Nuvo, L’Esperit from Paris
In the last months we have been noticed how, more and more, the presence of vodka at the Spanish bars is bigger and the number of followers of this drink has a constant increase.
For this reason, today we want to talk about Nuvo, a different an original concept of vodka that it is advertised as l’Esperit from Paris.
Nuvo Vodka is a mixture of Premium French vodka triply distilled, infused with a French sparkling wine made from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, and natural fruit nectar. This eye-catching drink has been created by Raphael Yakoby, the father of Hpnotiq, another innovative drink that once was named as “the Blue Champagne”.
The mixture of Premium vodka, French sparkling wine and exotic fruit nectar, turns Nuvo into a brand new experience with a more different flavour than usual.
The first thing that any consumer notices is that it has a striking bright pink colour. Besides, Nuvo offers on nose scents of ripe fruit and it is fresh, fruity and softly citric on palate.
It has an alcohol content of 15%. It is an ideal drink to be enjoyed on the rocks or cold in a champagne glass.
Read MoreBe careful that they don’t serve you a glass of wine with cheese
We know for sure that you have frequently heard about this saying, but do you really know its curious origin?
Most of the sources state that its origin can be settled during the Medieval Ages, in the Spanish region of La Mancha. During those days La Mancha was one of the Spanish regions with the highest wine production. The kind of wine elaborated had to be consumed during the same year, due to the fact that its longevity was rather poor. Thus, wine producers should be selling it come what may in order to avoid a surplus and becoming vinegar at the worst.
The wines of the region had acquired great reputation due to their excellent quality and every time more and more traders moved to the area in order to buy the wine to resell it in their home towns. We must bear in mind, on the other hand, that at that time wine was bought only once in a year and the quantity purchased had to ensure the annual consumption.
As it usually happens, not all elaborated wines had the expected quality and the wine producers, to avoid accumulating a lot of stock, had a great idea to solve their problems: the sales strategy was to provide a piece of the magnificent Manchego cheese before starting the wine tasting. This gesture of hospitality of the wine producers was meant to “fool” the taste of the buyer.
Today we know that proteins within cheese are placed on the surface of the tongue creating a very thin film that prevents the taste buds from exercising in all its sensitivity. With this strategy, it was possible that poor wines looked good and excellent. The buyer discovered the trick later when he tasted the wine at home.
As the years went by, the saying became popular, and when a buyer was about to travel to La Mancha in search of the wine of the year, it was common before the journey to receive the wise advice: “Be careful that they don’t serve you the glass a wine with cheese”.
Read MoreTokaj and Puttonyos
If you ever have experienced the sensation of tasting a Tokaji, you would have seen that within the same trademark we can set up differences by means of the Puttonyos. Do you really know the reason?
Tokaji wine is produced in the region of Tokaj-Hegyalja, placed between Hungary and Slovakia. This type of wine is unique in the world due to its aszú variety (“dry”), which is the oldest variety of botrytisised wine, whose origin dates from the XVI century.
When we talk about this type of wine, first we must mention the Botrytis Cinerea, a fungus that affects the grape, making it dry and reducing its amount of water. As a result, we obtain a rotten grape, full of sugar. This bad state is called “noble rottenness”.
In ancient times, the grapes with noble rottenness, were gathered in containers known as Puttonyos, with a capacity of 25 kg of grape and then between 3 and 6 puttonyos were thrown into the 132-litre barrel where the wine was elaborated before its fermentation.
By means of this actions, the resulting wine was sweetened. The more puttonyos where added the sweeter was the wine.
Nowdays, this method has changed and the amount of puttonyos does not match the amount of grape with added botrytis, but it matches the amount of sugar contained in the resulting wine.
It is said that a puttonyo equates to 25 grams of sugar per litre of wine. To give an example, a tokaji of 6 puttonyos contains 150 grams of sugar per litre of alcohol.
In Spain the Tokaji Oremus is well known, whose ownership belongs to Vega Sicilia Winery, which during the postcomunist privatisation process purchased a winery in order to elaborate Tokaji wines.
Read MoreCheese, wine and technology
For those devoted to the pleasure of enjoying cheese, wine and technology, we are so glad to show an application for iPhone and iPad that has got the attention of all our staff: Fromage is at the moment one of the best cheese guides for this devices.
One application that has a database with more than 750 cheese varieties, including a photo, a description and a recommended wine to make a suitable pairing .
Another interesting feature is the possibility of taking notes, creating our own lists including our favourite variety of cheese and also sending the file of a cheese to a friend via email.
Although it is a bit expensive -2.39€- we know for sure you’ll like if you’re a good fan of these pleasures.
http://itunes.apple.com/es/app/fromage/id298883838?mt=8
Read MoreThALARN 2010 now available
At eBuyWines.com now available the ThALARN 2010.
Elaborated by the Castell d’Encus Wine Cellar, owned by the great Raül Bobet, this wine is named after the municipality where the winery and the vineyards are located.
ThALARN 2010 is a monovarietal wine made from Syrah, grape variety which is grown all around the world, not only in places which have a warm climate (Australia) but also in those which present a cold climate (Rhone).
The Syrah vineyards are located at a height of 2952 feet (900 m) above sea level, in a climate that has a thermal contrast between day and night time and a very good solar exposure. 3 hectares of Syrah are grown with a high density of plantation and very low yielding clones which can give high quality grapes.
These natural conditions, along with the great effort made in the vineyards, allow to produce a wine with a great complexity both in aroma and taste.
ThALARN has been fermented not only in stainless steel tanks but also in tanks of wood and stone vats, thereby obtaining fragances which are characteristic of cold climates, such as violet which integrate harmoniously with subtle notes of fresh fruit and tocuhes of spices and wild herbs.
Furthermore, as this wine was neiher clarified nor filtered, as time goes by it have some sediment at the bottom of the bottle and for this reason we recommend decanting before serving.
May you enjoy it!!
Read MoreWhy do some wines have sediment?
Sometimes we have found wines with the so well known sediment. Nowadays, there is still the false belief of this wine being of an inferior quality. Some people even disqualify it by stating: “this wine is pure chemistry”.
We wish to say that sediment can form naturally since they come from the salts of the very wine. When the grapes are broken to produce the wine, some salts not very soluble called bitartrates are created forming crystal like structures that due to their weight appear at the bottom of the glass.
Some producers in order to avoid this apply treatments during the process such as stabilization or clarification before bottling. We have to say that these processes are applied to less complex wines since they bring along the loss of body and aromas.
Thus if we have bought a wine and we see it has sediment the best thing to do is decanting it because even though sediment is natural they bestow a bitter taste to the wine.
Read MoreCan we drink a red wine chilled?
In different occasions we have seen how two people were beginning a discussion about the matter if we should – or not – take the red wine chilled. First of all, it is necessary to say that one must enjoy the wine just as one most likes it, because, there’s no accounting for tastes.
The truth is that there is no right or real temperature to drink a wine. One of the established and practical rules states that, the more body the wine has, the warmer it needs to be served, but we have to take into account that no wine is to be served at more than 18 º.
Red wines must be drunk at the so-called room temperature, that is to say, between 16 and 18 degrees Celsius; this temperature will help to keep the flavor, aroma and body of the wine. In case of young wines we can lower the temperature to 12-15 degrees to savour his freshness and its floral nuances. Now then, as we have said, one should take the wine at the temperature that one really enjoys it.
Read MoreBellini: a different, sparkling and very refreshing cocktail
After Christmas time, have you left a bottle of champagne? If so, today we would like to propose a simple cocktail, different, sparkling and very refreshing, made with cava: the Bellini.
The Bellini was invented in Venice in 1948 by the bartender Giuseppe Cipriani, owner of Harry ‘s Bar in that city (which has nothing to do with the local in Paris). This cocktail is named after the Venetian painter Giovanni Bellini.
The Bellini is made with 1/4 of white peach nectar and 3/4 of champagne or cava. It is a cocktail that is made directly into the cup and should be served immediately. According to Giuseppe, in order to make a good Bellini, we should make some juice, peeling some ripe white peaches, and strain this juice so that there is no juice pulp. Once we have the juice, we add champagne or good quality cava.
If you prove to do so, we hope that you may tell us what do you think of that experience.
Read MoreWill there be wineries at the bottom of the sea?
Some wines reached the bottom of the sea due to a shipwreck, but for some time, it can also be the result of experimentation.
Months ago we have heard of a Basque company (Bajoelagua Factory) which had an underwater laboratory for wine aging. Those in charge of the project recognized that the project had a lot of experience and also that it was a distinct initiative as a good marketing support for the product.
The project was located near the Biscayan beach of Plentzia with the possibility to dip more than 40,000 bottles to 15 meters of depth (49 feet). Once the bottles were submerged all kinds of sensors measured all the parameters that can affect the wine during its stay under the water.
At the time, as it usually happens with these things, there was a lot of talk about the project but, what do you think about this type of aging? Do you think that in the future there will appear more warehouses of this kind in our country?
Read MoreThe vineyard: Two plants in one
Have you ever heard that the plant of the vineyard is formed in turn by two plants? Do you know why is this so?
In the nineteenth century, phylloxera, a disease that attacks the foot of the plant, spread across Europe in an uncontrolled way and swept virtually all the vineyards. As a result, the entire sector fell into a deep crisis. The solution to this disease was found later, grafting American vines feet, resistant to disease, with the aerial parts of European vineyards.
For this reason, today, the vineyard is a plant with two different parts: the aerial and the foot. The foot part of almost all vineyards in the world has an American origin, while the aerial part, which is responsible to equip the plant and determine the personality of the grape variety, has usually a European origin.
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