Gabriella’s in the House!(er, well, apartment)
Yesterday afternoon, Gabriella finally arrived home to Spain after a month and a half in the USA. It’s obviously great to have her here in our new home, not only because I missed her, but also because we can finally have some great meals together! However, because we were both exhausted last night, me for staying up too late unable to sleep and Gabriella due to her long flight, we spent the evening walking around Terrassa followed by a quaint dinner on our terrace enjoying some artisan pizza, cheese and tomatoes with a bottle of wine.
I apologize but although there were no formal notes taken, I can tell you that the bottle was called
Petit Grealo. From a region just down the road from us called Costers del Segre, the wine showed a nice nose of blackberry and sour plum with some dark clove hints. The problem for me was although it was pleasant in the mouth; the finished was a bit bitter and seemed “green” and not fully developed. I’d give it 2.5 “grapes” on our scale.
Another interesting aside is that as Gabriella starts her new job today, and I try to catch up on work, it’s pouring rain outside our windows. While Barcelona flooded and our local aqueduct, which has been dry since I arrived, was flowing like the mighty Colorado, the wet weather and humidity feels fantastic after coming from the dry city of Madrid, but unfortunately, this isn’t the ideal time for rain as it relates to the harvest. Rain at harvest typically creates watery wines as the grapes suck up the moisture diluting their sugars. Therefore, the only hope for the grapes is a few weeks of bright sun in order to dry them out before the harvest. I’m confident there are some vineyards like Ribera del Duero who have already harvested their crop, but there are still several more such as Rioja and Catalonia who may be in for some challenges. Cross your fingers and let’s hope that the sun peeks out from behind the clouds very soon!
Finally, we wanted to apologize for our inability to participate in this week’s Wine Blog Wednesday. We were really sad about it too considering the theme is one of our favorites: Champagne! But if you are interested, go to Becks and Posh where you can read about Champagne and see who did participate. But we’ll be back next month I promise!
Till soon,
Ryan Opaz
Hey you two,
Glad to hear G made it back safely. After reading this latest post I am once again hit with the knowledge that there is nothing quite like living in a wine producing region. I suppose I should qualify that by saying a wine region producing vinifera grapes (as opposed to the Marechal Foch and other "varietals" growing in Minnesota).
To be able to trot down to your local wine shop/grocery store/market and pick up a bottle of wine from a "region just down the road" is a fantastic concept for those of us living in the center of the North American land mass (and dream of a Mediterranean existance). It is ironic that the 44th Parallel does run through our fair state. Maybe, just maybe, someday there will be a way to successfully grow vinifera grapes here. That would be awesome.
BB
Hey you two,
Glad to hear G made it back safely. After reading this latest post I am once again hit with the knowledge that there is nothing quite like living in a wine producing region. I suppose I should qualify that by saying a wine region producing vinifera grapes (as opposed to the Marechal Foch and other “varietals” growing in Minnesota).
To be able to trot down to your local wine shop/grocery store/market and pick up a bottle of wine from a “region just down the road” is a fantastic concept for those of us living in the center of the North American land mass (and dream of a Mediterranean existance). It is ironic that the 44th Parallel does run through our fair state. Maybe, just maybe, someday there will be a way to successfully grow vinifera grapes here. That would be awesome.
BB
Gabriella starts her new job today, and I try to catch up on work, it’s pouring rain outside our windows. While Barcelona flooded and our local aqueduct,