Europe 2013 -Visit in Rioja/Spain

Leaving Penafiel in Ribera del Duero (still without luggage) we headed north towards Rioja. Kristell Monot was kind enough to handle all communications with the airlines and we decided to have our luggage sent ahead to our hotel in Rioja. We chose the beautiful drive through the countryside, avoiding the major highway. After  Burgos we headed up through the mountains, then dropped down into the beautiful valley that makes up the Rioja Wine Region of Spain.






We were booked into Hosperedia Senorio de Brinas (read my review of the Hotel here) and arrived there late afternoon  - our luggage was waiting for us and we were delighted to see it! The hotel, remodeled by the owners who are Interior Architects was stunning. It is about a 20 minute walk along the river to the city of Haro, which had wonderful small tapas wine bars all along their Plaza Casa Mayor . We enjoyed local tapas (Jamon Iberia (cured ham) and fresh marinated anchovies. Afterwards we visited the famous





C.V.N.E. Winery in Haro.....they had the most delicious Spanish Rioja wines, Crianza's, Gran Reservas - I really liked their Villa Real which was a full bodied, red  fruit bearing Rioja that was just too easy to drink - we picked up a few of their Crianza's for the road trip ahead of us. If you are ever in the area, make sure to spend some time in their tasting room and pick up a few bottles.




Leaving Haro we headed east towards Laguardia where we had reservations at the Hotel of Eguren Ugarte (see review here). I have been working with Ugarte/Eguren wines  for over 4 years in Indiana. I was finally at their winery in Rioja. Above the winery is a spectacular hotel perched on top of a hill overlooking the Rioja Valley - a stunning view. Underneath the hotel is the winery - actually when your leave your room and walk into the hallway you look directly through a huge glass wall. into the barrel room
We were given a private tour through their cellars which the founder - Vittorio and five of his friends spent five years digging out of the rock under the hill. In the 'caves' there are 'niches' where customers store wines they purchase from the winery. Every so often we would come across a "party room" inside that huge cellar that customers can use to celebrate and share their wines with friends and family. We tasted the new KAME wines soon to be in the USA and hopefully soon in Indiana for all of us to enjoy.

Most beautiful old cellar I ever saw

Patty and I decided to have dinner at their Gourmet Restaurant on the top floor of the hotel. It was a 5 course dinner that included wine (I did not have to worry about driving). During dinner we had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Koldo Eguren-Cendoya, the current owner of Eguren-Ugare and he invited us to a Flamenco Show downstairs in the cellars after dinner.  During the show Koldo treated us with Martin Condoya Reserva (Tempranillo) and with the outstanding Anastasia. It was summer solstice and the super moon shone over the winery - a great experience.

Barrel Room with Muriel

Private Barrels

View from our room

      

Suckling pig

View from our room

Old Vines

Me & Mr. Koldo Eguren-Cendoya, Owner of Ugarte-Eguren

Earlier in the day we visited two architecturally renown  winery's Ysios Winery - an architectural jewel in the country side of Rioja, and  Marquesas de Riscal. The Marquesas de Riscal hotel was designed by Frank Gehrig (after they bribed him with 3 bottles of 1927 Gran Riserva - his birth year). However, as amazing the hotel building is...the winery is even more. You must book a tour in advance to see the production facilities and cellars. This was something I have never seen before. All 64 stainless steel fermenting tanks were controlled by one (!) computer console, the cellars were full of barrels and full of bottles, waiting to be released. We had tapas in their tasting room and drank their 2003 Grand Reserva before leaving...the 2003 is now only available at the winery.We did some serious wine shopping again for the road - one never knows if the car breaks down.

Ysios Winery

Maques de Riscal

Marques di Riscal Winery was amazing

Rioja was simply overwhelming and Patty and I will be returning there at least one more time. Heading north we  drove up through the Basque Mountains into San Sebastian on the Atlantic Coast.
We spend a night at Hotel Maria Christina - I swear by God - that this was the largest bed I have ever seen in a hotel. We enjoyed the Old Town of San Sebastion, walked the length  of the beach -- don't believe the concierge at the hotel, it is nearly an hour each way, not 20 minutes, and well worth the funicular ride up the mountain for a fabulous view of the city. You must visit the Basque Tapas bars in Old Town where tapas are called "pintxos". This is one of the most exiting cities in Europe right now. Two of the top ten restaurants in the world are located in San Sebastian. WE WILL be back!

Pintxos

Pintxos

Tapas Bar

Overlooking Bay of San Sebastian

Our room at Hotel Maria Christina

The Bay

Walking on the Beach

San Sebastian Bay (Beach)

Hotel Maria Christina

Europe 2013 - Visit to the Ribera del Duero Region of Spain

 On June 18th  my wife Patty and I arrived in Madrid --without our luggage-- and decided to not let it interfere with our trip so we headed  north towards wine country. We spent the night in the town of Segovia. The view from our hotel room was the old Roman Aqueduct which was built starting in the 1st century AD. The evening was a bit cool - however from then on the weather during our trip in Europe was simply fantastic. If you ever are in Segovia you have to visit the beautiful Cathedral and also the Alcazar Castle on the edge of Old Town. Walk  into Old Town to the Casa Mayor (Central Place) you will find vendors selling everything from olives, vegetables to clothes - which we bought since our luggage was still missing.

Aqueduct on right, Hotel below

Veggies at market

Olives at market

Stroll in Old town

Alcazar in Segovia

After Segovia we headed north to the small town of Valbuena near the Duero river. We were invited by Grupo Mattaromera -headed by its President Mr. Carlos Moro - a true visionary who manages 6 wineries and has products from Non-Alcoholic wines, a fine selection of high end wines including Solano and Rento. One of the unique elements of this winery is the commitment to use all the products of the soil exemplified by a  their high end line of cosmetics made from the the residuals high in anti-oxidants otherwise not used in making wines

This was my second visit and I was familiar with the company's headquarters located at Emina Winery (we could actually see the building of the famous Vega Sicilia winery from there). This winery was built with the environment in mind. They are SIP certified and are the first winery in Europe with an Carbon Footprint seal on their European wine labels. Solar panels above carport provides shade, water is recycled in their own plant which is built in the Roman style with a center court yard, and the RD department is funded with $3-4 million. per year.

In front the the building Mr. Moro planted the vineyard of Spain that contains a row of EVERY grape variety planted in Spain. During a quick lunch at their  restaurant we had to pleasure to meet Mr. Carlos Moro himself - he even remembered me from my visit 2 yeas ago.




Our Hostess at Mattaromera was Ms. Kristell Monot, Export Manager for the group - very knowledgeable and informed. Lucky enough there was a visit earlier this morning and we were able to taste an range of their high-end wines during lunch (typical Spanish Country Cuisine: Lamb). My favorite wine was the Matarromera Prestigio Pago de las Solana 2001 (a Gran Reserva)...big lush, full of dark berries and sweet tannins - simply superb! I preferred it over the Matarromera Anniversary edition of which only 2400 bottles

King's Wines

were produced. After Lunch Kristell took us down the road  to the building of the Matarromera Winery, up a hill overlooking the Duero Valley. After visiting the bottling plant we went downstairs into the cellar. Kristell producd a set of keys, opened a huge iron gate and invited us into the cellar where wines were stored for Juan Carlos I the King of Spain,  All of the wines produced for him carry his own label.

Labels for a China shipment

Ms. Kristell Monot

Barrel tasting

After our visit to Matteromera we drove a few miles to RENTO, a single vineyard produced wine. The winery is located in a beautiful 16th century monastery which was remodeled and now also contains beside the production facility a beautiful old barrel room and a large dining room where dinners on occasion will be served when the group or Carlos Moro entertains guests from all over the world. Rento Wine 2005 was honored with 94 points by Mr. Parker and we had the opportunity to taste some of it straight out of the barrel.

Old RENTO cellar

Dining Room for Festivities

Tasting RENTO with Kristell Monot in the Barrel Room

The visits to these wineries of Groupo Matarromera were an experience that is hard to forget. Pretty tired  and still in our clothes from our flight, we went to their Guesthouse, then took a relaxing stroll along the banks of the Duero River. If you are ever in this area and you want to enjoy a quite, relaxing visit and learn about wine then this is the place in the Ribera del Duero area. It is is a 25 minute ride into Valladolid, the Capital of Northern Castilla Leon, famous for it's baby lamb cooked in hot clay ovens in the middle of old restaurants.

Ribera Duero River in the evening

Visit by Mr. Christian Roguenant - Winemaker for Niven Family Estates

I am looking forward to an exciting workday tomorrow. Mr. Christian Roguenant is here in Indianapolis for a Market visit. So excited to meet him in person and spending a whole day together with him. He is the wine maker for Baileyana, Zocker, Tangent wines, and Trenza.

Here are a few more details about Christian:  

Christian Roguenant was born to wine. A native of the Burgundy region of France who grew up among the vineyards, he decided early on to become a winemaker. His studies at the University of Dijon focused on oenology and wine making and included graduate coursework in wine marketing. This education served him well as he traveled the world to make wine on five continents. Included in his experience were fifteen years with Champagne Deutz, one of the premier Champagne houses in France and service as a consultant to wineries around the world. His travels brought him to wineries in Argentina, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Korea (where he made sparkling wine for the 1988 Olympics) and finally to the Central Coast of California. "Where better to first make Chardonnay and Pinot Noir than Burgundy; or Sauvignon Blanc than New Zealand, or Syrah than the North Rhone?" smiles Roguenant. "I have been very fortunate," he continues, "I have learned so much from so many winemakers and experiences!"

When the Niven family, owners of Baileyana, decided to build a new winery in 1998 they gave a blank slate to Roguenant to design the winery of his dreams. His gracious, light-filled design is state of the art and elegantly functional. Red wines are fermented in the classic Burgundian method in numerous small, open-top fermentors. This compact system allows for gentle punch down of the caps as the wine ferments and enables Roguenant to keep each lot separate by clone, vineyard block, yeast trial, or whatever he chooses. Three individually climate-controlled barrel cellars are available to Roguenant for completing fermentation and for aging. Roguenant is also pleased with the aesthetics of the winery. "The windows let in a lot of natural light," he says. "Although the wine never sees the light, the people do and that makes the winery a very pleasant place to work."

Roguenant delights in selecting among the hand picked fruit from the Firepeak Vineyard. The estate vineyard, adjacent to the Baileyana winery, is planted with carefully chosen clones and root stocks  and is the jewel of the Edna Valley. "This vineyard allows me to achieve my goal: to make the wine as true to the varietal as possible," Roguenant confirms. "My philosophy of wine making is this: give me rough but nice diamonds; my job is to polish without scratching them." He also enjoys the premium varietals selected for the Baileyana wines, including fruit from not only from the Firepeak Vineyard and other estate vineyards. "My passion and desire is to make better wine every year. A winemaker is the greatest critic about his own wine-always striving to get closer to perfection."

Craft Spirits now available at Free Market Wine Group

Well, it started last fall when we received the first shipment of SUAVECITO Tequila from Mexico. This is only Mexican tequila at 70 proof - AND because of this....it is probably the worlds smoothest Tequila.

 Our Blue Agave is grown in the red soil of the mountains of Jalisco, Mexico. These Highlands are particularly well suited to growing the Suavecito Blue Agaves. Our plants are slightly smaller, contain less water and produce a higher quality sugar. We start with quality ingredients. We staff a team of growers that regularly test the soil to ensure only the best of growing conditions. Suavecito needs to be distilled only once to produce a smooth and 100% authentic taste. Different barrels contribute unique flavors and distinct characteristics to Suavecito. Suavecito is rested in specially selected American Oak barrels to ensure that it’s 100% smooth.

One of the owners of Suavecito is actually a local person from Indianapolis who is now living in Colorado.Available is many fine liquor stores (Payless, Kahn's and others)

The next to arrive is our PACIFIC RUM which is made by Bull Run Distillery in Oregon and is produced with 100% organic sugar cane from Hawaii, then it is aged for 4-6 weeks in 4 year old Bourbon Barrels.The is a very smooth, clean and tasty sipping Rum, great for the hot summer days in Indiana.


Bull Run Distiller is currently aging their Rye whiskey in oak barrels. Problem is that it takes serveral years for the Whiskey to develop.
In the meantime Bull run brought Temperance Trader Bourbon to the market. It is a high Rye (25-35%) Kentucky Straight Bourbon and it is sourced at LDI right here in Indiana.
We have two different kind here in the market, the regular straight bourbon which comes in at around 86 proof - there are slight proof variations from batch to batch. There is also the Barrel Straight version at around 112 proof......super smooth.

We will bring in later during the year a real fine, delicious Oregon Vodka and Oregon Gin. Exciting news! Still looking for some small craft Scotches.

These items are hitting the local Indiana Market as I am typing this up.
Cheers!

Free Market Wine Group and Summer Travel Plans

It's Spring Time!
It's been 6 month's since the merger of Vinture Wine Group and Free Market Wine Group. After a view bumps in the road we are now ready to roll. A lot of new items and brands have been added to the portfolio of Free Market Wine Group:
Brandborg Wines from Oregon
Chateau Laubade Armagnac
Lamplighter and Alias Wines from California,
Michel-Schlumberger from Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma
Axios and Worthy from Napa,
Michael Pozzan Wines (Dante, Annabella)
look forward to some craft Boubons coming soon

Follow us on Facebook for updates on different wine tastings that are upcoming now.

More new for the summer: Patty and I will fly to Madrid in June. There we will pick up a rental car and drive up to Rueda, Ribera del Duero, Rioja - visit at Heredad Ugarte - to San Sebastian. Crossing over to France we arrange a visit to Chateau Peyros - our Producer of Tanat Wines in Madiran - then an over-nighter at Chateau Laubade - producer of wonderful Bas Armagnac's. Up to Bordeaux to visit Chateau Haut-Selve in Graves and Chateau Leoville Poyferre (2nd Growth in St. Julien) There will still be time to look up some places in Pomerol where we hope to meet our Friend Marcello Pelleriti from Argentina - who recently received 100 Points from Parker for his LaViolet (Pomerol) wine. Unfortunately, Catherine Vere-Perge, owner of Monteviejo and Chat La Violet and Chat. LeGay passed away earlier this week. This great Lady of many good wines will be missed by many friends.

A quick trip in the Fall to Italy

My wife Patty and I were fortunate enough to have received an invitation from very good friends to join them for a week in Lake Como. they had rented a beautiful villa directly on the lake a stone throw away from the famous Villa d' Este Hotel in Cernobbio. (We went to the Hotel one night for cocktails and our bill for 10 cocktails was Euro 275 - without tip).
We had fantastic weather and the accommodation (the villa) was superb and the company could not have been any better. Day trips to the town of Como or Bellagio were easy....all we had to do was jump on a water taxi (ferry).
We did visit an Olive Oil producer in Lenno (Vanini Oswaldo) tasted and of course bought many bottles of delicious olive oil. After that we drove up the hillside in Tremezzo and had a fantastic Lunch at Al Veluu Ristorante. This is one of these places that have a million dollar view.

The 1927 Alfa Romeo

 On a Tuesday morning we got our group together, rented a small Mercedes bus and drove from Lake Como down to Alba in Piedmont. There our good friend Giacomo Vico gave us a royal reception and showed us their improvements to their winery - a new building as well as a new tasting room where delicious Vitello Tonnato was served for Lunch. We toured the Winery, checked out Giacomo old family Alfa Romeo's drank plenty of Favorita, roero Arneis and Roero Superiore. I took home some of his 2008 Barolo which I am now patiently waiting for it to get ready to drink.

Giacomo explaining wine making

   

Later that afternoon we dove a few miles from Canale over to Negro Angelo Winery. I had seen Giuseppe Negro at the Gambero Rosso Tasting in Chicago earlier in the year. Again, after touring their wonderful winery and their cellars we got together in their beautiful tasting room and tasted Roero Arneis including an oak aged 2004 that was superb, then moved on to Barbera"s, Nebbiolo's and ended up with delicious Barbaresco Basarin.
Needless to say, it was very quiet on the way from from Piedmont to Lake Como

Cellar at Negro

Tasting Room at Negro

Our wonderful travel and wine tasting group at Negro's

Look forward to Negro wines in Indianapolis soon available through Free Market Wine Group

TIME IS FLYING - CHANGES WERE UPON ME

Just looking at the history (timeline) of this blog makes me realize how fast time is passing.

Almost a year ago I started a new venture by leaving Vino LeFebvre after 3 years...the promised partnership never came through and it was therefore time to move on.

I have been working for the past year witch Michael Palmer, owner of Vinture wine group. It has been an exiting year! Three different wine suppliers followed me to Vinture Wine Group.

I am not going much into details about the past year. Little travelling was done with the exception of visiting the US Virgin Island - St. Croix, St.Thomas and St. John.......just a little Rum Tasting on St. Croix where CRUZAN Distillery is located.

Anyhow, a year later a new chapter is opening up. Vinture Wine Group has just merged with Free Market Wine Group.....soon to be called "FREE MARKET WINE & SPIRITS".
So, I am looking forward to continuing this blog and let to let you know what we are up to.

The New Beginning

Starting Monday September 17th, 2011, I will be representing VINTURE WINE GROUP  of Indianapolis, IN.This is the Philosophy that Vinture Wine Group believes in and as a new member of that group it will be the one I believe in:
"Vinture Wine Group is dedicated to promoting wines of regional distinction. The heart of a wine is found in the vineyard and our mission is to find the very best in quality wines from small, regional wineries and successfully bring these wines to the market. Our focus is on estate wineries or those who produce wines from regionally grown grapes. We are strongly committed to the belief that the unique characteristics of regional fruit give wines a sens of place that can not be rivaled or matched anywhere else in the world.

Our goal is to build long-term relationships with small suppliers, retailers and restaurants who share in this vision. Within the Vinture Wine Group wine portflio, you will find the true expression of quality vineyards. The unique characteristics of terroir driven wines distinct culture, climate, soil and the artisan winemaking technique that goes into producing each of these wonderful wines."

Goodbye

After 3 years with Vino LeFebvre I am moving on to a new project.
Thank you for following this Blog. When I started working with Steve I had a one sheet wine portfolio and I am leaving him a 12 page wine portfolio. My tenure at Vino LeFebvre brought me to ProWein Trade Fair in Duesseldorf, Germany as well as traveling to Argentina, Chile and Spain.

This is the end of the Vino LeFebvre Blog. Coming soon will be stories about my new ventures.