P. 14 - LA PLAYA
JUNE / JUNIO 2014
WWW.PLAYACOMMUNITY.COM
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The Cellar Door
Bodega Ballabriga, Spain
R
ecently, I had the opportunity
to meet Senior José Miguel
Ballabriga,
of
Bodega
Ballabriga in the Pyrnees region of
Northeast Spain. Although he speaks
no English, and my Spanish is pretty
rudimentary, we bonded and communicated over our shared passion for
wine. We tasted 10 of his wines and,
I must say, I was bowled over by
many of them. The 3 Petret wines are
excellent values and others are
simply wonderful.
Also attending the tasting were
William Albarran, Food and Beverage
manager of Coronado Golf & Country
Club, Carlos Nino of La Teca, Manuel
Marian De La Palma Gomez, and
several employees of Coronado Golf
& CC.
Sr. Ballabriga is first and foremost a
producer of meat producing livestock.
That is his livelihood and wine
production is his avocation. Frankly,
when I heard this before tasting his
wines, I was a bit skeptical. I’ve
tasted so many mediocre, overpriced,
ego driven wines from wealthy, hobby
producers, my red flag went up. But
after tasting the first 3 wines, I knew I
had nothing to worry about.
His passion within his passion is
resurrecting
old
native
grape
varieties, which have gone out of
style in favor of the more international
ones such as Cabernet, Merlot and
Chardonnay. His Parraleta bottlings
are examples of this. It’s my first
encounter with this grape and I loved
it.
Accompanying the tasting was a
sampling of the Ballabriga produced
salumi, Jamon Serrano and a
wonderful semi-hard cheese.
Tues - Fri: 1pm - 9pm
Sat & Sun: 9am - 10pm
2012 Petret Rose’, $7.95, 13% alc.
Spain - A blend of Cabernet
Sauvignon and Granache. Lovely
dark pink color with strawberries and
other berries in the nose and mouth.
Dry and crisp, an excellent aperitif or
with lighter foods. BEST BUY
2009 Petret Tinto, $7.95, 13% alc.
Spain - A blend of Cabernet
Sauvignon and Merlot. Nice full nose
with herbs, blackberries and other
fruit.
Well balanced. A bit hot
(alcoholic) at first, but it calmed down
after a few minutes in the glass.
BEST BUY
2010 Luis Canas Crianza, $12.00
14% alc. Spain - 100% Tempranillo
(the great grape of Spain) and it
shows. Sti [