Live life with fine Spanish wines

If you don’t live in Spain, you may be surprised to hear that the so-called Spanish Omelettes served in all major hotels as a breakfast item is not a dish eaten in Spanish homes or restaurants at all. The real Spanish Omelette (called Tortilla Española or Tortilla de Patatas in Spanish) is made mainly from potatoes and eggs. It looks like a quiche or a pie.

I didn’t bother to learn how to make a Potato Omelette for the longest time. It is available in almost every single bar in Spain. Its popularity and availability is equivalent to a hamburger in the US. Most Spanish will tell you a Potato Omelette is very easy to make but I never believed them. I have seen it made a few times, and it looked like quite a bit of work to me. Now that I live in Malta, I get an occasional craving for a Potato Omelette, so after experimenting with making it for a few times, I finally made a decent looking but great tasting one the other day. It was not very difficult, but cooking the potatoes took quite a bit of time. (more…)

We regularly have clients asking us what the difference is between a Denominación de Origen / Denomination of Origin (D.O.) and a Denominación de Origin Calificada / Qualified Denomination of Origin (D.O.Ca.). The short answer is that the D.O.Ca. is a higher category for the truly great wine-making areas. There are currently two D.O.s within this category: Rioja and Priorat. (more…)

From now on bottles of wine from La Rioja Denominación de Origen Clasificada will no longer bear the familiar logo. In an attempt to appeal to younger wine-lovers, the long-standing logo will now be replaced with a brighter, more modern logo with cleaner lines. The aim is to reflect the new, modern aspects of wine-growing in La Rioja without detracting from the traditional wines. (more…)