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in case of emergency
22 Friday Feb 2019
Posted in sevilla, sherry, silly, spain, tapas bars
Category Archives: sherry
cuatrogatos wine fest 2019
16 Saturday Feb 2019
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andalucia de santa maria, cuatro gatos wine fest, el puerto de santa maria, el puerto getaway, wines
The fourth edition of the CuatroGatos Wine Festival was quite different from last year’s event. This time it was held inside a lovely hacienda on the outskirts of El Puerto de Santa María and there was also the promise of a special dish prepared by Michelin star chef Ángel León. I met my friend Tomoko @Fu_yan at the train station and, having just missed the Wine Bus, got a taxi over.
[click to enlarge]
It was a great afternoon revisiting old friends and making new ones. And thanks to Tomoko I tried several wines I may not have otherwise (brand new love is La Choza by Bodega Callejuela). I was also happy to discover that several of the wines I liked are available in Sevilla, and almost all of them at Ana Linares’s fabulous wine shop Lama La Uva (will be visiting her soon!)
Tomoko and CuatroGatos founder Federico Ferrer
Although there were a lot more food options this year, with several stands set up on the patio, Tomoko and I decided to walk over to Restaurante El Faro so we could sit down for awhile and, frankly, have a nicer lunch. 😉 Which you can see, we did indeed have. The only thing was that by the time we got back to the event, several of the producers were already packing up (!!). Since they were offering another Wine Bus back to the train station around 8 pm we assumed that the producers were going to stay around longer. Oh well. It was still a fabulous day and great to hang out with Tomoko again.
spectacular lunch at Restaurante El Faro
sherry vs port
06 Wednesday Feb 2019
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I am often asked about the difference between sherry and port on my tapas tours and I’ve always had to confess that I really don’t know much about port, other than it is also a fortified wine. So when I was invited to a Sherry vs Port tasting it seemed like an ideal opportunity to learn something about port!
The event took place at the splendid Portuguese Consulate, and the wines were from Bodegas Sandeman, which produces both sherry and port wines. It was an interesting event, finishing with port and sherry cocktails. And now I want to go to Oporto! 🙂
an impromptu tapas tour
04 Monday Feb 2019
Posted in food & drink, friends, sevilla, sherry, tapas, tapas bars, tapas tours
Twitter strikes again. Someone I’ve known on Twitter/Instagram for ages – Michael @renoirguides – got in touch to see if I had a tour going on Monday that his friend could join. Which I didn’t (there’s a two-person minimum), but when I found out the friend lives in Gibraltar I said I’d be happy to meet him for a drink and give him some tapas tips. What started as a quick sherry and tapita turned into an impromptu tapas tour, with Frank and I hitting four of my favourite traditional bars, including a stop at my “happy place” – Rafael’s jamón cutting station at Las Teresas. Nice day. 🙂
birthday 2019
07 Monday Jan 2019
Posted in birthdays, casa azahar, food & drink, friends, gastronomy, hope, sevilla, sherry, spam, tapas, tapas bars
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So yikes! I am 62 years old today. Like, how’d that happen? 😉 It’s a total cliché and absolute truth about time flying. And especially with all the cancer stuff, ten years ago now and hopefully completely in the past, it’s amazing I’ve made it this far. Unlike a lot of people, I’ve always loved my birthday, even though the getting older thing comes with some drawbacks (KNEES for example) it certainly beats not getting older! So I do like to do something special to celebrate still being here.
Today I met my friend (and colleague) Cinta @cintaromero75 for a fabulous seafood lunch at Cañabota. Great food and wine, and even better company. It was great catching up.
By chance Charlie & Sam, co-owners of @vinoveroleigh were arriving in Sevilla this afternoon, though too late to join us for lunch, so I met up with them afterwards for a penúltima.
I first met C & S in 2016, when mutual friends Phoebe and Ollie invited me to a rooftop dinner at their place in London. They came to Sevilla a few months later that same year, and are back for a quick getaway. After our cava I headed home, delighted to see the Christmas lights were still on! An excellent birthday.
