Part 17: Wine Talk

When I first started to write for the local newspaper, I wrote an article detailing a few of my local likes and dislikes. In those early days, some sub-editor or other used to supply the titles to my copy, before I was entrusted with this demanding task myself. So it was that the article in question saw the light of day entitled “Me gusta el vino.” (I like wine) This brought about a scandalised response from some of my young students, who felt duty bound to inform me that I had admitted to liking a glass or two of tinto. I have experienced the same incredulity before in the UK, when students would take great delight in informing me that they had seen me in the pub the night before. Whereupon I would point out that at least I was legally entitled to be there.

Recently our wine consumption has undergone something of a change. Our days of drinking quite inadvisable quantities of pitarra- the local home-made wine are now behind us. These days it is a question of less is more: less overall wine consumption, but better wine when we do indulge. To a certain extent this pattern mirrors the transformation that extremeño wine has experienced over the last twenty years or so. In the seventies most of the production was of humble table wines, or of even rougher stuff destined to be turned into industrial alcohol. The region lacked the prestigious denominación de origen status. Local grape juice would also be transformed into a decent drop by the simple expedient of shipping it in massive quantities to other, more select, wine producing areas, where the simple fact of aging it in oak barrels in situ would bring about a change not unlike that sought by the alchemists of old: the transformation of dross into gold. These relocated wines would be reborn as Riojas or Ribera del Dueros, and quite a few people will tell you that the tiny region of La Rioja simply does not have enough acreage under vines to account for its massive production.

Well all that has changed. Extremadura now produces some fantastic reds, pretty good rosés, sparkling wines as good as those from Catalunya and some white wines which are; well frankly the white wines are the weak link in the chain, but you can´t have everything, and they are fine for cooking with. (Incidentally most local people I know only ever use white wine for cooking with, and even though it is counter-intuitive to British people, cooking beef in white wine works really well.)

A local wine: Corte Real Platinum has, on several occasions, been voted best red wine in the world. And we are not just talking about a panel of local judges here. The last time it won such plaudits, it was from an international group of wine writers, who presumably know a thing or two about the subject. Corte Real Platinum is a little expensive for every day slurping, but at the other end of the scale there are still some gems to be had. Our current favourite is called Valdequemao, a young, full-bodied red that retails for a very reasonable 1.80 euros in our local Carrefour. Should the king ever pop round for a bit of chorizo and a glass of plonk, I would be more than happy to offer him a drop of Valdequemao.

Still it wouldn’t do for our Spanish friends, whose mistrust of branded wines is legendary. We always have a two-litre container of pitarra in the fridge (it is almost invariably the rosé variety that most people go for) for the regular Sunday morning visits of our friends from Mérida. When it comes to an accompaniment to grilled sardines you just can´t beat it.

Articles in the series:

Introduction to Pete's Tale

Part 1: Village Life

Part 2: Bichos

Part 3: A Two-Bar Town

Part 4: Fruit and Veg

Part 5: Summer

Part 6: Politics

Part 7: Noise

Part 8: Our natural park

Part 9: New Year's Eve

Part 10: Timetables

Part 11: The Land Where the Pig is King

Part 12: How Not to Buy a House

Part 13: That First Winter

Part 14: The Extremeño Spring

Part 15: To be a Pilgrim

Part 16: A Change is Coming

Part 17: Wine Talk

Part 18: Free For All

Part 19: How Do You Spell Asparagus?

Part 20: Designer Peas