Hola, MadridMan!

Are you a wine lover by any chance? (Duh, stupid question; you spend time in Spain!)

We will be north of Madrid in the Ribera del Duero region for two days this June, and would like to tour some wineries (and taste, of course!).

In California, you just go from winery to winery trying the wines in their tasting rooms. No appointment required. However, I am guessing that Spain doesn't work this way. So far I haven't been able to find out how winery tours work in Spain. Are they by appointment only? Are fees charged? Any chance of an English tour?

Any info you could provide would be greatly appreciated!!!

Hello El Viejo! (I doubt you're THAT old)

YES! I am a lover of wine...but ONLY wine from Spain, of course.

I'm honestly not familiar with tours to wineries around Spain, but I did read something in a recent in-flight magazine... can't remember which, but they said that some places take reservations while others allow walk-ins. Not so sure you'd be lucky enough to get a tour in English, but it's possible.

I just did a quick search on Amazon.com and didn't find anything specifically useful however there are a number of books about wines in Spain. I have a few of them listed @ http://www.madridman.com/market/books/food.html

I'm always testing the new wines from Spain that my local imported wine store carries and have found most of them to be very good and extremely affordable!!

Have a wonderful time in Spain!

Saludos, MadridMan

The tours that I have been on have had English tours available. These were Osborne and Terry in El Puerto de Santa Maria. Smaller wineries may not afford that luxury, though.
Try checking a web site of the particular one you will visit.

El Viejo, JUST today I bought a bottle of red wine from Spain's Ribera del Duero region and can't wait to try it.

I also bought a bottle of Rioja and will take them for consumption when I go to New Mexico to visit some friends next week.

It's true, Spanish wines are really fantastic! I'm so fortunate to have a market near me that specializes in imported wines and they carry about 25 different Spanish wines and these don't include the 5 kinds of sherries or champagnes from Spain!! I'm always trying a new one.

Here are the ones I've tried recently:

Sumarroca: Vino Tinto '97 from Penedés, Cataluña. This one was pretty good, very well-rounded red wine.

Oristan: Vino Tinto '95 Gran Reserva from La Mancha. These Oristan wines are EXCELLENT!!

Viña Borgia: Grenache '98 from Campo de Borja. A decent and cheap table wine.

Viña Almazán: Vino Tinto de la mesa (aged: days..hehehee) from .... who knows. Really, a very good, fruity wine and VERY cheap (like $6).

Gran Peromato (one of the Fariña wines): Vino Tinto Reserva '95 from Zamora. A decent red.

Tinto Zamora (another Fariña wine): Vino tinto '96 from Zamora. A TERRIBLE wine! YECH! Hated it! Cheap and not even worth what I paid.

[I'm not an expert in wine but they say "Cermeño" from Toro (Zamora) is good. Note that there are bad wine in every region. It depends on how much you spend]

Gran Casa Barco: Vino de la mesa red, aged days from all over Spain. Decent table wine and very cheap - about $7.

I know. I know. You're all asking. "Where are all the Riojas???? Well, I drink them a little less often and haven't saved the bottles as I have with others. Plus, I generally take the Riojas to people's houses to which I have been invited for dinner and the bottle gets left there.

MadridMan LOVES wines from Spain!!!! I can't wait to return and drink it EVERYDAY (hic!).

Saludos, MadridMan

[This message has been edited by Antonio (edited 05-21-2000).]

Thanks for the recommendations. A couple of my recent favorites are:

Tinto Pesquera from Bodegas Alejandro Fernandez S.L.

Condado de Haza from Condado de Haza S.L.

Teofilo Reyes Tinto Cosecha, from Bodegas Reyes S.L.

They all come from the Ribera del Duero region, and all are a little pricey (around $30) but good. I hope to visit a couple of these bodegas when I am there next month.

I don't know for sure, but if it were me I would try to contact the Bodega in Soltillo de la Ribera as soon as I got in the region. I have a 'poster:' Vinos Nobles de la Ribera del Duero and it has a photo of the Bodega in Soltillo ('bodega tipica'). There's also a 'Bodega Experimental' in Pedrosa de Duero. I imagine all the wine producers in the region use it in one way or other.

¡[censored]! ¡Vinos!

i agree with you gentlemen about your passion for spanish wines! but i have to argue the point that the wine world makes regarding Ribeira del Duero having the best wines of Spain... they are good wines, i understand by having tried many of them, but hear me on this:

of course the region around Cataluña and Navarra has excellent wines, but there is very little information out there regarding the most productive wine region of Spain: La Mancha. La Mancha, meaning "stain," refers entirely to this region's fame in the golden age for its wines and the shape of a wine splatter that La Mancha has if you look at a map.

Until recently, even the tiny pueblo of Valdepeñas had as many as 100 bodegas, featuring La Mancha's own Macabeo, Airén, and Céncibel grapes, which are all cousins to Bordeaux(macabeo), Bordeaux(airén), and Champagne(céncibel). my favorite is one from my friend's family vinyard, Zaurdón, of the Vitinícola de España cooperative. it is a rich and deep red wine with a sugary bite that reminds you of the dry landscape of La Mancha, aged for 2 seasons, i think. it is as good as any Ribeira del Duero for 1/4 the price. another good one is Señorio de Guadianeja of Manzanares. Nuestro Padre Jesús del Perdón, a coop of Manzanares has many good ones to like Lazarillo and Yuntero. They also have, by the way, spain's first organic wine, but i don't remember the title of that wine.

but my favorite bodega, 3 or 4 years gone, but bearing my family name, is Bodegas Luís Megía of Valdepeñas. what a nice collection of wines that was! if you can find the bottles they are worth money (I will buy them!!).

In Madrid there is the best wine shop between metro stops Lavapiés and Atocha past
Reína Sofía museum tucked away in the neighborhood. it has wines for very cheap from all parts of spain, and has the best collection i have seen of La Mancha wines. it has been a long time since i have gone to it because now i live in Los Angeles (i'm from spanish family, but i'm american).

anywho, that is my tidbit on wines!!

¡VIVA ESPAÑA!

whoops! i meant to add that as far as tours go, i do not know much about the valladolid/ribeira del duero areas... but as far as La Mancha, most bodegas will set up a tour a week to a couple of days in advance. i know that the bodega Felix Sólis of Valdepeñas will offers daily tours in
English and in Spanish, as well as maybe french... but call ahead to make sure.

¡bon apetít!

[This message has been edited by real_megia (edited 06-08-2000).]

[This message has been edited by real_megia (edited 06-08-2000).]

[This message has been edited by real_megia (edited 06-10-2000).]

Eddie, thanks for the tip about Sotillo de la Ribera; I'll check it out when I get there, which is now only a couple of days away.

Real_megia, thanks for your comments also. (Do you happen to remember the name of the wine shop near Reina Sofia? I looked at a map, and I am afraid I could get lost looking for it.) By the way, I do agree that there are many other fine wines to come out of Spain; I have been concentrating on Ribera del Duero recently because I will be there next week, and was hoping to be able to take a few tours and do some tasting. As a veteran of many trips to Napa and Sonoma, I was hoping to do the same thing in Spain.

Things are not so promising, however. Getting the list of wineries in the Ribera del Duero region was easy. I sent mail to info@do-ribera-duero.es and within a couple of days they sent a complete list of all registered wineries in the region. They were very gracious (in Spanish).

I then sent off faxes to a half dozen or so wineries (most don't have email). So far, nearly all have ignored my faxes (in broken Spanish), except for Bodegas Penalba Lopez, who was quick to respond in good English. They offer a 1.5 hour tour and a tasting for 1.000 pesetas per person, which seems like a reasonable deal to me. They also have a luxury hotel nearby which they own. Bodegas Theofilo Reyes turned me down, and Bodegas Alejandro Fernandez only offers a .5 hour tour, Spanish only, no tastings.

I hope when I get there next week that my B&B host will be able to point me to bodegas that are interested in tourists; otherwise my tasting tour of Ribera del Duero will be rather short...

el viejo,

good luck on your tour! it sounds like a
lot of fun... unfortunately, i think that
the wineries here in california are more receptive to tourists than the majority of bodegas in Spain...

i know that in la mancha many of bodegas are not even open each day of the week, and when they are open they might have only one or two people around doing work (family owned). so i think that consequently they are not as disposed to public viewing as the big bodegas would be (like Felix Sólis of
valdepeñas)

don't be put off by lack of response because the truth is that many spaniards do not even speak a word of english, and it could be that a smaller bodega simply does not have a "marketing" department to field faxes and tourist requests. instead, when you get to the ribeira area, look in a phone book and call them and they may recieve you more graciously because you are there. and also the truth is that the smaller bodegas have a more traditional method than the larger ones, so in my opinion they are more interesting to see... but that's only my opinion!

i wish you the best of luck and i am SURE you will enjoy what you are able to see!

¡VIVA ESPAÑA!

ps> i do not remember the name of the street where the wineshop is. but it is the street at the intersection of where atocha station is. stand there and face atocha and to your right will be "el bar brillante." turn around and walk past the entrance to metro atocha, and around the corner keeping to the left. walk straight up this street and the shop will be on your left. I hope i got it right!! the wine is cheap and they
have an EXCELLENT selection!

real_megia,

I appreciate the additional tips, and will make some local calls when I get there. Perhaps the B&B owner can help out also.

I'll also let you know if I find the wineshop. Your directions look pretty good!

My family and friends enjoy "vino dulce de Málaga". We buy it when in Spain and it is bottled by several wineries. It is served cold in a small "shot-like" glass. The wine is brown like a raisin. "Málaga Larios" and "Málaga Virgen" are two bottles I have at the moment. But, there are others. They cost about 600 pesetas.

OK, so this recommendation is not a wine at all! It is a liquor.

In Sevilla, the tourist shops and the small grocery shops sell anisette in ceramic bottles that look like the Tower of Gold. For less than the price of a little statue of the Torre de Oro, you get a beautiful ceramic statue filled with anis. (2600 pesetas)

My sevillano friends always say it is cheaper to buy the anisette in a regular bottle, but I LOVE THE CERAMIC TOWER. You can only find this in Sevilla.

Sofia's reply about the Torre de Oro bottles only in Sevilla made me think of another question. I don't get to go to Spain very often (this is my first trip in 20 years) and so I bring a couple of bottles of my favorite liquor or wine home in my suitcase, and within a few months it is gone. For example, I used to drink something called Ponche "Soto", by Jose de Soto. I have no idea what that stuff really is, but it is great in a cup of coffee in the morning, and I can't find anyone in the states who even knows what it is.

Has anyone come up with ways of bringing more stuff home so that it lasts longer, without having to break my back with a heavy suitcase?

More importantly, does anyone know how to order lesser-known Spanish products directly from the US periodically without it costing an arm and a leg? I have found websites in the past that sell a few types of Spanish items, but haven't found anyplace that offers a wide enough selection. And in my neck of the woods, stores that advertize "Spanish" products are really selling Mexican products, which is not the same thing.

What would be great is a website where you could say, "Send me three sticks of chorizo, about half a pound of Jamon Serrano, some Manchego, 5 bottles of Ponche, ... Kind of an international grocery/liquor store. Ideas?

Great Idea, El Viejo! Maybe I should start up this kind of business myself! Hehehee.. I've thought about it! If only I could find the appropriate local distributor.

I'm sure you're already familiar with http://www.tienda.com - I've used this company/website several times for Sidra, chorizo, salchichon, lomo, and a few other things. The jamon serrano is expensive, but so is it in Spain!

Not sure how I'm going to do it, but I expect to bring some stuff back from Spain from my next trip for people who have special requests, but only non-fragile, non-perishable, and legally packaged foods.

If you'd like some fresh chorizo español, there's a very good latino store here in my city and it's quite good, made in the Spanish way and in "link" form. I'd be happy to send some to you.

Saludos, MadridMan

Bring zip lock bags and load your bottles into the suitcase.

When the drinks are gone, it is time to return to Spain!

I know a place in California that sells chorizo,jamon,quesos, aceite... I don't know about wine, since I don't drink.
I've been ordering from them for the past 8 years; great service, good prices, never a problem.
Their name is La epañola meats, inc.
If you are interested in a catalog, you can call them @(310)539-0455, or email them @
spainfood@aol.com
They are in the process of building a website, but it isn't working yet.

Viva Espana
Andalucia
y el vino de Moguer.

[This message has been edited by Sofia (edited 07-11-2000).]

> Great Idea, El Viejo! Maybe I should start > up this kind of business myself! Hehehee.. > I've thought about it! If only I could
> find the appropriate local distributor.

Madridman, if you do, I'll be your first customer!! Seriously, it does seem like it could be a profitable venture for someone with some contacts. All the internet stores I have seen so far simply ship a limited number of the most commonly asked for products. A site which accepted orders for ANYTHING, then ran down to the local store, bought it, boxed it and shipped it, sounds like a gold mine to me...

Thanks for the pointer to http://www.tienda.com also. Since I'm on my way in a couple of days, I don't need to burden you with an order. When I get back, I may take you up on that chorizo from your local store!

Angie, thanks for the tip on spainfood@aol.com; I just sent for the catalog.

Sofia, sorry I can't help you with your liquor from Cuenca. Too bad there isn't some sort of company that could find and ship hard-to-find items like these... Madridman, are you listening?

One other thing that might be of interest to others; when I was in Chicago a while back I went to a restaurant called Ba-ba-re-bah (the spelling might be a bit off). It is just north of downtown in Evenston? in a residential neighborhood, and it serves very authentic, very Spanish foods. When you walk in, there is Jamon Serrano hanging everywhere, there are all kinds of tapas under glass at the bar. The food was great, and I was in heaven. I highly recommend it to anyone in the area, it's definitely worth the trip!

It's time for me to get some 'licks' in: My favorite Cavas come from Cataluna (Cordoniu & Freixinet - now both with the same owner); I like Rioja Reserva and Vinos de Valdepenas are okay, too. But my favorite wines are from Pontevedra: Rosal (best), Albarino (superior) and Ribeiro (very good). Last year I met a wine merchant on a Talgo from Madrid to Santiago. As we traversed the Minho valley from Ourense to Tuy, he told us which wines came from each area, and how the quality improved as we travelled westward.

For an apertif I like a (cold) Manzanilla (from Sanlucar de Barrameda). And if you haven't tried Orujo (aguardiente) from the mountains of Cantabria (Orujo de Liebana) with coffee, you should do it the next time you are in that part of the world.

Ribera del Duero is one of the many registered wine producing regions in Spain (Denominacion de Origen). Until just a few years ago Rioja was almost the only Spanish wine known outside of Spain, fortunately this has changed and many other wines are starting to be known. Probably the 2nd most known these days is Ribera del Duero.

I have a friend in Barcelona who is a real connosieur(he goes to visit the wineyards, knows the famous someliers, etc).

He recomended to me the following Riberas del Duero, some
are well know vineyards, other are quite small producers, all of them are of the best quality, some can be expensive. Probably most can not be found outside in spain, and even in Spain, only in specialized shops.

Val Sotillo
Pago de Carraovejas.
Teofilo Reyes.
Hacienda Monasterio.
Finca Villacreces.
Carmelo Rodero.
Vega Sicilia.
Pesquera.
Vina Pedrosa.
Mataromera.

Good tasting!

Florencio

Thanks Florencio!

I have tried three of the wines on your list, and all are certainly of high quality, so your friend has good taste!! I will try to check into some of the others while I am there.

I've found many wines from Spain really amazing, in numerous cases the taste is much
better than French wines.
Especially like wines from Valdepenas region, and of course "Rioja". Recommend
strongly red wine "Rioja Banda Azul" (blue label), it is about 600 pesetas. White Rioja is very rare, recently was drinking one from 1997, and was delicious. Anyway, do not buy cheap "Riojas".
Many champagnes are of very good quality. If you like something sweet, Moscatel or famous
Malaga Virgen will do.

spectator,

i agree with you about the taste of the Valdepeñas region wines... i think many people tend to have their favourite regions for the Spanish wine... La Mancha/Valdepeñas is certainly mine..

angie, sofia, and others,

about bringing back bottles of licor; i went to the wine shop that i have pointed out to "El Viejo," right before i was coming back to the USA, and so i realized i just didn't have any sensible way to carry 12 bottles of alcohol in my suitcase. so i proceeded to put each bottle into my socks, until each bottle had two socks on it, one over the top, one over the bottom, and then wrapped each in a shirt, and then lined them up as neatly as i could in the cloth suitcase.. (i know that is an horrible run on sentence..) none of the bottles broke, and i had lots of wonderful drink when i got to the states (El Gaitero, vinos, etcetera...).. i guess i did have some wrinkled clothing, but i consider that small price to pay in order to have such great drinks!! and i would do it again...! (but i like some of your tips, above.. thanks)

!viva españa!

Ole Real_Megia!!!! 12 bottles!!!!

[This message has been edited by Sofia (edited 06-15-2000).]

sofía,

¡que sí! ¡olé! ¿¿and how could i not bring back so many bottles...?? it would be fun to share them with other Madrid-o-philes!!

¡que viva españa paa siempre!

El Viejo,

i'm so happy you brought up the Cafe Ba-Ba-Ree-Bah (spelling???)! you are right, it is a nice place and pretty darn authentic... i especially like their little sherry sampler plate; from dry to amontillado to cream, very nice! the ambience is great too...

i would also suggest, when in the chicago area, La Perla, near Joliet, and then the Maison Sabika, near ??(Wheaton??) i'm not sure exactly where because i don't know Chicago very well... My brother was an executive chef at Maison Sabika, which is how i know about these restaurants... La Perla y Maison Sabika are by the same owner, and so have similar menus, and Cafe Ba-ba-ree-bah is by a different owner.

Also, for those in Los Angeles, there is a spanish restaurant in Pasadena off of Colorado street, it's a pity i don't know what it's called, but i'll find out and edit this post later...

El Viejo, i re-read the directions i gave you to the wine shop near Atocha and i think i can do better than that.. i hope you haven't left yet because i will try to find the exact streetname for you.. does anyone know of a good madrid street map?? i wish i had bought the spanish equivalent to the "thomas guide."

¡viva españa!

ps> i have just remembered that Maison Sabika is in Naperville. ( i had to think hard over that one!)

[This message has been edited by real_megia (edited 07-06-2000).]

real_megia,

I just got back, and no luck on finding the wine shop. However, let's get the directions worked out for others that might be going.

Just to tell you what I did:
I went to the Atocha intersection. With my back against a building, I was looking at Atocha station across the street, and to my immediate right was the "Diamante Brillante" bar. I turned 90 degrees to the left and started walking. I passed the entrance to the Atocha metro, and immediately beyond that reached the corner, where I turned left (without crossing the street, not that any sane person would try to do so here). After about 50 paces, there is a choice of turning left again or going straight. Turning left takes you down a short street that stops at the Reina Sofia museum. (It also contains the back-entrance to "Diamante Brillante". I checked out every store on either side of this short street, but no wine shop. I asked at a local store, and they didn't know what I was talking about.

I then tried going straight instead of down the short street. This took me along the left (south) side of "Atocha" street, and I followed this for about 5 blocks checking out all the stores, but no wine shop.

So I obviously did something wrong. Can you figure out what? (Madrid Man, any way of including GIF files as attachments? I could then scan the map and include it.)

One of my major (unattained) goals of the trip was to find a bunch of bottles of Ponche "Soto". This is not fine wine by any means; in fact I have no idea what it is exactly, a sort of liquor I think. Anyway, it contains lots of memories for a few of my friends and me, so I thought a wine shop might have it. I did check lots of stores during the trip that sold wine and liquors, but all carried Ponche Caballero and Ponche Osborne, which taste different. I did hear a radio commercial for Ponche Soto, so I know they still make it, but didn't catch where I was supposed to buy it. Well, one more thing to look for on my next trip...

real_megia, thanks for the restaurant tips! On my next trip to Chicago, I'll give them a try.


The remainder of this is a report on my trip to the Ribera del Duero wine region, for what it's worth. It might help someone else going to the region (but you probably shouldn't assume that things are the same in other wine regions of Spain).

First of all, go to:
http://www.do-ribera-duero.es/ribera2/castellano/castella.htm

to get the list of all bodegas in the region. Select "Area de Communicacion". That page will offer you two links: one to a page that lists all bodegas in the region that use the D.O. on their wines, and those that don't. Each link takes you to a list of names, addresses, fax and phone numbers, and (rarely) email addresses.

Response to faxes and emails was low, even though I concentrated on the big-name bodegas which I have seen mentioned in Wine Spectator's wine database. I got three replies for about 8 or 9 messages sent. One was a polite no, and one was a "you can come, but we don't do wine tastings".

The one bodega that did offer tours and tastings (there is a charge) was Bodega Penalba Lopez, which bottles wine under the "Torremilanos" label. Their web site is
http://www.iconet.es/torremilanos/inicio.htm

We did tour their bodega and had a wonderful time. The winemaker himself gave the tour. Since he doesn't speak English, the woman who answers the phone in their connected (luxurious!!) hotel offered to follow along and translate for us, which was very nice. They introduced us to their barrel maker (they make their own!), and their underground bodega contains 5000 barrels of aging wine. The tasting was great, and we bought a bunch of bottles to bring back. (I will be trying to contact their distributor here in the states to see how we can buy it locally.)

After the tasting, we walked over to their hotel so that the kids could have a Kas, and the owner of the winery/hotel (Pilar) happened to walk in at that moment. We sat and visited with her for a half an hour, and she was an excellent host. By the time we had left, she had made dinner reservations for us at her favorite restaurant in Aranda de Duero, and had told us what items on the menu the restaurant was especially good at. It was a shining example of Spanish hospitality; one of the things that keeps me wanting to go back!

Driving around the Ribera del Duero region is disconcerting for people that have been to Napa and Sonoma, who are used to seeing grape vines covering the valley from side to side. In Ribera del Duero, we drove from Aranda de Duero to Roa before we saw a single vine! The bodegas appear to be tucked away in the hills and off the main roads. So if you expect to see miles of vines, you will have to do some searching.

We did drive in to the winery of "Condado de Haza" on a couple of miles of marginal dirt road near Roa, but they did not seem to be prepared for "walk-ins", so we took some pictures and left.

Due to a mistake in planning the trip (I miscalculated the arrival date due to the time difference.) our 1.5 days in the Ribera region shrank to .5 days, so the Bodega Penalba Lopez tour was the only one we did, but it was worth it because we enjoyed ourselves immensely.

El Viejo, WELCOME BACK! Sounds like you had a GREAT time, but a shame you couldn't have spent more time vineyard-hopping.

re: image attachments, the Ultimate Bulletin Board doesn't allow them, but you could always upload them to one of the free webhosts like Geocities.com, Angelfire.com, TheGlobe.com, or one of the photo album sites and put in direct hotlinks to those images to which you are referring. Also, if you read through the UBB info page @ http://www.madridman.com/ubb/ubbcode.html you'll see that you can use a kind of HTML markup to do this as well without listing the actual URLs in yoru messages.

Welcome home! I'm sure you're anxious to return already!

Saludos, MadridMan

P.S. Is "Diamante Brillante" the same as "El Brillante"? I think so. Maybe the former is the formal name of this place I love so much. QUESTION: Did you try their bocadillo de calamares??? (fried squid sandwiches) I love these here AND this will be the sight of "Party With MadridMan: Version 2.0!!

[This message has been edited by MadridMan (edited 07-06-2000).]

¡[censored]! Nice to have you back, El Viejo!

firstly, i'm happy you had a chance to do the wine tour, even though you did not get to see as much as you would like and for as long as would have liked. i suppose that is the price to pay for not LIVING there!! he he he he...

seriously, you followed my directions exactly because i could picture everything as you were saying it (especially my favourite bar Brillante)... the only thing i can consider is that it has moved, because you surely would have found it... i'm sorry you did not... nonetheless, you found some great wines no doubt, and you may have a way to continue getting some of them here in the eeuu.

MadridMan, i do think that "el bar Diamante Brillante" is the correct formal name of the bar, and so is the same as the "Bar Brillante" that i am talking about. there are i think 2 or three in Madrid by the same owner, and the one in Atocha has been there since right at the civil war, so it is a rather famous one... El Viejo, i hope you enjoyed some of the bocadillos que se ponen ahí...

El Viejo, thanks for the information about the wineries and your trip. we were all hoping you would have a COMPLETE blast over there!

¡que viva espaÑa paa siempre!

ps> hey, what is this i hear about a "Party with MadridMan ver 2.0??" will it be at el Brillante in Atocha??? me voy me voy me voy!!

[This message has been edited by real_megia (edited 07-06-2000).]

real_megia, re: Party With MadridMan version 2.0, yes, it will take place in the first week of October at Bar Brillante, the very one you mention across the street from Atocha and next to the Reina Sofía museum. We had a blast last year! About 20 people showed up including the camera/interview crew from CBS' The Wild Wild Web that interviewed me around Madrid that day.

Keep your browsers tuned to http://www.MadridMan.com in September for exact dates/times.

Saludos, MadridMan

ya estoy!!

i had no idea you are such a celebrity, MadridMan!! this will be fun! i will have to celebrate my birthday there at that party!! i sure hope i could go at that time...

please do inform everyone here! i'm sure it would be a great opportunity for people to meet and know each other...

hasta pronto..

NEWSFLASH: MADRIDMAN RESURRECTS MONTH-OLD "Ribera del Duero" THREAD!(News at eleven)

Last Wednesday, my ladyfriend and I had a nice, typically late-night dinner at home as part of our last-night-together-for-this-visit. My local wine-shop, which carries nearly 30 Spanish wines and adding more all the time, recommended a new arrival so I decided to try it.

It's called Rívola (1998), is on the Abadia Retuerta label, and is a Sardon de Duero wine (from the same region as the Ribera del Duero <river> wines). This $10 table wine from Castilla y Leon was surprisingly simple. My madrileña ladyfriend, who is MUCH more of a wine connoisseur/aficionado than I, said it was "fine" and she meant this as "average". Not bad, not great. We had tried a (shockingly cheap) $5 table wine from Spain a few days earlier and she said the two were about equal in quality. Okay. A table wine is a table wine. My ladyfriend said, "It's almost impossible to find a bad wine from Spain" and I believe her from LOTS of experience!

Saludos, MadridMan

"and what a fine thread of posts this is!" (in irish accent)

MadridMan, thanks for the tip on this new wine... i have to agree with your lady-friend, Spain has NO bad wines!

it looks like after my fiance and i are married we will be in spain for two weeks, and i will take her to the bodega where i have worked (in castilla-la mancha)... many table wines come from this area (la mancha), as well as añejos(aged in roble frances)...

MadridMan i'm missing my beloved Villanueva de los Infantes more now than ever... and ... (this feeling is a flavourful venom... a cold fire... a bitter-sweet.. and you know what i mean!)

¡viva la segunda patria!

[THE RIBERA DEL DUERO THREAD LIVES ON!!!! ]

Eddie, you just returned from Spain. Do you recall, by name, a particularly good (and not TOO expensive) wine that you asked for again and again or did you stick to the always reliable "vino de la mesa" reds (like I usually do)?

Saludos, MadridMan

NEWSFLASH: JAIMEMIGUEL RESURRECTS YEAR-OLD "Ribera del Duero" THREAD

Madridman,
?como se llama la bodega que es muy cirque de usted? I hope I didn't butcher that too bad.

Thanks!

jamiemiguel, remember this is an English-language forum. For everyone, he said "What's the name of the wine store which is very close to you?" I assume he's asking about where I buy my Spanish wine.... It's called "Weiland's Gourmet/Imported Foods & Wine" and is on Indianola Drive, just north of North Broadway here in Columbus, Ohio. They carry about 20+ different Spanish wines, but their imported wine section is the best I've seen in Columbus.

What a coincidence you resurrect this thread NOW!!!! I'm sitting here with a glass of 1998 Prado Rey, Ribera del Duero ( See photo of bottle/glass here! ) NOW! It's pretty dry, estate bottled by Real Sitio De Ventosilla, SA.

I can't remember the price exactly, but might have been around $18?? I'm amazed at your timing, jaimemiguel (by the way, I'm still drinking the coffee you got for me last time).

Saludos, MadridMan

Madridman,
thanks, I have heard of that store but have never been there. I have not found a good selection in Columbus so far. I wanted to see what my local choices are so that I don't buy those on my next couple trips to paradise.