RSS FeedMy wine stocks have been running pretty low of late, what with World Cup-fuelled overconsumption and haphazard efforts at frugality. I had almost forgotten (but not altogether, Pieter) that I had been asked to do a bit of translating by Pieter Whaley for VIN365, the exciting initiative by Pieter and partner Julio Calvo to offer international wines in Spain (slogan “uncork the world”). I was happy to do this, especially when payment in kind was suggested.
I think that being in Valencia, VIN365 and their wines are entitled to be written about in winesofvalencia.com. It is a truism that wine-producing countries tend to sell and drink their own stuff, and that you get a more eclectic range of wines in places like the UK that are not major producers, but sometimes you really feel like something that is not cut from the same cloth.
VIN365 Uncork the world
So, off we went to VIN365’s base 10 minutes away in Alfafar to see and collect what was coming my way. It so happens that Julio and his wife Jacqueline (interestingly, both born in Canada to Spanish parents) are pioneers of self-storage in Valencia, setting up Trasteros Públicos when no one was offering a service like this in the city. Now there are several faceless corporations on the scene, but you won’t find the owners in the office (or painting the second-storey outside walls, as Julio was today), not only keeping an eye on everything but making sure that customers and the general public are greeted with a smile and all the information they need. He also knows a hell of a lot about wine if you care to ask him, having done all sorts of courses back in Canada.
As I said to Jacqueline, I’d never actually been to a storage company before, and the image I’ve always had of dank lock-ups redolent of murky business couldn’t be further from reality. It’s all plasma screens, air-conditioning and swipe cards. The unit in which the wine is stored is temperature controlled. The upstairs area is set up as a place that you can have meetings in – a sort of temporary office. I kind of wish we hadn’t got rid of so many possessions when we moved to Spain, and that we had enough stuff to store in a unit.
Back to the wine. Pieter, like so many wine people, is an enthusiast as well as a businessman, so he couldn’t stop himself from giving me far more than we had initially agreed. I didn’t even have to carry anything, as I was entrusted with holding his charming but fidgety Turco Andaluz (Spanish Water Dog) puppy, Mora. There are few things better than being in an air-conditioned space during a heatwave watching someone carryboxes of wine that they mean to give to you.
So, to keep me going during the summer, I have just unpacked the following:
Australia:
Balgownie Estate Bendigo Cabernet Sauvignon 2005
Balgownie Estate Bendigo Shiraz 2006
Balgownie Estate Pinot Noir 2007
Western Estate Shiraz/Petit Verdot 2006
Westend 3 Bridges Cabernet Sauvignon 2006
Westend 3 Bridges Durif 2007 (obscure grape variety)
Westend 3 Bridges 2005 Golden Mist Botrytis (mmmm…sweet)
Calabria Private Bin Oak-aged Saint Macaire 2007 (another variety new to me)
Westend Estate Richland Viognier 2008
Westend Estate Richland Cabernet/Merlot 2007
Westend Estate Richland Shiraz 2008
Westend Estate Richland Cabernet Sauvignon 2006
Westend Estate Richland Chardonnay 2008
Westend Estate Richland Pinot Grigio 2008
Westend Estate Richland Merlot 2008
Outback Shiraz 2006
Outback Chardonnay 2007
Chile:
Porta Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon 2007
Porta Select Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon 2007
Porta Reserva Merlot 2007
Porta Reserva Carménère 2007
Porta Reserva Chardonnay 2006
Casa Porta Winemaker Chardonnay 2009
Casa Porta Winemaker Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
Casa Porta Winemaker Merlot 2009
Casa Porta Winemaker Sauvignon Blanc 2009
Veranda Pinot Noir 2007
Veranda Cabernet-Carménère 2006 (wrapped in tissue and obviously special)
South Africa:
Myriad (Port-style fortified blend of Pinot Noir and Merlot, looks rather wonderful)
All rounded off with two bottles from Vegalfaro (after I translated a backlabel for them at Pieter’s request): the barrel-fermented Vino de Finca Chardonnay-Sauvignon Blanc 2008 plus a mystery red in a bottle without a label.
Not bad for a bit of translating – if only school homework was incentivized this way it might not have seemed such an imposition.
