It’s summertime in Portugal, and as the tourists flood the downtown, the Portuguese retreat to their local restaurants and bars to enjoy the gastronomic tradition of the season: snails! Yes, that’s right, Caracois are to the Portuguese as hot dogs and hamburgers are to the Americans this season, and they’re both cheap eats. From what most Americans know about snails in general, we know from the French, and still don’t quite understand why they would regard such things as a delicacy! Well, it may not be a delicacy here, but they’re definitely something the Portuguese like to eat a lot of, having anxiously awaited the moment in mid-June when they see the signs go up outside the restaurants saying “Há Caracois” (there are Caracois).

But I never thought I’d see people get so excited over something my culture won’t even get near. When I walk into a local bar or cafe here, between the hours of 5 and 7pm, the whole place is packed with everyone chowing down on heaping plates of Caracois. It may look like an enormous amount but these Portuguese snails are much smaller than their known French cousins. So there’s a lot of lip-smacking and finger-licking, as the Caracois are cooked in a very flavorful broth and its custom to just suck those little guys right out of their shells! They do give you toothpicks if you’re not courageous enough, so you can pull them out instead (like I did).

The tradition of eating Caracois in the summer originated in the southerly Portuguese region of Alentejo, with influence from the Andalucia region in southern Spain. Both of these regions get extremely hot in the summer but also have the humidity that promotes snail …

There’s a tradition in Andalucia for fairs - Ferias - in the spring and summer. The format is generally the same: The Feria lasts about a week; there are corridas (bullfights) in the afternoons; it’s held at a temporary “tent city”, usually on open ground near the edge of town; dancing the “Sevillana” (Sevillana video) is encouraged; women wear Flamenco dress and there are always horses and carriages, bright colours and music.

Feria is a time for the whole town or village to let down their hair and have some good old-fashioned fun. The ferias started off as horse or cattle markets where the dealers set up tents (casetas) to entertained clients with wine and dancing. They have kept the casetas, the drinking and the dancing, but there’s not much cattle and horse dealing these days.

Traditionally Fino (or Manzanilla) is THE drink at Feria, but after a long day drinking this, especially in the heat, it can go to the head a little, so one of the best ways to pass the time (and save your head) is to sit in the shade of a caseta (small house) with a jug of “Rebujito” nearby, watching the world go by. Rebujito? Yes, Rebujito. It’s probably been around for a long time (and had many guises), but this refreshing summer drink is definitely becoming a hit (and not only at Ferias).

It’s been a busy the past few months, because Spain is finally waking up to blogging; and we’re excited to be a small part of it. I’ve been buried in two new websites, while trying to maintain a few others. All good news for our small growing enterprise. Today, we head off to Oporto, to consult with a small port house on launching the first ever, blog about port wine. To be honest, we’re really excited about this, and we’re hoping this might lead to some purple feet if we need to visit in the near future.

But for now I want to fill you in on a few experiences I’ve had over the past week. First up, Cork!

Catalan Cork Institute

Just a quick note about my visit to Catalan Cork country, and  promise more with pictures when I have more time. I do want to say thank you to the Catalan Cork Institute, and Juan Botey Serra whose 300yr old property I fell in love with. (lot’s more pictures to put up on flickr too)

Some of you might remember our experience visiting the largest cork producer in the world last year called, Amorim. The experience, to our great surprise, was an eye opener for this cork doubter, and so I couldn’t pass up a chance to see a smaller version right here in our backyard. The Catalan Cork Institute invited Catavino to see their operations north of Barcelona in Costa Brava to explain the differences between the big guy and the small proud guy. Sadly Gabriella was getting her wrist wrapped in Gesso and was unable to join my friend Richard and I, as we traipsed through the thickets of Catalan cork country.

So, what surprised me? While cork is still produced in …

If you weren’t already in the know, TAPAS are more than delicious little treats you savor with a glass of Iberian wine.  TAPAS is also the name of the Tempranillo, Advocates, Producers and Amigos Society, co-founded in 2006 by no one other than Jeff Stai, owner of Twisted Oak Winery, author of El Bloggo Torcido, and now acting Vice President of TAPAS.

How did we find out about TAPAS? A few years back, Ryan conducted a podcast interview with Jeff not only about Twisted Oak winery, but also about his, at the time, brand new venture. Being enormous fans of the preservation of native Iberian grapes, we love the idea of TAPAS, and even more so, the joining of like-minded folks who are passionate about working together as a team.

So imagine our excitement a few weeks ago when we received an invitation through the Open Wine Consortium for “the most extensive tasting of domestically produced Iberian varietal wines ever offered in America”. On August 8th and 9th, TAPAS is hosting a two day tasting at COPIA (American Center for Wine, Food and the Arts) in Napa Valley featuring wines made from Tempranillo, Albariño, Garnacha, Graciano, Mourvedre, the Tourigas, Verdejo and Bastardo; and produced not in Iberia, but in Arizona, California, Oregon, Texas and Washington. It is an incredible opportunity for anyone who is a Spanish or Portuguese wine lover, which I hope is all of you, to taste a wide range of Iberian grapes expressing a very unique terroir.

But rather than just give you the skinny directly from the invitation, I thought it might be fun to pin down the big guy himself to ask him a few questions about both his organization and the …

Editor’s Note: If you remember, a little while back, Ryan reviewed the book “Valencia, Land of Wine“, written by Joan C. Martin and translated and edited by John Maher. While, in Valencia, we asked John how he felt about writing the occasional piece for us on Valancian wine, being our resident expert and all. And to our great surprise, he agreed. You’ll see from his elegant prose and witty humor that our choice was a good one! We are very happy to have him join us and suggest you check out his profile on our “About” page for more information.

That said, his piece today is a request on my part to have him share his knowledge on the native Valencian grape, Vernil, as a reaction to a rather blah experience we had while in Valencia. Although Vernil had a nice aromatic nose, we found the palate to be a touch empty, lacking in both body and acidity. So I tried to do a little research on the grape to see if others were having the same experience, when I came across John’s description of Verdil on his website, Wines of Valencia. The proverbial light bulb went off, and it suddenly occurred to me that there would be no better person to tackle this subject than John.

John, thanks and welcome aboard!

The wine reference books I have to hand don’t have much to say about the Verdil grape. The “Oxford Companion to Wine” says it makes “rather neutral wine” in Yecla and the southernmost part of Valencia, while my much-thumbed “Dictionary of Drink” says incorrectly that it is grown in the Alicante region. …