Thursday, April 16, 2015
Immediately following the olive oil tasting, Violetta provided tapas to supplement the wine tasting – mild goat cheese slices, serrano ham thinly sliced, olives, and bread chunks. Ingrid chose to not participate and went out into Niguelas seeking a cup of hot tea. What is wrong with that girl???
Huelva, a region known for its strawberries, is making a comeback, producing lighter table wines (Condado de Huelva Blanco Joven). This a crisp delicious white wine. I don’t often drink white wine, but this one was refreshing.
Rioja, a classic region of northern Spain, produces some of the best wines in the world, some ready to drink young, others spending years in barrel and bottle before hitting the shelves. I have been drinking at least 1 glass of red Rioja every day since we arrived. It is used for the table wines and house wines in the restaurants and can be bought in the grocery stores at more than a reasonable price. Just order “una copa Tinto”, and you will soon have a generous glass of red wine in front of you!
Sherry or jerez is the Spanish wine from the southern region of Cádiz, and is enjoyed all over Andalu
cia. I was eager to finally sample sherry from Jerez as we didn’t make the trip to Jerez that we had wanted to do. This sherry is so sweet, being made from dried grapes (raisins) that it is frequently served over ice cream. It tasted delicious. Norm and I later ordered it over ice cream and loved it. There is a gelado flavor with raisins called “malaga”. I intend to try it soon, as I think it may derive from the raisin sherry over ice cream idea.
I did not get one single picture! Too busy drinking wine… I wonder? So I’ll just throw in this one from Granada. It shows the grand four enjoying the sunset view of the Alhambra from atop San Nicolas ridge. There’s a glass of wine nearby, I assure you.
Narrative Textile Illustrations 
Sounds relaxing! What are your favorite Tapas? What are the best clothes to pack?
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Terry… Is this you? The traditional “fast food” tapas are thinly sliced ham and thinly sliced cheese, olives by the bowlful, chips, and sliced baguettes. The medium priced to more expensive places sometimes offer tapas and wine/beer for the price of the drink. We like what is offered in those places better. That might be like what is pictured on the previous blog…brie with fruit and baguette slice, fried pastry rolled around ham and cheese. Gambas pil-pil is one we like. It is shrimp or prawns in butter/olive oil garlic sauce served very high temp in a crockery dish. The wine here is soooooo reasonable. “copa de tinto” means “I will have a glass of your house red wine”. It is usually Rioja and a generous glassful is around €2.00. Temps should be warmer when you are here in May, but pack for a spring day in San Francisco. It can be very warm during the day, but cool down and even be foggy, windy aand cold along the coast. This Andulucia region reminds us a lot of central CA. I think the area we are headed to in Valencia with a side trip to Barcelona will remind us of the northern CA area, like Mendicino etc. We head that way tomorrow. We have loved Spain!!! Wish our paths had crossed while you are here. We are loving the extended travel, staying in a condo etc. Let us know via email when you are here and how your travels go!
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Looks like you’re enjoying every minute of your lengthy vacation, and why not? Just seems to be a stream of beautiful and interesting places to visit, not to mention one continuous food-fest washed down with wine and more wine. I guess Ingrid didn’t want to lose her taste for tea! I’m sure she’ll change her mind.
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