Weather…. my favourite subject, and as I look out of my window you would not believe the view that greets me. The cloud and mizzle is so bleak that I can hardly see the hills a couple of km away. This is really not August/Summer weather, and might well be the tail end of Hurricane Bertha! (By the way, is mizzle actually a recognised word – a cross between mist and drizzle?) This is not really great bullfighting weather either. 

Sorry, this is just a bad attempt to make a link between my weather comment and the bullfighting ‘festival’ this weekend in Pontevedra. Yes, our provincial capital still allows this annual spectacle – I will not call it a sport, as that might imply that the bulls have a sporting chance, which clearly, they do not. Over two weekends at the beginning of August ‘La Corrida’ takes over the city, and is typified by the young supporters (peñas) who move around in groups wearing brightly coloured t-shirts, usually emblazoned with some witty slogan or other. This part of the festival is harmless enough, although I should add that as the day progresses, then the consumption of alcohol tends to become a factor in their general behaviour. Enough said.

So, why is this a Dull & Boring weekend (apart from the gloomy weather)? Well, yesterday, 9th August, was officially Dull & Boring Day, celebrated by the ‘twinned’ towns of Dull in Perthshire, Scotland and Boring in Oregon, USA. The two small towns joined together back in 2012, and this year it was to turn of Boring to host the celebrations. They did so in style, with an ice cream feast and a lone piper…. they really need to visit Spain to see how a fiesta is done properly!

Oh, and by the way, there are actually another couple of places waiting to join in all this fun – the Shire of Bland in New Zealand, and the small town of Yawn in Louisiana.

Weather…. my favourite subject, and as I look out of my window you would not believe the view that greets me. The cloud and mizzle is so bleak that I can hardly see the hills a couple of km away. This is really not August/Summer weather, and might well be the tail end of Hurricane Bertha! (By the way, is mizzle actually a recognised word – a cross between mist and drizzle?) This is not really great bullfighting weather either. 

Sorry, this is just a bad attempt to make a link between my weather comment and the bullfighting ‘festival’ this weekend in Pontevedra. Yes, our provincial capital still allows this annual spectacle – I will not call it a sport, as that might imply that the bulls have a sporting chance, which clearly, they do not. Over two weekends at the beginning of August ‘La Corrida’ takes over the city, and is typified by the young supporters (peñas) who move around in groups wearing brightly coloured t-shirts, usually emblazoned with some witty slogan or other. This part of the festival is harmless enough, although I should add that as the day progresses, then the consumption of alcohol tends to become a factor in their general behaviour. Enough said.

So, why is this a Dull & Boring weekend (apart from the gloomy weather)? Well, yesterday, 9th August, was officially Dull & Boring Day, celebrated by the ‘twinned’ towns of Dull in Perthshire, Scotland and Boring in Oregon, USA. The two small towns joined together back in 2012, and this year it was to turn of Boring to host the celebrations. They did so in style, with an ice cream feast and a lone piper…. they really need to visit Spain to see how a fiesta is done properly!

Oh, and by the way, there are actually another couple of places waiting to join in all this fun – the Shire of Bland in New Zealand, and the small town of Yawn in Louisiana.

Today, and most of this week, it’s all about Albariño. Not only are we celebrating the first truly co-ordinated International Albariño Day, but we also have the Annual Albariño Festival here in Cambados (the acknowledged capital of the Albariño producing region).

The reason that I say “co-ordinated” is because last year there were actually two in the United States – one at this time of year, to coincide with the Cambados Festival, the other in May, which was simply selected as a day that we should all enjoy albariño. (Actually, the truth is that we shouldn’t really need a reason, or a special day to drink our wines, we should simply enjoy them for 365 days of the year!)

As always, my favourite part of the Albariño Festival is the ‘tunnel of wine’ – an opportunity to taste the vast majority of wines from the latest vintage (or as many as your palate can take). For me this is simply an opportunity to formulate my own personal impression of the vintage, and to taste some of the best wines, made by Castro Martin and some of our close associates from the region. I think it’s fair to say that the best winemakers are always the most consistent and so it’s usual quite easy to predict which bodegas will emerge on top.

At the tasting I think I was the only person making notes (and also one of the very few spitting as I tasted). Making copious notes is something that I was trained to do, and as a result has become something of a habit. For some reason the practice of writing appeared to attract some attention, as I became the target of local newspaper and radio. One guy from the local radio station could not believe that I was making dozens of tasting notes simply for my own reference, he was convinced that they must be for publication….. My 15 minutes of fame at last!

Today, and most of this week, it’s all about Albariño. Not only are we celebrating the first truly co-ordinated International Albariño Day, but we also have the Annual Albariño Festival here in Cambados (the acknowledged capital of the Albariño producing region).

The reason that I say “co-ordinated” is because last year there were actually two in the United States – one at this time of year, to coincide with the Cambados Festival, the other in May, which was simply selected as a day that we should all enjoy albariño. (Actually, the truth is that we shouldn’t really need a reason, or a special day to drink our wines, we should simply enjoy them for 365 days of the year!)

As always, my favourite part of the Albariño Festival is the ‘tunnel of wine’ – an opportunity to taste the vast majority of wines from the latest vintage (or as many as your palate can take). For me this is simply an opportunity to formulate my own personal impression of the vintage, and to taste some of the best wines, made by Castro Martin and some of our close associates from the region. I think it’s fair to say that the best winemakers are always the most consistent and so it’s usual quite easy to predict which bodegas will emerge on top.

At the tasting I think I was the only person making notes (and also one of the very few spitting as I tasted). Making copious notes is something that I was trained to do, and as a result has become something of a habit. For some reason the practice of writing appeared to attract some attention, as I became the target of local newspaper and radio. One guy from the local radio station could not believe that I was making dozens of tasting notes simply for my own reference, he was convinced that they must be for publication….. My 15 minutes of fame at last!

Tomorrow we are closed for a wine festival, not as you might think for Albariño, but rather for our local red wine – Tinto de Barrantes. I have to confess that the actual legality of this wine is somewhat dubious, as I have never seen even one single labelled bottle in any shop or restaurant. Somehow the authorities seem to turn a blind eye to this fact, even allowing it to be celebrated with a street festival and declaring one day of local holiday.

The wine itself is not my favourite, although whenever we have visitors to the bodega and they have the opportunity to taste it, they seem to be quite enamoured. Personally I describe it as being something akin to a partially fermented Beaujolais, with a deep purple colour, very low alcohol, green tannins and a highly volatile acidity – not very nice….. but clearly the locals love it!

Tomorrow we are closed for a wine festival, not as you might think for Albariño, but rather for our local red wine – Tinto de Barrantes. I have to confess that the actual legality of this wine is somewhat dubious, as I have never seen even one single labelled bottle in any shop or restaurant. Somehow the authorities seem to turn a blind eye to this fact, even allowing it to be celebrated with a street festival and declaring one day of local holiday.

The wine itself is not my favourite, although whenever we have visitors to the bodega and they have the opportunity to taste it, they seem to be quite enamoured. Personally I describe it as being something akin to a partially fermented Beaujolais, with a deep purple colour, very low alcohol, green tannins and a highly volatile acidity – not very nice….. but clearly the locals love it!

Over recent months I have been a little critical of some of our local food festivals. Not so much the festivals themselves, but rather the advertising, and more specifically the photography. Of course food is notoriously difficult to photograph, indeed, it requires very specialised techniques. We all know how our rather dull, flaccid looking fast food burger can be transformed into something juicy and wholly appetising on the advertising boards. The people who prepare these shots are the foody equivalent of professional make-up artists – lifting, tweaking, plumping, colouring and generally preening the dish before it appears in front on the lens.

Today I was quite relieved to finally see advertising for a local food festival that had clearly employed such professional  food stylists to shoot their pictures. The local town of Caldas de Reis is celebrating their fourth annual festival of Tapas. Their publicity shot shows a nicely prepared tapas dish, albeit that I have no idea what the dish actually is. At least it looks quite appetising which is more than I can say for the plate of zorza that looked more like cat food (in my post of last October).

Over recent months I have been a little critical of some of our local food festivals. Not so much the festivals themselves, but rather the advertising, and more specifically the photography. Of course food is notoriously difficult to photograph, indeed, it requires very specialised techniques. We all know how our rather dull, flaccid looking fast food burger can be transformed into something juicy and wholly appetising on the advertising boards. The people who prepare these shots are the foody equivalent of professional make-up artists – lifting, tweaking, plumping, colouring and generally preening the dish before it appears in front on the lens.

Today I was quite relieved to finally see advertising for a local food festival that had clearly employed such professional  food stylists to shoot their pictures. The local town of Caldas de Reis is celebrating their fourth annual festival of Tapas. Their publicity shot shows a nicely prepared tapas dish, albeit that I have no idea what the dish actually is. At least it looks quite appetising which is more than I can say for the plate of zorza that looked more like cat food (in my post of last October).

I just love these local Fiestas! They say that sometimes the simple things in life are the best – so why not celebrate them? Tomorrow in the town of Mos they are holding the 6th annual festival of fried egg, chorizo and corn bread. Simple….

The text in the publicity claims that the food will be sold at “popular prices”, which I guess could mean anything. For example, they could sell each dish at 50 Euros – someone then complains by saying “I thought that you were advertising food at popular prices?” To which the organisers can simply respond, “Well, we like them!”

By the way, the photo used in the publicity is, as always, a bit basic, but you’ve still got to admire a country that can make a party out of sausage and egg!

I just love these local Fiestas! They say that sometimes the simple things in life are the best – so why not celebrate them? Tomorrow in the town of Mos they are holding the 6th annual festival of fried egg, chorizo and corn bread. Simple….

The text in the publicity claims that the food will be sold at “popular prices”, which I guess could mean anything. For example, they could sell each dish at 50 Euros – someone then complains by saying “I thought that you were advertising food at popular prices?” To which the organisers can simply respond, “Well, we like them!”

By the way, the photo used in the publicity is, as always, a bit basic, but you’ve still got to admire a country that can make a party out of sausage and egg!

As Christians around the world celebrate Easter Sunday I did think about adding a picture of some decorated eggs to brighten up today’s post. Apparently the giving of eggs at Easter is supposed to symbolise the giving of new life – the resurrection if you will…. It could be said however, that this underlying meaning has since become a little lost, and that for many children at least, it has become more to do with the worship of chocolate. The symbolism of the Easter Bunny (or hare) is perhaps even more tenuous – it allegedly relates to the legend of an Anglo-Saxon goddess and a magically transformed hare that discovered it could lay eggs! Enough said.

So, instead of all this, I decided to include a wine label from Austria. Weingut Knoll is located in the well-known wine region of Wachau and produces mainly white wines, predominantly Grüner Veltliner and Riesling. The wines are vinified more especially for long keeping and the winery is also highly acclaimed for its selection of sweet dessert wines (where vintages permit). Knoll wines are instantly recognisable by their very traditional labels, which it must be said, would not look out of place in the Vatican.

As Christians around the world celebrate Easter Sunday I did think about adding a picture of some decorated eggs to brighten up today’s post. Apparently the giving of eggs at Easter is supposed to symbolise the giving of new life – the resurrection if you will…. It could be said however, that this underlying meaning has since become a little lost, and that for many children at least, it has become more to do with the worship of chocolate. The symbolism of the Easter Bunny (or hare) is perhaps even more tenuous – it allegedly relates to the legend of an Anglo-Saxon goddess and a magically transformed hare that discovered it could lay eggs! Enough said.

So, instead of all this, I decided to include a wine label from Austria. Weingut Knoll is located in the well-known wine region of Wachau and produces mainly white wines, predominantly Grüner Veltliner and Riesling. The wines are vinified more especially for long keeping and the winery is also highly acclaimed for its selection of sweet dessert wines (where vintages permit). Knoll wines are instantly recognisable by their very traditional labels, which it must be said, would not look out of place in the Vatican.

Monday 17th March is St Patrick’s Day, and no doubt will be celebrated around the world with the consumption of millions of pints of Guiness – indeed, I might even enjoy a can of the black stuff myself, as I always have one or two chilling in my fridge. Of course, it won’t be the same as drinking one in the spectacular Gravity Bar at the Storehouse overlooking Dublin, but at least, owing to the ingenious ‘floating widget’ system in the can, I will have a good ‘creamy’ head on my pint. (It’s all to do with dissolved Nitrogen that produces much smaller bubbles in the beer when opened).

Anyway, today’s post is not really about beer, but is actually about marshmallows! If you can’t sneak a beer into your office to celebrate St Patrick’s Day on Monday, then as an alternative you could simply enjoy Guiness in the form of a marshmallow instead – sweetened with vanilla extract and then rolled in a coating of crushed pretzel! Sounds delicious…… I don’t think. Of course I haven’t tasted them, so I could be completely wrong, but of all the foods that you could flavour with Guiness, then marshmallow would probably not be at the top of my list. I have however, been known to open the odd can to add flavour my beef casseroles or steak pie. Indeed, the last time that I used Guiness for cooking I found myself finishing off the remnants of the can at 8 o’clock in the morning. I just don’t like to see good beer go to waste – at least that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Monday 17th March is St Patrick’s Day, and no doubt will be celebrated around the world with the consumption of millions of pints of Guiness – indeed, I might even enjoy a can of the black stuff myself, as I always have one or two chilling in my fridge. Of course, it won’t be the same as drinking one in the spectacular Gravity Bar at the Storehouse overlooking Dublin, but at least, owing to the ingenious ‘floating widget’ system in the can, I will have a good ‘creamy’ head on my pint. (It’s all to do with dissolved Nitrogen that produces much smaller bubbles in the beer when opened).

Anyway, today’s post is not really about beer, but is actually about marshmallows! If you can’t sneak a beer into your office to celebrate St Patrick’s Day on Monday, then as an alternative you could simply enjoy Guiness in the form of a marshmallow instead – sweetened with vanilla extract and then rolled in a coating of crushed pretzel! Sounds delicious…… I don’t think. Of course I haven’t tasted them, so I could be completely wrong, but of all the foods that you could flavour with Guiness, then marshmallow would probably not be at the top of my list. I have however, been known to open the odd can to add flavour my beef casseroles or steak pie. Indeed, the last time that I used Guiness for cooking I found myself finishing off the remnants of the can at 8 o’clock in the morning. I just don’t like to see good beer go to waste – at least that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Another day, another food festival, but same old problem – poor advertising photography! Maybe, it’s just me, but I don’t really find this picture very appealing and it certainly wouldn’t attract me into joining the party. Whether you actually like lacón con grelos is another thing, but suffice to say that here in Galicia it s considered a bit of a local delicacy. The lacon (cured ham) I can just about manage to eat, but the grelos (the leaves of a turnip) I find quite stringy and bitter. It’s all just a matter of personal taste.

By the way, just in case you were wondering, Cuntis is the place where the festival is being held. I will not be rushing there…..

Another day, another food festival, but same old problem – poor advertising photography! Maybe, it’s just me, but I don’t really find this picture very appealing and it certainly wouldn’t attract me into joining the party. Whether you actually like lacón con grelos is another thing, but suffice to say that here in Galicia it s considered a bit of a local delicacy. The lacon (cured ham) I can just about manage to eat, but the grelos (the leaves of a turnip) I find quite stringy and bitter. It’s all just a matter of personal taste.

By the way, just in case you were wondering, Cuntis is the place where the festival is being held. I will not be rushing there…..

It would be pretty frivolous of me to suggest that Albariño is the most ideal wine to buy your partner for Valentine’s Day. That distinction should probably be credited to rosé Champagne, and being completely honest, I think that I can understand the reasons why….. There’s always something a bit special about opening a good bottle of fizz on a romantic occasion, and for some reason it is often implied that rosé Champagne is especially favoured by the ladies. This notion however, is probably quite outdated, and in an age of more knowledgeable wine consumers I’m not so sure that it’s entirely true anyway. It could simply be that pink is simply considered to be a more romantic colour? Anyway, suffice to say that on February 14th Champagne will be the preferred choice of many to help woo (or perhaps impress) the woman of their dreams.

Possibly the best way to celebrate this special day is over a candlelit dinner, or failing that, perhaps delivering a nice bouquet of flowers (excluding those from your local gas station or supermarket!). Gifts can be many and varied, but in my opinion stuffed toys or novelty knickers are probably best avoided. One marketing suggestion of a Valentine’s gift that dropped into my mailbox only today was some lovely speech recognition software – just the thing to thrill the lady in your life. My guess is that this, or perhaps a new ironing board cover would be especially well received…… if you happen to be fishing for a divorce!

It would be pretty frivolous of me to suggest that Albariño is the most ideal wine to buy your partner for Valentine’s Day. That distinction should probably be credited to rosé Champagne, and being completely honest, I think that I can understand the reasons why….. There’s always something a bit special about opening a good bottle of fizz on a romantic occasion, and for some reason it is often implied that rosé Champagne is especially favoured by the ladies. This notion however, is probably quite outdated, and in an age of more knowledgeable wine consumers I’m not so sure that it’s entirely true anyway. It could simply be that pink is simply considered to be a more romantic colour? Anyway, suffice to say that on February 14th Champagne will be the preferred choice of many to help woo (or perhaps impress) the woman of their dreams.

Possibly the best way to celebrate this special day is over a candlelit dinner, or failing that, perhaps delivering a nice bouquet of flowers (excluding those from your local gas station or supermarket!). Gifts can be many and varied, but in my opinion stuffed toys or novelty knickers are probably best avoided. One marketing suggestion of a Valentine’s gift that dropped into my mailbox only today was some lovely speech recognition software – just the thing to thrill the lady in your life. My guess is that this, or perhaps a new ironing board cover would be especially well received…… if you happen to be fishing for a divorce!

Just a quick note to wish all our Chinese friends and customers a Happy New Year (the year of the horse). I often make reference the fact that our wine is particularly well suited to Japanese food, but I should also say that it also makes a good accompaniment to many Chinese dishes too.

Gong Xi Fa Cai

Just a quick note to wish all our Chinese friends and customers a Happy New Year (the year of the horse). I often make reference the fact that our wine is particularly well suited to Japanese food, but I should also say that it also makes a good accompaniment to many Chinese dishes too.

Gong Xi Fa Cai