Many young chefs at the casual fine dining restaurants of Madrid’s “bistronomica” movement are working with recipes and ingredients from all over Spain.
Porto has long been Portugal’s relatively sleepy second city, but in the last few years the city has woken up and become an exciting, cosmopolitan destination.
Priorat may be the star of Cataluña’s wine lineup. Since a few brave winemakers recuperated old vines here in the 1970s, Priorat’s quality has exploded, along with its reputation.
No visit to Cádiz, that mysterious city in southern Spain, is complete without visiting at least one ultramarinos store bar right in the old town. The surviving ultramarinos in Cádiz often morphed into purveyors of gourmet foods such as jamón ibérico, Payoyo cheese from the Cádiz mountains, mojama from Barbate, and canned fish from the best producers in Spain.
Aged Riojas–Reservas and Gran Reservas– are drunk on special occasions and with certain dishes in Spain, often in fine dining restaurants. When it comes time to have a glass of Rioja at a tapas bar or pair a bottle with a traditional Spanish meal, it’s a different type of Rioja you’re most likely to see. The most common and popular styles from the region are crianzas and wines with minimal aging, or vinos del año.
American wine critic James Suckling has just released his top 100 Spanish wines for 2022. To those who follow the world of Spanish wine it’s a list that highlights the exciting things that have been happening in Spain in the last few years, especially considering that Suckling includes availability as a criterion, precluding the inclusion of some interesting small-production Spanish wines.
As the end of the year approaches, awards and best-of lists start to come out, and the Iberian food and wine universe is no exception. Prizes certainly serve as an indicator of where things are today and where they’re headed. In the last month important Spain and Portugal awards and best-of lists have come out, reflecting trends and successes of in the world of food and wine.
It should come as no surprise that Rioja has become a fine-dining destination. The Basque Country’s cities, global capitals of creativity in the kitchen, lie a short drive to the north of the heart of Riojan wine country. Thus the precise technique and innovative vision that has come to define the new Basque cuisine extends to the tables of Rioja.
Without the dizzying crowds it was easy to remember what makes Barcelona so attractive. Its undeniable modern cool factor has always been there, but the traditional bars, watering holes and eating counters which feel even more anachronistic given their 21st-century Barcelona surroundings, make this diverse city what it is.
We couldn’t be happier to announce the easing of (some) travel restrictions for Spain and Portugal and of in-country inconveniences such as vaccination certificates and negative test results to access restaurants, bars, hotels and other public places. We’re closer to normal than we’ve been in two years. That’s something to celebrate!
Winemaker Jorge Monzón needed three ingredients to make his extraordinary wines possible. First, winemaking experience in France at Domaine de la Romanée-Conti and in Spain at Ribera del Duero wineries Vega Sicilia and Arzuaga-Navarro. Second, old vines in and around his hometown of La Aguilera in Burgos province, at the northern end of Ribera del Duero.
La Escribana is the flagship vino de pasto from Willy Pérez and one of the finest white wines made in Jerez. The grapes are sourced from Pago Macharnudo, one of Jerez’s top quality vineyards. Willy harvests the vineyard in two passes, with the first bringing acidity and the second ripeness and body.
There is a new requirement for travel to Spain in 2022. Starting February 1, 2022, travelers to Spain will need 14 days from the last dose and no more than 270 days since the administration of the last dose. If your last dose was more than 270 days before travel to Spain your vaccination certificate must show that you received a booster dose.
Viña Tondonia is a mythic name in the world of Spanish wine. López de Heredia, the winery and family behind Tondonia, is among the most traditional of the classic Rioja producers. What makes them so is their use of traditional Rioja blends (Tempranillo, Garnacha, Mazuelo, Viura) and especially their extremely long aging period, both in barrel and in bottle,
Spain is not a country where cocktails are common. Spanish drinkers have traditionally been devoted to wine and beer, or a brandy or anís, both made in Spain, in the old man bars. Yet with the rise of Spanish haute cuisine since the late 1990s and the turn of the millennium came the implantation of a special take on a seemingly mundane mixed drink:
