Cooking up a Farewell Feast with Moscatel

Parting is such sweet sorrow. That Bard really knew what he was talking about, didn’t he? It’s this way with Gabriella and Ryan’s announcement that Catavino is saying goodbye. My emotions were mixed at hearing the news. Initially, I was disappointed that I wouldn’t have my monthly outpouring of a favorite Portuguese dish, wine or […] Continue Reading →

How it all Began, a Quick Look Back at the Early Years

When we first moved to Spain, we arrived with almost nothing. Our Spanish consisted of  ”hola”, “gracias” and after a couple of days hanging out with other Spaniards, “Vale”, the ubiquitous “ok”. Our friends were back in Minnesota, but we were in Madrid and lucky enough to have a place to live. A fellow TEFL […] Continue Reading →

Starts with Goodbye, Catavino Wraps up 6 years of Iberian Wine

As many of you know, when Ryan and I married, we legally changed our last name. As I didn’t want to be called Gabriella Anderson, and he cared even less for Ryan Reynes, we opted to break social norms by designing our own surname. Having travelled through Portugal for our wedding and honeymoon, we created […] Continue Reading →

Harvest 2011: Rioja & Rias Baixas, Spain

Having recently come back from our long and successful jaunt in Brescia, Italy, where we hosted the annual European Wine Bloggers Conference, we’ve unfortunately been unable to post on Catavino as much as we’d like. However, our friends in Spain have come to the rescue with a few updates on the 2011 Harvest. Consider this a […] Continue Reading →

Life on the Douro: Screening in San Francisco and Los Angeles

Quick update on the documentary by Zev Robinson called, “Life on the Douro“. For those of you who’ve either supported or followed Zev, you might be interested to know that his film will be screened in both Los Angeles and San Francisco on November 15th and 17th, followed by a Port tasting. Doors open at […] Continue Reading →

Beira Baixa: Roads Less Traveled Part II

Editor’s Note: In Part II we continue our travels through the Beira Baixa, pairing two area reds with a regional duck dish. I enjoy reading wine labels, but I can’t ever recall a time when one jerked a tear out of me. But two bottles of red from Quinta dos Termos in the Beira Baixa […] Continue Reading →

Beira Baixa: Roads Less Traveled

Editor’s Note: In this PART I of “Beira Baixa: Roads Less Traveled” we delve into the area’s challenges while highlighting its largest private wine producer in the Cova da Beira wine region. In Part II, we’ll explore more about its wines, and pair two with a regional dish.   I have this fear that one […] Continue Reading →

Part 2: Cutting up the Iberian Pig

WARNING: This post is extremely graphic; however, it does depict the very real act of processing an Iberian pig after the Matanza(Killing). If you are someone who is an animal lover, or gets squeemish at the site of bodily fluids, we might suggest you skip this article and await happier articles of drinking wine by the sea. […] Continue Reading →