A case of wine from Madrid & Darracott
It’s a wine shop near Plaza Mayor Madrid, they now have an online store. I popped in to choose 6 bottles, meaning they would deliver it to my home the following day for free. They have an interesting range of Spanish wines and not the typical selection. Find them at Calle del Duque de Rivas, 8, 28012 Madrid.
Apart from the vermouth, you won’t find wines from these regions in many bars in Madrid
A quick review of the wines in the photo from left to right.
El bandarra, “the rogue”, vermouth from the Penedes region of Cataluña (my favourite wine region) I would call it balanced, not sweet and not too bitter, well suited for food, especially tapas, fish in vinegar and olives. The shop gives you the refillable bottle which you can take back to the shop for inexpensive refills. I’ll happily be going back to refill this, and it only took me a few days to get through it all. @elbandarravermut on instagram.
The Vermouth from Cataluña is currently taking the country by storm.
Bodega Madrid Romero (@bodegamadridromero,instagram) - The cousin of Roque, one of the shop owners. Two wines from Madrid Romero in Jumilla. One a 100% Monastrell Crianza, the other Monastrell Syrah blend. I took both bottles to separate parties, and they went down well with Spanish and internationals alike, I always find that a bit of Syrah in a bottle of wine goes well with party food and tapas. Both wines are easy to drink but with enough character and complexity to keep the palate interested.
Next, we have Manga del brujo, the wizard’s sleeve from Escoces Volante (@escocesvolante, instagram), the flying Scotsman. It is a coupage by Master of Wine Norrel Robertson. (couldn’t find him on instagram but you can find out plenty about him).
A quick look online tells us that the blend is 70% Garnacha, 15% Syrah, 10% Tempranillo, 5% Mazuelo. I like wines from DO Calatayud in Aragon (@doCalatayud instagram), a region I discovered when living nearby in Zaragoza, and this one is incredibly great value for money. I’ll be repurchasing this one I think.
I finally GOT (i.e I understood) sherry last August when I went to stay in Cadiz, specifically the sherry triangle town of El Puerto de Santa Maria. My first real taste came when we made a day trip to Sanlucar de Barrameda (where I will return in September, lockdowns permitting). I just ordered cold manzanilla from a regular bar, it came from a barrel, and it was delicious. That bar was just across the road from the La Gitana bodegas (@lagitanahidalgo) which are the ones nearest to the Atlantic, but it was a Gonzalez-Byass makers of the world famous “Tio Pepe” that I’d had. In the photo at the top of the page, we have the La Gitana en Rama, which is unfiltered. Tasty, salty, bone dry and complex. I’ve had better, but at twice the price and you certainly can’t go wrong with this. In some dry sherries, the grape spirit is a bit more noticeable, I quite like that, but some new to sherry don’t and that’s a bonus for this bottle.
Finally, we have the Prieto Picudo called Gamonal from Pardevalles (@Pardevalles) in Leon. I haven’t tried this yet, it’s a new grape for me but one that is allowed in DO Tierra de Leon along with Mencia and Tempranillo. Speaking to a spanish friend he says that Prieto Picudo based wines are quite refreshing and enjoyed as an aperetivo before a meal, something for me to bear in mind!
I’ll have to come back and update this post once it’s been drunk!
This is a slightly expanded version of a long post I put on instagram, I have 3 accounts and the post on my @gareth_foodie account can be seen below.