Today is JP Freyre of Barcelona Stamford’s turn to tell us what’s happening on this Spain trip.
After the great dinner with Rene Barbier, we stayed in Falset and awoke at 8am. We were picked up by a 16 passenger mini-bus and went on a 5 ½ hour road trip to Bodegas Olarra in Logroño. This winery is known for Cerro Anon, a wine I have used as my go-to when asked for a Rioja (it makes the people SMILE).
Upon our arrival, I was shocked at the modern nature of the winery. Cerro Anon has been producing wine for many years, so I was expecting a small old-fashioned winery, similar to Rene’s. However, Bodegas Olarra was enormous and hi-tech. In the tasting room there was a table where you spit the excess wine and it rinsed itself (I couldn’t stop playing with it). We tasted so many wines and were treated to an explanation of each one by the winemaker, Javier Martinez de Salinas y Manso de Zuniga. Yeah, what a name. He was brilliant, incredibly intelligent, and spoke with such passion. To him, winemaking is not just a job, it’s a love.
The gang in the tasting room of Bodegas Olarra
The highlight of the tasting was Javier’s answer to a great question by Gretchen. She asked if he ever felt pressure to release a wine early due to high demand or other circumstances. It was interesting this question was asked, because he had a heated discussion with his colleagues a couple days before about releasing the wines early.
The Rioja region makes you age a Gran Reserva wine for at least 5 years, but he believes these traditional rules are outdated and that his wine is best prior to 5 years. However, he follows the rules, which he feels negatively affects his wine. It was an incredibly passionate reaction; he truly cares more about producing the perfect wine than about making a quick dollar. His views are similar to that of our restaurant: if it’s not good, we don’t send it out. It’s not about the money, it’s about the quality!
After the tasting, we toured the winery and had an authentic Spanish lunch. The lunch was stacked with authentic foods like White Asparagus (not my cup of tea, but Chef Roy loved it), Potato and Chorizo Soup (amazing), grilled Chorizo, and baby lamb (WOW). We discussed everything from wine to sports, and finished the lunch with Cuban cigars. Since I’m Cuban, this was unreal.
JP enjoying his favorite dish in Logroño
We then went back to the hotel, had a siesta, and got ready to go tapas hopping. We went to Calle Laurel in Logroño and went from bar to bar, having all types of tapas. These bars either only sell just one type of tapa, or specialize in a particular tapa. The best dish we had was button mushrooms drenched with garlic oil and stacked on bread. The dish was so simple but so delicious. This was one of the most amazing days of my life.