RSS FeedSometimes things are heaven sent to lift heavy spirits, January was weighing down, I was in the middle of doing tax stuff, and then I was invited to a lunch in honour of the winner of the 2011 Aula Vinícola “Premio a la Buena Comunicación”.
The lunch was in the private dining room of that beacon of Valencian wining and dining, Casa Montaña, in the dilapidated and delightful (and urbanistically threatened) district of El Canyamelar-El Cabanyal down by the sea (people increasingly refer to the four maritime districts – el Grao, Canyamelar, Cabanyal and Malvarrosa as as “El Cabanyal”, but this irritates both pedants and residents of the other neighbourhoods. Casa Montaña is technically in Canyamelar, as calle Mediterráneo separates the area from Cabanyal).
The joint 2011 winners were two bodegas – Segura Viudas and Dominio de la Vega – best known for their Cavas, but who also make good and interesting still wines, as they showed us. So, we were met with a glass of the classy and rich Cava Torre Galimany Gran Reserva from Segura Viudas, closely followed by Cava Dominio de la Vega Reserva Especial. Both cavas were rich and sophisticated expressions of high quality Cava.
The tapas came thick and fast. Here’s the menu.
As you can see, the accompanying wines aimed to display what these bodegas are doing apart from Cava. I really enjoyed the La Creu de Lavit, doing amazing things with the generally not highly regarded Xarel·lo grape.
Though Alvaro Faubel from Dominio de la Vega kept stressing what a simple and cheap rosé they were making in their Rosado Añacal (100% Bobal), it was both straightforwardly enjoyable and hefty enough to really help the food along – it’s worth pointing out what good value it is, too. It says something when a bodega is happy to bring out a 3 euro wine in front of its peers and the press.
Segura Viudas Mas d’Aranyó is a Tempranillo and Cabernet Sauvignon blend showing that they don’t ignore leading national and international varieties.
Dominio de la Vega confirmed their identification with Requena by offering us their very modern Bobal 2010.
By this time, the table of wine producers and communicators was in increasingly heated debate about everything under the sun. Like all good Spanish sobremesas, the wine and teh talk went on for some considerable time. My struggles with incomprehensible tax forms seemed a long way away. For that, and much else, I’m grateful.
