A Weekend in London, at RAW 2017

It was a very strange RAW weekend in London for me this year! 

Usually when I go to RAW, I come a few days before and arrange meetings, tastings, events, etc to make the most of my time, and to make the expense more worthwhile. But this year, due to 'circumstances', I wasn’t able to do that. The reason being that I had no wine available in London to use at said events; because my importers Otros Vinos had sold it all and the last shipment that I had sent over quite recently had been seized by HM Customs and Excise, and there wasn’t time to send over another shipment!

Of course there was lots of wine sitting at the RAW venue which I had shipped over specially for RAW, but due to HM C&E Regulations, I wasn’t allowed to remove the wine from the venue until after the fair – even though I’d already paid duty on the wine. Go figure! But anyway, such is life.

The upshot of the matter was that I had some extra days in London – with nothing to do!!  Apart from to relax and enjoy, that is. But I seem to have forgotten how to do that! I always seem to be active, running around, doing tasks, ticking items off my to-do lists, etc J

There were many events being held in the days before, during and after RAW in restaurants and winebars which I could have gone to (see this RAW page), but my mind and body seemed to be telling me to just stop it, let go and do nothing till Sunday 12^th (the first day of the Fair). So I did. I went for a walk, bright and early, in Battersea Park, had a coffee by the lake (and started writing this post!).

Battersea Park Lake Cafe Anglo-Saxon Table

But I was soon interrupted - by the call of duty. There was champagne to be drunk! It so happened that Caroline Henry was signing copies of her new book “Terroir Champagne”:

Cover of the book

It was being held at a nice winebar and restaurant called Cellar, at 1 Voltaire St in Clapham. Within walking distance of Battersea Park, so off I walked!

Cellar, at 1 Voltaire St, Clapham

It’s a really interesting book, especially if you don’t know much about champagne, like me! There’s a brief history of the Champagne region and an explanation of why so many grapegrowers there use chemicals and why it’s so difficult to stop using them. Then there’s photos, interviews and info on about 60 champagne makers who are either organic, natural, biodynamic or generally respectful of the environment.

Moi avec le book et le T-shirt

So I ended up staying there all day, tippling champagne and chatting to all the people who came along to buy a signed copy of the book and to have some food and champagne; which for the occasion was in fact Fruit de Ma Passion, by Vincent Charlot.

I met quite a few interesting people over the course of the day and evening, though of course I forgot to take notes and photos!

One person that I met was Cain Todd, a philosopher! Who’s also written a book – called The Philosophy of Wine. We’ve agreed to barter a copy of his book for some bottles of my wine! J

Another person that I met was Rosanna McPhee, a foodie blogger:

Rosanna McPhee, right (with Caroline Henry, left)

And so it went, until it was time to go for dinner!

The first day of RAW was awful! I felt really bad and hungover. Not surprising really, as I drank far too much Champagne the day before! And more wine at night! But still, I managed to do what I had to do, ie pour my wines and talk about them for 8 hours non-stop. And it was a busy, busy, busy for those 8 hours. It was so busy that it was really difficult to escape from my table to go for a pee or to nip outside to smoke a quick cigarette, or even to get something to eat! J

But it helped that all the wines I drank were natural. So they didn’t contain any noxious chemicals which is what makes hangovers really bad. The only horrible hangover effects I got were from the alcohol itself! Which can be dealt with, by the passage of time and lots of water!

Me and my wine bitch!

The second day was much better, from a physical point of view, ie I went to bed at 10 o’clock the night before and slept like a log till next morning! The fair was just as busy as the first day; I finished all my own business cards AND my UK importer’s too! Day two was also easier easier because I had a helper at my table, so I was able to sneak off more often!

And so it went, another year at RAW. Am now back to the normal surreality of a small independent winemaker, ie pruning vines, fixing fences, bottling up, sending samples, preparing orders, going to tastings when I can, ... 

Cheers!

PS, My next post, which I'm working on already, will be Part 2 of my previous post "Sierra de Gredos as a Wine Region", which I think focussed far too much on the negative side of the coin. The next post will focus on all the good stuff that's happening there.

Madrid Natural Wine Fair, 10th May 2015

Madrid Natural Wine Fair, 10th May 2015

This is the third of three related posts that I’m uploading in a row. The first was up the day before yesterday, the second was up yesterday and this is the third.

Just a few personal thoughts and a bit of feedback on this natural wine event, which I hope will be the first of many, as it was a great success.

Here's a view of the main room where the fair was held (at Impact Hub in Madrid), and which was extremely well organized by the PVN (the Spanish natural wine producers association "Productores de Vinos Naturales"):

I was in that room at the back with the red cupboard

My table, with my wares

A view from the street

First I have to confess that I was actually very sceptical in the run-up to this event and that I thought that it would be a waste of my time to go. In fact, when I was invited to participate as a producer, I seriously considered whether I should go or not. I was weighing up my options, as it were, as I had (have!) so many things to do in the vineyards/winery that whether to "waste" a day at a fair was a major decision for me. In the end, what decided me was that as I actually live and work in Madrid, it would be inexcusable/ unforgivable/ shameful if I didn't go, even if it were to turn out to be a waste of time. Sorry, but that's the truth!!!

Some wine, anyone?
(photo by Gabriel Blocona)

I have to further confess to being very surprised at the number of visitors throughout the day. After 11 straight hours on the go (from 9:00 in the morning to 8:00 in the evening) I ended up with sore feet, a sore mouth and a sore throat!  From standing up attending to visitors and from talking about my wines! I think that's a pretty good indicator of the success/failure of an event, no?

A view of the main room from upstairs(photo by Gabriel Blocona)

I received a curious mixture of visitors: on the one hand there were lots of 'trade' people, like bloggers, shop/restaurant people, and other wine-related people, and I even made a contact for a possible importer in Japan! Which I've been seeking for quite some time, but with the inscrutability on the one side and the laziness on the other, ... things have been uneventful on that front :)

Yet more wine, anyone?
(photo by Gabriel Blocona)

And on the other hand, there were lots of 'normal' general–public visitors too who didn't know much about wine technically-geekily speaking, but who had come to see what this was all about. Which was great, as these are the most important link in the supply chain that runs from the earth under the vines to our stomachs!

The lovely food at the Fair was provided by Carlos, of the ex Petit Bistrot (Madrid's only natural wine bar and restaurant), which has recently rebranded itself as SoloDeUva (“OnlyFromGrapes”). I was pleased to see that he also brutally exploits his wife and children - in the kitchen, in his case; as opposed to in the vineyard and winery in my case. Traditions must be maintained!

Many thanks to Carlos Scholderle, and Gabriel Blocona for looking after my stand while I went to answer the call of nature several times during the course of the day. Also thanks to Jorge Sibaritastur for fetching me assorted glasses of neighbouring producers' wines for me to taste, including two from Frank Cornelison, who was the most famous name at the fair (tho he wasn't there in person!). Thanks also to Hugo, son of Carlos, for bringing me things to eat from his father's popup, during the course of the day.

I presume that all the other producers (see final list here) were equally busy. So I guess that means the event was a great success :)

Packup up
(photo by Gabriel Blocona)

The major stress factor that day (or with hindsight it could now be called 'amusing anecdote') was that at 12:30, I was already running out of wine! I had only taken three bottles of each wine, thinking that it would be more than enough. But of course it was nowhere near enough. So I phoned a friend (who had a car) and asked her to do me a favour and go to my house in Madrid and bring me every bottle of wine available! She duly turned up within the hour, with about 20 assorted bottles which saved the day :)

At 8 o'clock we started clearing up and moving out, heading towards Le Petit Bistrot itself for the after-event drinking session dinner. :)

First Post of 2014: Vineyard and Winery Tasks

Good morning, Happy New Year, etc. I hope you all survived.

Well, it's 2014 already, and I've got lots of decisions to make, chickens to stuff, and joints to roll, as they say :)

I'm just back from a long-ish break in Scotland (rain, rain and more rain, every single day!) where I hardly ever logged on to the internet, did almost no social media at all, and generally just slothed out, by watching TV, and occasionally going out for a pint of beer or a glass of wine! And a well-deserved break it was too, even if I say so myself, after an intense 6-month period of non-stop frenetic cleaning, scraping, painting, fixing up the new bodega, followed by weeks of harvesting and fermenting loads of grapes and wines!

Now basically, I have to settle down and get on with the following:

1. Pruning/tending my vineyards

2. Selling all the wines I just made

3. Deciding which wine fairs to go to, if any

4. Beautifying the new bodega

1. Pruning / Tending my Vineyards

I have till round about April to do all the pruning. At the time of writing this (Jan 2014) the leaves have fallen off the vines, which means that the vines have become dormant for the duration of the winter and have drawn back the sap and nutrients into their roots and trunk. So it's OK to start pruning because you won't be removing any of that sap and nutrients, which will come in very hand for the vines in spring when they wake up and start sprouting new leaves.

I've found that there's no point trying to schedule this activity, and I'll just go to the vineyards and prune whenever I have free time and when I'm not doing Activities 2., 3. or 4. above.

This year I have an extra vineyard to prune, in El Tiemblo, which is an old-vine Garnacha vineyard. About 1 hectare. I think maybe about 70-80 years old, but I'll have to check that with the owner.

(photos pending)

2. Selling all the Wines I Just Made

Yup, there's no point filling up the bodega with bottles of wine, is there? I have to ship them all out.

Basically, this will involve me sitting down in front of my computer and writing emails to importers all over the world. Except for the USA that is, where I already have Jose Pastor Selections. ("Hi, José"!)  :)

But it's not that easy! Before writing off emails, I'll have to do some research and some due diligence, because it's not a good idea to work with just any old importer! I have to try to find importers that will be good for me, and who I will be good for. My wines have to fit in with their existing portfolio and they have to be able to place my wines in the right type of outlets. And so forth. Then, after the flurry of emails, I will probably have to send samples. And then, hopefully, there will be a flurry of orders, and will have to bottle, cork, label, box my wines and ship 'em out! :)

3. Deciding which wine fairs to go to, if any

Basically, the basic criterion here for me is the cost: air-fare or petrol, accomodation, shipping of wine, and living expenses while there (ie breakfast, lunch, dinner, local transport, etc).  Is it worth it? ie, will any possible extra sales cover all these expenses?  Well, in my limited experience of wine fairs so far, the answer is absolutely not!!!   On the other hand, a wee trip abroad to a wine-fair is good for the soul, and it's nice to chat and drink wines with other producers and with a different wine-loving public.

I`m juggling with these fairs:

- REAL Fair (London) in April
- RAW Fair (London) in May
- Villa Favorita in April (Italy)
- H2O Natural (Tarragona, Spain) in July
- others...

4. Beautifying the New Bodega

There's lots of work to de here! Even though we worked hard for three months or so this summer to get the bodega up to standard, there's still a lot that we can to to make it actually look nice. At the moment we've just done the basic minimum, legally required works and installations in order to get our permits and licenses.

Ideas include:

• Making a vegetable garden so I can plant fresh veg!

• Putting up some poles and wires so I can train so grape vines along them, to create shade and a nice spot to lounge under
• Selling all the scrap metal we've found
• Throwing out all the other rubbish and rubble we've found
• ...other ideas!

Well, that's enough tasks and good intentions for now. Lets just see how it goes!

(photos pending! no time to seek them out dammit. Publish and be damned I say)

Hi-ho! Hi-ho! To Fenavin I Went

Three days at a fair like FENAVIN was too much for me! I had a great time (socially and wine-tasting-wise) but it was excessive "work-wise", ie making contacts with importers and distributors, etc. Basically, because my production is so small, I already have all the importers and distributors I need this year anyway! And being nice to people for 8 hrs/day, 3 days in a row was really trying!!! I'd much rather have been alone in my vineyard!!!

Our stand "Caballo de Troya"

(my barrel is the left- most one with the"I'll be back" sign attached)

There were 14 of us who got together to rent a space in common so as to save on expenses; all of us more or less small-ish artisan-type producers of organic and/or natural wines. Each producer had one barrel.

Technically and logistically, everything worked out just fine, thanks to Jose Miguel Márques (Bodega Marenas) who coordinated between us and the fair organizers, and to Julian Ruiz (Esencia Rural) who kindly provided the barrels that we used to display our wines.

Socially, I devirtualized quite a few friends form Twitter and FB, and also made a few that have still to be virtualized!!!

I had a pocketful of visiting cards, but unfortunately have managed to lose them all; and of course now I can't remember the names of all the people who came to taste my wines! But here are some that I do remember:

Nacho Bueno, Spanish wine-blogger; sponsor of one of my oak casks (see this post), and collaborator in the creation of the 2010 coupage "Los Cinco en Punto"

Ignacio Segovia, organizer of The Winebus, running wine-tourism visits to wineries within a radius of about 2 hours from Madrid. Hopefully, he will organize a visit to me, when I have a winery that is 'visitable' one day!!! :)

Sam Caldwell, owner of SMC Fine Wines, who distributes to restaurants and winebars in La Mancha

A trio of Frenchmen (living in Spain): Carlos Campillo, of Petit Bistrot fame, the only winebar/restaurant in Madrid exclusively serving natural wines. Benoit Valée, importer of French and Spanish natural wines, to his new winebar, L'Anima del Vi in Barcelona, and Jean Jacques (surname?) soon to be starting a wine project in Madrid.

Mar Galvan, a professional wine-taster and writer, (for Verema among other publications), who took this photo of me!

Me and my barrel

Mónica Fernández Bobadilla, export manager at Pago Casa del Blanco, came to visit several times a day, so she could step out of her high heels and relax from the very serious and corporate ambiance at her own winery's stand!

who else?...


I have two interesting anecdotes worth mentioning (both involving food and wine! How surprising!):

Tuesday night

After closing up the shop at 7 o'clock (ie, rinsing out wineglasses, tidying up, etc) I was milling around trying to decide what to do for dinner, when my problem was instantly solved by Samuel Cano (fellow natural wine producer, from La Mancha), who'd booked a table for 10 at a restaurant, and invited me along. So we drove to Daimiel (about 20 mins away from Ciudad Real) and parked right next to the restaurant (which is of course impossible to do in Madrid!). It was a low, white-washed, traditional-looking building right in the centre of town, called El Bodegón. Inside, the decor was really nice (ye olde traditional style, tiles, exposed wooden beams, etc). In fact it used to be a bodega, and they'd kept some of the machinery and features for decoration. Downstairs in the basement, they had kept the 'tinajas' (large clay vats for fementing wine) and cut out a doorway into each one; and inside each vat was a table for two!! How romantic is that?

But we had a round table for 10 upstairs. I was expecting some traditional food from La Mancha, ie solid, consistent, no-nonsense energy-giving food, but was I in for a surprise!  It turns out that the restaurant did 'nouvelle cuisine' or 'fusion' or whatever it's called! So we were served plate after plate (I lost count after the 12th!) of intricate and complex delicacies (tiny portions on large plates!). They were all very tasty and interesting, but it's not really my style. It was in fact the first time that I'd had such a 'dining experience'. I'm really glad to have done it, but I don't think I'd do it again, if other options were available! I think we were given special treatment (as Samuel is a friend of the owner!) and we 'only' paid €55 each. This is a huge amount for me to spend on dinner, but on the way out I saw the menu at the front door and noticed that each one of those tiny plates we had cost an average of €20!!!! And we weren't charged for any wine, because we'd all brought our own!

Wednesday night

Action replay at 7 o'clock, milling around, and this time my problem was solved by Roberto (surname?), winemaker at Suertes del Marques (Tenerife). He was going round collecting bottles of wine and inviting people to a paella for dinner at the house he was staying at. Which was in Alcolea de Calatrava, about 20 mins from Ciudad Real. It was a sort of bungalow, with a large back garden and all the infrastructure needed for a barbeque, ie firewood, charcoal, grill, kitchen, table and chairs, etc!

Two paellas were planned (a vegeatable one and seafood one), but unfortunately a Frenchman was in charge of the cooking, and he burnt the first one!! For the record, it was Sebastien (surname?), who makes natural wine in Alicante! But to the important business of the evening: Roberto had managed to collect 28 different bottles of wine, which we all proceeded to taste blind, to see if we could guess at least the variety and the region. Well, I was in the presence of some awsome and experienced expert tasters (like Juan Ponce, Gregory Perez, Mal Galvan, Alfredo Maestro, and more etc), while I couldn't taste my way out of a paper bag, so I was just tasting and listening and learning.

Round about wine #12, I thought that I knew what the wine was, but I didn't dare to speak up, and lo-and-behold, when the bottle was uncovered, I was right - it was an oak-aged Albillo.

Then at around wine #20+, I was pretty sure that it was a Garnacha. The experts were humming-and-hawing and not committing themselves, so this time I just blurted it out. And it was! :)  That just goes to show, that if you practice enough and remember the wines you taste, you really can learn. I managed to identify that Garnacha, because I take every opportunity I can to taste Garnachas, and have been doing so for about three years! Even so, I couldn't identify the region!

Eventually at about midnight, the paella was ready, and it turned out very nicely!

Paella in the making

Then, more wine and wine conversations till about 4:00 a.m. We talked wine for the entire 8 hours that we were there! Amazing! No talk about football, politics, filmstars, or any of that other stuff that people tend to talk about. Absolutely brilliant.

I have to say that I behaved myself admirably, as I was driving. So I actually spat (most of) the wines we tasted blind, and then I stopped drinking altogether after the paella. Which brings me to the last anecdote: I was driving back to our own bungalow (on the other side of Ciudad Real) with Alfredo Maestro, who had promptly fallen asleep as soon as we set off! And he didn't even wake up when I got stopped by the police, and had to furnish documents and explanations!!! They didn't give me a breathalizer test, but I think I would have passed it if they had. So, home and in bed by 5:00 am. Not bad, considering!

Conclusion

Would I go again to a similar fair? Well, for the wining and dining and networking and conversational experiences, yes. But not to sell wine or 'make contacts'!  And I'd think twice about going to a fair for 3 days in a row!

And talking about wining and dining experiences, I'm going to end this post with a rant against Spaniards and Spain in general - because I've been living here long enough, and paying Spanish taxes for long enough, to have the right to complain!!!!  And what I'm complaining about is the absolutely appalling and shameful quality (and quantity) of the catering services provided at Fenavin. They consisted of a large functional cafeteria, of the type you used to see at airports, railway stations and bus-stations. No table service. Only 2 barmen attending hundreds of customers at the bar. I managed to get a beer after about 15 mins (but only because I saw someone I knew getting served and I got him to sneak my order in!). I didn't bother trying to get anything to eat, but went outside instead. Where the situation wasn't any better. There was a street with 4 or five bar/restaurants serving lunch. But did they buy extra food for the 3 days of the fair? Did they put out extra tables? Did they hire a few more waiters, to attend to literally thousands of extra customers from the fair?  No, they didn't! Go figure what's going through the bar owners' and fair organizer's heads, if anything! Oh well. I wasn't too bothered myself, because I'm used to it, but what must foreign visitors be thinking? What kind of an impression would they be taking home with them?