Summer is here, and Spain for all intensive purposes, is closed. Walk down any of the myriad of residential streets of Barcelona, or Madrid, and you might think that the swine flu had a more successful run. Your voice echoes off the heavy metal gates, with weathered handwritten signs saying, “closed until the 28th”, that is, unless you live in a seaside hamlet.

If this is the case, you will most likely be under the deluge of camera happy foreigners, all imbued with aromas of suntan lotion. August is the time of year when phone calls go to voicemail, emails have a 1 month delay and your mailbox is empty no matter what may be sitting down at the main office in your local town. During our first three years, we fought against this, trying desperately to maintain a work routine. Nowadays, my daily siesta quota rises from 1 to 2, and the drinks get poured a few hours earlier, thus leading to a hot grill even sooner than expected. Life is grand.

This month, we’ll be taking a short break up the coast with some family. Gabriella has a small contingent in from Chicago, and the prescription is poolside finos, siestas on the beachside, and maybe, a winery visit or two – stealth, so that we can enjoy the samples.

But we don’t want to leave you hanging, with nothing to chew on while we’re gone. No instead, we’d like to offer up some of wine highlights from last months trip to the USA. Various treats that made us smile, or provided some enjoyment and mental stimulation. Let’s do a top ten of sorts. 10 wines we fell in love with, without ranking, and often without a note.

• The tastings at the WBC were often crowded and difficult to find a quiet spot to reflect on a wine in peace. That said, a major highlight was to taste La Cigare Volant 2005 with none other than Randal Grahm himself. I have loved this wine from the very moment I fell in love with wine back in the late 90′s. Elegant, never over the top, and rarely scoring very high in the “points world”, this is a wine made with passion. Plus, having the winemaker himself pour it only made the moment even more enjoyable. Wine is a conversation, and this neither obvious nor complex wine created a whirlwind of discussion.
• Alan Baker’s podcast, CellarRat, was started back in the dark ages of wine blogging, and was an inspiration for me to get started. As random acts happen, I stumbled into Alan at a poolside “off the main route” tasting, where his very own Cellar Rat Syrah 2005 was being poured. Made in conjuction with his former employer, Crushpad, the Cellar Rat Syrah 2005 is not only Alan’s first experimental wine, but is now a great example of future vintages to come.
• Of course, we cannot forget our trip to the home of the famous wine blogger, El Jefe! Twisted Oak Winery is not only famous for their quirky winery blog, but also for their penchant for latex farmyard fowl which has led to the worldwide migration of flightless birds. On the second night of our USA journey, we drank The Spaniard 2005 alongside the Twisted crew. The wine is robust and expressive, a perfect addition to an Iberian portfolio, making it the ideal Cali-Iberian wine. Gabriella was also the winner of a bottle of The Spaniard 2007, which we plan to guard for a few years to come.
• Random wines of the trip! Palmaz winery was not on our list of places to visit, but we typically find that the best treasures are rarely planned. A chance encounter with the San Diego based video blogger, Prince of Wine, led us to a short tour and tasting with the owner. Gabriella and I tasted: an exciting Napa Riesling, a few delicate and lightly oaked Chardonnays, and finally, two Bordeaux blends with astounding elegance. After a slew of “monster” wines we tasted during the week, the Palmaz were refreshing, vibrant and clean – breathing much needed life onto our palate. The 05 Gaston was full of dusty red fruit with light touches of wood, which curved through the palate leaving a sexy and refined lingering, finish. Sadly, I believe they only make 5 or six bottles The 2007 Reisling is an elegant off dry wine that took us so completely by surprise, we skipped the spitton.
• The best part of this trip was meeting the faces behind the blogs and even the comments. Jack (renowned in the wine blog world by his first name) happens to be one of the first blog readers, and most definitely one of the first commenters on any new and upcoming blog of promise. He is not without opinion, and has acted as editor in chief to most of the longer lived wine blogs at one point or another. His love for wine, natural wine in particular, is legendary, and we were humbled and honored to have dined at his house where we drank some amazing and unique wines hidden in the recesses of his impressive cellar. We were introduced to “orange wines” (the color, not the fruit) and tasted at least two California wines with more than 14 years of age. The Porter Creek Chardonnay 1995 showed an amazing nose where the wood beautifully blended with the lightly oxidized citrus notes, embedding our noses in the glasses. With good complexity, and great acidity, this was exciting wine to have experienced. The Jordan 1978 Cabernet was perfumy with bright acidity, mature tannins and touches of soy. With time, the wine expressed notes of coffee and mocha, with an underlying delicate fruit character. Not surprisingly, we savored every last drop! Thanks Jack and Joanne for the fun time!
• Moving East we were ecstatic to hang out with our long time friend Lenn Thompson, his wife, Nena, and adorable kid, Jax – a highlight in our blogging careers. Granted jet-lag after a long red eye led to slurred words as we drove home from LI vineyards, but the wines were nonetheless impressive! Our first stop was Shinn Estate Vineyards where we marched through a long line up of wines. This was our first opportunity to taste LI wines, and would love to find anyway possible to drink them on a more regular basis. Light and fragrant, they were generally marked by a strong acidity that came off as elegant and delicate rather than an elbow in the gut. At Shinn we both fell in love with the ’06 Wild Boar Doe and the Cabernet Franc of the same vintage. Additionally, their sparkler and ’08 Coalesence were both spot on refreshing wines, and we would have bought a case of if it weren’t for our lack of luggage space. This winery is almost 100% biodynamic, and with a property that is both stunningly beautiful and has an obvious passion for what they do, I have to say, we’ll be stopping back the next time we’re in town.
• A fact: One wine in Long Island is made from Chenin Blanc. Only one. Having tasted it, we’re perplexed why more producers aren’t planting it? Paumanok 2008 Chenin blanc is truly a great wine. Sexy. Clean. Delicate. It maybe have been the jet lag, but I’m lost as to why more winery’s aren’t following suit. Granted, it’s a bit overpriced at 23$, when it’s worth around 17$, but I doubt it would stop me from enjoying a bottle.
• Our last stop was hands down the most surreal. Alice Feiring is perhaps one of the most controversial wine writers today. Seeing eye to eye with Gabriella, physically, if we had stayed any longer, I would have needed to get a back brace to support myself from the perpetual bending at the waste to hear their whispered conversations. Alice was kind enough to offer up her 5th floor apartment (sans elevator) to store our luggage on the last day of our NYC stay, which we graciously accepted. To say our day was fun is an understatement. We enjoyed the best pastrami ever at Katz deli, and bantered back and forth about natural wines. At the end of which as Alice was running off to a tasting of orange wines (the theme continued), she left us with a bottle of Avanti popolo – Le Temps des Cerises 11.5%, a wine that not only is competely natural with a touch of spritz from the lack of sulpher addition at time of bottling, but also happened to be one of the most exciting things we tasted in a long time. I have a theory that wine should be rated against the role it plays in the scheme of wine drinking. This wine is not meant for heavy meals or deep thoughts, but rather a wine that sits like a liquid backdrop to a lazy conversation. It’s light, delicate, and yet full of character, the underspoken supporting role. This wine is the ideal treat for your lazy afternoon. Thank you Alice for introducing us.
• We had the chance to offer up 2 Portuguese wine tastings, while in NY and Sonoma. Now most of the wines were familiar to us, and with only a few exceptions, they were all great values and stunning examples of Portugal’s potential as an international wine player! And more importantly, people loved these wines, a validation that Portugal makes great wines!!! Combine this with the chance to give away two trips to the EWBC in October, sponsored by ViniPortugal and we were as proud as new parents to see people engage so passionately with these wines.

So there you have it, 9 great wine experiences! Wait, I was shooting for 10…Hmm, well tough, we’re on vacation. Why don’t you tell us. What has been your best wine experience this summer? Let us know. We won’t be posting much this week, and here’s your chance to be a contributor to Catavino. Either leave a story in our comments, or send us an email, and we’ll post our favorite stories of yours. Anything wine, and as you would expect bonus points to anyone who includes an Iberian wine tale. We hope to hear from all of you, and remember they don’t have to be long complicated or profound, just honest.

Cheers from a lounge chair, with a cooler of ice cold sherry near by!

Ryan and Gabriella Opaz

Related posts:

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• Top 5 Wine Tourism Tips Iberia Can Learn from American Wine Producers
• Perfect Summer Combination: Manzanilla and Gazpacho!
• The Ultimate Online Wine Guide for Visiting La Rioja: What To Drink, Where to Eat and What to Experience
• Get Me Something Refreshing Before I Melt into the Pavement! – Summer Wine Choices

As you read this, we’re most likely struggling to get comfortable in our cramped Delta seats, eating bland airline food, while on our way to NY. Well, correction, Ryan is grumbling in his beer, while Gabriella is stretched out lengthwise basking in the roominess of her seat. Clearly genetics has served her well for international flights!

Arriving in 7 hours (2am NYC time), blurry eyed and dizzy, we’re hoping to sail through customs and land in our beds, crashed out, no later than 4am. If we’re really lucky, we’ll get 6 more hours of sleep before the alarm goes off and demands our bushy tailed and bright-eyed selves to welcome the city with open arms! We then dash off to a meeting followed by a lunch then to a Riedel tasting at 2pm with Maximillion himself, followed by our Portuguese wine tasting at Aldea at 6pm!!! Did we mention that our flight to San Francisco is at 7am the following morning?! Eh, who needs sleep?! We’re too excited to worry about sleep when we get to walk through the Big Apple, meet loads of American Wine and Food Bloggers, and show off some eclectic and diverse Portuguese wines, thanks to Viniportugal. We love the wines of Portugal, as you know, and we’re excited to have a chance to taste them with so many of our virtual friends.

What does this mean for Catavino throughout the week? Well, we’ll be posting photos to our flickr accounts, and videos to the new WBC/EWBC video channel: http://bit.ly/WBC_video_EWBC, where we’ll be documenting the Wine Bloggers Conference in Napa and Sonoma Valley. If you’re a wine blogger, make sure to add a video telling us a little something about yourself! Additionally, we’ll do our best to update you on our continued adventures. We may even set up a live blog!

For now, make sure to follow us on Twitter: @ryanopaz @gabriellaopaz and @catavino – where we’ll be posting most frequently.

Signing off at 30,000 feet! Please send sleepy thoughts our direction!

Cheers,

Ryan and Gabriella Opaz

Related posts:

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• It's Done, Finished, Set to Go and Ready for Download! Catavino's 1st Newletter!
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• How to Enjoy a nice Spanish wine
• Publicize Spanish and Portuguese Wine Events in Your Neighborhood on Catavino's Calendar!

You may be wondering why we talk about Twitter all the time, and there are many moments when I wonder the same. But the fact still remains that Twitter matters, and in the wine world, we have a small tsunami of a movement occurring as we speak. In fact, while talking with some tech guys the other day, they commented on how Twitter felt swamped by wine people. If so, great! Events like Twitter Taste Live have definitely helped grow the event, and having been the first blog to participate in TTL back last July, we’re excited to also announce the first ever Spanish Twitter Taste Live! Best part too is that we’re co-hosting with our friends at Somni.org. If your a wine lover/professional, make sure to check out their site!

So what is this TTL and can non-Spanish speakers join in the fun? The answer to the first question is simple:

• April 24th at 6pm-8pm GMT we will be opening and tasting 4 wines from around Spain
• The wines are as follows: Caves Gramona, Imperial Gran Reserva – Pazo de Señorans, Albarino – Celler Espelt, Sauló -  Dinastia Vivanco, Cuatro Varietales
• For 15 minutes we’ll be showing a short video about the winery/wine, tasting the wine, and then twittering about it
• We’ll be streaming video from an event in Barcelona (if you want to come DM @catavino) held at: www.hotelabskipper.com
• People in Spain, Portugal, London and the USA will be joining in
• Follow all the fun at: Twitter Taste Live

Now to the question of language! Fortunately, we know some pretty awesome Spanish language educators. Our friends Ben and Marina run the wonderful site: Notes in Spanish, where they teach people how to speak the language. Ben has promised to join in Friday night and offer some tips in both English and Spanish. Also Gabriella and I will be tweeting a bit in both languages to help bridge the gap.

So what do you need to do? Well, if you’re in Spain and can get a group of 10+  Bloggers/Twitters together, we’ll try to get you some samples to open up on that given night. If you’re in London, or the US, you can either DM @catavino and we’ll see if we can find a way to get you some wines. If not, you can alway buy the wines, or just follow along and see what we all think of them.

We truly hope you all can join us!

UPDATE: The Notes in Spanish PDF on helpful Spanish wine vocabulary and phrases is now available for download. You can download it here!

Cheers,

Ryan and Gabriella Opaz

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Near the 14th of February, there is always the temptation to crack open a bottle of pink Champagne as inspiration for a post – but that’s all been done before, so I was keen to write about something different. My wife, a modern-day Barbara Cartland, suggested something romantic about wines with 14% alcohol. This was a sweet idea, but I decided to go in for something even sweeter and write about the Pedro Ximenez grape.

In Spain, the white Pedro Ximenez or PX grapes are normally raisinated before making the wine. The thin-skinned PX grapes were traditionally laid on Esparto-grass mats out in the sun for a few days before pressing. I’m not sure what they lie out on these days, but they still get a few rays before the press. The resulting wine is dark, thick and sweet. The aromas and flavours include “raisin” as a descriptor but can stretch to all sorts of interesting things – especially when the wine has been aged for a long time – including dark chocolate, caramel, smoke, figs, etc.

PX headquarters for Spain is Montilla-Moriles, where most of this variety is grown, and there you find producers of excellent quality wines like Alvear. PX is also one of only two varieties allowed by the Jerez-Xerez-Sherry DO, used to make naturally sweet Sherry. Aged in solera systems just like the other wines of Jerez, PX Sherry is often used in a blend with dry Oloroso to make the Cream Sherries enjoyed by so many in the Anglophone world. Due to its thin skin, the PX grape does not thrive in the relatively humid conditions around Jerez so there is very little grown here and most of the PX used to make Sherry is grown and made Montilla-Moriles, but must be aged in the Jerez DO.

Apparently PX wines have quite a following in Australia. I did a bit of googling and ablegraping and found this interesting PX made by Turkey Flat, made with grapes dried “on trellis” before pressing.

One last thing: PX wines can be turned into very interesting, usually sweetish vinegars. If you ever see an “al Pedro Ximenez” vinegar then get your hands on it – you will be surprised.

Hasta la proxima!

Justin Roberts

Swirling in the glass is a PX Sherry by Fernando de Castilla

Related posts:

• The Source of Pedro Ximénez: D.O. Montilla-Moriles
• 1998 Alvear Pedro Ximénez Montilla-Moriles Reserva
• 2003 Alvear Pedro Ximénez Montilla-Moriles
• TN – Grandma Wine? Cream Sherry
• Bodegas Alvear

Have you ever read an article about sherry wine and said to yourself, “I’d really wish someone would tell me what the definition of “criadera” is in Spanish and how that word relates to the solera system”? Maybe you recently enjoyed a lovely mixed green salad drizzled with an herbaceous olive oil from Portugal made from the Cobrançosa olive, and would like to know what Portuguese whites might pair well with it? Having helped your mom clean out her basement, you stumbled across a vintage port dating back to 1922 and clueless to whether it’s even consumible! Maybe you heard about the Ant Throwing Festival in Galicia, where Galicians celebrate the 1000 year old tradition of chucking wet piles of dirt at each other filled with intensely pissed off ants, and are just dying to know the story behind this rather odd celebration.

Having received hundreds of questions like these over the years from people interested in learning more about Spanish and Portuguese food, wine and culture, but unsure where to ask such a question on our website, Catavino has created the FAQ (Facts and Questions) section. Our goal is to encourage you to ask any question about Iberian culture, while allowing us to do the research.

How great is that! Ask a question, and we do all the legwork!

Simply click on “FAQ’s” located in the navigator bar at the top of the page, choose a subcategory, and ask a question. Remember: the main category is reserved for questions about Catavino and are generated by us; however the subcategories are designed for you to participate in the conversation by asking a question. If you would  like to ask a question about Catavino, simply shoot an email from our contact page.

How do you Win a Prize?

We are offering an 11?x11? print on Torchon Fine Art paper of the Douro Valley to anyone who submits a question to our FAQ page by February 1st, 2009. One name will be drawn at random from a hat, and a print will be sent off to your home. Please include an email at the bottom of your question where we can get a hold of you. Emails will not be seen by other readers, as all questions must be monitored and approved by Catavino before they are published on the website. Therefore, your email provided with your question will be erased before publication.

We look foward to researching all your questions!!

Cheers,

Gabriella Opaz

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• Sherry Questions – Answers – Ideas
• Catavino Jumpstarts the 2+1 Iberian Wine Survey
• Catavino's Newsletter and other House keeping
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Sometimes I don’t have the answers. Ask Gabriella, and she’ll deny this, replying that I always have one even if it’s wrong, and most likely, she’s probably right, but that’s between you and me. Today, I have 3 questions for our lovely and loyal readers. Please help me out so that I don’t have to pretend like I don’t know something!

#1 About a year ago, we were traveling through the Priorat looking for information on a wine called Salmos. Having stopped by the Torres wine shop, we first stumbled across these “spritz” vials, located in the picture to the right, that allow you to add a squirt of brandy, both ten and five year versions, or a Moscatel to a beverage, dessert, etc. Yesterday, I came across this vial a second time, but now in conjunction with a bottle of Torres 10 year brandy. Now I personally love a bit of brandy in my coffee, or a snifter or two at night before bed, but in the end, I can’t see why I would need to “spritz” it on. The packaging is sexy, well-designed, and the idea is interesting, but is the product of the spritzer the end goal or the sale of more brandy? Thoughts? Not really a question that needs an answer, but I’m a bit puzzled as to what to do with my new spray bottle of brandy!

#2 Wine Mnemonics – I listen to NPR podcasts religously, and I came acros this story the other day on Mnemonics. The story got me thinking, what are the best Wine Mnemonics? I quickly did a search over at everyone’s favorite wine search engine AbleGrape, and promptly found very little. So I tried “google” again, but came up empty-handed. So all you MW’s out there, or WSET students, any good Mnemonics for remembering your favorite wine facts? Post your answers or favorites in the comments below!

#3 Wine Fiction – Lately, I’ve been enjoying reading more than usual. Lot’s of books about building Cathedrals and some fun mindless fiction to take my mind off work at the end of the day. The problem is, I have a stack of wine books to read, and well, while interesting (Wine Politics
is one I’m looking forward too from Dr.Vino), I want to find some wine fiction! Do you know of any great fiction that is wine themed? Dr Debs is doing great getting us to all read more about wine, but her book club selections tend to be non-fiction (correct me if I’m wrong). I want to find/hope to find some historical fiction that takes place in the vineyards, or a tale of two lovers amoung the vines, who knows! Anything to let me live in my world of wine, a place I love, but also allow me a touch of escapism. Anybody have a suggestion? I found a mystery novel about 5 yrs ago about a murder amoung the vines, I wish I could remember the name, but since then nothing of great interest. Help me out!

Ok, that’s enough for now…Thanks in advance for the help

Cheers,

Ryan Opaz

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There is something deeply satisfying about parades. The anticipation among crowds of people standing hip to hip with children delicately propped on broad shoulders, all eager to hear the very first beat of the drum resonating inside their chests. I love seeing eyes grow wide as saucers as brightly colored faces beam smiles of excitement as each member of the parade takes on a persona they can only embody once throughout the year. Parades bring out a raw energy, an intensity that pulses throughout the crowd, because no matter how many times you see a parade, there is always an element of the unknown.

Last night, Ryan and I ventured out to our quiet streets of Terrassa to take in our first La Cabalgata de Reyes Magos. Having spent the last three holidays abroad in either the States or Norway, we’ve missed the festivities and felt that time had finally come for us to bundle up tight against the frigid wind and embrace the biggest night of the Spanish New Year: the celebration of when the 3 Kings – Melchor, Gaspar, and Baltasar - arrive into town with their entourage of pages to bring gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to Jesus.

And although I am not a religious person, the idea of joining the community together in celebration is always appealing to me. I love when barrios pool their funds and resources together for the benefit of their citizens, so that everyone may find a ounce of hope and joy, and god forbid, imagination in their day. But what I failed to grasp, watching cold little mittened hands hold out their knitted caps like nets was the barrage of brightly colored hard candy being thrown by the bucketful at the crowd. While minding your own business, you’re suddenly pegged with hundreds of hard candy from each and every passing float. And we’re not talking, “here’s some candy little one”, with hands held out in gentle acceptance. Nope, we’re talking full on machine gun raid of candy hitting you like a rain of hail.

This year, Barcelona spent 400,000 euros to create a caravan consisting of 350 artists, 70 technicians, 310 students from the music and dance schools to travel a 650 meter route throughout the city throwing…..15,000 kilos of candy. And if this isn’t mind boggling enough, Madrid spent 950,000 euros, 350,000 less than last year as a result of the recession, contracting 257 cleaning machines and 300 employees to clean up the piles of hard candy smashed into the pavement.

Ahhh, but that’s not all, not only do you have welts from sky falling candy, making you sorely wish you had brought goggles and helmet, but you also have a nice long line of camel, elephant and horse poop to complete the adventure. But does that disway parade goers of vacuuming up the city with a desire to collect as much candy as humanly possible? Not a chance! The only places where you actually see candy is where they have been laid to rest by smashing animal hooves, car tires or stampeding feet. Whatever else looks relatively edible is quickly swiped up by grandparents, parents and children alike into heavy plastic sacks of loot. If I were a candy girl, I swear this would be my favorite day of the year!

For those of you viewing the photos or Youtube video link of the parade, you may be a little curious why 1/3 of the caravan is painted in black faces. As Americans, we can tell you that this moment was a little disturbing (history of Black Face), despite the gaiety of the celebration. As legend has it, Rey Baltasar was of Egyptian descent, making his entourage of similar origin. Now, as many Spaniards have much lighter skin, they can either ask for volunteers among the hundreds of thousands of Africans, or Middle Easterners, who are hanging out in Spain to take the part, or they can paint their skin dark. And although I realize that no harmful intentions were displayed in their costuming, it does make me wonder why they wouldn’t want to invite their southern brethren to join in the festivities? Then again, maybe they did extend the invitation, but there were no takers – doubtful but possible.

The rest of the celebration consists of kids running back home, laying out their shoes (no stockings) on the window pane where the kings will magically teleport themselves through the window with their camels and fill up their shoes with small gifts. I trust the smart kids have collected Dad’s moonboots from the back mudroom in desperate hope that size will matter. Then, so as not to piss off the kings, children lay a leaf on the table under a bottle of cava and Turrón (traditional almond dessert), followed by a bowl of water and fruit peelings for the camel. The issue comes to my mind, however, which Cava do you give the Three Kings, and how agile are they to get through your window after drinking the 2,345,000 bottle.

Come morning, children historically expected the Kings to leave presents around the creche, but with the commercialization of Christmas, most families now place their gifts under the tree. Mind you, Christmas is still celebrated here, but traditionally small gifts are exchanged on the 25th, while your big mother of all gifts are exchanged today. This is then followed by the Roscón cake, which is a round egg and flour cake filled with dried fruit and two charms. Although variable, one charm is a figurine which gives the founder the title of “King” for the day. The second figurine is the “haba” or bean, which determines who will buy the rocio next year.  Evidently, there is a common practice of descretely swallowing the bean as well

So there you have it, La Cabalgata de Reyes Magos and El Dia del Reyes, two traditions that have afforded us even more holiday time in Spain. Lucky us!

For more photos of La Cabalgata de Reyes Magos, check out Ryan’s photos here.

Cheers,

Gabriella Opaz

Related posts:

• Burgáns 2005
• 2003 Alvear Pedro Ximénez Montilla-Moriles
• N.V. Alvear Montilla-Moriles Solera Cream
• 12 Spanish Grapes for 12 Spanish Wishes – Catavino’s last post of 2008
• Odd-ball Grapes

I both love and hate Flickr. Some of the censorship issues have wavered my confidence in staying with them, while at the same time, the desire to upload my favorite pictures, and photos, gives me a great vision of the past year. After glancing through my photos from 2008, it seemed ludicrous not to share some of them with you. However, there are 219 in total, even after I went through the set with a fine tooth comb. I hope you enjoy the slideshow, as they’re a great reminder of all the fond memories we have from last year!

Cheers, and here’s to even better pics in 2009!

Ryan Opaz

PS

PS: the photo in this post is hands down my favorite shot this year. I hope I have more of them next year!
PSS: Click the title of this post to see the slideshow if your in your feed reader or reading this on the homepage.
PSSS: You can even buy prints of a few of these by following this link: Buy my art at ImageKind.com. Otherwise just contact me if you are interested and we can work something out.


Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

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Although I am no John Radford, I’ve toured a few Iberian wineries in my day, and have always pondered if there was a sacred oak barrel cemetery for all those great wooden vats that have dedicated their lives to a wine’s evolution.

For those of you that aren’t familiar with how a wooden barrel is made, allow me to give you a very brief intro. Let’s call it “Wine Barrel Making 101″. A large slab of wood is delicately cut into staves (the pieces you see in the picture to the right) and allowed to season in the bare elements over the course of 10-36 months, which allows the tannins from the wood to slowly leach out onto the ground forming a dark, almost black, residue. Other coopers use a kiln to dry out their barrels, and although this process tends to be more efficient, it doesn’t provide the same softening and texture that the nature elements tend to give the wood.

After the seasoning process, the staves are traditionally held over an open pit fire, where the wood becomes malleable and easy to work with. This pliability permits the cooper to then bend the staves into their desired shape within two iron rings that are slide around both the top and the bottom of the barrel. And like seasoning, their are alternatives to making the wood malleable, such as steaming the wood, but this technique also loses the rich flavors that can be imparted to the wine from charred wood.

How long does a barrel last? This question must be presented to each winemaker, as only they can tell you how long or short of a time period they will keep each barrel, but typically, after 3-5 years, a barrel loses its desired flavors and is sent on to either make liquors such as brandy, or are sold off to various artisans or dealers.

As a wine lover, I have always dreamed of having a few barrels decorating my home. From shelves for our various wine books, or as gigantic pots filled with vines and flowers, the notion of having weathered barrels is enchanting. However, in my four years here in Spain, never once have I seen old barrel staves used in such a unique manner as they have done in Talca Chile.

Design Boom posted an article regarding a huge recycling effort in Maule Valley to reuse fifty French oak barrels in their local park. The “dead” barrels were crafted into tables, awnings and lounge chairs for locals to sit back and relax in a natural environment. Clean, efficient and highly sustainable, I’m all for it! Living in the heart of Catalunya, I would love to see our local parks filled with sculptures and lounging furniture made with proud barrels who have served their liquid brethren well!

What are some creative designs you have seen with old barrels? Any that you’ve done yourself?

Cheers,

Gabriella Opaz

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With only hours left before we ring in the New Year, Ryan and I felt it was important to share with you the age old Spanish tradition of consuming 12 grapes in 12 seconds, a tradition we’ll be participating this evening with a bottle of cava and a bbq cooked seafood paella. Huddled around their television sets with hands, glasses or small bowls filled with 12 grapes – some peeled, some seedless, others red, but all good – Spaniards will be eagerly awaiting the first chime of midnight, indicating the moment when the very first grape is consumed. However, one must be quick, because if you don’t consume all 12 grapes before the 12th chime, you will not received all of your 12 wishes.

Interestingly, our most popular post on Catavino.net to date describes this tradition. Yes, we are sad that an article on Sherry still has not reached massive popularity as of yet, but maybe one day. For now, we’ll celebrate the world’s united interest in grape consumption, and hope that any of you who choose to participate in this tradition will remember 2 very important secrets: 1. do what most Spaniards do and take out the seeds before midnight strikes, and 2. make sure all of your wishes are written down prior to the first grape consumed. Note: not everyone can make wishes and inhale grapes at the same time.

So without further adieu, here are our 12 wishes for 2009!

1. Visit the USA at least once this year: Although Ryan had the chance to see friends and family last August, Gabriella is still aching for a USA road trip. Maybe a coastal ride from San Francisco north to Washington may be in the cards?! Anyone want host two friendly bloggers?
2. A Visit to Galicia and the Dao: These two regions have been on our to do visit list for quite some time, as both can lay claim to producing some absolutely incredible wines.  We look forward to discovering and sharing more wines from these regions with you!
3. Have a successful and fun Wine Blogger Conference. It’s true that we had a ridiculously fun time last year with our 40+ participants from 11 different countries in La Rioja, Spain, and we trust that this year will be no different. As wine bloggers tend to be a rather fun and interesting bunch, we’re already gitty with anticipation for the 2009 edition. Hopefully, we’ll see lots of new faces among our old friends. More details to come….
4. Cook more food with friends! Sometimes it’s difficult to keep that artistic flare burning inside you when you don’t have enough foodies in your life. Hence, come 2009, we’re planning on getting what few foodie friends we do have together on a monthly basis for some no-holds-barred meals!
5. Health. Between a broken hand and the Delhi Belly, we’ve seen way too many hospitals in 2009. Add massive congestion and you have very poor conditions for drinking wine. Therefore, we hope and pray that the coming year will be filled with happy and healthy wine bloggers, eager to taste more wine and food from the big peninsula!
6. Have more friends and family visit us in Spain. Although Gabriella’s entire family has hinted on a visit in 2009, among many quasi commitments among friends, we truly hope that we can share Iberia with others. It affords us the opportunity to share all the things we love about these countries, not excluding their amazing wine and food culture. If you happen to be coming this way, please don’t hesitate to contact us, as we love any excuse to explore more of Barcelona.
7. Spend an entire week exploring London! Like Paris, we’ve been severly teased with airline transfers, but not time to actually play in London. For us, this is like putting a plate of fresh oysters and cava infront of us and saying, “you can look, but no touching”! Thus we are committing to a week of fun and adventures with the hope that we will meet several of you upon are arrival!
8. Frame. Frame. Frame. Although we’re embarrased to admit this, we have had gorgeous maps, pictures and posters sitting in our closet for years without getting the attention they deserve on our walls. We’re going become framing fools starting January 1st, and with any luck, will get at least a few pieces framed before the end of the year! (PS – Why is framing so damn expensive anyway?)
9. 40 Hour Work Week! When you start a business, 80 hour work weeks are not the exception. You toil and fluster over every detail in hopes that you can slowly grow what started as a tiny thought, a seed in our brains, into something tangible and large. But come 2009, we would love to experience something called a “personal life”.
10. Expanding our Cultural Palate: You know when you live someplace, you tend to avoid all tourist traps that actually make your location interesting? Although I grew up in Chicago, I never went up the Sears Tower until a visit with Ryan in my late twenties. This coming year,  we will definitely plan to visit the Picasso and Dali museum, take a historical tour of the Gothic district, see a concert at the Palau de Musica, and experience at least one outdoor concert. Life is too short not to take advantage of all that Barcelona has to offer!
11. Improve our Spanish and Portugal. It’s bad. We won’t lie. We can stumble through just about any conversation just fine, but are we graceful…nope. Hence, the coming year’s weekly schedule will include a chunk of time dedicated to foreign language study. Mind you, we’ve never actually studied these languages, having picked our babble through street conversation. So who knows what kind of magic we can pull off with some grammar study.
12. Find more Foodie Writers for Catavino!!!!!!!! Although we are ecstatic to have such wonderful writers for Catavino, we are still on hunt for more. We know there are some foodies out there who just so happen to love Iberian wine as well. If you are in the wine or food world, and are interested in writing for Catavino, please contact us!

So there you have it. We’ve got our 12 wishes out of the way, allowing us to put our full attention on some serious grape eating. However, we would still love to hear what some of your wishes would be for the New Year!! Where would you like to go, eat, drink or experience come 2009? Plus we want to know how many of you dare to eat the grapes! (see below)

With that, we sincerely want to thank all of our readers and fellow bloggers for your support, and wish you all a very happy and healthy New Year!

Gabriella and Ryan Opaz

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