We talk with someone from Bodegas Castano. This podcast was originally recorded in the Spring of 2007.

A quick interview with the founder of Mouriscastours in Portugal. Enjoy!

Brief little podcast of our first lunch in Lisbon last week! Enjoy

We try to taste only good wines. We also try to only mention wines we like. This is not to say that we don’t taste bad wines. We do often try wines that we rather not finish or wines that end up down the drain. Most of the time these wines are wines that we find at the grocery store when all we want is something wet! Today we unfortunately tried a wine that is of a higher level, but which failed to impress us. Listen to the show and see what you think.

Part 2 of my interview with Gerry Dawes

Gerry Dawes has been traveling in Spain for more than three decades. Since 1995, he has made sixty extensive food and wine trips to Spain, twenty since 2003 alone. In his Daytimer notebooks, he has written down every dish and every wine he has had in Spain for the past 15 years and photographs most of the dishes with digital cameras.

Today I have an interview with Andrew Holod of Grapes of Spain. Andrew is the Marketing Manager for this exclusively Spanish portfolio, and also one of the top Spanish wine importers in the US market.

Having fun here at FENAVIN 2007 tasting lots of good wines, and meeting some interesting people. With so much wine at my disposal I thought it would be fun to get some Albariño in as it’s is the wine of the month here at Catavino. I had the chance to interview two people with two very different Albariño’s. Alicia Carro of Adega Search for wines made from *SEARCH NAME* at wine-searcher: Valdés in Rias Baixas, and Isabel Gutiérrez of Dominio de Tares who have a winery they help out with in RIas Baixas called Search for wines made from *SEARCH NAME* at wine-searcher: Lusco. Both great wines and I hope you enjoy the podcast where we taste the wines and learn a little bit about the region.

Today I bring you a fun interview with German winemaker Alexandra Schmedes of the Spanish Bodega Ercavio. Located just outside of Toledo in the region of Castilla LaMancha, Ercavio wines are starting to show up on the international scene with big points and high acloades. At Vino Élite lst week I had to chance to try some of their Spanish wines and talk with Alexandra about what their wines are all about. I had the chance to quickly taste these wines and I have to say they are pretty special.  See the show links for more info about their specific wines.

My interview with Elena Selva of Bodegas Olivares. We walk through the winery and chat about winemaking, the region of the Levante.

What is Fondillon? Listen as I interview two experts on the subject. As always check out www.catavino.net to learn more.

Birthday toast with a nice Rose Cava from Catalunya, and some grilled meat! YUM!

Ok a quick return to podcasting. Too many thoughts all at once, so out it comes in a verbal stream.  Monologues for the masses, or at least the Iberian wine masses!

visit: www.catavino.net for full links from the show

This week I have an interview with the Iberian wine specialist for Sam's Wines and Spirits in Chicago, Angel Aguilar. We talk about his start in wine, and some of the directions he sees Iberian wine headed. Along with getting a few recommendations for wines that he likes right now. The best part too is that if your interested in trying out the recommendations you can order online from Sam's wine shop, that is if your in the USA, and if you are in a state that allows direct shipping. Enjoy!

Today we talk with Steven Ventrello of Parador Cellars, and the guys(Jeff Stai and Scott Klann) over at Twisted Oak winery, about their wines made with Iberian varietals. Great show and it was a lot of fun talking to both of them about their motivations behind making wine with grapes such as Tempranillo in the terroir of California!

In this Podcast, we review two Cavas for Wine Blog Wednesday #28 hosted by the Culinary Fool. The theme for this week is Sparklers, which includes anything not produced in French appellation of Champagne - an easy task when living in the fabulous Spanish region of the Penedes. Additionally, we were to categorize our Sparkler of choice as to whether it fit into one of three categories:

This week I talk a bit about my last trip to the Penedes and you get to hear part of the tour we took at Torres. Along with this I have a short interview with Mireia Torres, daughter to Miguel, and technical director of all of Torres wines. Hope you enjoy!

Show notes will be up soon, at www.catavino.net

The Spanish Table is a US based retail operation with 4 locations on the west coast. If your not on the west coast, no problem, they ship anywhere they can! Today I talk with one of the people involved with the Spanish Table, Andy Booth. We talk about wine, food, American attitudes towards vintage and much, much more. If you ever want to taste some of the food or wines that I talk about here on Catavino, I highly suggest checking out their online shop for more information about buying those items.  They carry not only food, but also wine, cookbooks, cookware, and much more. Hope you enjoy the show,

Ryan Opaz

My parents were in town this past week. Hence the slow posting schedule. We had a great time and one day I was able to include a visit to the Cava wine producer Codorníu. A morning stroll across the grounds of this historic estate and an early afternoon wine tasting made for a great time and an educational one for my parents. All in all we tasted 3 wines, and covered most of the estates facilities. I think my parents learned a lot and I hope you learn some too.

Gabriella is home and I wanted to find out a bit about her trip to the states. So today we talk a bit about here trip, what she tasted and what she saw. Then we open a bottle of Cava up. It was a gift to us from our parents and we provide you with a tasting and out thoughts on Cava now that we live in the region of this great wine. I cook up a nice vegetable/lentil dish with a roasted chicken thigh with some marinated cucumbers. Yum! Stay tuned for many more tastings as my wife and I take on the wines of Iberia together.

Welcome back! It's been awhile and we've been busy trying to get settled into our new home!  So today I wanted to let you know about a few upcoming events and to recap our successful Meme: <a href="http://catavino.net/index.php?cat=376">The 2+1 Iberian Wine Survey</a>. We got a lot of great responses from people we sent it too and I briefly give a recap of what everyone had to say. If after listening to this you want to take part in it, feel free to send us your answers to: comments (at) catavino dot net

Today after a one week hiatus we’re back with an interview with Adrienne Smith. For about 6 months now she has been helping out to contribute to Catavino.net with articles on regions, grapes and more. This week I had a chance to sit down and talk to her about her recent certification as a Sommelier here in Spain. I hope you enjoy our chat and learn a bit about what it takes to study about wine here in Spain.

This week Alder at Vinography is hosting Wine Blog Wednesday. In honor of the second year anniversary of WBW, Alder chose the theme: Loire Valley Whites. However, being that we are sitting in the dead center of Spain, I had to search far and wide for wines that were not from the Tempranillo drinking and olive eating country. And if you have ever been to Spain, you would know that the task of finding a foreign wine in a local wine shop can be a tricky task, whereby forcing me to resort to the megalith of wine stores in Madrid called Lavinia. After perusing aisle upon aisle of international wine, I settled upon a Sauvignon Blanc from Cheverny along with a Sauvignon Blanc from Rueda to add a bit of contrast.

This week I made a trip for the first time to the Reina Sofía Museum</a> here in Madrid. It was one of those, "I've been here for a year and a half and now I"m leaving without having seen (Insert cultural/historical monument here)" trips. You know how it is, you never see what is in your own back yard until your friends visit! Well anyways when I was there I had a few thoughts go through my mind as I walked around. Basically how wine and art are treated much in the same way. Later in the a day I stopped by a quiet spot in Madrid's Retiro Park and recorded my thoughts. Short and sweet and it's a bit off the usual format, and a bit repetitive, but I thought there were some good points made. I'll be back soon with a new interview and more wine tastings soon. Hang in there, it's a bit crazy with our move to Barcelona just around the corner!

Ryan

Wednesday night was a great time and our first podcast here with Gabriella my lovely wife and our friends over at Notes from Spain. Ben and Marina are a couple who live near us here in Madrid and are the authors of Notes from Spain. This podcast is different in that we talk free form a bit about how to taste wine, the wines we're trying and the food we're making. Check out the full notes at: Catavino.net

Steve DeLong and his wife Deborah have given us a gift in their passion for wine. By creating the Wine Grape Varietal table we have a resource that didn't exsist before and now that it does it helps others to fall in love with wine as they move through it's complex world. Taken from their sites intro:
...More at Catavino.net

Back when I started Catavino, I realized that I better find some good information on the subject. Starting with Spanish wine, I did a quick search on Amazon to find what information was available. Unfortunately, what I found was several outdated books along with a few new releases. Type in "Wine" into Amazon and you'll get ten million results, but type in "Spanish wine" or "Portuguese wine" and you'll yield only a handful. "What's up?", I thought. I couldn't imagine how this could be correct when Spain is the third largest producer of wine in the world. However, upon a second glanceon book caught my eye, it was a newly published book called "Let's open a Bottle" by Brian Murdock, who it turned out not only lives in Madrid but just so happens to be working on a Spanish wine pocket guide.Hence, I contacted Brian to get a copy of his book and the rest is history.  Full story is on Catavino.net...

Today we talk to Alvaro Perez Navazo the sales and marketing director for Abadia Retuerta. Basically we wander through the vineyards looking at the vines, seeing the production facilities, and learning about what makes Abadia different. A lot was talked about and I hope you enjoy the loose nature of the podcast as I try to get Alvaro to showcase his expertise on the things that set Abadia apart from the others. Spanish wine has come a long ways in the past decade and Abadia Retuerta is looking to be one of the bright new lights on the Spanish wine horizon.

Part One in a two part series we hope this is a favortie. Abadia Retuerta is an up and coming wine bodega with potential that may in the end be equaled by no one else. Take incredible terroir of the  Duero valley here in Spain and put it with the backing of Novartis a major Swiss pharmacuetical company you have the making for success. Today I talk with Donald Cusimano managing director of Abadia Retuerta about what he has done since taking over in 2003. Sadly the sound is not all that I hoped for but I hope you enjoy it anyways. Next week I'll have part 2 of the story when I bring you the voice of Alvaro Pérez Navazo, sales and marketing director. About 3 weeks ago I had the chance to tour the vineyards with him and learn a bit about the making of the wine and the technology used in the vineyards.

Hosted by Tim of Winecast.net this weeks theme was Low alcohol red wines. Under 12.5% alcohol.

Also mentioned our contest to wine the Olive Oil and Vinegar donated by Reserva y Cata wines.

Restaurante Memento wine dinner on June 26th

This week we bring you an interview with Bryce McNamee of Boutique Wine Collection. I had the chance to interview him down at Vinoble. Mainly we discuss his business, the perception of Spanish wine in the US market, and touch on other issues, like tourism, and emerging wine regions.

Podcast number three is a quick recap of Vinoble and my thoughts on this sweet wine festival. Also I had the chance to talk with a daughter and employee of <a href="http://gonzalezbyass.com/ing/index3.htm">the Gonzalez Byass family</a>, about the bodega visits and <a href="http://www.bodegastiopepe.com/index.html">tours of the bodega</a> that they offer. To see pictures from this podcast please visit: www.catavino.net

“Join in our exploration of Port wine, steeped in century old traditions. Oporto (English for Porto), and its sister city, Vila Nova de Gaia across the river, provide the historical perspective before we head up river to the enchanting Douro River Valley. We offer our discerning guests an unrivaled insider’s view? of these historic treasures and an opportunity to gain an incredible wealth of knowledge and tasting experience. With a focus on wine, culture and gourmet culinary experiences, renowned Port experts Mario Ferreira and Roy Hersh will guide you on an unforgettable week long adventure to these exciting ports of call. “

This is how Roy starts to explain the tours that he and Mario Ferreira are now offering in two of Portugals most famous wine regions. This week, we interviewed Port wine expert Roy Hersh about his tours. After talking to him last year, we wanted to follow up and hear a bit about his trips to Porto and the Madeira Islands. Listen as he explains the upcoming preparations for the 250th anniversary of the Port wine regions demarcation and learn how you can be a part of this years harvest. I hope you enjoy the show!

Roy’s website www.Fortheloveofport.com

We’d like to thank our Sponsers for this weeks podcast:

Head over to our Frappr Map to get entered to win the Olive Oil and Vinegar donated by Reserva y Cata. Also remember that if your in Madrid and you stop by there shop on C/ Conde de Xiquena, 13 in Madrid you’ll get a 5% discount of any purchase for mentioning Catavino.