Chinese communities around the world have spent the last week celebrating their New Year, which this year started on 23rd January, and continues for a period of some 15 days.  This weekend many cities have witnessed parades, dancing and fireworks as the exciting and unpredictable year of the Dragon takes over from the more cautious and tranquil year of the Rabbit.

We are very lucky to find our wines placed on a number of varied and diverse winelists, including a number of very fine Chinese restaurants. (Angela is always happy to remind our customers that Albariño is perfect with sushi, but I’m afraid rarely mentions our Chinese connections).

Today’s photo was actually taken inside a customer’s restaurant in Harrogate, England and shows a typical Chinese New Year celebration dance.

Fran, as some of you may know, is Angela’s cellar hand, and luckily for us, he is also the most fantastic handyman. He can turn his hand to pretty much anything, from carpentry to metalwork, not to mention the fact that he also services most of our vehicles. Of course, as with any job, the man is only as good as the tools you provide, and so in this respect we always try to keep him happy.

A month or so ago he told us that he needed a new socket set to work on the tractors, so we simply instructed him to go out and buy one. Having trained everyone in the business to be as frugal as possible, and to reduce waste where possible etc., we ended up with a pretty cheap and nasty looking piece of kit – I think about 50 Euros for a 200 piece tool set, and likely to disintegrate the first time it was used.

So, I asked Fran for a list of the best manufacturers, and after a bit of play on the internet, a very fine, new socket set arrived at our door. The only problem now is that we have gone to the other extreme….. it looks almost to good to use, and it will be a real shame to get it dirty. In fact, I think I will insist that when he uses it he has to wear a suit and tie, or perhaps a set of surgical scrubs!

It’s always nice to be quoted in the Press, so when I received a phonecall (actually at home) from a UK journalist, I was naturally quite happy to oblige. The journalist in question was Patricia Langton, who was compiling a vintage report for the whole of Spain on behalf of ICEX – Wines from Spain. I was quite flattered that she had come to our bodega to seek an opinion.

If you have read my posts from August and September you will know that 2011 was quite a difficult vintage in the vineyards, and whilst our wines are still resting gently on their lees, I will not pass a definitive opinion on their quality. Only time will tell……

To view the complete ICEX vintage report for 2011, click here.

Amongst our list of esteemed customers you will find Carnival Cruises – a member of the exclusive World’s Leading Cruise Lines alliance that also includes Cunard Line, Princess Cruises and the now infamous Costa Cruises.

Whilst we do know where some of our wine is served, we don’t know if we were actually listed on any of the Costa Cruise ships.

It’s actually a very sobering thought to even contemplate that some of our bottles might now be submerged in the Mediterranean Sea……

As if I don’t already see enough of my dear wife on a day-to-day basis, she’s now appearing on my TV screen as well….

As I mentioned in an earlier post Angela appeared on our local Rias Baixas TV channel a few weeks ago. For those who cannot receive this channel (which is certainly the vast majority of you) simply click here to see the full 9 minute interview.

Obviously it is conducted entirely in Spanish, but if I can eventually get my head around the technology, I might attempt to add English subtitles at a later date. (At the speed my wife speaks that will require some very fast typing!) In the meantime, if you don’t speak Spanish, just sit back and enjoy a few nice shots of the bodega.

As consumers discover more and more about the world of wine and wine production, so the interest in wine tourism increases. Indeed, in some parts of the world, such as Australia for example, visits and cellar door sales represent an important part of the business. Of course they are completely geared up for it, and many of the larger wineries offer organised tours, complete with tour guide, plus the obligatory wine shop as you exit! Naturally with this type of organised set up the throughput of visitors (especially during the summer months), makes this oenotourism a very worthwhile operation.

In our part of the wine world our aspirations are much more modest, and certainly not as highly organised. Yes, our denomination offers maps to tourists highlighting the various wine routes around Galicia, but to be honest, that’s about as far as it goes……

Don’t get me wrong, we love to meet our end consumers, but in this instance we have opted not to appear on any of these tourist maps for several different reasons.

Firstly and most importantly, we simply do not have the resources. The job of escorting visitors around our cellar would fall to either Angela or myself  (depending on the language), and over the period of a year we already have an important number of importers, professional wine buyers and journalists visting our Bodega. Obviously these are all by appointment and we can arrange our diaries accordingly, and even possibly refuse if we are not available or out of the country.

In summer, even without appearing on the maps, we still have a huge number of casual visitors knocking on our door (especially when the weather is poor and they cannot go to the beach!) Unfortunately, 99% of the time it is impossible to accomodate these visits, as, if we said yes, we would simply spend a huge part of the summer months making guided tours. And, we don’t have a shop!!

It’s always really nice when a private customer takes the time to write to us to tell us how much they enjoyed drinking our wine. For me this is much better than any gold medal at any wine competition. As I have always maintained, it is the end consumer that really counts - if they really like our wine and come back to buy it again, that is the greatest accolade that we can ever have.

This photo was taken by one such customer here in Spain, who as you can see enjoyed his Christmas meal with fresh oysters washed down by a lovely, refreshing glass of Casal Caeiro. To quote him, he said it was the “perfect marriage”…. Indeed, when we are tasting with customers at various wine fairs around the world, I always say that the only thing we are missing is a plate of fresh oysters to go with the wine!

I have to quickly add that oysters are really not the most photogenic of foods – it’s no wonder that some people are put off just by looking at them. I have however, no doubt that they were absolutely delicious.

In France the English are affectionately known as ‘Les Rosbifs’, which is probably fair enough, as we often refer to them as the ’Frogs’. Of course both of these ’friendly’ nicknames are determined by our respective eating habits – the English love of Roast Beef, and the French love of eating anything that moves (and a lot of things that don’t)! I suppose it could be worse, at least we’re not known as ‘Les Poissons et Frites’…….

Anyway, the subject of my post for today is the New Year treat that I gave myself yesterday, on New Year’s Day. I bought myself a Rib of Beef (which is much easier said than done in this land of ‘ternera’), and cooked it with all the usual English trimmings – crispy roast potatoes, Yorkshire puddings, a rich dark gravy and a jar of horseradish sauce (that I actually acquired on my recent visit to New York!)

Just to relate this anecdote to the wine business, the gravy was made with just a hint of Madeira, and the whole meal was washed down with a bottle of Chateau Palmer 1986 – yes, you are reading correctly, a 25 year old bottle of Margaux, that was just delicious. (It’s perhaps a bit odd to think that this wine was harvested 5 or 6 years before the birth of our daughter who was sitting at the table with us).

The other English connection is that Chateau Palmer itself was bought and owned by an British Army General, Charles Palmer, in the early 19th century, and since 1938 it has been part-owned by the Sichel family – Bordeaux Merchants for generations, but a family with a very strong English connections. Indeed, it was Charles Sichel who originally gifted me this bottle more than 10 years ago.

And finally, simply allow me to wish everyone visiting our site and/or our blog a very happy and prosperous New Year.

At the end of your Christmas meal (or any good meal for that matter) it could be time to break out the cheeseboard, accompanied by a good glass of red wine….. but then again, red wine might be the wrong choice!

Professional tasters are now saying that the so-called ’experts’ have been getting it wrong for years. To continue with a red wine after the main course is not necessarily the best advice, as it’s possible that it will simply dominate all but the very strongest of cheeses. Apparently white wine is much more versatile and will actually compliment a much wider range of cheese. The creaminess of many varieties such as camembert and  brie are simply drowned out and overpowered by the tannin in red wines – an opinion that I have already voiced on this blog some time ago.

Sweet white wine such as Sauternes are perfect with blue cheeses such as roquefort, as the flavour enhances its saltiness, in the same way that the fresh, acidic taste of albariño offers a counterpoint to the tangy nuttiness of a parmigiano-reggiano. The grassy, mineral flavours of a lighter style of sauvignon blanc (or again our albariño), can also deliver beautiful flavours when matched with goats’ cheese. It is advised however, that oaked white wines should generally be avoided altogether with cheese.

Red wine can still be served with the cheese course, but you will need to invest in an older (and usually more expensive) wine, such as an older Rioja, as time will have softened the flavours of the tannin. But it will still need to be served with a stronger flavoured cheese such as cheddar. Port and stilton can also remain on the menu but instead of the widespread ruby ports, we are advised to try the lighter style of tawny.

At the same time the wine professionals tell us that some whites can also be considered for foods traditionally matched with reds, such as venison or wild boar……. Of course the ideal solution is to simply stick with a good bottle of Albariño for the whole meal!

I remember, in the olden days, long, long ago, when customers would judge your wine by pulling the cork, and tasting the contents of your bottle. True, a nice presentation would always help, and perhaps even add a bit of gravitas to your brand, but it now appears that this old-fashioned notion might have changed somewhat. There’s a new generation of rude, budget-priced wines that have forced their way into shops and supermarkets, not necessarily because of their quality, but possibly based more upon the shock value of their labels…..

For example, you can now buy any number of ‘Bitchin’ wines – Sassy Bitch, Jealous Bitch, Tasty Bitch, Sweet Bitch, Royal Bitch and Happy Bitch. Then of course there are the more ‘macho’ brands such as Big-Ass Red, Ball Buster and Fat Bastard Shiraz (the latter actually made by an old friend of mine!)

These labels might go down well at a stag or hen party, but can you seriously imagine presenting one of these wines as a gift to you mother on Mother’s Day? They are quite obviously targeted at a certain type of consumer, and I am reliably informed that “this irreverence reflects an evolution in the cultural presentation of wine”. Casual apparently became cheeky, and cheeky has now given way to saucy, or perhaps even downright rude.

In an increasingly competitive market it’s quite clear that some winemakers have been frantically trying to popularise their products, and have been discovering new ways to move their bottles from the shelf without necessarily changing the contents!

Now, if only I could think of a good name for our b*@!$* Albariño.