Andalusian Wines continued: D.O. Manzanilla, D.O. Condado de Huelva and D.O. Montilla-Moriles
Manzanilla – This has the unique property that it is only produced in the coastal town of Sanlucar de Barrameda where the bodegas/ vineries have their own unique microclimate the river mouth of Guadalquivir.Hence San Lucar de Barrameda is the only D.O. for this wine. The wine itself is very pale, dry and has a particular aroma & usually the alcoholic content of about 15 -17%. It is a good accompaniment with “gambas” a local shrimp delicacy. I have provided pictures of a couple of good bottles of Manzanilla; Pedro Romero and La Barca de Triana
Pale Cream & Cream – Pale Cream is lighter, and only mildly sweet in comparison to the Cream variety, which is dark sweet with an intense aroma.These desert winesare made in the province of Huelva and the D.O. is Condado de Huelva. They contain between 15.5 & 22% alc. The cream pictured is Misterio from Bodegas Privilegio del Condado
Pedro Ximenez – Is made from grapes with the same name. It is dark in colour, with a strong aroma, having a bouquet of raisins, with high alcohol content. Bodegas Cruz Conde is located near Montilla (picture below) and Montilla-Moriles is the southern Spanish D.O. that produces the wines of this variety.
After having to recently hear about the mother-in-law’s trip to Andalucia in Southern Spain, and how wonderful the wines are. Although when asked,she wasn’t sure which wines she liked, just that they were “sweet like sherry!” Despite the fact, I tried to explain to her that there are different types, before she went. Having failed miserably, I thought it might be a good idea to try to utilize this knowledge I acquired from a previous holiday there, elsewhere.
Wines from Andalusia are produced in four areas. Sherry is grown in the area of Jerez de la Frontera and its surroundings in the province of Cadiz. Sweet desert wines are grown in both the provinces of Malaga & Montilla Moriles. Additionally, some vineries in the province of Malaga are now producing table reds. In Montilla Moriles there is a wide variety of wine producers, producing both sweet desert, and fortified wines. Condado de Huelva is the fourth area in Andalusia that produces wines; here a number of dry and sweet white wines are produced.
Types of Sherry
There are three types of sherry; Dry Sherries, Natural Sherries (as known as Sweet Sherries), and Blended Sherries.
Dry Sherries – are dry because the musts/ grape used during fermentation are fully fermented. Listed below are the different types of Dry Sherry:
·Fino– This is a clear, white Sherry, which is dry, light, and fragrant. Flor is the yeast used during the fermentation/ aging process. It typically has an alcohol content of between 15-18%.
·Oloroso - Its color can vary, it is fragrant, with an alcohol content of around 17-22%.
·Amontillado - is an amber colored, light smooth sherry, with a distinct hazelnut bouquet. Its typical alcohol content can vary from between 16% to 22%.
·Raya – is similar Oloroso, but cruder, with less fragrance and similar alcohol content.
·Palo Cortado – Like Amontillado this also has a distinct hazelnut flavour, but has a deeper colour similar to that of a mahogany Olorosso, with similar alcohol content (17-22%).
Two good examples of a dry sherry, which coincidentally, both happen to be Finos are Tio Pepe Palomino Fino, Pedro Domecq La Ina.These can be found in most wine specialists, and some supermarkets.
Having recently spent the weekend in Berlin on a business trip I was fortunate enough to have had a delightful evening meal at a restaurant, the h.h. Müller in the district of Kreuzberg. I enjoyed the 3 course meal so much that I feel that it would be unjust not to mention it on my blog, as it is rated among the top 5 restaurants in Berlin. After making the reservation online via the restaurants website. My colleague & I went for the meal on the Saturday evening, for a starter I had scallops sauted with mushroom and bacon in sauce, with a main course of Souffi with spinach and spring vegetables and some pistachio profiteroles in a vanilla sauce for dessert. My colleague had something similar except for the main course they had lamb, vegetables & mint sauce. To drink we both had a glass of wine.
When discussing about the fantastic wine list with the maitre, I was pleasantly surprised when he informed us that we could give opinions on, and share ones knowledge of wines on a website with its own winepedia! (that´s just what I'm looking for!) So, I got an info card from the restaurant on the site, incidently called Table-booking.com, in order to check it out when I got back home. I was surprised about this multilanguage portal, which is based on web 2.0 technology and offering a variety of features and services ( including reservations online, websites, video marketing, a management system,etc) for restaurants, guests, chefs, etc (as they mentioned along the web it is a mixed between myspace/facebook, youtube and wikipedia, but for the gastronomy worldwide).
Back to my main interest (the encyclopedia for wines) I just landed on the section labelled Gourmet´s World, where I finally found my online treasure: a Winepedia! I found the concept very similar to the well known Wikipedia, but much simpler to use, you can easily edit, publish articles on recipes, cocktails, cigars, spices and wines (I think they should add sections for beers, oils, etc.). I immediately signed-up as a new member of the goumet community (a kind of social network for lovers of wine and food, such as I!) I decided to test the winepedia and publish one or two articles, you can see the results by clicking on the links below.
I think this is a super idea, not just useful for the Wineries to promote their wines, by creating a profile and then publishing their own articles, but useful for someone such as myself who wishes acquire more knowledge on a variety of areas regarding food, wines and drink! Which I hope to do using these "pedias". I also have discoveredthat it is possible to upload your own pictures for the gallery of the article (like in the wikipedia your article should be revised, to detect copyrighted material, etc.) and paste some links. I have wanted for a long time now to write down my experiences about food, wine and travel. I began to do so a few weeks prior to my brief trip to Berlin, and I am glad that I found another place online, where I can also write about wines & combine it with my personal blog. I hope you can enjoy and contribute also!Here the articles that I published on the Winepedia so far:
about Andalusian Wines:
After recently reading an article I came across on yumsugar.com, I must admit wasn’t hugely surprised to see that Gordon Ramsey’s flagship restaurant is no longer in the “World’s Best restaurants” top 50 list.As it has a reputation built on someone who is frequently in the public eye and not so much on the quality of its gourmet. So that the average person can say “I’ve dined at Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant”. A man who is, perhaps as famous for his swearing (one word in particular!), as he is for culinary expertise. Despite the skills and expertise of Ramsay and his team, the panel responsible for producing this list, made up of chefs, restaurateurs & food critics have obviously taken this into account when considering where on the list Restaurant Gordon Ramsey should be placed.
However for any restaurant to fall from 13th to off the list altogether, says a lot about how competitive places on the list really are, and how high the standard/ quality of restaurant gourmet is throughout the world. While I recognize the fact that Gordon Ramsay is superb at what he does, and that his TV programmes are enjoyed by many, I feel that it is precisely this, which has inhibited his flagship restaurant making this year’s list.
I am a food & drink enthusiast, who enjoys nothing more than a good meal with a small drop of wine. There is nothing better than a Sunday Roast with a deep, juicy red or a Thai noodle salad with a dry white. As you are already aware, the wine accompanying a meal can make all the difference to the enjoyment of that meal.For example, you wouldn’t drink a Rosé with a Curry or a Riesling with a strong cheese.Hence, when enjoying a good meal with a drink it is all about the wine!!
One of my favorite meals is a battered Sea bass with salad and roast potatoes accompanied by a chilled glass of medium-dry Chardonnay.The recipe is listed below for anybody who would like to share the experience!
Ingredients
Sea Bass Fillet
300ml/½ pint vegetable oil, for deep-frying
3 tbsp self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
50ml/2fl oz cold sparkling water
3 ice cubes
250g/5½oz King Edward potatoes, halved
salt and freshly ground black pepper
lemon wedges, to serve with
A bag of premixed salad
3-4 Cherry tomatoes (optional)
Method
For the roast potatoes, you will firstly need to peel the potatoes, cut to a reasonable size.Then brush each one individually with oil before placing on a backing tray and cooking in the oven for around 40 mins (or longer if needed).
To cook the bass, you will firstly need to heat the vegetable oil in a saucepan. Secondly mix the flour with a teaspoon of baking soda before adding water to create the batter mix. Add the 2-3 cubes of ice and give the batter a stir.Dip the bass fillet into the batter mix ensuring that both sides of the fillet are dipped in batter.
If you are unsure how to batter a fish just watch this video (beer-battered method):
After ensuring that the oil is hot enough transfer the fillet into the saucepan and fry for 4 mins or so, then remove and place on kitchen towel to remove any excess vegetable oil.After a minute you can place on a plate together with the salad, cherry tomatoes and roast potatoes. Sprinkle with black pepper and serve with a slice of lemon on top of the fish.
Andalusian Wines continued: D.O. Manzanilla, D.O. Condado de Huelva and D.O. Montilla-Moriles 
