Guess what time it is? It’s the biannual ritual of talking about closures again. This is the time of the year when we state our preference for one over another - bitching and moaning about TCA taint, reduction or sticky plastic corks. Why do we do this? Well, it’s an easy topic and usually gets people riled up, while at the same time, making us feel that we are finally standing up for something.

Here at Catavino, our thinking has evolved from an off and on hate relationship with cork to more of a friend with fringe benefits. Currently, we’re on good standing, but aren’t quite ready to exchange house keys and buy matching travel luggage. We love the idea of cork, and its sustainable properties, but we still love our screwcaps for those fresh whites and young reds. Much to our chagrin, however, we’re finding more and more plastic corks here in Spain, and only one or two screwcap wines.

So let us state for the record that WE HATE plastic corks, and if there are bodegas out …

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 …