Guggenheim at Bilbao
Well, I didn’t make it to the Marqués de Riscal winery…but I ended up at another Frank Gehry building: the Guggenheim at Bilbao. And what a astonishing building this is. Definitely worth a trip to Bilbao.
On the wine side I do not have to report much. We went to El Rogelio, a little restaurant mentioned with a bib gourmand in the Guide Michelin. Lovely food but they need to do something about the poisonous green paint that is used to cover their walls. I ordered an albariño of Bodegas Martin Códax. Plain simple and satisfying wine. Nevertheless, I was disappointed by the small range of white wines on the wine list. Being close to Rioja, it are the reds that get all the attention on the list.
However in a city where fish (merluza (=hake), bacalao (=cod)) is the specialty, you would hope for a more extensive list of white wines. Better next time.
Have a nice wine with fish today!
Bart
Marqués de Riscal and Frank Gehry
Maybe you did not noticed yet, but also wine makers (certainly the big ones) tend to have great building projects. This is a project from the Bodegas Herederos del Marqués de Riscal, located at Rioja, Spain.
This project houses the company’s offices, wine museum, tasting rooms, conference rooms and a luxury hotel with 14 distinct rooms. The architect on duty is the incredible Frank Gehry, known from the Guggenheim Museum at Bilbao. Oh boy, did I wish I had the money to order a house from him :-).
Have a nice wine in a nice building today!
Bart
Divine wines…a never complete list
What are in my opinion divine wines, you should have been asking by now. Well, just take a peek hereinafter and you will find a limited list of some of the divine wines I tasted.
- A dropdead gorgeous Barolo (Brezza, Bruno Giacosa, Cavalotto, Marcarini, Vajra, Vietti, Vigna Rionda di Massolino, …) or Barbaresco (Ca’del Baio, Produttore del Barbaresco, …) or Langhe Nebbiolo or Roero Superiore, well all nebbiolo wines
- Some exceptional Super Tuscans (think about Sassicaia and the like; and ow, the Rosso Toscana of Fossacolle with his huge amount of petit verdot, mm mm; and Tenuta di Trinoro, such an ugly labels but such a concentrated greatness in your glass.)
- A well-made South-African Bordeaux blend (Meerlust Rubicon, De Toren Fusion V, etc.)
- An outstanding Chianti (Ruffino’s Riserva Ducale Oro and Casale dello Sparviero 2004, what an outstanding year for Chianti, …)
- And, of course, a traditional Brunello (Fossacolle is a great example)
- And those once in a lifetime Bourgognes (yes, red and white: Comtes Lafon, Comte de Vogüé, Thibault Legier-Belair Clos Vougeot, …)
- The astonishing white wines of Nicolas Joly (France - Loire)
- A bit aged Condrieu
- And those jumping-out-of-the-crowd bottles: Hewitson’s mourvèdre, Passopisciaro (a 100% nerello mascalese cultivated on the slopes of the Etna vulcano, huge wow factor), L’Oustal Blanc, Maestoso, etc.
- And… (still learning, still appreciating)
Have a divine wine today!
Bart
PS Feel free to share your divine wines in the comments.
If you enjoyed this post, make my day and buy me a glass of wine.Inheritance
Father standing at the door of his wine cellar addresses his son:
“With any luck my son, none of this will be yours.”
(Taken from Nicolaas Klei, “Over de tong”)
And, that is how it should be. Wine bottles are for drinking not collecting, at least in my opinion. So open these great bottles for a bunch of friends (who can appreciate it).
And how do you know they can appreciate it…well, if they put coca-cola in their wine they surely can’t!
Share a nice bottle of wine today!
Bart
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