Garnacha (Grenache) Tasting 2010

I should have posted this post a bit earlier as International Garnacha Day seems like it's in the distant past now, even though it was only 10 days ago!

I only discovered that Int'l Garnacha Day even existed on the Monday (20th) and it took me 24 hrs to realize that I could actually do something about it, and organize a tasting! So on Tuesday (21st) I called Carlos, the owners of La Cave du Petit (wine bar, wine shop, bistro) during the whole day, but no joy. So on Wednesday (22nd) I physically went there, and hit him with my bright idea. It was complicated, because on the Friday all his (4) tables were booked for supper, and the place was too small to do a tasting at the same time, though he liked the idea. But over a glass of Alfredo Maestro's Viña Almate 2008, inspiration came: we would do it on Thursday night (23rd) but we would make sure that the tasting ran through midnight, so 'technically' we could say that we did it on the right day (Friday 24th)!

So I got onto my mobile and Carlos onto his laptop and mobile and we began calling people up: producers willing to come with their wares, and wine-lovers willing to come and sample them. We called a lot of people and by the time we were done, the bottle of Viña Almate was done too!

In the end, only a few people came, as was to be expected given only 24 hrs' notice. However, lack of quantity was more than made up for by quality :)

Here's the cast of characters:

winemaker Samuel Cano
winemaker Alfredo Maestro
winemakers me and Juan
wineshop owner Carlos
wineblogger Ignacio Segovia
wine TV producer Eduardo Benito
winelovers Fermín, Julián, Dioni, Sergio and Ben and Courtney

And here's the list of props:

- Vinos Ambiz (100% Garnacha 2009) (AVIN6475421703467)
- Patio Ensamblaje 2008 (50% Shiraz, Tempranillo, Graciano, Petit Verdot) (AVIN8201428759293)
- 3 different wines from Alfredo Maestro (all Tempranillo)
- A French wine from Carlos ("Terraine"?)
- A German Riesling from Carlos

Hmm, it seems that there was only one wine with any Garnacha in it! Well, that's only to be expected too, I suppose, given the short notice. Anyway, nobody complained! The main thing is that we all had a great time, talking about wine for over 4 hours AND I got to wear my loud shirt with (mis)matching fractal geometry shorts, and stripey socks :)

Here are the links to some great videos:

- VinusTV (I understand now why Eduardo Benito took so long to send it to me - The quality is excellent! To be expected really as he's a pro. See the VinusTV web-site for other wine-related videos. There's a short "interview" with each one of the producers. I've seen the video but haven't heard it as the speaker in my computer is broken. I dread to think what I was saying!!!

- VenderVino 2 videos taken by Ignacio with his mobile.

I could't take any photos or videos because that day because I forgot to recharge and the batteries were flat :(

The interviews are in Spanish at the moment, but I'm working on subtitles in English.