Weather is a Great British obsession, but to be honest, is also the obsession of everyone that works in the agricultural industry. No matter what the crop, the quantity and quality will be determined by the weather. Of course, there are many other factors that determine quality, but if the elements are not working in favour of the producer, then the job becomes doubly difficult.

So far in 2021, we have had sun, but without excessive temperatures – days have been pleasant and nights have been cool. One simple way that I can judge the early morning temperature is in my bathroom! When I have my daily shower with the window open, if the outside air temperature is warm (perhaps high teens °C) then my bathroom remains steam free, but obviously, when there is a chill in the air, I have steam – simple! I have discovered that this small indicator actually works very well, and also helps me decide if I need to wear a sweater or not.

So what about the masks (in today’s photo)? About a week or so ago the Spanish President announced that masks would no longer be compulsory when walking outside (until now this was compulsory, everywhere). A week or so later, I was quite surprised to see that probably about 98% of people are still wearing them – it is rare to see someone without. Of course, I can’t speak for the whole of Spain, but from what I have witnessed locally, the Spanish are remaining very circumspect.

This has nothing to do with wine…. On my way to work every day I pass this strange new building, which has been under construction for several months now. The thing that I found most odd was that, located at the very heart of the building is a 40ft shipping container (I posted a photo some time ago). Around this was built a metal skeleton, followed by layers of odd building materials, galvanised metal, wood, aluminium, then more wood as its outer shell. As they added the roof the structure actually started to take on a more ‘normal’ outward appearance, although I still can’t forget that there’s a shipping container right at its core.

So as the construction slowly took shape my favourite past-time became trying to guess its final function. My thinking was, originally, along the lines of some sort of storage shed – until they added some large windows at the front and then finally put a sign on the fence. Apparently it is going to be a café/bar!

On face value it’s in a bit of an odd location (near a motorway exit, albeit not intended for motorists). The reality is however, that it’s actually quite near to ‘La Ruta da Pedra e da Auga‘ (the route of stone and water). The Ruta is an 8km hiking path that runs alongside the Armenteira river through the municipalities of Ribadumia and Meis. It is extremely picturesque and comes highly recommended, but please note that it is, in fact, a well-known tourist attraction, and that the calm and tranquility can be a bit spoilt at peak times of year simply by the large number of visitors.

Over the last few months (when lockdown allows) there has been a building taking shape just a couple of km from our cellar door. Nothing too unusual you might think, but it is the nature of the construction itself that has left me more than a bit puzzled.

When building work started foundations were laid, very much in the normal manner, but then the next step was not altogether traditional. No sooner than the concrete dried than a 40ft shipping container was delivered and placed in the centre of the structure. Floor and walls were then built around the container, all welded together out of solid metal.

As you can see, the design is not exactly state of the art, indeed, it looks more like someone had a few pieces of slightly rusty scrap metal laying around and didn’t know what to do with them!

Anyway, if anyone has any ideas why someone might build a metal shed (with a shipping container in the middle of it), then please send your answers on a postcard!….

Just when you think you’ve seen it all!

I’ve talked about food and wine pairings many times before, but never anything like this. I have recently read an article about pairing wine with crisps (or as our American friends call them, potato chips)! Not only does the article make a comparison with generic salted crisps, but actually considers a number of different flavours, and recommends a different wine, or wines, with each one!

Now you can call me a wine snob, but pairing wine with different flavours of potato chips? Really?

For me, the only valuable thing that this comparison will highlight, is how the flavour of any wine can be altered completely by different foods (albeit that in this case we are actually talking about artificial food flavourings). Of course, it would not be uncommon to perhaps nibble a few crisps with a glass of wine as a pre-dinner aperitif, but I would never dream as to go as far as trying to make a ‘food’ and wine pairing! Perhaps if we were talking about tapas with wine, that would be more understandable, but a bag of sour cream and onion, or barbecue flavoured crisps? Well, for me that’s just a step too far.

By the way, albariño is recommended with salt & vinegar crisps!

The other day, completely out of the blue, I was invited to a tasting. That, in itself, would not seem odd, except that this was a tasting of the Aglianico grape, on this occasion made in the Puglia region of south-east Italy! An old and very well-known variety in Italy, Aglianico is characterised by its deep crimson colour, together with an unexpectedly high level of tannin and acidity (making wines with excellent ageing potential, and explaining why it is sometimes referred to as the ‘Barolo of the South’). This tasting however, was not of mature wine, but young, raw wines exclusively of the 2019 vintage – a bit ‘mouth-puckering’ to say the least!

Please don’t ask me why there would be a tasting of young Italian wines in a fairly remote part of Galicia, but suffice to say that it was held at the oenological research centre here in Ribadumia. Not, I should add, anything to do with the possibility of planting Aglianico here in our region, but rather as part of a private research project – I was simply a guest taster. Of course, as a former wine buyer, I had actually bought wines of this grape/region for my former Company, and, I suspect, that I may have been the only taster in the room with previous knowledge of this grape!

…..To buy a really good Castro Martin albariño of course!

A few days ago we welcomed a rather unexpected visitor to our door, actually quite ready to step inside if we hadn’t stopped him (or was it her?) It was the proverbial chicken, quite literally crossing the road in front of our bodega – perhaps just to get to the other side, or maybe in an attempt to escape the oven? (Sorry, that’s a very cruel thing to say, even if possibly true). Subsistence farming is still very common practice in many rural parts of Galicia. The good news is that we simply returned this poor lost soul to the coop.

Meanwhile, it seems that summer could be here! As I have mentioned before, we managed to escape completely from the recent freak heatwave that gripped the rest of Europe for a while. Indeed, we actually experienced a few cool cloudy days over this period. However, we now have sun and temperatures approaching 30°C (86°F), or at least we do for the rest of this week. Who knows what next week might bring?

In the vineyards our fruit is actually quite healthy, despite the changeable conditions, and is well into it’s growing cycle. The next month or two will therefore, be focused on ‘canopy management’ – thinning the leaves where necessary to give the bunches the correct amount of sunlight.

In a restaurant I want my food served on a plate, it can be any shape or colour, I really don’t mind, but on a plate please. An exception might be a scallop served in it’s shell, or other types of seafood – but even then they would still be served on a plate or platter of some sort. Fast food is of course, a whole different matter.

I follow a site called “we want plates” which contains photos of some of the more outrageous and bizarre examples of how food in sometimes offered – some are quite hilarious.

My favourite is actually a local Galician delicacy served “in the Dutch style”…. served in a clog!! Can they really believe that this looks appetising?

You say kabob, we say kebab (and the Spanish say kebap)!

OK, so this has absolutely nothing to do with wine, and would be a bit of a push to classify as ‘gastronomy’, but like any food, a well-made kebab and fresh salad can still sometimes hit the spot. It’s not that I am a particular fan of kebabs, but more that I am simply confused about the name. Depending on where you live, your shish, doner or whatever can be written kebab, kabob, kebap, cabob, kebob, albeit the true origin of the word (coming via Urdu, through the Arabic, meaning roast meat) is actually none of the above – it’s kabāb!!

Around the world there are many different types of kabab, but the single element that most have in common, is the skewer on which they are cooked. This is said to originate from Eastern Europe when the Turkic tribes cooked meat on their swords over open fires.

Many of us who enjoy the occasional doner kabab, might not know that this is also known as shawarma or gyro – a rotisserie or spit often placed vertically (Arab – shawarma, Greek – gyros). How we actually enjoy eating our shawarma, is yet another story! The ‘doner’ is claimed to be quite a recent invention – sliced, served in pita flatbread, with fresh salad, vegetables and/or pickles squished on top. Said to have been created in the 70’s by a Berliner, Kadir Nurman, albeit the Lebanese will tell you that the kabab, meat sandwich, has been around for centuries. It is the this new ‘doner’ which is currently under threat and could be made illegal across Europe, because of the phosphates that some variations contain and their links to cardiovascular disease.

Despite this latest scandal, I have to confess that in the early 80’s I would enjoy the occasional shawarma from my local Kebab Kid in Fulham, made with fresh lamb meat (not minced and reconstituted). It was so good that the shop is still there today, and still highly rated.

Apparently there is a very unique and different ‘style’ of wine now available on the market (although I’m pretty confident that it will never be made here in Galicia) – wine infused with marijuana. In California it is sometimes known as ‘weed-wine’ and in some local markets is now commercially available.

It may surprise you to know that this rather unusual blend was not originally cooked up by the fun-loving, open-minded Californians, but actually dates back centuries or even millennia. Pot-wine was sometimes consumed an integral part of ancient religious rituals, whilst in Chinese medicine it dates back as far back as the 28th century B.C. (so powerful that it could be used as an anesthetic during surgery). In any event, when this slightly bizarre cocktail was first used it was never intended simply as a way of getting high, but was used much more for its healing power and also relief of pain. In religion it was considered as an entheogen, aimed at spiritual development, literally ‘generating the divine within’ – which I think you could interpret in any number of ways!

Despite the fact that marijuana has now been legalised in several States, weed-wine is still not widely available, and in some of the places where it can be bought, it is still treated as more or less an ‘under the counter’ sale.

I have read that the most effective way to add this aromatic herb is by slow, cold maceration, and that the resulting wine has greater depth of flavour and a better structure. It is not mentioned exactly what this flavour is, but the ‘medicinal’ side-effect is ostensibly not as euphoric, but actually more mellow and long lasting. Certainly it would be a wine to be savoured with some moderation (if that’s your thing).

Finally, it is said that white wine better lends itself to these natural aromatics, a healthy marriage of marijuana and grapes, lower alcohol levels, giving a better balance to the finished wine. Who knows, Angela could become Galicia’s first “ganjapreneur”?

So the latest clue in our ongoing artistic puzzle is an odd little beast – half mariposa (butterfly), half libélula (dragonfly) – hence the name we have given it, our ‘marilula’. In English I guess we might call it a butter-dragon?

By the way, just in case you didn’t already guess, the story about visiting Cuba and selling albariño in exchange for cigars was a just a bit of fun (for April Fool’s Day!!) The nearest we actually got to Cuba was ‘Little Cuba’ in Miami, which is where the photo was taken…..