Vega Real, Ribera del Duero

After a family barbecue on Saturday night, Sunday started a little sore. The weather from my bedroom window seemed overcast, which in view of my heavy head suited me to remain horizontal. I emerged at around 3pm, starving and to discover that my bedroom window may need to be cleaned. Blue skies and really warm. We decided on prawns and a big glass of Spanish red. I usually pick up some nice fat frozen king prawns in Superquinn but we had overlooked the fact that not only was every person in Dublin barbecuing but they had been to the supermarket at least 5 hours before us. After travelling to 3 shops we settled on a bag of uncomfortably small de-shelled frozen prawns.
The prawns were a disaster but the bottle of Vega Real made up for the rubbery- water injected- pretend shell fish.
This wine punches way above it's weight. A dark black cherry colour in the glass. The nose has the Spanish earthiness that always makes my mouth water, some dark red fruit and a slick of liquorice. The palate is smooth and full-bodied. The fruit ripe and big with a nice savoury finish.
Wines from Ribera del Duero are a serious favourite of mine. Try Crianzas and Resevas during the colder months and Jovens are ideal for barbecue season. All work exceptionally well with roasted or slow cooked meats but also mask cremated red meats very well. Forget scraping or binning just serve plenty of this and no barbecue guest will even notice. Best summer catering tip I've ever received and forget about frozen prawns - a definite no!
O&O

Ruth.

DEVENEYS DUNDRUM

  CONSUME AND ENJOY IN MODERATION

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CELLARS,NAAS ROAD:DEVENEYS DUNDRUM:JUS DE VINE PORTMARNOCK:THE VINTRY RATHGAR

Ebano 6

So, when choosing the only red wine for the Spanish tasting this week I had to be careful not to pick something that would scare Lyndsay off and undo the work we've been putting into trying to convert her into a red wine drinker.
I decided to stay away from traditional Spanish areas like Rioja and do a wine region that has given Spanish reds a face-lift and totally modernised the sometimes staid style.
Ebano 6 is from a Northerly wine region called Ribera del Duero and is regarded as the of the top 5 wineries of this area.
In 2006, it picked up the award for ''Old World red wine of the year'' in the NOffLA Gold Star Awards.- A highly coveted Irish Wine Award. Apart from all of these high profiled awards, I give it my own personal favourite flag... Most importantly!!
Clare and I spent a week last July with friends in Barcelona. We used to eat in this Tapas bar just off the beach everyday for lunch.
They would serve us this dish of fillet steak, goats cheese and balsamic vinegar with a side of deep fried battered asparagus and horseradish and a couple of bottles of Ebano 6. More often than not we never made it back to the beach and more often than not it wasn't just a couple of bottles of Ebano 6. Probably closer to the number associated with the wine but there was always a minimum of 4 of us... Just for the record!!!
Every other Tuesday night I have this re-accuring food dream of that lunch where I wake up chewing my pillow and absolutely starving!! I am 100% with Evelyn on the eating my weight in Spanish food during breakfast lunch and dinner and managing to ''grow-out'' of my summer clothes within the 7 day holiday.
So I hope I've picked the right red to showcase what Spanish wines have to offer to a potentially new red wine drinker....
Ebano 6.
The colour is a black cherry almost liquorice dark.
The nose displays aromas of violet, blackcurrant, eucalyptus and ripe cherry.
The palate is really smooth and full bodied with ripe fruit, some black liquorice and a slight smokiness on the finish.
Drink me with almost everything. Chocolate desserts, steak, tapas foods like cured meats and good parmesan or the Spanish alternative manchego...  Love it!!
O&O
Ruth.

Marqués de Murrieta Castillo Ygay Rioja Gran Reserva 2000

Ever since I spent a year in Madrid when I was in my early 20s I have had a bit of an obsession with all things Spanish; Tapas, Fiestas, Siestas, Cañas... I never really got to grips with the language but funnily enough the wine was never a problem. I LOVE SPANISH WINE. One of my all time favourites is Marqués de Murrieta Rioja which still has all the traditional aspects of a good Rioja but with plenty of appeal to today's Rioja drinkers around the world.

       This winery was established in 1872 by Luciano de Murrieta who was later honoured by Queen Isabel II, herself toMarquesado de Murrieta; hence the name Marques de Murrieta. It is rioja's second oldest bodega. It then changed hands to the Cebrian family and has been in the family for two generations. It is Dalmau Cebrain who runs it now and was keen to bring the winery into the 21st century. As well as investing in the vineyards and winery he also hired a young female winemaker , Maria Vargas Montoya. Her first vintage was 2000 when she was only 29 years old! She made the Castillo Ygay(small castle) which is their Gran reserva. This is normally only made in excellent vintages and even though 2000 wasn't she was determined to make an Ygay in her first year. The results were impressive.

  

 Frans Kerstens(export manager pictured above))  visited us in Cellars last week and took us through their range and we were lucky enough to try it. It is aged for 3 years in oak and is a blend of predominantly tempranillo with a small bit of mazuelo  and a dash of garnacha, all estate grown grapes.

  A rich, powerful wine  with a complex array of aromas from leather to balsamic(in the nicest possible way) and in the mouth it is smooth and round with dried cherries and subtle spices. Absolutely gorgeous but expensive - retailing about €50!  Pockets feeling lighter than normal these days try their entry level red called Marques de Murrieta Reserva - knocks the socks off most Rioja Reservas on the market these days and at €19.99 definitely more affordable. With regards to food matching and the Ygay  - personally I think the best way to drink this is on your own  on it's own...

Till Next Time

Clare