Cellar Tours Blog

One of our all time favorite destinations in Europe is the Spanish region of Catalonia (called “Catalunya in their own language, Catalan).

The region is characterized by its Mediterranean coastline and cuisine, its world class artists from Salvador Dalì to Joan Mirò, its top chefs (Ferran Adrià, Carmen Ruscadella, Joan Roca, Santi Santamria and so many more), its varied wine country and its architectural geniuses (Gaudi to Domènech i Montaner. Here are 10 of about 100 reasons why you should visit:

1. Barcelona

2. Cadaquès

3. Gaudi

4. Priorat wine country

5.  Can Fabes Restaurant

6.  Poblet Monastery

7. The Salvador Dalì Museum, Figueres

8.  Aiguablava

9.  Penedès Wine Country

10.  Suquet

What else do you love about Catalonia?

Attention Coffee Lovers:

If you will be in Italy on April 17th, then keep your eyes peeled for cafes celebrating national espresso day! More than  3.000 cafès and bars in Italy will celebrate Espresso Italiano Day 2009, promoted by the Istituto Nazionale Espresso Italiano. When you order a coffee, you will get a leaflet with tips and tons of interesting info about Espresso. One of the tips of course is how to make the perfect espresso.

Find out more here.

Want to add 10 Spanish collector´s wines to your cellar? Here is a summary of our ten favorite Spanish wines at the moment.

Top ten lists are all about personal taste, and this list is no different. We are fortunate enough to have the opportunity to attend regular wine industry events in Spain and to visit wineries throughout the year.

So based on tastings of over 200 Spanish wines so far this year, here is our list of personal top ten favorites that are drinking extremely well:

1. Roda I 2005, Rioja

2. Dolç de la Obac 2005, Priorat

3. Astrales 2005, Ribera del Duero

4. Termanthia 2005, Toro

5. Pazo de Señoráns Selección de añada 2003, Rias Baixas (Albariño)

6. Abadia Retuerta Pago Garduña 2006, Vinos de  la Tierra de Castilla y Leon

7. Parés Baltà Absis 2003, Penedès

8. Dominio de Tares Bembibre 2004, Bierzo

9. La Viña de Andrés Romeo 2005, Rioja

10. Sandeman Royal Esmeralda 20 year old Amontillado

Tell us all about your favorite Spanish wines! Do you have your own top ten list to share?

Attention rare wine collectors: Next weekend on March 14th, a phenomenal wine auction is taking place in Rome. Here is a preview of wines that will be available-

- Top Supertuscans (Sassicaia, Solaia, Tignanello, Guado al Tasso, Masseto, Messorio, Ornellaia, Luce, Oreno, Scrio, 50&50, Paleo, Desiderio, Giramonte), and oustanding vintages (1988, 1990, 1997, 2001)

- Rare Burgundy (La Tache Domaine de la Romaneé Conti 1942 and 1943)

- Top Burgundy (Rouget, Jayer, Mortet, Clair and Romaneé Conti)

- Barolo and Barbaresco, with vintages ranging from 1964 to 1997

- Bordeaux

- Vintage Champagne

- Brunello di Montalcino

More info-

Gelardini e Romani Wine Auction

Contact-

raimondo@grwineauction.com     +39 333 4159941
flaviano@grwineauction.com    +39 335 7724172

Wine Investors Trends for 2009

Before you buy, some information to keep in mind:

What can wine investors expect in 2009?

- Many more collectibles wines on the market

- Financial crisis offers good opportunity for better prices

- International “taste” is stronger than ever

- Much more information available via Internet

-Quality/price ratio more and more important

What wines are decreasing in value/quality

- 1er Cru Bordeaux, such as the 2000 and 2005 vintage.  Vintages that are still improving are not offering the quality predicted.

What wines are increasing in value/quality

1) Supertuscans- 2004 and 2006 are terrific vintages (96/100 Parker) and prices are still good.

Supertuscan 2006 by Robert Parker:

Tenuta dell’Ornellaia, Masseto 2006 99/100
Le Macchiole, Messorio 2006 98/100
Tenuta dell’Ornellaia, Ornellaia 2006 97/100
Antinori, Solaia 2006 94/100

2) Chateauneuf-du-Pape- 2005 and 2007. Keep an eye on Domaine de la Janasse….

3) Burgundy. Until June 2008, it was all about Cru de La Romanèe Conti, but now some Pinot Noir Crus are getting more interesting such as Leroy, Denis Mortet, Meo Camuzet and everybody is talking about Henry Jayer…

Some info on Fine Wine Investment Services:

Christopher Keiller

Premier Cru

Strategic Wine Investments

Advice on Wine Searcher

The mythical Piemonte wine family Gaja is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year at the annual wine fair Vin Italy. And what better way to celebrate it than with a fabulous wine tasting of Gaja´s best wines ever? This once in a  lifetime event will take place on Saturday April 4th at the Centro Congressi Europa in Verona. Internationally famous wine write Jancis Robinson will lead the spectacular and unique tasting of wines to include:  Gaia&Rey 1994, Darmagi 1997, Conteisa 1996, Sperss 1989, Sorì San Lorenzo 1988 and Barbaresco 1964!!!!!

Tickets will be available for sale soon, keep your eyes peeled on the Vin Italy website for details still to be released. Proceeds will go to charity (Fondazione Nuovo Ospedale Alba – Bra Onlus).

More info here.

WHEN TO GO- Vin Italy takes place from April 2-6 in the elegant Italian city of Verona.

WHERE TO STAY- In Verona, we love the historic Gabbia d´Oro with its charming period furniture and splendid location.

WHERE TO DINE- Verona is full of exceptional restaurants and we particularly love: Il Desco (think suckling pig with black truffles, cannoli stuffed with Burrata cheese and high end creative cooking); beautiful Maffei, an elegant restaurant set in a Baroque dining room; the convivial Bottega dei Vini (the risotto cooked in Amarone wine is straight from heaven!) and the trendy Ristorante al Cristo (sushi, Pintxos and creative cuisine dished out in a 16th century palazzo).

WHAT TO DO- In Verona, don´t miss the Roman Arena, one of the best preserved Ancient Roman remains in Italy; the Cathedral, Castle and Royal Gardens are all delightful, too; further afield you could visit the Amarone wine country; head to lovely Lake Garda; Venice is only a short distance….

MORE WINE EVENTS IN ITALY- here is a list of 2009 wine events including Vin Italy

So, fellow foodies- here is the magic question:

You win the lottery and can travel to the dream destination of your choice, all of these gourmet meccas in their own right.

Which of the following would it be?

1. Tuscany, Italy

2. Barcelona, Spain

3. Provence, France

4. Langhe (Piedmont), Italy

5. San Sebastian

Place your vote here!

Liguria is one of the most beautiful regions in Italy, with stunning coastline along the Italian Riviera, and dramatic inland natural scenery.  The food and wine is fabulous, too!

Here are ten wonderful reasons why you will fall in love with Liguria:

1. Portofino

2. Pesto

3. Monterosso

4. Foccacia

5. Dolceaqua

6. Camogli

7. The Val d´Aveto

8. Portovenere

9. San Fruttuoso

10. Vernazza

On Valentine´s Day this month, we were delighted to attend a phenomenal chocolate and wine tasting event in Madrid organized by Cristina Alonso of Vintage Spain. They offer these scheduled events regularly so check out their calendar. What a great night!

The venue- a private room at El Coso restaurant, where we had a superb dinner afterwards. Highly recommended for Madrileños or travelers visiting Madrid looking for a good value gourmet experience.

The concept - the theme was wine and chocolate pairing, and it was fascinating. Chocolate is traditionally paired with sweet wines, and in Spain it is also served with sparkling “Cava” during the holidays (a major wine crime actually as the bubbly tastes insipid when mixed with mouth coating chocolate). The purpose of this wine and chocolate tasting was to see how chocolate could hold up next to dry wines (although we did have one sweetie, more on that below), and the golden rules of pairing bitter with sweet.

The “Maridaje”- the pairing is called a “Marriage”  in Spanish, and our marriage of wines and chocolates included:

CHOCOLATES- the line we tried was from the producer Valrhona

Jivara 40% cacao (milk chocolate)
Extra Bitter 61% cacao
Coeur de Guanaja 80% cacao

WINES- we tried the chocolates next to dry Spanish wines (white and red)

Finca Los Nevados Viognier- one of our favorite Spanish whites at the moment.
Vallegarcia Viognier de Pago
Alidis Crianza – Ribera del Duero, Tempranillo
Lara O – Ribera del Duero,Tempranillo- outstanding wine, too!!
Alvear PX- Montilla Moriles, Pedro Ximenez

The Best Match- we personally enjoyed the Alvear PX with the 80% cacao chocolate the most. Surprisingly, the white Finca los Nevados Viognier with the milk chocolate was also gorgeous.

The Worst Match- the Alidis from Ribera del Duero was absolutely awful with the bitter chocolates.

The golden rules of chocolate and wine pairing we learned include-

- Pair the chocolates to wines with a similar “weight”, so heavy flavored chocolates with heavy wines; more delicately flavored chocolates with lighter wines.

- Match chocolates to wines with similar flavors (for example almonds, hazelnuts, cedar, spice, berries and forest fruits, creaminess, etc)

- Your tastebuds are your own! Virtually everyone at this tasting disagreed about the matches, and we had fun doing it!

Sommeliers traditionally recommend the following sweet or off dry wine and choco matches:

WHITE CHOCOLATE- Muscats, Late Harvest wines, Ice wine.

MILK CHOCOLATE- Hungarian Tokaji, Tawny Port, Muscats, Amontillados, Palo Cortados

BITTER CHOCOLATE- Banyuls, LBV Port, Vintage Port, Amarone, Pedro Ximenez

Spanish Chocolate Makers-  Spain is full of some fabulous chocolatiers. Established and reliable companies include Chocolates Valor and Chocovic. Enric Rovira is an artisan master choco maker who also does some cross merchandising of wine and chocolate with the Priorat Odysseus winery. At the top of our list though, of favorite Spanish companies is Cacao Sampaka (with ultra trendy choco shops in Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao, Berlin, Valencia, Tokyo, Lisbon and Málaga).

Italian chocolate makers are world famous and artisan chocolate making is experiencing a Renaissance. This is good news for chocolate lovers! Here is a quick check list of chocolate events, festivals, tours and producers in Italy, enjoy!

Chocolate in Piedmont

CHOCOLATE EVENTS IN PIEDMONT- Turin hosts the fabulous CioccolaTò chocolate fair this year from March 6-15, a “must” in the chocolate industry and for connoisseurs.

RECOMMENDED PIEDMONT CHOCOLATE PRODUCERS- Domori (“Cacao Cult”), Caffarel, Bessoni, Gobino, B. Langhe, Zuccarello.

Chocolate in Tuscany

CHOCOLATE EVENTS IN TUSCANY- Cioccolosità took place last month (it´s an annual event, so choco lovers put it in the calendar for next year) in Monsummano Terme. The adorable medieval town of Barga held a Chocolate festival last December, and we are waiting to see if they will repeat it this year, info here. And Florence runs an annual chocolate fair in January called the Fiera del Cioccolato Artigianale (artisan chocolate festival), getting better every year.

RECOMMENDED TUSCANY CHOCOLATE PRODUCERS-Amedei, Roberto Catinari, Slitti, Paul de Bondt, Mannori, Bruno Corsini.

Chocolate in Sicily- see a full profile of Sicilian chocolate here.

Chocolate in Umbria

CHOCOLATE EVENTS IN UMBRIA- Eurochocolate is the biggest choco event in Italy and takes place in the darling town of Perugia from October 16-25, 2009.

UMBRIA CHOCOLATE PRODUCERS- Perugina (Baci)

CHOCOLATE TASTING TOURS- Cellar Tours offer various Chocolate Tasting Tours throughout Italy (Piedmont, Sicily, Tuscany, Umbria, etc). More info on chocolate tasting and culinary tours here.