Thursday, May 19, 2005, 17:41 - From the Desk of the Management
~ Good Evening! ~Just a quick entry tonight after a long ' vacation' from the blog. And not that we have been on vacation, per se, but rather, *busy.*
We have just returned from the Spanish wine fair FENAVIN, which takes place in Ciudad Real every other year. Ciudad Real is the heart of La Mancha, which is also the heart of the Spanish wine sector. Also known as the Feria Nacional del Vino, FENAVIN is one of the largest wine fairs in western Europe.
This year's edition was very interesting. The Spanish are learning a great deal about the possibilities for their wine industry, not only in terms of marketing, like the French and the Italians mastered decades ago, but also in terms of an outstanding quality in relation to price. The world really has yet to see the quality this country is capable of!
Many of the country's Denominations of Origin were respresented at the fair, including La Mancha, Jumilla, La Rioja, Navarra, Penedes, Ribera del Duero, Montilla-Moriles, Mentrida, Ribera del Jucar, Manchuela, Valencia, Rias Baixas, and many others.
Of particular interest was the ' Tunel de Vinos,' which was literally a sea of wines available for tasting, at your own leisure, and without the pressure of a bodega ( a ' bodega' is a Spanish winery) representative throwing a pitch at you. One morning I was able to spend several hours just tasting white wines, and I barely tasted 50 of the 300 that were available! It was nice to experience 15 elaborations of Godello, and 14 others of Albariño.
In addition, the Ciudad Real Chamber of Commerce treated us to lodging in that city in order to encourage business and participate in the country's number one business; WINE.
It's a great industry to be in!
~ The Management ~
http://www.mejiaamerica.com
| [ 0 trackbacks ] | permalink
Saturday, April 16, 2005, 16:33 - From the Desk of the Management
~ Good Evening! ~We here at Mejia America wish to say congratulations to our Spain-side partner and attorney Jose Piqueras and his wife Mar for the recent birth of their beautiful daughter Blanca on April 12th at 11:45am.
Blanca is very special, not only because she is a beautiful baby girl and because she is Jose and Mar's new baby, but also because she was a relatively easy birth ( word has it!). She didn't want to come out! Labor was induced many days after the expected date.
Here is a picture of Jose with his new baby:
And here is a picture of Jose's wife Mar with their son Pablo, and their new baby:
The birth of Blanca *almost* inspired the naming of one of our wines in her namesake, but since Jose and Mar were not sure of the name they would give their baby girl, as she was not yet born, we decided to name the wine differently. Hopefully you'll soon see that wine on a shelf near you!
Again, CONGRATULATIONS, JOSE AND MAR!!
~ The Management ~
http://www.mejiaamerica.com
| [ 0 trackbacks ] | permalink
Thursday, March 31, 2005, 13:59 - Wine-Related Accessories
~ Good Evening! ~In today's mail came a copy of the latest freebie issue of the local magazine Sedona Monthly. This magazine generally features information about Sedona in relation to tourism, and oftentimes also features interesting tidbits about the local art community.
This month's cover and feature is WINE CELLARS! Indeed, wine cellars can be FUN. Take a look at the magazine and see which wine cellar you like the most. Our favorite is the wine cellar by Jeff Graham, who also happens to be a big Spanish wine fan!
Jeff has employed a tactic that one of the members of the Mejia America staff was hoping to try at some point, which is to use oddly shaped and hollowed out ceramic patio pieces, which are stacked into uniform patterns. The wine bottles are then loaded into the hollow portion of the ceramic frame. Ceramics are ideal for this type of use because they maintain a very constant temperature, thus simulating an optimal geo-thermal ' basement' or cellar effect.
Ironically, and sorry if you cannot look at the magazine, which is most of you, the only wine cellar shown on the website is Keith Schall's, which ain't too shabby. He cites not only his love for wine, but also the book How and Why to Build a Wine Cellar as his inspiration for building this home cellar. While he did not construct the actual room, with its state-of-the-art science advantage, he did construct the shelving himself and leaned on his own artistic prowess for the decor.
The Sedona Monthly website article goes on to reveal only the pictures of the owners of the featured wine cellars instead of pictures of the subject matter itself. So while Jakob Nielsen would have a cow regarding the non-usability of the Sedona Monthly website article, we tip our hats to Sedona Monthly for featuring wine cellars. If you get a chance to see the magazine you'll understand what each of the wine cellars offer in terms of decor and uniqueness.
~ The Management ~
http://www.mejiaamerica.com/
| [ 0 trackbacks ] | permalink
Sunday, March 27, 2005, 16:44 - Lodging, Hotels, etc...
~ Good Evening! ~When traveling on business it is important to be comfortable, as living out of a suitcase is a real drag! We were not disapointed with a recent stay.
On MA's last trip to Spain, we had the luxury of staying in a very nice hotel, compliments of a very good friend of ours. It was the AC Hotel in Pamplona.
The rooms were lavish, comfortable, very keenly decorated, and rich. The bed chamber was adorned with all wood-paneled walls and floors, wood bed frame, dresser and nightstand units, and a sizeable closet. The minibar was entirely compliments of the hotel, which of course builds the pricing into your room rate.
The bathroom was all marble, with a glass-enclosed shower stall. The sink and coutertop were strangely spartan, with only a marble top about 3 inches think, a glass sink bowl hanging from the center, and four skinny stainless steel legs holing it all up. The fixtures were all a nicely brushed stainless steel. The toiletries were also fairly unique, with seemingly high-quality contents for the soaps and shampoos.
Many Americans have a difficult time of it, but as usual, space in European hotels is very limited. So, although the room was almost perfect in every way, it was a *little* cramped. But for the money ( even though we were guests, we still know the rate), and in such a city as Pamplona, it could not have been better! We therefore recommend any AC Hotel.
It has also come to our attention that the AC Hotel Santo Mauro comes highly recommended, although starting at 292 euros per night, we might wait until we've sold that 1,000,000 bottles.
~ The Management ~
http://www.mejiaamerica.com/
| [ 0 trackbacks ] | permalink
Sunday, March 27, 2005, 13:42 - Wine-Related Accessories
~ Good Evening, and Happy Easter! ~Our second ' Easter' posting for the evening...
We think the newer lines in popular glassware are great! Not only does this glassware appear hip, stylish, and easy to use, but it can also optimize the wine experience.
Especially with red wines, the heat from your own hand assists the wine in breathing more properly. As your wine ' warms,' and we don't mean microwave warm, it begins to respire and oxygenate, thus encouraging the natural enhancement of the flavors otherwise concealed by a wine way too ' cold.'
Check out the glassware offered by Riedel . It's available in many higher-end stores, and is certainly noted for its quality. Of course, one often pays dearly for quality, so don't expect bargain-basement pricing on this glassware.
Many other glassware manufacturers have followed suit and produce their own style of " O"-ware. You can find it at most home furnishing chains, from Crate and Barrel to Target . As well, the quality of glass will vary.
Our only complaint with this type of glassware is that manufacturer's like Riedel opt only to name their glasses after the French grape varieties. Don't think that just because the glass you have purchased is called a ' Burgandy' or a ' Merlot' tumbler that you must only consume that type of wine in it. Reds, across the board, perform about the same in the different red wine glasswares available. And unless you are a serious wine guru, you won't care what the shape of the glass is.
Have fun with it! Get into the Wines of Spain!
~ The Management ~
http://www.mejiaamerica.com
| [ 0 trackbacks ] | permalink
Sunday, March 27, 2005, 13:09 - Wine-Related Accessories
~ Good Evening, and Happy Easter! ~Every now and then we like to offer information about wine-related tidbits that are interesting to us, that are accessible to the masses, and that in general encourage fun surrounding the already fun hobby, or lifestyle, that is wine.
How many ways are there to open a wine bottle? Well, one, really. Take out the cork and the bottle is open, right? Well we're talking about the ways in which we can pull out that cork.
Maintaining our own not-quite-original-but-effective mantra ' simple is better,' we prefer the old fashioned ' jack-knife'-style corkscrew. It's a combination blade, for cutting off the metal capsule covering the cork, and fold-out corkscrew with the stabilizing self-adjusting elbow that essentially allows you to push, while it pulls, the cork out of the bottle. Pop! A healthy bottle of wine is opened! This type of corkscrew is also known as a ' waiter's style' corkscrew because is it fits easily into a side pocket, is lightweight, and is quick and easy to use.
Specifically, we think these corkscrews are pretty nifty: fun corkscrews . Not only are they compact, colorful, undoubtedly effective, and otherwise ' hip,' they are durable and promise to stand the test of time. They are made by French knifemaker ' Forge de Laguiole,' who has been making quality blades and cutting devices for better than 200 years.
Here are some other corkscrews offered by an online wine accessories store whose selection of products we appreciate. These vary in pricing from expensive to relatively inexpensive. As well, you will find ' Forge de Laguiole' among the manufacturers.
Expensive? Yes. Can you find cheaper corkscrews elsewhere? For sure. We didn't promise that the wine-related gadgets we would point out would be cheap, necessarily. In fact, if you ever have the opportunity to attend a wine tradeshow, you will certainly find all kinds of freebie toys being handed out, which undoubtedly will include corkscrews.
~ The Management ~
http://www.mejiaamerica.com/
| [ 0 trackbacks ] | permalink
Wednesday, March 23, 2005, 06:42 - Wine and Health
~ Good Afternoon! ~Wine has a number of traits that we notice readily; flavor, color, aroma, alcohol, and its inherent uniqueness as a beverage. Wine also contains many compounds that we do not readily see, but that are beneficial to us in countless ways.
Specifically, wine is rich in antioxidants such as resveratrol, cachetin, guercetin, and saponin. There are many more, as well.
Recent studies have shown resveratrol to be a very important anti-oxidant. It occurs in the skin and seeds of grapes, and so during the fermentation process, this antioxidant is leeched out of the skin and seeds and is married into the fermenting wine. So wine, in its final state, is essentially an antioxidant broth.
Resveratrol is easily assimilated into the human body, and is known to participate in the body's fight against heart disease, cancer, lung diseases ( such as chronic obtrusive pulmonary disease), as well as a veritable compendium of other ailments.
Resveratrol is also known as phytoestrogen, which binds to estrogen receptors, forcing estrogen to stay in the system longer. This makes wine a great dietary supplement for women with estrogen deficiencies, and can combat ailments common to women such as menopause, osteoporosis, cardivascular disease, and breast cancer. A moderate amount of red wine per day may assist the body in maintaining estrogen.
Wine is also rich in other antioxidants, such as cachetin, guercetin, and saponin. In combination with resveratrol, cachetin reduces the risk for heart disease greatly. Guercetin is shown to inhibit lung cancer onset. Saponin, found also in olive oil and soy beans, offer protective benefits to the heart. Each of these antioxidants are shown to be easily assimilated into the body.
For more information about the healthful benefits of wine, we suggest the Red Wine and Heatlh website , and the October, 15th, 2004, issue of Wine Spectator.
~ The Management ~
http://www.mejiaamerica.com/
| [ 0 trackbacks ] | permalink
Sunday, March 13, 2005, 16:54 - Wine Tradition
~ Good Evening! ~So what does Toasted Head Chardonnay, from RH Phillips of Esparto, CA., have to do with the Spanish wine tradition? Sit back and we'll tell you.
Toasted Head gets its name from the tradition of 'toasting' the inner core of a wooden oak barrel that wine is then aged in. 'Aged' is a relative term, because aging in oak could be from 3 months to as many as *many* years, depending of course upon the goal of the enologist.
Here's what this has to do with the Spanish wine tradition: For centuries the Spanish have been aging their wines in oak, but it was not always on purpose. When the conquistadors began bringing wine back to Spain from the new world, they generally brought it back in oak casks, like many beers and malt beverages were. Naturally, this oak had to be sealed in order to maintain the liquid inside the container and prevent drippage, which was achieved by toasting the oak inside the barrel.
Those of you who know anything about cooking know that when you toast, or caramelize, many types of meats or veggies, you enhance the flavor by reducing out the moisture, thus concentrating the existing flavor. Garlic, for example, is a great one to toastt. As it becomes more golden, the flavor intensifies. Toasting oak is similar. When the oak is toasted it brings out the inherent 'flavor' of the wood, intensifies it, and then 'marries' that flavor to the liquid contained within. Now we have hints of oak married into the wine! Genius!
Also, most enologists will have a preferred degree of toast they like in the oak they employ in their wine-making process. So, for example, the makers of Toasted Head are employing a preferred degree or grade of toast to their oak. This particular grade of toast 'touches' the wine with hints of vanilla, which go nicely with the natural apricot one finds in Chardonnay. Hints of vanilla tend to come from French oak, while hints of cedar or pine tend to come from American oak. Spanish wine makers tend to employ not only American and French oak, but also Hungarian and Russian.
We cite Toasted Head purely for the reason that such oaking is *not* as common in Californian, and other wines, as it is in Spanish wines, yet it is obviously a popular style because Toasted Head has become quite a popular line of wines, and with good reason. They are nice, easy to drink, enjoyable wines.
Based simply upon the USA's acceptance of wines such as Toasted Head, we believe that the USA will accept similarly oaked Spanish wines.
We salute Toasted Head, and encourage you to try their wines if you have not! We also encourage you to Get Into the Wines of Spain!
~ The Management ~
http://www.mejiaamerica.com/
| [ 0 trackbacks ] | permalink
Sunday, March 13, 2005, 15:59 - Grapes of Spain
~ Good Evening! ~Native to Spain, the grape variety Monastrell is a favorite of Mejia America.
Many rumors, and perhaps even 'urban myths,' at least in the wine world, have been told about where Monastrell came from and where it is now. Yes, 'urban myth' equivalents occur in the wine world too and are traded among wine geeks like baseball cards among.... Well you know who...
One particular fact about Monastrell is certain; it is a grape that has been cultivated in Spain and France for many centuries. The French call it Mourvedre, and that is also the name is known by in the USA and many other parts of the world.
Would you like to hear an interesting tale about Monastrell? During Napoleon's first attempt at the conquest of Europe, many of France's vineyards were suffering bouts of plague, like many of France's people as well. Mourvedre, among other varieties, nearly died out entirely. It was Napoleon and those associated with his empire that brought Monastrell from south-eastern Spain back to France to cultivate it once again as Mourvedre. This was told to us by an enologist whose primary goal in life has been, and *is*, the perfection of excellent Monastrell wines.
We at Mejia America argue, as well as many viti-culturalists, that when a particular grape variety is transplanted to a new geographical biome, i.e., from Spain to France, that grape will adapt to the conditions of that biome and manifest its differences in tannins, sugar content, polyphenol content, etc., slowly but surely over the course of time due specifically to that change in biome. A biome is another word for environment. So in other words, that transplanted grape essentially becomes a new type of grape, albeit genetically still very similar to its parent. This is really no shocker because as the world has seen, oranges have become quite differentiated simply for their growing environment.
So while Monastrell and Mourvedre are very similar, very distinct differences can be noted in the final product of those grapes. A Monastrell wine from Jumilla, an arid region of south-eastern Spain with intensely hot summers, will differ greatly from a Mourvedre wine from northern France, a more temperate and wet region. Similarly, Mourvedre wines from California are yet more unique.
We want to stress that we don't believe any Monastrell or Mourvedre wine is particularly better than any other. Of course, there is good wine and bad wine - duely noted. But our point is that Monastrell wines are not 'better' than Mourvedre, nor vice versa. The beauty of it all is that there are *so many* wines to be tried, and *so little* time to try them all!
What does Monastrell taste like? Deep, dark, black, mature, plum-like, hinted of licorice, hinted of clove, sugary, FRUIT. Monastrell wines are generally very dark in color, high in alcohol, with a medium-high acidity, and are FABULOUS when aged 9 months to a year in oak. But of course, they are also fantastic when less than a year old! We believe that some of the best Monastrell wines come from Jumilla, Spain.
Yes, we are big fans of Monastrell around here!
~ The Management ~
http://www.mejiaamerica.com/
| [ 0 trackbacks ] | permalink
Friday, March 11, 2005, 16:30 - From the Desk of the Management
~ Good Evening... ~Today's entry is different than any of the others I will post this year, likely. It is simply to pay respect for the victims of the train bombings in Madrid one year ago today, also known as "11M."
"11M" is the manner in which the Spanish write "3/11", 11th March. They also refer to our "9/11" as "11S", 11th September.
When life-changing events occur, people that were present tend to remember exactly what they doing, where they were going, and what was on their minds when they heard the news.
A year ago today I got up out of bed at about 7am, realizing I was too late for the train I wanted to catch out Atocha station. I was staying at my friend's family apartment in Madrid on calle Rios Rosas ( number 6). I had been traveling non-stop for almost 14 days with my wife and a good friend from Ciudad Real, and was *so* tired I could have slept the entire day. My wife had left the morning before on the 10th from Barajas ariport, and I elected to stay another night in Madrid to get some much needed rest.
I finally turned on the television by 8am to catch the morning news, while simultaneously deciding to hurry to leave my apartment in hopes of catching another train. Just then an emergency announcement came on to tell the news of 'a bombing' at Atocha station. The news reported that 66 people had been killed.
I was really sorry to hear about these people dying, and had no idea how serious it really was, and so was also slightly concerned about how that would affect train and travel out of Atocha. Madrid is the center of the hub for all trains going from north to south, and from east to west, and so one incident like this can paralyze the city and country. Atocha is marvelously efficient, but is not in any way redundant.
I gathered my suitcase and my jacket and got right out to the metro ( in Madrid the metro is the subway, or 'tube') to get over to Atocha. The metro stop I needed was shut down, and so I had to exit two stops ahead and walk the remaining distance. Nothing could have prepared me for what I was about to see, and I can still see it now. All I could hear were sirens, vehicles racing to their destinations, shouts from people I could not yet see, and horns from commuters not understanding why they were in such a traffic jam.
When I got to the station, it was still too early for the police to block off the area and keep bystanders from entering the scenes, and so I walked right up to the station and right into the thick of bloody bodies being carried past me, people crying and screaming, and first responders running frantically to their duties. In a word, I walked into chaos.
I didn't know what to do, but my first inclination was to help. But quickly the police shouted myself and many others back out of the way. That was when I noticed that bodies were being stuffed into taxi cabs because there were not enough ambulances. I also noticed the smell, or rather, the unmistakable *stench* of burning flesh, and what I later realized was the smell of explosives. I noticed my hand hurting and realized I was clutching my jacket so hard that my hand was red and throbbing.
Before I knew it I was in a line at Puerta del Sol attempting to donate my universally coveted 'O-negative' blood, but the line was hours long and an official-looking guy stepped out of the transient blood-mobile to announce that they did not require blood from any more donors. So I took that moment to call my brother and my friend in Ciudad Real.
I didn't end up telling anyone about what I saw for a while, mainly to keep my wife and family from worrying about me. It was reported at one point that an 'American' had been killed in the blasts, but luckily I had contacted my wife before that report came out, and she was able to inform others that it indeed was not me that had fallen victim...
Norwegian and Dutch newspaper reporters were able to coax me into taking them to two of the other bombing sites. They convinced me I would be a great interpretor and city guide. We were able to see what was left of the wreckage, tattered and bloody clothing, and other items carbonized from the tremendous bomb blasts. Two things really stand out from these bombing sites for me, aside from the shear destruction so evident. One was a few sole shoes, no longer with owners, that were flattened or twisted like they had been through a blender. The other was empty body bags lying about.
I ended up participating in a moment of silence in Gran Via with several million other people the next day, and then also marching with those same several million another day later in a symbolic gesture of denying terrorism. Many cities around Spain participated ( see photo below), in the freezing cold rain as well. But how could I complain?
I also barred witness to a major upset in the election for the new president. Mariano Rajoy lost to Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, and ironically, where as a metaphor for denying terrorism by marching throughout the streets of Spain, Zapatero said 'yes' to terrorism by pulling Spanish troops out of Iraq.
Really the rest is history... "El Pais", a popular Madrid daily, reported on the 13th that a total of 204 people had died. I was walking on Gran Via toward Plaza Callao when I read that, and I won't forget that either.
May God comfort those left by those who died.
~ The Management ~
| [ 0 trackbacks ] | permalink
Next
