Tag Archives: wine

botani vendimia tour

14 Sunday Aug 2011

Posted by in Malaga, photos, wine, work

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The main reason for going to Málaga last week was to be able to get some face-to-face work done with Victoria, as we have a few projects on the go and I thought it would be easier for me to meet her on her home turf. And well, okay… I also love going to Málaga! Then I thought that, as one of the projects was to take photos of the vendimia (grape harvest) and make a few videos, it would be a lot more natural if I could catch Victoria “in action” talking to people, rather than just speaking into the camera. And so I organised the Botani vendimia tour.

I invited a few journalists and one amazing photographer. It was great to see Michelle and Chris Chaplow again, and to finally meet Ben Cooper and his wife Philippa. And although it was a shame that Annie Bennett and Eduardo Blanco couldn’t make it, we still ended up making a nice group of five, including me.

Then *almost disaster* struck when Victoria was suddenly called away to a very important meeting out of town, which meant my “face time” with her just wasn’t going to happen. But luckily she only postponed the vendimia tour to the next day, something I know was very generous on her part as this is the busiest time of year for her and losing time going out of town meant she was going to be backed up when she returned. But she still spent all of last Friday with us, taking us to a a couple of the vineyards, then to see some sites in Almáchar and, after a quick trip to the bodega to talk to the winemaker there and see the grapes being pressed for Botani 2011, she invited us all to an amazing lunch at a beachside seafood restaurant in Málaga.

It was a fabulous day – hope you enjoy the pics.

zahara de los atunes cata

29 Wednesday Jun 2011

Posted by in food & drink, summer, tapas, trips, wine

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Remember how I was supposed to go to Vejer and Zahara de los Atunes a couple of weeks ago. Then what with a sick kitteh and other issues, I decided it would be best to stay home. But not this weekend!

Azar has been doing great the past couple of weeks and so I am going to join two of my clients (and friends) for a fabulous food and wine tasting (una cata) with tuna almadraba from La Sal and the amazing wines from Jorge Ordoñez & Co. in Zahara de Los Atunes on the Cádiz coast. Will be going on Saturday and probably coming home again sometime Monday. Agustín says I can stay at their place so it’ll just cost me bus fare and a meal or two. Really really looking forward to it!

weekend plans and other stuff…

16 Thursday Jun 2011

Posted by in food & drink, friends, restaurants, spain, summer, tapas, travel, trips, work

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So what the heck.

Have been invited to Vejer to participate in a cooking class headed by the fabulous Annie B, and I am to stay over in the “yellow guest suite”, which sounds delightful. The next day Annie is going to drive me down to Zahara de los Atunes where we will have a delicious lunch in the village before she drops me off in Atlanterra so I can get down to work.

Said work involves taking photos and lots of notes about my Seville client’s sister restaurant in Zahara, which I already know well from my visit there two years ago. You may recall the time my friend Agustín asked me to look after their old pup Mini while they were away in Mexico. Not sure if this time I’ll be able to stay over at Agustín’s because he’s having work done on the place, but if not my client Charo says she can put me up. So why not?

And since you’re probably wondering… no, it never occurs to anyone to pay me extra for going out of town or spending days at events with them. At least, not so far. And so far I am more or less okay with that because I am trying to prove myself to them, that I really am a valuable asset. And, it must be said, a lot of the extra work is actually quite fun. But it doesn’t pay the rent.

There will be another trip to Zahara in early July – just overnight again – to make a video of a wine and food pairing evening with two of my clients. Which I think is going to be amazing. Stay tuned…

well, it ain’t gonna pay the rent…

09 Thursday Jun 2011

Posted by in wine, work

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… but damn this is a nice bonus!

Awhile back I suggested to Málaga wine goddess Victoria Ordoñez that she move the WordPress.com blog she’s had for over a year now to her newly re-designed website, so as to incorporate the two better. And I said I could help her do that. You can see her new blog here, which I think turned out very nice. And today I received my “payment” for the blog move… a case of Botani!

You have to understand that ever since tasting Botani up in the Málaga mountains where this beautifully fragrant, yet gorgeously dry, moscatel was born, it has become my favourite white wine. But as it costs about double the usual casa az house white (a nice verdejo from Rueda), Botani is a rare treat for me. So it really is a wonderful thing having a case to myself to enjoy over the summer. The second case is for me to use at my discretion, in my Sevilla Tapas role, to distribute to tapas bars and restaurants I feel should have this very special wine on their menu.

Another nice bonus today was running into a neighbour who ended up hiring me for a freelance gig setting up his holiday apartments online. Now that *will* help with the rent, at least this month.

And now I think I am going to enjoy a glass of my favourite wine – I’ve earned it!