and wine were all very pleasant the whole Feria de la Manzanilla in Sevilla thing didn’t feel as successful as my recent impromptu World Sherry Day event because I didn’t feel like I’d actually learned anything new. Although I asked lots of questions about the different wines, and about which foods they would go best with, the response at these bars wasn’t as friendly or enthusiastic as I found last week. I mean, I know you can get palo cortado from Sanlúcar, and also some good dessert wines, but these weren’t suggested to me even though I’d told everyone I was trying to learn more about Sanlúcar wines. Bit of a shame, but ah well…
World Sherry Day 2013
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I had big plans for World Sherry Day! I was going to meet up with friends in Jerez including good buddy and qualified Sherry Educator Annie Manson. Plans went adrift when I realised that I’d missed my train and that, being a Sunday, the next one would get me to Jerez far too late in the day. So damn. There I was thinking I’d be at home feeling all envious as I read all those tweets from Jerez and then I thought… hey, why don’t I create my own World Sherry Day event? And so off I went with friend/colleague/flatmate Peter (aka Seville Concierge) to discover the world of sherry in Sevilla.
First stop was Flores Jamones y Vinos for our starter course. I was happy to see the fabulous Catalina was working and she helped me select our wines while I chatted with master jamón cutter Federico about our snacks. First we had a half-ración of two types of jamón Ibérico de bellota, and a tapita of two types of cheese (from Zamora and Cádiz) with perfectly chilled La Ina fino from Bodegas Lustau. Next up was a serving of caña de lomo Ibérico paired with another fino, this time from Bodegas Rey Fernando de Castilla. I think this fino & jamón thing could become a serious habit.
Hoping to find some interesting pairings with traditional tapas we headed off to one of my favourite bars in the centre, family-run Bar Las Teresas. There we were in luck because it was just after the lunch rush and Rafael, who is usually busy manning the jamón cutting station, was available to chat and give us some suggestions. We started off with a “safe” choice to go with our bacalao frito – a nice Canasta from Bodegas Williams Humbert. But then Rafael asked if I’d ever tried palo cortado from Bodegas Tradición. I had to ‘fess up that I’d never tried any palo cortado (outside a sherry tasting, which doesn’t count) and so he poured me a glass. And BAM – I was transported to another level. Not only was this an elegant and complex wine, it also went perfectly with the fried cod (surprise!). By now Rafael was getting into educating me and suggested I order a meat tapa and he’d pour me something special. So we opted for a nicely grilled solomillo Ibérica and enjoyed that with Botaina Amontillado, another gorgeous wine from Bodegas Lustau.
Next up – dessert! And since THE place to go for dessert in Sevilla is Vineria San Telmo (with fab confections by Gollerías) that’s what we did. It turned out to be the perfect ending to a rather wonderful afternoon. First Vanna poured us a lovely creamSauci from Huelva but then we remembered that this was a generoso not a sherry (oops!) so we also had a Nectar PX from Bodegas Gonzalez-Byass. With a slice of creamy cheese cake and another of chocolate ambrosia with butter cream. Oh yes.
And thus ended my impromptu World Sherry Day event. What struck me most about this outing was that although I know all of these tapas bars very well it became clear that there is still a lot to discover at each of them, especially with regards to the world of sherry. Many thanks to everyone for sharing their knowledge and passion for these amazing wines. I realise now that this is the way to learn about sherry. Poco á poco, with friends and with a few tapas.
Feria Friends in Jerez
One of the best things about going to a feria is meeting up with friends. This week I visited my favourite feria in Spain, the Feria del Caballo in Jerez @feriadejerez_, with visiting London foodie friend Nicola Swift @ShedLikesFood and fellow Sevilla blogger Fiona Flores @Seville_Writer.
Usually I spend most of my time at this feria taking photos of the splendid horses but somehow this year it was all about meeting up with old friends, and also meeting new ones, at the massive Bodegas Gonzales Byass caseta (which not surprisingly won first prize). It was great to hang out with old friends Annie Bennett @anniebennett and José Pizarro @jose_pizarro again, meet Ellie @PearCafe & Dan @EssexEating from Bristol and Tom & Owen @Bar44Tapas from Wales, and also see my good Twitter buddy Antonio Flores @Hacedordevinos. The Tío Pepe en Rama was flowing, lovely food was passed round, fabulous flamenco artists entertained us, and then all too soon is was time to catch the last train back to Sevilla. For next year we have vowed to do this again but book accommodation so we can party into the night. Eep!
Tío Pepe en Rama 2013
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I had a great time my friend and fellow blogger Fiona (Scribbler in Sevilla) attending this year’s presentation by Gonzalez Byass of Tío Pepe en Rama at swish Abades Restaurant in Triana. It was a gorgeous spring day and a perfect location looking across the Guadalquivir River towards the Torre del Oro.
Tio Pepe En Rama is a limited production of a special fino at its most delicate, before the usual processes of stabalization, clarification and filtration. For the 2013 edition, winemaker and master blender – and Twitter pal! – Antonio Flores (@Hacedordevinos) made a selection of the best casks from two ancient soleras: Tío Pepe Constancia y Tío Pepe Rebollo. Flores described this wine as “wild” with aromas of bread and almonds, salt and minerals and with a citrus finish, highlighting its special light colour, taste and smell, which he equated to the city of Sevilla. I found it much lighter and fresher than regular Tío Pepe and it was very easy to drink while we snacked on aperitifs on the sunny terrace.
Given its unique characteristics it is recommended that Tío Pepe en Rama be drunk within three months of bottling. This year’s fabulous label comes from one of the orginal designs of the Gonzalez Byass Foundation, taken from its historical files. If you want to try a bottle you can order it from the online store, but hurry because stocks won’t last long.
Bodegas Tio Pepe Online Store