10 Saturday Mar 2018
Posted in birthdays, friends, gastronomy
It was not by chance that John was here in Sevilla to celebrate his birthday – he had planned it that way all along. And then he and Jane invited Peter and I out to a fabulous birthday lunch at El Gallinero de Sandra. Good times indeed.
09 Friday Mar 2018
Posted in friends, gastronomy, sevilla, twitter, twitter friends, wine
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Most of you know how much my life has been enriched by Twitter. It’s not only a helpful social media business tool, but – more importantly – it has connected me with some of the most special people in my life.
A few weeks ago my friend Thane @ThanePrince (yes, I also met her on Twitter) put me in touch with her friend Edward @TimeToCook, saying he was planning a visit to Andalucía and that we should meet. That day finally came this week and the plan was that we would meet up for a drink before they headed off to dinner at Tribeca. As you can see, I ended up being invited to dinner, and what a splendid meal it was. Wonderful food and wine, and even better company.
It was like an evening out with old friends and I was sorry to see it end. But of course Ed and I are now keeping in touch via Twitter and, who knows, I may end up visiting them all in New York some day. Or maybe we’ll meet up in London with Thane. You never know…
08 Thursday Mar 2018
Posted in andalucia, food & drink, friends, gastronomy, getaways, spain
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A bit of a déjà vu experience, as Peter and I were just in Cádiz a couple of weeks ago during Carnaval Chiquito, but other than a couple of the “must dos” we ended up having quite a different experience. Also it was the first visit for Jane and John, and we were happy to show them around. After a quick trip to the central market, this was the rest of our day…
cold beer o’clock at La Sorpresa
snacks and sherry at Casa Manteca
tapas at Antonio Del Palillo and El Faro followed by a walk to La Caleta Beach
picatostes at Café Royalty
07 Wednesday Mar 2018
Posted in andalucia, food & drink, gastronomy, getaways, sevilla, travel, trips, wine
I had been wanting to visit Bodegas Luís Pérez for a while, and finally got my chance on this trip to Jerez with friends Peter @SVQConcierge and John and Jane Bachner King. Although firmly inside the Marco de Jerez, it’s not, in fact, a sherry bodega, but rather produces red wines, once just as important as the white Palomino Fino sherry grape, but lost long ago for a variety of reasons, the coup de grace being delivered by the phylloxera virus that devastated European vines at the end of the 19th century.
The bodega was founded in 2002 by Luis Pérez, former enologist at Domecq and professor of chemistry at Cádiz university, when he bought the Hacienda Vista Hermosa, a farmhouse on the hill at the top of the Pago de Corchuela outside of Jerez, and began the work of planting the new vineyards with red grapes. These days the bodega is mostly run by the Pérez children, Willy and Fátima. Willy’s new project is producing vintage unfortified sherries, as they used to be made before the trade and shipping demands of the last few centuries that led to the development of the present day solera and criadera ageing system. I tasted some of these sherries at the Cuatro Gatos Wine Fest a couple of weeks ago and they are very special indeed.
06 Tuesday Mar 2018
Posted in food & drink, friends, getaways
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bodegas, food, friends, gastronomy, jerez, jerez getaway, sherry
This week I was supposed to be out on an Andalucía Adventure travelling around the white villages with Peter and our friends from Austin Texas Jane & John, but the rainy weather put the kibosh on that plan. Instead we opted for a return to sherry country with a side trip to Cádiz.
After arriving in Jerez and checking into our hotel we made our way to the central market for a quick breakfast of churros, followed by a market visit and a quick sherry at El Pasaje. Then it was time to visit Bodegas Tradición.
As most of you already know, Bodegas Tradición is a unique bodega experience. Not only do they only make VOR and VORS sherries (aside from one fino) but their private art gallery is a joy to behold. Sabrina put out some lovely snacks for us and we sat around chatting and sipping our very special wines. It was actually Tradición’s palo cortado that changed my life all those years ago at a bar in Sevilla, turning me into the sherry-obsessed person sherry professional I am today.
After leaving Tradición we made our way back to the city centre for a penúltima, in order to relax and figure out where to have dinner that evening. That’s when I heard from Rocío from Bodegas Urium and we ended up having an impromptu bodega visit there with the family: father and bodega founder Alonso, and Rocío’s husband Mario. This small family-run biz doesn’t offer public tours, but on occasion they very generously open up their doors to friends, and friends of friends. As always, Alonso was in fine fettle, regaling us with stories while pouring wines from the barrel. I think Jane & John came away from this visit a bit awe-struck, and to be honest, I always do too.
Dinner that night was at one of my favourite places in Jerez, the super traditional Tabanco Las Bandarillas. It’s all home-style cooking there, nothing fancy, but always fabulous. And with super friendly service. Then it was time for bed as we had another special bodega experience planned for the next morning.
casa azahar 