Thursday, March 25, 2010

Spanish Wines and Chorizo Sausages are a great pairing

Spanish wines are all the rage these days. They are well liked not only because they are rich in tradition but their value to quality ratio is just out of sight! All over the Spanish countryside there are all kinds of terrific red wines that stand up to the greatest wines of Bordeaux and the Rhone of France and of course Napa Valley, California.

We all know that Spanish food is very tasty, colorful and very diverse and so are the wines. Sausages are a major staple. There’s lots of good ones especially all those flavorsome Chorizos.

One killer is Sobrasada; a soft semi soft Chorizo with pork, garlic, vinegars, sea salt and paprika. It’s usually spread on crunchy bread and toasted until it melts. Grilled onions only add to this incredible sausage. Sobrasada has a smooth texture and smoky flavor that is hard to match.

Another great one is Butifarra. It looks a little like Bratwurst but Oh boy! It sure has a lot more flavor, probably the most popular sausage. Any restaurant in the countryside, usually serves Butifarra in one form or another.

Often you will find these sausages grilled, accompanied with white beans, mushrooms, onions, apples or sliced into hearty soups or yellow rice dishes. It’s great with eggs and Swiss cheese for breakfast.
Speaking of Cheese; these Chorizo and Spanish sausages pair well with Manchego cheese and blue Roquefort. There’s also a goat cheese called the ‘Drunken Goat’ which is regularly available that is dunked in red wine that is a perfect compliment.

When you serve these sausages some of that great Spanish wine is a must. Rioja has its Tempranillo. It’s sort of the national wine, arguably their greatest grape. It’s juicy, dusty, spicy with loads of strawberry, leather and tobacco notes. Ribera del Duero and Toro have their versions that are concentrated with bigger cherry, spicy and earthy flavors.

Priorat also has excellent wines that are Garnacha based that go well with the sausages that are incredibly rich, rustic, full bodied with fruit cake, licorice and plum flavors that compare to France’s Chateauneuf-du-Pape or even Pomerol wines.

Try to seek out these great Spanish wines to serve with the sausages and cheese that are among the best in quality and value. They are high scoring on many best of lists and give a great representation of what is awesome about Spanish wines these days. Las Rocas Vinas Viejas (from San Alejandro), Marge(from Priorat) and Termes by Bodegas Numanthia (from Toro). Another really good one is Lan, a Rioja Tempranillo in a classic style old world style. So dig in and enjoy!
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Tuesday, March 2, 2010

A Taste for Wine 2006 – Vincent Gasnier


A Taste for Wine 2006 – Vincent Gasnier

Another high end DK Book with great graphics. Gasnier has made a very busy book that is a great primer to a WSET level 1 test. The typical wine drinker will be hard pressed to find his wines though. Which annoyed me. So you need to think about it in terms of regions. Which is still good but not the way a CMS thinks. But I guess only someone like me would care about that. I hope the update will address this; Otherwise it’s very informative.