Salón de Gourmets, Madrid

30-Mar-09 - This was my first excursion with Air Comet, after I discovered that they still fly into Terminal 1 at Madrid, thereby avoiding the awfulness of Terminal 4. The flight was a comfortable 10:25 departure from LGW-north and I arrived in plenty of time. Which was just as well. There was no sign of the flight on the departure boards so I went to the information desk to ask why. The clerk looked through his flight sheets: "Ah, yes, they've been taken over by Air Europa." "Yes?" "And Air Europa (AE) fly from the south terminal." "When did this change happen?" He riffled through his papers. "Er, yesterday." I can pick 'em!

So I dragged my wheelie-bag on to the shuttle thing and down to the south terminal where, indeed the flight was listed and, having come this far, decided to eschew the lift on the milk float and tough it out to the gate under my own (albeit slow) steam.

A couple of large ones in the lounge helped to stiffen the sinews, and I managed to get on board without too much difficulty. AE is one of those airlines where you have to buy your own food and drink and, having been up since about 05:00 that morning, I was starving. A couple of baguettes, some wine and another large one set me back about €18 but at least all I had to do at Madrid was get a cab to the Hotel Wellington on the calle Velázquez. This is an astonishingly posh place - one of those where you probably couldn't afford the coffee if you were spending your own money - so I installed myself in the palatial room and turned to Google Street View for assistance. This gets a lot of stick in the press, but if you're in a strange part of town it's a great help to look up and down the street in your room and suss out where things are. I was looking for a pharmacy, a cashpoint and a tapas bar (the hotel, of course, has an elegant and opulent bar at five-star prices but I prefer to drink where the locals drink) and I found them all without difficulty, although the bar was round the corner on the calle Goya. So far so good.

I was in Madrid as a guest of the 23rd Club de Gourmets Annual Fair, and I was to speak at a wine forum on 'The New Wine Scene' alongside several other luminaries from the press and trade, from Spain, Russia, France, Portugal and Italy. This was not until 16:00 which gave me the opportunity to trawl round the exhibition stands to see what was new. I was not to be disappointed.

Without going into too much detail, these were some of the highlights:

Juvé i Camps (Cava) had an elegant pavilion where I tasted, amongst others, the Gran Juvé i Camps (classic real Cava - 18½/20) and their new Chardonnay. It was very good (17/20) but it does depress me to see Cava producers trying to make fake Champagne when their own product is so good.

Veiga Serantes Selección 2007, Rías Baixas has 5 months on the lees and no oak, and had an almost gooseberry freshness and acidity: lipsmacking. 17/20

Rayuelo 2006, Manchuela, is a new release from Pago Alto Landon (see the Manchuela tasting post on 26-Feb-09) with 50% Bobal and the rest Malbec and Monastrell from their vineyards at 1,100m altitude, with 8 months in French oak: lovely ripe fruit, gentle woody notes and silky tannins. 17/20.

L'Ame 2006 Malbec, another one from Alto Landon with 12 months in French oak: big, powerful, warm, lotsa tannin but big fruit and needs time. 18/20

Working hard: with AltoLandon winemaker Rosalía Molina

Montreaga Clásico 2004, Manchuela again, this time with 100% Syrah, 18 months in French oak vats and 12 in barrica: remarkably clean and crisp for a 14% abv wine, with good fruit working the tannins well, a bit austere on the finish - needs time. 17/20

Martinsancho 2008, Bodegas Ángel Rodríguez Vidal, Rueda. I deliberately sought this one out on the generic Rueda stand. Ángel Rodríguez is very traditional and has vines so ancient that universities come to take cuttings from them. He doesn't use modern technology and routinely turns out what is quite possibly the best wine in Rueda: the nose has that hint of 'wood-oil' which bespeaks old vines, and the fruit manages to be delicate and intense both at the same time, with a lovely, bone-dry finish. Delicious. 18½/20

I always look out for the Condado de Huelva as it's a sadly-neglected region making fortified wines which, in the bad old days, went down the road to Jerez. They've been experimenting with joven afrutado styles, but the Zalema grape is a bit neutral even at its best. I tasted a range from Bodegas Díaz, including their Pálido and Viejo fortified wines, which are very pleasant, and very cheap. The highlight was Daiz - a 100% Syrah joven (classified Vino de Mesa) which had delicious light, peppery fruit with a warm richness on the mid-palate and some power on the finish - and at 12.3% abv it could be what the 'lower-strength' market is looking for: it retails at €3 a bottle in Spain. 17/20. Perhaps the most interesting was Naranja - a mistela of Zalema which had been aged for a year on the skins of bitter Seville oranges. It was deliciously refreshing and very... Well, orangey.

Most Venenciadores are old blokes, but not at the Condado de Huelva

Valtiendas is one of the two remaining VCPRD areas, just south of Aranda de Duero in the province of Segovia. There are 5 bodegas and they were represented on a generic stand. The standard was good - mainly 15s and 16s, and there were a couple of interesting finds, both from Bodegas Zarraguilla, a small winery with 11 ha of vines in Sacramenia:

Vennur 2005 is 100% Tempranillo, aged in French oak: rather closed on the nose but powerful dark fruit on the palate, working tannins, heat and length. Retails at €4 in Spain. 17/20

Zeta 37 2005 is also Tempranillo fermented and with 12 months in French oak. Great big tannins, great big fruit, power, warmth, length. This needs time but will be a blockbuster. 17½/20

I came, I saw, I Cangas - this VdlT area is in Asturias and until recently was involved in purely domestic and local viniculture, but it has ambitions and was exhibiting at the show. For interest's sake, they grow the Verdejo Negro and Albarín Blanco, neither of which (honest, guv!) are related to their more famous (almost) namesakes, as well as Carrasquín. There are 6 bodegas, all of them very small, and the wines made a respectable 15-16/20 but the problem they have is that production is so small that the prices are a bit prohibitive. Examples:

2006 Monasterio de Corias Guilfa is made from Verdejo Negro, Mencía and Carrasquín with 8 months in French oak: smoky and light on the nose, good tannic 'grip', nice ripe fruit and soft tannins on the palate. Decent, honest wine, but at €11-€12 it's fighting in a tough market. 16/20

2006 Pesgos, Bodega del Narcea has the same grape mix as Guilfa but no oak: again a 'smoky' nose, but bright fruit (I asked if it was made my maceración carbonica but they said it wasn't), and a nice, crisp, smooth, light and fruity palate - uncomplicated, delicious. 16/20

Then it was off to the forum. My fellow speakers were David Cobbold (Eccevino), Jose Bento dos Santos (El Sentido del Gusto, Portugal). J. A. Mompó (Bodegas Domecq), Irina Kutkovskaya (Empire of Taste, Russia) and Francesco Arrigoni (Corriere della Sera). The subject was how Spanish wines generally were perceived in our respective countries. Unfortunately the translator had been brought in at the last minute and hadn't been briefed, so I did my bit in Spanish, much to the amusement of the audience. I like to think it's because my Spanish is witty, informed and full of jokes, bit I suspect that it's probably because my Spanish is crap, even though I've been speaking it for twenty years or more.

The presentation went very well and the Club de Gourmets were very generous - not only did I pick up a freebie copy of the 2009 Guía de Vinos Gourmets (one of my Spanish wine and food 'bibles') but they also took us to dinner at Coque, where the chef-patron is, of course, Mario Sandoval, my co-author of COOK ESPAÑA, DRINK ESPAÑA! We had a tasting of wines from Ricardo Benito and then the the umpteen-course tasting menu as well as a guided tour of the restaurant, and Mario arrived late from a consultancy job/TV appearance/booksigning or something or other and came over to welcome us. It was a splendid, if late evening, and I retired gratefully to the Hotel Wellington. It was extremely comfortable and, fortunately, I didn't have an early start the following morning...

The wine cellar at Coque

Mario Sandoval greets the guests